If your company is constantly exploring the latest and greatest in new marketing techniques, sometimes the simplest practices can fall by the wayside.
“There’s a belief that an outside force will make me successful, as opposed to having to deal with the discipline and rigor of everyday habits,” says Robert Murray, co-founder and CEO of Intrigue Media. “It’s really sexy and attractive to think, ‘If I spend $50,000, I’ll make a million.”
Murray argues that it really comes down to having the discipline and focus to practice the basics of marketing.
“If you build a tower, you can only go as far as the foundation will hold,” Murray says. “So if you build strong and wide and deep, you can go really, really high.”
Take a moment to pause and review these marketing 101 concepts to see if any of them have been neglected in your organization.
Be Customer Obsessed
One of the best habits your company can develop is understanding your customer and obsessing over the value you bring them. Your business decisions should align with how you can make your client’s life better.
“I think that is the one thing that people can lose sight of, small or big,” Murray says. “People lose sight of the whole point of a business, which is to serve the customer.”
Understanding the value you have to offer will also help you get away from salesy marketing. Murray says too often businesses rely on discounts or special offers to attract customers.
“People don’t like being sold to,” Murray says. “They like to buy. I think it’s an overused tactic to try to get people to buy, and discounting specifically is just something I don’t believe in. Margins are tight enough in the landscape industry; we don’t need to be discounting anything.”
Instead, think about how every interaction is a form of marketing. This includes how you decide to answer the phone.
“Do it with a smile and a bit of a wow saying like, ‘Hey Jill, it’s XYZ Landscaping Company. What can we do to make your day better?’” Murray says. “That’s a little thing, but it’s a little unique.”
Murray says responsiveness in general is critical when it comes to leads.
“We see less than 75% of phone calls are answered across more than 100 landscaping companies,” he says.
If someone submits an inquiry online, utilize an autoreply to let the lead know when you will get back to them. Murray says you are 400 times more likely to reach a lead if you get back to them in the first five minutes, as 80% of customers will work with the first business they talk to.
Build Trust and Relationships in the Community
Murray says another basic step is to be where your customers are. While there are some statewide and national players, the vast majority of landscape companies are local or regional operations.
Murray says if you want to work with high-end customers who have high-value projects, you need to join the local golf, yacht or country club.
“I think a lot of people overlook how valuable it is to get involved in your community,” Murray says. “Your customers do hang out in places together, and as any business owner wanting to find customers, the best way to do this is by building trust and relationships.”
You shouldn’t start immediately pitching people on your company once you join. Instead, take a genuine interest in people and get to know them.
“It’ll come around and somebody at some point is going to say, ‘What do you do?’” Murray says. “You can let them know you do landscape design/build for high-end residential. That’s it. People want to buy from people they like, know and trust. If you can build relationships and trust over time, in an environment with a bunch of high-net-worth individuals who are likely to purchase the service you offer when they need it, they’re not going to go Googling who to get it from. They’re going to talk to you.”
He says the best way to build trust and relationships is to serve others. This could be anything from volunteering on a committee or helping organize a fundraising event to serving on the board for local organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Taking on tasks and following through with them will show others you can be counted on. Murray says that 50% of marketing is making a promise to the world and then the other 50% is delivering on that promise.
“I think most successful entrepreneurs in most industries, especially the landscape industry, will agree that trying to help other people, whether it’s team members or the community or strangers, is the path to success,” Murray says. “So instead of trying to make your life better, trying to make other people’s lives better, and I think the most successful people at any stage of business take that approach.”
Murray recommends taking potential clients out to lunch and asking how you can be of service to them.
“I’m a big believer in that approach, just because if we can just make the world better, I can make your life better, if you don’t buy from me, I don’t care,” Murray says. “We’re fine. One day, though, you might decide that you do want some help, and guess who you’re going to think of? The person who helped you, not some stranger.”
Ask for Reviews
Murray says having a solid Google Business Profile is also critical, especially if you’re on the smaller side still.
“We all understand the power of reviews,” Murray says. “We as consumers use them all the time. If there’s a company with 140 5-star reviews, and a company with 30 5-star reviews, people lean toward the 140 one.”
He says the number one reason customers don’t leave reviews is because they aren’t asked. The second reason is that they don’t know what to write, and the third is that they simply forgot.
“Make it easy for someone to leave you a Google review by having a QR code on your phone when you’ve done the job and have them scan it,” Murray says. “Let them know that the team is going to get a bonus if you say their name. Send them emails afterwards that would mean the world to us if you were to help us help more people.”
You can streamline the review request process by sending an email with a link and asking them to share their feedback on the work you did for them and their experience working with you.
“If you think you’re doing basics right, and you’re not over a million dollars in revenue and you’ve been in business for more than four years, something’s not adding up,” Murray says. “I think some people overcomplicate when they really just need to do the thing. I think a lot of people try to move on to the next thing instead of doing more of the one thing.”
