Many of us think landscape maintenance is recession-proof. It is to some extent, but it's still important to plan for possible
setbacks. A big customer might fall behind on paying and put you in a cash crunch, or a group of residential customers might
land in financial difficulty and cancel services. But most of our clients are OK, happy to have our services and want us to
stay in business. So here are a few suggestions to work through this recession:
Quality counts
First, focus on your business by doing your work as flawlessly as possible.
Your goal is to retain every customer by doing your work perfectly, so paying special attention to detail is important. This
means talking to your customers every chance you get — even calling them just to check in. Make sure your customers are happy
and satisfied, and you'll reduce the chance they'll switch to someone else or try self service. You also must be more efficient than ever. Make sure every worker produces a full day's work every day. Workers tend to make
the work fit the day, so if a crew loses a few customers on one day's route, the tendency is to fill the day with the work
that's available — or, more plainly stated, slow down to get in eight hours of work. You will be paying your workers for eight
hours but billing for only six.
To combat this, talk to your workers and emphasize how important it is to make every minute count. They need to know that
you are managing more carefully to save their jobs. They are hearing about lay-offs and are genuinely concerned.
It's time to make the tough decision to dismiss any laggards now. This sends a message to the team that you will not tolerate
anything but the best work. Explain that these are troubling times, and you are acting for the good of all workers. The company
will make it through the recession only if everyone works hard and efficiently throughout each day.
Know when to walk away
It's also time to fire clients who won't pay reasonable rates. Raise your rates to cover the increase in fuel and other expenses
by adding a surcharge. If a customer won't pay, recommend that he or she find someone else.
The only customer who gets special below-cost rates is your mother.
If you do lose a few clients, work fast and hard to get replacements. If you can't get new accounts, try suggestive selling.
It's easy to sell to your current customers because you have established relationships. Focus on landscape areas that need
improvement — a water issue, for example, or a planting bed in need of an update. Do all that you can to replace any lost
revenue with new, profitable sales.
Be prepared to jump when a good potential client calls. The prospect's current landscaper might have stopped showing up. This
client needs help this week, so offer to do the work for a one-time, no-obligation, fixed price.
Record your work times carefully, and bid to make money. If the client won't pay a fair rate, walk away. You must make money
every day on every job.
Budget accordingly
Take some time to budget, starting with a one-week period. When you look at the budget for a week, it can highlight a problem
that you can fix now.
The best example is fuel costs. When diesel gets expensive, the Saturday fill-up can eat up all the profit for the week.
