In order to get landscaping leads, your marketing strategy should focus on promoting during the off season, free consultations, and rewarding referrals
Landscaping is big business in the United States. A recent IBISWorld report found that the market size was $105.1 billion in 2021, and the industry has grown an average of 2.5% each year from 2016-2021.
However, not every business is growing. Slowdowns are common in the landscaping business, and if you experience one, it may not be your fault. Still, if revenue is slumping, you’ve got to figure it out for the sake of your business. Here’s how to find landscaping leads quickly.
So where have all your customers gone? Demand can be fickle in the landscaping business, which is notoriously seasonal and based on a number of external factors.
Here are a few things that could be affecting your ability to find new landscaping leads.
No one needs their grass mowed and their petunias trimmed if it’s in the middle of the winter in Minnesota. Seasonal slowdowns are a natural part of running a landscaping business, although it’s more pronounced in northern areas as opposed to perpetually warm locations in the deep south.
People do business with companies they trust, and they trust companies that have lots of good reviews from real customers. If you haven’t collected many reviews, customers may click over to a competitor when they search you online.
When you rely too much on a couple of lead sources, you get left without alternatives if they dry up.
You may have a bad landing page that doesn’t convert well. For example, the landing page may not succinctly state what services you offer, or you may not have a form for a free consultation they can fill out as soon as they land on the page. And even if your landing page is good, you may not have an ad campaign driving locals looking for landscaping services to your website.
If you’re in dire need of landscaping leads, there are ways to quickly increase the flow of new lawn care prospects. Here are a few things you can do to jump-start your lead generation.
Most landscapers wait until the spring to start marketing. That's too late. Get a jump-start on your competition by advertising to potential customers early. Start your marketing campaigns when it's still cold out and the trees are bare.
Look for tradeshows and home shows in the winter months to help promote your business. That way, when it comes time to call someone, your name is already in potential customers’ heads.
Freebies are vital to attracting new clients. Offer free consultations to prospective clients. Allow them to set up a time for you to walk through their yard. Talk through what you could do with it as well as provide your expertise on what should be done.
Doing this gives you a huge advantage over your competitors. Ultimately, a customer is going to choose someone they trust. Since they’ve met you in person and you’ve already walked through their property, they’re more inclined to trust you.
There's no better advertisement for your work than current customers whose lawns you’re in the midst of beautifying. Produce big, bold signs with your contact information and logo that indicate you did this landscaping work. Take advantage of that lawn envy in every neighborhood. This is a foolproof method to build trust as someone who actually made a beautiful yard instead of just promising it.
Referrals are important in every business, but they're especially essential in a business like landscaping. Whenever you complete a job, politely ask a customer if they'd be willing to refer someone. Oftentimes, they're happy to do so.
If you want to boost referrals even more, offer rewards for them. If they can give you a name and a phone number, provide them with an extra service, such as an extra free visit to perform some maintenance on the yard.
But don’t just offer rewards for referrals–offer it for reviews as well. When people search for landscaping services online, they’re looking for those businesses with five stars and lots of reviews. A landscaping business with a low rating or few reviews—or worse, no reviews—is going to be a red flag for customers. They’ll bounce to the next lawn care service instead.
Offer an extra service to your customers in exchange for leaving a review online (although don’t offer a reward for a positive review, which is against the terms of services of review sites).
Discounts and upsells are a great way landscapers can boost business. Customers often balk at the high price tag of landscaping work at first. If you offer a steep discount for the first service, that may be enough to get them to buy. You can also get creative and offer free maintenance of the yard after the initial service, and highlight how expensive it would be if they went with a competitor.
Another strategy is to skip the discount completely and add something of value to the package instead. For a landscaper, this could be offering a personal care guide and consultation on how to take care of the plant material after it has been installed.
Always look for upsell opportunities. When you are working on the lawn, identify additional issues, if applicable. For example, propose to install an irrigation system so a homeowner can effortlessly keep their lawn green throughout the year. Because everyone's lawn is different, there's always a unique additional service you can offer.
If you're not trying to improve your ranking in Google and using social media to boost your business, you're missing out on new customers.
Use your expertise in landscaping to write quality blog posts offering advice on keeping plants pruned or when to plant certain types of flowers. By going after your target audience, your site will get a higher ranking in Google, which will get more landscaping leads flowing into your business.
You’ll also want to update your website, blog, and social media profiles with customer photos.
“Before and after photos of projects are very effective,” says Tara Dudley, Angi Expert Review Board member and owner of Plant Life Designs. “People are very visual and love to see how a space looked prior to a project being completed.”
Offering expertise to your customers is also very effective. Whether you do this through your blog, YouTube videos, or Instagram live, it’s a great way to establish trust.
“Teach prospective and current customers how to take care of their plants, offer tips on landscape design, and show them creative uses for their outdoor spaces,” says Dudley. “Customers will have you top of mind as an expert in your field.”
Generating new leads is all about impressing the customers you have because it leads to referrals and upsells. Ask yourself what extra service you could provide that would really wow them. Perhaps it’s going above and beyond with unmatched customer service and being highly responsive to problems. Whatever it is, you know your customers best, so use your instinct.
