Chapter 1

Want to grow more green? Do you own a fertilization-weed control business? A mowing, landscaping, maintenance, or other green business? Starting a green industry business? This is a perfect time to plan to sell these services.

Let me tell you about some of the businesses I have worked with that use the principles of the 14 Point Strategy for Maximize Profits System:

I worked with a fertilzation and weed control business in the Midwest that was owned and managed by a couple in their upper 50’s.  He had retired from Kmart after being a manager for several years.  They had processes and procedures for everything that went on in their business.  They had a few thousand customers and less than 20 employees.  They ran it more like it had 200 employees. They could tell you the gas milage that each of their technicians averaged per day. Figured daily was which tech was upselling the most extra services. They could tell you off the top of their heads ages of the vehicles and equipment, and probably anything else you could ask them that was important to know for high profits. Employees were well rewarded and stayed long term and got better and better at their jobs. The were voted “The Best”, “Favorite Lawn Care Business” and other local awards.  They were the “Go to” business.  Not the big national companies in the area.

Working with a business that had 2,000 fertilization and weed control customers in a combination of towns with a total of 50,000 people was amazing.  There were probably 22,000 homes plus businesses in their area.  One out of every eleven properties were using them.  If you assume at least 30% of property owners were doing their own lawn care, the numbers were unbelievable.  The couple that owned this business bought it with 150 existing customers ten years earlier. They knew that customer service and being professional was the key to growth and success.  Their area had a high concentration of senior citizens who were challenging at times, but this couple knew their audience and played to their needs. The business spent about 1-2% on advertising each year and that was more in the form of donations. With a retention rate of around 97% and continuous referral advertising isn’t necessary. They can pay cash for everything and put about one million dollars in their pocket every year.

I started working with a business owner in the South when he bought an existing business.  The original owner had a family tragedy and decided he had to sell the business. The new owner had been a regional sales manager for a pest control company specializing in commercial sales. He thought in terms of large sales and outstanding customer service.  He knew equipment assessment, maintenance, and calibration was going to reduce waste and increase efficiency.  He set out to design a truck that would be able to handle the sprayers and ride-on spreaders so that his techs would have the ideal equipment to choose from on each lawn. He believed that everyone could sell services, it was just a matter of customer communication.  His equipment, tools, and products were organized so that you could find anything instantly.  No wasted time, no missing tools. Because of his Friday afternoon sales trainings with techs, his sales soared. He set up sales competitions to go with the sales trainings and the business exploded.  We added several high profit services like Ornamental Care, Deep Root Tree Injections, and Liquid Soil Conditioning and his profits soared.  After a couple of years and Standard Operating Procedures were established, he was able to spend more time with his family and take several vacations each year with the business continuing to run perfectly with well trained and experienced technicians.

This 14 point system can be a “set-it-and-forget-it” way of running your business. If you hire the right employees, (we will cover that), then keep them happy and growing in their training, they can take a lot of the stress off you. Creating an environment where employees feel like family and success is shared will win half of the battle with sales, customer service, and following best practices when servicing.