[EDITOR’S NOTE: The Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA) has issued the results of a recent member ProPoll titled "Season Success Check." The survey aimed at learning how lawn care operator’s (LCOs) seasons are going so far this year was sent to regular PLCAA members with fax numbers. PLCAA received a 10 percent return, and Bob Andrews sums up the results below.]
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MARIETTA, Ga. - While late April may be a bit early to state how the year is shaping up, every LCO should be on top of this issue enough to answer the question. After all, we are the professionals - the ones who have been there, done that - and should have a pretty good idea of what will happen before it does. So to ask LCOs how the year is going "so far" should be an easy question to answer, right? Guess again, as we review responses to the latest PLCAA ProPoll:
Question #1: Are You Having a Successful Season So Far?
- Yes: 52 percent
No: 11 percent
Too Early to Tell: 37 percent
Those responding "yes" cited good weather, a better supply of labor, lower cancels, concentrating on good quality, adding more sales to current customers, etc. Some also stated that the economy is not as bad as they had anticipated and that they were able to raise prices for 2001 without much flak.
Those answering "no" cited several of the same reasons, including weather, shortage of labor and the economy.
Those answering "too early to tell" simply repeated that it was too early in the year to draw any conclusive answers. A number of these cited poor weather and a late spring as setting them back in the schedule enough that they simply had not yet had enough time this year to make an early determination.
Question #2a: What is Your Percent Sales Growth Rate (revenue)?
- Average: 15.8 percent
Question #2b: What Percent is New Sales (revenue)?
- Average: 16 percent
Responses here ranged all over the board from a high of 300 percent to a low of 1 percent. And while I believe the averages are more indicative than the extremes, there was little to be drawn from the answers to these two questions other than most of the companies who responded are growing and are doing so at a fairly comfortable rate.
Question #3: How Does Your Season Compare to Last Year at This Time?
- About the Same: 25 percent
Better: 35 percent
Worse: 40 percent
Again, I think we are all still too much in a state of flux to be able to draw clear conclusions. For example, 60 percent of respondents felt that their business was doing better or about the same as 2000. At the same time, 40 percent said year-to-date is worse than 2000.
Question #4: Are You Doing Anything Different This Year to Boost Growth?
- Yes: 64 percent
No: 36 percent
Those answering "yes" listed new services, more direct mail, telemarketing, add-on services, referral bonuses, more diversified advertising and improved customer contact as a way to boost their sales.
Those answering "no" simply answered "no."
SUMMARY. Conclusions were difficult to draw at this point in the year, but there are some common themes that thread their way throughout all answers.
- Fuel costs are an issue and are becoming a bigger one.
- The slowing economy is a big deal in some parts of the country but not what you might expect it to be in others.
- The unemployment rate seems to be helping the industry find labor in many areas but not on the West Coast.
- Weather is an issue in 2001.
In my market in central Indiana, we lost an unbelievable one day to bad weather in Round No. 1. My good friend in Iowa could hardly get Round No. 1 started due to lingering snow and then constant rain.
So far, 2001 is a year of such contradictions that the answers to our questions simply aren't easy to come by. It would be good to ask these questions again in November at the Green Industry Conference in Tampa, Fla., Nov. 9-13, 2001. It probably is important to do so since the answers to these questions for this year could well set the stage for several more years to come.
For more information about PLCAA visit www.plcaa.org.
Bob Andrews is the owner of The Greenskeeper Inc., Carmel, Ind., with more than 20 years in the industry. Andrews, a past president of PLCAA, has also served as an independent consultant for PLCAA.