People can generally detect 4 to 5 percent plant injury, and they would initiate control when the damage represents 7 percent of the entire plant if they were responsible for managing the plant, according to John Ball, professor of horticulture, South Dakota State University, Brookings, S.D.
These same people — your current and potential customers — consider a plant with 10 percent injury ruined. They won’t buy a plant from a retail store or garden center if it’s “only” 90 percent healthy.
What does that mean for the lawn care professional who surveys one of his or her accounts and decides it’s at least 90 percent healthy? Well, it may mean that’s not good enough, regardless of the property’s condition before you took the account.
As a contractor, how are you supposed to address this customer who supposedly is “always right,” but whose expectations for your service are so unrealistic?
“In general, the people who hire us think of us as the magic pill,” lamented Phil Fogarty, president, Crowley’s Lawn Service Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. “We’re the elixir to solve all of the problems with their lawn or landscape. They think we can spray our product on a shrub that is almost dead from sitting in a pool of water and make it look like something out of Better Homes & Gardens.”
KNOW THY ENEMY. Obviously, the customer is not your enemy. It’s their expectations of what you will do for their property that can create tension and animosity between you and him or her.
Andy Hines, vice president, Emerald Green, Atlanta, Ga., emphasized the importance of identifying each of your customers’ levels of expectations as soon as they hire you. “If we rate a lawn on a scale of zero to 10, the closer someone’s yard is to a zero, then the lower their expectations of the service will be,” he said. “But if they have a nice looking lawn and they’re cancelling their service with another company to use your company, their expectations of you will be much higher.”
Hines pointed out that doing a mediocre job on a poor lawn will often earn you more praise than doing a good job on a nice lawn. “It’s much easier to take a lawn from a zero to a 7 than it is to take it from a 7 to a 10,” he said.
Contractors have to understand more than the needs of each customer’s lawn to satisfy that customer. “It’s really important to spend time probing the wants of the customer in terms of what their level of involvement will be in caring for the lawn,” explained Bill Hoopes, director of training, Barefoot Grass division of TruGreen-ChemLawn, Worthington, Ohio. “Their wants are different from their needs. Needs are logical, but wants are emotional.
“The major problem working with new customers is that we know we can deliver the service they want, but only if they will do their part,” Hoopes continued. “Customers have to understand this is a working partnership between us and them, and they need to pay attention to proper mowing heights, sharpening mower blades and irrigating properly to achieve the maximum benefits from our service.”
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SELL REALITY. Many contractors, in an attempt to earn new business in increasingly competitive markets, actually doom themselves to failing to satisfy their customers. “A lot of people get in sales situations and get caught up with the temptation to say whatever it takes to get the job,” noted Fogarty. “People think we can do anything for their property, and that can also work for us in the sales process because we’re seen as the experts. But we have to supply them with realistic information and expectations. That should be our industry’s Hippocratic oath. Then, if we’re able to give them more than they expect, we can hopefully develop a valuable long-term relationship.”
Hines also warned against selling services you know you can’t deliver. “Contractors need to sell to the real problems in the yard, not to the customer’s expectations,” he said. “If someone has a decent lawn with a few weeds, I’ll sell them my services based specifically on those problems they have and what I can do for them. I won’t sell them on the idea of having a perfect lawn, because I can’t promise that.”
Fogarty recommended contractors notify potential customers of their company’s certifications, association memberships and other professional credentials to emphasize their level of professionalism. “References in the neighborhood with similar properties are also great resources so the customer can actually visit another property we’ve worked and see what they can expect for their property,” he added.
Fogarty said that lawn and landscape contractors who handle the situation properly should be able to set the customer’s expectations for them and make sure that they are realistic. “The customer wants to believe in a quick fix, but if you present yourself professionally as being someone who understands what he or she is talking about, then you can set the expectations at the appropriate level,” he explained. “Positioning yourself this way even allows you to be the bearer of bad news and still get the job sometimes.”
The author is Associate Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine.
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