When a client cuts the relationship cord, that doesn’t mean the company should cease contact. Tom Brown, corporate sales consultant, GroundMasters, Cincinnati, Ohio, recommends quite the contrary. “We try to keep an eye on the property, watch the site, and find a point where it looks its worse and communicate with them,” he noted. Perhaps at this stage, the client will reconsider his or her decision.
“Keep in touch,” Brown emphasized. “Work with them over e-mail and let them know you’re still out there. If they are a commercial account, send them a note when you see them in the business section of the paper. Stay in touch, and let them know you’d like to get back on the site.”
Contractors should know when their commercial accounts, especially, budget and renew services. This is prime time for reselling services and maintaining constant communication, Brown suggested.
Dwayne Parris, operations manager, Chapel Valley Landscape Co., said he never considers cancelled clients crossed off the call list for new sales. “They are prospects for future business, and actions to take are to keep in contact with your old client and see how things are going with them since the change,” he agreed.
Simple conversations, basic questions and genuine concern for the client’s satisfaction with the service keeps relationships resilient to little tiffs, which are where most cancellations originate.
Generally, customers find loyalty more convenient than fickleness, pointed out Janice Thomas, vice president, grounds maintenance, Doerler Landscapes, Crosswicks, N.J. “Most residential clients would prefer to stick with the same company because it makes their lives easier.”
The author is Managing Editor – Special Projects for Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at khampshire@gie.net.