Choosing to hire a marketing firm for your lawn or landscape company is a major investment. This is why you should thoroughly vet at least three or four agencies before selecting one to work with.
As you meet with these different marketing firms, make sure you’re keeping an eye out for these red flags, which could lead to problems down the road.
Outlandish Guarantees
John Marin, co-founder and CMO of Gozango, a lead-generating marketing platform, says you should be wary of agencies that tout any sort of guarantee of specific results or you’ll get your money back.
“If anyone offers a ‘money back guarantee,’ be very clear about all the fine print,” Marin says. “Almost all marketing agencies and marketing software ‘money back guarantees’ have hidden terms that make it impossible for the client to meet all the requirements to qualify for a full refund.”
Unrealistic timelines, such as claiming you’ll receive qualified leads within the first week, can be another warning sign.
“Even if the marketing firm can launch ad campaigns tomorrow, everything takes time,” Marin says. “You may receive leads within the 1st week of launching a new marketing campaign; however, that is not necessarily normal these days. Platforms like Google and Facebook can take time to connect your campaign with the relevant potential buyers.”
Unable to Differentiate Themselves
Another worrisome indicator is if an agency is unable to communicate how they are different from their competition. In an industry where standing out is critical, you can’t count on a marketing firm to help you if they themselves are incapable of differentiating themselves from the other options.
In that same vein, you want to avoid firms that suggest cookie-cutter solutions. Chad Diller, CEO of Landscape Leadership, a sales and marketing agency for lawn and landscape companies, says you should be on the lookout for organizations that prescribe a solution before taking the time to truly get to know your organization. Look for firms that take a consultative approach instead.
“If you’re limited in your budget, and they’re saying they want to do certain services, and you are telling them you need leads within the first three months, they likely either don’t know what they’re doing or they’re just trying to make more money off of you if they’re promoting a full suite of services because you probably just need paid ads,” Marin says.
Willing to Work With Anyone
Diller says you should also pay attention to marketing agencies’ client capacity. If they want to take on as many companies as they can, this can be a bad indicator.
Asking “What’s your definition of a good versus a bad client fit for your agency?” can help you determine if an agency is selective or willing to take on any company.
Marin notes the marketing firm should be vetting you at the same time.
“Most great marketing firms ask questions to confirm they understand your needs, deal breakers, specific marketing goals around client volume, cost per lead, cost per sale, timeline expectations, and past experiences,” Marin says. “If a marketing firm is not asking these types of questions, that’s a red flag.”
Lack of Transparency
Marin says that marketing services should offer clear lead tracking information. Confirm the agency you’re talking to provides accurate and detailed tracking information, specifically when it comes to contacts.
He says you should also find out if their software will integrate with your CRM. In some cases, agencies’ business models mean they own the tracking system utilized, such as CallRail.
“Make sure to confirm are they setting up a CallRail account that you as a business own, or are they going to set up one that the agency owns and as soon as you stop using them, your data disappears, and you don’t have that list in that info anymore?” Marin says.
It’s also important to ask who you’d be working with on a regular basis.
“If they can’t tell you who will be in charge of your account, and give you background on those people, they might not have given any thought to who they’re going to assign to your account or the account manager has no practical experience in your industry,” Diller says. “If they can’t really give you a clear picture about who’s going to do what, that’s bad.”
Unrealistic Prices or Unwilling to Discuss Pricing
When you meet with different firms, pay attention to their pricing models.
“Some marketing services seem like a great deal initially,” Marin says. “However, they may lock you into long-term contracts that you can’t get out of, and/or have to pay a steep fee to break early.”
Other agencies may have hidden fees or microtransactions for additional services.
If a firm has too good to be true prices for paid ads in particular, this can indicate you probably won’t get the result you’re hoping for.
“If they tell you they’re going to be getting you hardscaping leads for $10, that’s a huge red flag to me,” Marin says. “Even ongoing landscaping clients for $10 as a qualified lead is also suspicious to me.”
Diller says it can also be a problem if a marketing agency won’t talk about pricing and the information is not readily available.
“I like to give that expectation to every single client on the first call we have,” Diller says. “Here’s where we’ll go if it’s a good fit. This is how much of that discovery project will cost. Here’s how much a 12-month engagement will cost. It’s going to be in this range, and if that’s not a good fit, go somewhere else because we don’t come back to this, and then you try to slash it in half because then we just wasted both of our time.”
