Ben needs help with his marketing question

[Steve]

Ben wrote me this great question and I wanted to share it with all of you in hopes we can all help him out.

Quote[/b] ]Hi, my name is Ben and i started a residential landscaping business when i was in highschool and built it to over 40 weekly customers by the time i turned 19. I ended up selling the business when i was 19 equipment and all and started a commercial landscaping business where i do mostly hotels and large trucking terminals. this is my second year in business doing comercial landscaping and i am building my customers slow and steady. Basicaly i go to the buildings i would like to score a contract with , give them a proposal and explain what exactly i will be doing for what price. So far it has been working and i have been slowly gaining customers. I was wondering if you guys had any marketing ideas that would help me sell my self to large commercial customers and build my amount of customers quickly. I would also like to find a way to get the customers to come to me.

i just watched your videos for the first time tonite on youtube. i think you guys give a lot of excellent advice and i wish i could have watched your videos when i started my first business. I was also wondering if you have any ideas that would help my comercial landscaping business grow and perform better.

[lawnindustryconsultants.com]

Steve

Is ben a forum member?

[Steve]

I don't know actually. This came in via email.

Quote[/b] ]Basicaly i go to the buildings i would like to score a contract with , give them a proposal and explain what exactly i will be doing for what price. So far it has been working and i have been slowly gaining customers. I was wondering if you guys had any marketing ideas that would help me sell my self to large commercial customers and build my amount of customers quickly. I would also like to find a way to get the customers to come to me.

I think what he is doing here is brilliant. Creating a proposal and explaining what he will do. As we heard in the most recent podcast with lawn care industry author Ken LaVoie (http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/15950), Ken was saying their isn't much loyalty among commercial customers and that is why he likes to keep the % of his clients that are commercial to less than his residential base. His view was most commercial clients will go with the lowest bid. That is their main focus.

I would also suggest sending letters to commercial properties in the area and ask to be put on their bid list. I think there are some free sample letters of this in the letter section at the top of this forum.

I think it would be easier building up an image in an area where customers come to you, if those customers are residential. Having commercial customers come to you may be more difficult.

What's everyone else's thoughts on this?