Pool site update

[Steve]

Next year is going to be quite exciting to see how it all grows and gets more stabilized.

__________________
- Subscribe to my Lawn Care Marketing Blog Feed and get daily tips sent to you. Free!
Download your Free trial of Gopher Lawn Care Software.

[picframer]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by Steve Next year is going to be quite exciting to see how it all grows and gets more stabilized. Yes, when things settle down, probably January, I will write a post on some things I have learned, what I had to change etc. might be a good read for those starting as this has taken every friggin business skill I have learned to make it a shocking success in it's first year, it took a lot of creative approaches and the equipment to do it, very, very little advertising yet I see my site has over 10,000 hits, I built the thing in April, that is unherd of for this service industry in a city this small. I track visitor locations, 92% are from Halifax where I live. We won tons of jobs due to my Blackberry, a very common comment is we hired you because you replied within min's......do you set at a desk all day? LOL no it comes to me on the jobsite and I reply, set up an appointment and I put it in the calander. It's little things like this that may be outside the box for some that will make you a winner.

__________________
Andy
Halifax, Nova Scotia

[Steve]

We won tons of jobs due to my Blackberry, a very common comment is we hired you because you replied within min's......do you set at a desk all day?

Sometimes it is one thing that makes a huge difference.

This is something that many new business owners simply might not do because they are swamped. You could probably go through a local phone book in any area and make many calls during the day where you simply have to leave a message and hope they get back to you.

How would you advice others handle incoming calls and emails? Should they answer all calls during the day that come in? Should they respond to all new estimate emails within minutes too?

How important is it that they get to the new site that day to give an estimate?

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Steve

Sometimes it is one thing that makes a huge difference.

This is something that many new business owners simply might not do because they are swamped. You could probably go through a local phone book in any area and make many calls during the day where you simply have to leave a message and hope they get back to you.

How would you advice others handle incoming calls and emails? Should they answer all calls during the day that come in? Should they respond to all new estimate emails within minutes too?

How important is it that they get to the new site that day to give an estimate?

Sorry for the delay:

I respond within 2 hours always, esually 30 min, meet within 48 hours.

I do not take calls on sites I am being paid by the hour, staff can only take calls at lunch but have a seperate ring tone if it's from me.

We can't get to a site the same day unless its a day I am out giving a quote, we will not leave a site to give a quote, we run a very tight schedule.

[Steve]

Do you feel there is a sweet spot in the amount of time that a lawn care business owner should return calls by?

If you can't answer all incoming calls, would it be worth having an answering service or no?

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Steve

Do you feel there is a sweet spot in the amount of time that a lawn care business owner should return calls by?

If you can't answer all incoming calls, would it be worth having an answering service or no?

Same day without question or you will loose. Answering service is out, they want to speak to the owner or at least someone who knows what they are talking about. Call on the road using bluetooth, you have time and if you want to make the time,it sets the bar a little higher.

[Steve]

Do you ever call other companies in the area to see how quickly they pickup their phone or how long they take to get back? That would be really interesting to know.

I do wonder if you found they called back faster than you initially thought, would this raise the bar in the area when it came to competition, or should this not be such a big concern?

Is it important to be faster than everyone else or just as long as you get back to the potential customer within the day?

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Steve

Do you ever call other companies in the area to see how quickly they pickup their phone or how long they take to get back? That would be really interesting to know.

I do wonder if you found they called back faster than you initially thought, would this raise the bar in the area when it came to competition, or should this not be such a big concern?

Is it important to be faster than everyone else or just as long as you get back to the potential customer within the day?

Never, this is all customer feedback which is all that counts.

I think getting back is critical, customers use the net a lot, they fill out a contact me form from my website and I contact them right away, I have not sen my competition using blackberries.

The other thing that bugs clients is companies using hotmail, gmail, live etc as their mail client, the feedback is if you are for real, you will have a proper email address and I agree 100% with that feedback.

The key to all this is to gather information from your clients and prospects, it will tell you what you are doing right then you have to run with that feedback.

[Steve]

The other thing that bugs clients is companies using hotmail, gmail, live etc as their mail client, the feedback is if you are for real, you will have a proper email address and I agree 100% with that feedback.

That is fascinating! I would never even think to ask about something like that! Did they just come out and tell you this stuff or do you make it a habit to ask them why they chose you?