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Grow with Grunder: Ask yourself, how strong is your company’s reputation?

May 25, 2022 -  By Marty Grunder

R.P. Marzilli near Boston, Mass., has grown to $53 million in annual revenue, all without a dedicated sales team. 

It’s a unique business model, and while it’s not the way we do it at Grunder Landscaping, I’m interested in how it’s worked for them. This company handles very complex jobs. The team shared stories with me about having to drive to different quarries to find the exact right shade of granite for a job, only to find it at a quarry that had been more or less abandoned. This meant needing to take R.P. Marzilli equipment out to load, cut and haul the materials. Their clients have high expectations, and yet they come in as prospects already sold on working with R.P. Marzilli. 

So how does the team do it and what can we learn from the way they operate?

1. They structure the company around their ideal clients

While R.P. Marzilli’s jobs are eventually enjoyed by the property owner, the team typically works with the project’s architect. R.P. Marzilli structures the business to serve architects and landscape architects as its ideal clients. These clients know what quality looks like and want only the best quality for their projects. These clients know what quality looks like and want only the best quality for their projects. Marzilli’s team is a true partner to clients, and in that structure, the team realized a salesperson was unnecessary. This may not be the case at your company or with your ideal client, and that’s OK. Who is your ideal client at your company? Is your company designed to serve them well?

2. R.P. Marzilli understands the importance of its reputation in achieving success

R.P. Marzilli has a strong reputation and clients call in already knowing they want to work with the company. R.P. Marzilli’s project management skills earned them this reputation. The team maintains and strengthens that reputation with every project they complete. Your reputation is the result of what you do, day in and day out. To maintain or improve your own reputation, look first at the quality of work you do. Do you have systems in place to monitor and maintain quality? Are you training your team on how to do the job to your standards? 

We’ll get an up-close look at how Marzilli operates next month. I’m especially looking forward to touring one of their completed jobs myself during our after-hours event at the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill.

Are you signed up to join us June 23-24? Sign up here: https://www.growgroupinc.com/nalp-field-trip.