How We Do It: Creating a Marketing Plan at Wallace Landscape Associates

When I decided to go into the landscape design/build business in 1979, I was virtually unknown, so my first challenge was to find customers.

I designed a flier and enlisted the help of my teenage children to deliver it door to door in neighborhoods that looked prosperous enough to afford my services. I got all the projects I could handle in my first season from that simple flier. It created the impetus for the multi-million-dollar business Wallace Landscape Associates has become.

When I look through my scrapbook of early advertisements, I shake my head at the lack of sophistication they demonstrate. But those early attempts still brought in calls from prospective customers.

From the very beginning, I have allocated 2 percent of our sales revenue to marketing. During economic downturns, I increase it to 3 percent or more. In the past, I advertised in local magazines, symphony and playhouse programs, Yellow Pages, charity event brochures – anywhere prospective clients (high-end professionals who spent their free time at the symphony, etc.) would see ads. Leads came in. We got so many calls our designers were overworked trying to respond to them.

We carefully tracked the source and outcome of each lead by filling out a questionnaire with every call and making sure the client answered the ‘How did you hear about us?’ question. Then, each designer would compile their leads and report their findings to the company. Our lead analysis showed us that few of those calls actually resulted in sales. I had to do some soul searching and decide whether this was an investment in ego development or business growth. Business growth got my vote, so I started studying marketing in a serious way.

I decided I needed a more focused approach to marketing. I asked each of our designers for a list of their “A” clients. Then I interviewed the designers for the specific characteristics of those people. I created a profile of the type of people we want to reach with our advertising, which was more specific than my original interpretation of our typical clients. For instance, I pinpointed neighborhoods where the “A” types were concentrated, their typical ages, which is between 45 and 60, and their average home values. Then, I studied the demographics of our three main market areas.

In interviewing the designers, I learned that our best clients were active on charity boards and involved in fund raising for these organizations. I also learned that tennis, golf and horseback riding were favored activities. I sent out a survey to both clients and non-clients in our target market.

From the survey I learned that even our best clients had trouble remembering the name of our company so I changed it from Landscape Services to Wallace Landscape Associates. I commissioned a graphic designer to develop a strong, easily recognizable logo. The next step was to clearly communicate throughout our organization who and where our best clients were and what their values are. We already had clean trucks; neat, uniformed technicians; a courteous person answering the phone; a streamlined, timesaving process – all of which, the survey indicated, were important to our target market.

I also studied customer retention and referral strategies. More than 80 percent of our work comes from repeat business or customer referrals. Our attractive site signs and truck signs contribute another 10 percent.

We still advertise. We sponsor our local public radio station and our ads appear in regional issues of Architectural Digest and Town & Country magazines because our clients read these publications. We also send narrowly targeted, seasonal mailings of postcards showing our work to prospective clients that fit our client profile. We receive far fewer leads today, but a high percentage of them result in profitable sales.

We realize that everything we do is marketing. It’s not only the bold logo on our clean, white trucks. It’s the courtesy with which our foremen drive, it’s the way we honor our guarantee, and it is our support of charitable and community activities. Our advertising program is an important part of our marketing plan, but there is more to it. I have learned that a well-designed and executed marketing program is essential for growth in this business. – Terry Wallace

The author is owner of Wallace Landscape Associates, Kennett Square, Pa., and can be reached at 610/444-6161