Building my USP - Landscaping company

[dochustle]

Hello,


I currently run a landscaping company and am working on building my brand and systemizing the company. I want to start with my USP. The current weak points in the industry that I feel are:

1. Poor customer service
2. Poor quality of work
3. To many 'joe blow' companies to choose from

Iv'e made my niche so far as promoting my company as an university student ran company. Customer's feel good about supporting university students and this has been good to me so far. However, I can't run with this USP forever and I want to change it now. I plan to work on the brand and the systems of this business so I can franchise it. My thoughts on the new USP are "The best customer service in the landscaping industry!"

Thoughts?

 

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[CPisHere]

I won't say that it can't be done, but in order for you to franchise you have to offer a brand and value that can't be easily copied... Lawn care is a highly saturated, competitive market. Very few companies have been able to franchise successfully in this area.

Too many 'joe blow' companies to chose from isn't really an issue from a consumer's point of view. More competition means lower prices for them. Quality and customer service are not top priorities for most - taking away a hassle and making it easy for them are your best way to provide value in my opinion.

If I were you, I would sell how easy you will make it on the husband and how you will improve their relationship by reducing nagging, and he doesn't even have to remember to leave a check - you will charge his credit card automatically but not cut his grass more than necessary. Plus, I would offer a free grass cut for every customer he refers, as well as pass out flyers to all his neighbors.

 

[VinceT]

Being the best at customer service is something a lot of businesses say, so it won't make you stand out enough. That can be part of your vision or mission but not the leading edge.
I think the easiest way to find out your USP is to ask your customers, just a quick conversation on what they like about your company and if they would recommend it and why..

 

[Kung Fu Steve]

I want to start with my USP.

Start with sales... lots and lots of sales... nothing else really matters. (at the beginning at least...)

1. Poor customer service

In one sentence, what do you do differently than everyone else?

2. Poor quality of work

Educate me here, what does this mean? Is the sod laid incorrectly? Did a retaining wall fall over? Does it look like shit? Can you take pictures of shoddy work, compare them with your work so there's a noticeable difference?

3. To many 'joe blow' companies to choose from

The one thing I don't see ANY landscaping companies do is show up extremely professional and clean cut.

It's always a bunch of slacker a$$, dirty hoody wearing, cargo pants sagging, guys who haven't showered.

Obviously it's not the cleanest work, but neither is any other service job. But it would be impressive to have a group of guys who wore nice clean polo shirts, clean black pants... maybe the white glove touch? If you want to be different, look different, act different. Be extremely professional in a job that isn't normally so professional


Thoughts?[/QUOTE]

 

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[Simon Ashari]

There was one plumbing company in Australia that had the USP of rocking up looking presentable and then cleaning up after themselves.

Compared with most plumbers this set them apart.

Perhaps try something similar?

 

[dochustle]

Start with sales... lots and lots of sales... nothing else really matters. (at the beginning at least...)

I do have sales. Sales for the previous year were $50,000 and I have been in business 3 years. I expect the 4th year to grow again. This is obviously still low and can grow ALOT.

In one sentence, what do you do differently than everyone else?

Right now I think it is tapping into customers emotion by playing the students in business card. They want to support young entrepreneurs and I have to compete on price as well. Landscaping is competitive and i have had to compete on price, which is something else that I offer, lower prices. However, I do not want to compete on price forever and I want to change that now.

Educate me here, what does this mean? Is the sod laid incorrectly? Did a retaining wall fall over? Does it look like shit? Can you take pictures of shoddy work, compare them with your work so there's a noticeable difference?

A lot of the work I do (maintenance) such as lawn mowing, mulching etc is done sloppy. If you were to compare my cuts to competitors you would see a much cleaner cut and not have grass clumps left behind etc. Although this is not the case for all competitors, just some.

The one thing I don't see ANY landscaping companies do is show up extremely professional and clean cut.

It's always a bunch of slacker a$$, dirty hoody wearing, cargo pants sagging, guys who haven't showered.

Obviously it's not the cleanest work, but neither is any other service job. But it would be impressive to have a group of guys who wore nice clean polo shirts, clean black pants... maybe the white glove touch? If you want to be different, look different, act different. Be extremely professional in a job that isn't normally so professional


This is great advice and this could he a hole I could fill in the market place. I have to research how much appearance really does matter to the customer.

thanks everyone for the great advice so far.

 

[sam22]

Just a thought: you don't have to compete on price. That usually leads to a downward spiral and a race to the bottom.

And find ways to deliver extreme value to your customers. Show them you understand their needs and desires better than the other companies out there.

 

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[dochustle]

Sam 22-

I don't want to compete on price and thats what ive had to do so far. I am going to get away from that now so I dont build on that premise for the future. I need to find my niche and work with that. So far it has been the university students in business, but that wont last either!

 

[XavierYZ]

decide who your target market is and go after them, if you don't want to compete on price you have to provide alot more value...real value and percieved value

The Heating and a/c company I am building is not the cheapest, and not the most expensive, once you accept, that not everyone is your customer you will be better off.

your customers don't look to craigslist for a lawn care professionals, they have country club memberships, drive mercedes, live in $400K+ homes, work 12-18 hours a day, and have the wives taking care of the kids full time.

the man of the house doesn't have time to worry about those things, and will happily pay someone to take care of those pesky things like lawn care and snow shoveling, and he wants a professional clean looking company coming to his house to take care of it

take a look at this lawn care model The Grounds Guys | America's Grounds Care Specialists 10 brothers started this company in Ontario Ca and now franchisees in Canada and the USA.

 

[GTC1187]

Honestly,
I would ask myself what my goals are in regards to community responsibility and pursuit of economic growth before I would try to define a USP.
Thanks,
Grant

 

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[piotrkrzyzek]

Another fun thing you can do is join the local chamber of commerce. I don't really see any landscaping companies in any of my local chambers.

 

[GTC1187]

Agreed.

 

[InMotion]

I'm not going to lie..this type of business, including construction, is extremely difficult in practice (easy in theory) to differentiate in. What you absolutely must NOT do is assume anything when it comes to your customers wants and needs. You need to survey them and talk to them after a job, especially your long-term customers, and ask them why they are still using you with so many choices out there. Landscape and construction related businesses are a race to the bottom industry, so if you don't want to play that game you need to find out whats important to your customers; if they just tell you price then try and dig a little deeper with them. Consequently, after you discover these factors with enough customers you can then develop an accurate USP that people actually care about. Practice vs. theory.

 

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[keza]

Does it really help to join the chamber of commerce paying the amount of money they pay for membership ? I would like to join too but I m suspecious about the results. I do interior plantscaping and have difficult to get clients.

 

[GlobalWealth]

Are you building a business or creating a job?

I cannot imagine a more difficult business to get rich with.

As they say, you can't polish a turd.

 

[CPisHere]

Does it really help to join the chamber of commerce paying the amount of money they pay for membership ? I would like to join too but I m suspecious about the results. I do interior plantscaping and have difficult to get clients.

If you are looking for business/commercial clients, Chamber of Commerce could be worth it if you utilize the networking events.

 

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[keza]

a wish

I wish I could find a better idea and execute it!

 

[socaldude]

i know a guy locally who took his business fastlane by BRANDING his landscaping company. instead of boring typical pickup trucks loaded with tools, he has ALL light brown trucks with abstract leaves designs on the side. so when you drive around town you see these trucks drive around and you know its a landscaping company. all employees wear brown outfits with matching brown jackets. its super successful. this makes the company looks super professional and big. think about UPS the shipping company, matching uniforms and UNIQUE box brown delivery trucks. or my favorite example is 1 800 GOT JUNK. the junk removal business was already a dime a dozen, but then this guy came in and brought in a UNIQUE blue truck and BRANDED it. AMAZING !!

 

[dochustle]

Hey guys, thanks for all the advice and input.

Iv'e actually decided to sell the company. Looking at the landscaping industry and its potential it is a tough business to take 'fastlane'. I've sold it off and have had my first fastlane experience with payments coming in each month for the next 4 months!

I plan to take this money and put it to work in building a new business.The way I was looking at it was that I shouldn't waste my time building a business that doesn't fit in my long term goals and plans.

 

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[LightHouse]

Are we talking commercial landscaping or residential? If commercial I can give you lots of advice to get in the door. residential is somerthing totally different.

 

[dochustle]

It was a mixture of both. I sold off the assets and the customer list/contracts.

 

[LightHouse]

I just read that after i posted. sorry about that!

 

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[dochustle]

i'd still like to hear your comments .. is commercial the way to go?

 

[ForestL]

Are we talking commercial landscaping or residential? If commercial I can give you lots of advice to get in the door. residential is somerthing totally different.

I would also love to hear your advice on getting into commercial. I'm taking the first part of our contractors license test tomorrow. We already have one maintenance job ready to go once we get our license.

Defiantly not fastlane, but we will be able to pay our house payment with about 3 hours of work once a month.

We are more interested in getting into the landscape installs rather than maintenance.