old customers

I was going through my old customer list, and have noticed it getting smaller as they have been becoming active again. the list still consist of around 18 or so maintenance customers. the only reason there inactive is, i dropped half of them when my wife was getting close to having the baby. i was wondering would it be impolite to call them back to check on them. I know most of them have new lcos, but maybe other services could phase me in a little at a time?

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by [b Quote[/b] ]i was wondering would it be impolite to call them back to check on them. I know most of them have new lcos, but maybe other services could phase me in a little at a time? I think it would be a smart move. Keeping in touch with them lets them know you are still there and still looking to service them. You can find out a lot of great information. Like do they currently have a lawn care service provider? Are they happy with them? What did they think of your services? Do they need any current work done? Would they like you to service them in the spring? All this is great and powerful information for you.

__________________
- 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.

[LawncareMarketingMagic]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]i was wondering would it be impolite to call them back to check on them.

Without a doubt, YES YES YES, you should get in touch with your old customers! It's 100x's easier to resell a previous customer than it is a new prospect.

Here's what I'd do if I were you. I'd send these 18 previous customers a personal letter with a photo of the new addition, or one of the whole family, and explain the reasons why you had to let them go. You could also include some of the little details about being a father that you enjoy most. Really tug at their heart strings.

Then, make them an incredible offer for resuming service with you. Only you know your business and the numbers, so it's up to you to come up with something that will really knock their socks off but still allow you to make money. Worse case, you break even on the initial service, but hopefully your business is structured to make it up on the back-end.

Finally, since 18 is a small number I'd send them a couple of follow-up letters/postcards/flyers if they don't respond initially. If you send them something every month, they'll eventually either respond or move away.

I even call customers that I have bided on to see how there doing with the company that won the bid. I have even got few jobs that way because they were not happy with there service. Just something to think about.