If you’re new to landscaping, making sure you’re successful is key to a long-lasting business. The goal is to land as many lawn care customers as quickly as possible. Aside from breaking even and making a profit, you need a steady stream of customers to set your business up for success.
As a landscaping business owner, you want high-paying customers that are willing to pay top dollar. But not only that– you want to retain them as well! After all, acquiring new customers can be pretty expensive.
So how do you go about getting those sought-after lawn care customers? And once you have them, how do you keep them coming back?
Whether you’re up-and-coming or an old business, there are often overlooked marketing strategies to bring in high-paying lawn care customers. And we’re here to share them with you. Keep reading.
What Defines a High-Paying Lawn Care Customer?
First and foremost, understanding what high-paying means is as important as knowing how to attract them. It’s important because not every lawn care customer who comes your way will necessarily make you money.
Every business owner has a different definition of what a “high-paying customer” means. This normally depends on the company or industry in question. You want to attract customers who are willing and able to pay for your lawn care services without a bargain.
According to Bob Vila, the cost for lawn service sits between $48 and $211, depending on some factors like yard size. The national average is about $129. Customers who have no problem paying more than that are who you should be targeting. Plus, customers who pay on time and repeatedly hire you for your services mean more cash flow.
You might think it’s impossible, but the truth is you just need the secret sauce to make it happen. Landscape Marketing Hero has that formula ready for the taking. Download our FREE Growth Map here to learn more.
Who is the Target Market for Lawn Care Business?
The target market for lawn care businesses is people who own a home or commercial property (business owners). But we get that that’s pretty broad.
The best targets for lawn care are homeowners who understand that their lawns are extensions of their status and community standing. They’re willing to pay more for a world-class service that can prop up their position.
You also want entrepreneurs that believe their landscape is an essential element that makes their business more inviting. By keeping that in mind, you can leverage your lawn care business and attract premium markets.
Now then, how exactly do you do that? You’ll find 10 time-tested ways below…
But before we get there, here are some things you should keep in mind:
- These items focus on specific marketing strategies to help you gain high-paying clients.
- Some tactics might be effective for you, while others might not be.
- Acquiring high-paying customers may be generally more challenging for new business owners.
10 Proven Ways and Ideas to Get Your High-Paying Lawn Care Customers
1. Build Reputation
As a new landscape business owner, you might not have much of a reputation yet. But there’s one general truth among new businesses regardless of industry…
It’s that it is easier to sell to people you already have relationships with, like your friends and family. Here are three reasons why:
- Less effort for a sale. More often than not, friends and family are invested in your success. At the very least, it’s easier to sell to them than to complete strangers. Reach out to people you know and find your first lawn care customers there.
- Confidence booster. You can get better at making personal connections and seek honest and constructive review. You can also ask them for a positive online review that boosts your business even more.
- Good for cash flow. The early days are the least productive period of a startup. Asking your family or friends if they need lawn care can help you earn while building your reputation.
2. Offer Bundled Services for Lawn Maintenance
Lawn care services and other home services are a grudge purchase. That means people buy it because they have to, and not necessarily because they want to. This is why it’s even more important to captivate them through product bundling.
Regardless of the industry, all customers want the best deals. Bundling is an attractive bargain since it’s a single, value-oriented offering that offers multiple solutions. (Plus, it’s more convenient for buyers.)
All your sales efforts become more efficient, and you can significantly increase profits on individual sales. This is ideal since you get a higher return for your initial customer acquisition.
Some bundles you can offer your lawn care customers are lawn mowing plus another offer. For example, lawn fertilization, lawn seeding, lawn aeration or lawn dethatching.
When you increase the value of your lawn care services, you also increase the perceived value for your customers.
3. Collaborate With Other Smaller Lawn Care Owners
Another way to land premium lawn care customers is to collaborate with other small landscape business owners like you. Find ones who you don’t directly compete with. Then, see if you can work together on lawn care projects.
You can also take on lawn care subcontracting work from other lawn care companies. This means that you’ll be working for another lawn care business owner in a sense, but you’ll be able to charge your own rates.
If you find a lawn care company that doesn’t have enough workers to meet demand, offer to help out.
This is a great way to get your foot in the door with high-end lawn care customers.
4. Invest in Both Organic and Paid Search
In the age of the internet, the best way to leverage your business is by capturing your community’s attention online. Sadly, most businesses only want to build their presence via organic (or free) means. Worse, some lawn care providers don’t invest in advertising at all.
To get lawn care customers who are willing and able to pay premium prices, you’ll need to do both. Build up a strong organic presence and target marketplace giants like Google and Facebook for running paid lawn care ads.
Here are some of the ways to do this:
- Paid Ads – Paying for ads like lawn care Google Ads is a fast way to land high-paying lawn care customers. Based on location, when people search “lawn care companies near me,” you’ll be the frontrunner.
- Blog Posts – Blog articles are a lawn care content marketing strategy that have two big benefits… They help improve your website’s SEO while also providing valuable information to lawn care leads.
- Social Media Ads – Lawn care social media ads are one of the best ways to connect with lawn care customers. A lot of folks look for services from social media giants like Facebook and Instagram.
5. Sell Value, Not the Price
Customers sometimes gravitate toward businesses with the lowest prices– whatever that business may be. However, lawn care businesses are a unique case. Lawn care is considered a “luxury” service. This means that customers are often more than willing to pay for a lawn care service that provides quality results.
Be sure to position your company as a high-end lawn care provider. Don’t take the cheap price route. Instead, focus on the value that your company provides. Lawn care customers are looking for a lawn care service that will make their lawn look the best on the block.
Sell the results and experience, and cash in on the value you aim to bring them.
6. Create a Portfolio Website
As a business owner, not having an online reputation should be out of the question. You want to be visible, and building your brand image online is the best way to do that in 2022. Make sure you have a website that houses everything customers need to know about you.
This includes your services, your lawn care pricing, your contact information, your location and most importantly: your portfolio.
Your lawn care business portfolio is a collection of photos and videos that show off your very best lawns. It’s like a resume, but for your business. When customers see what you’re capable of, they’ll be impressed and more likely to choose you over the competition.
7. Assemble a Solid Team
Your business performance is only as good as the people who work for you. Make sure you maintain a team of reliable, trustworthy and skilled lawn care professionals. You shouldn’t have to micromanage them. Instead, they should share and value your vision as much as you do.
If you have a team of lawn care experts who know what they’re doing, your customers will be happy. But if you have an unreliable team, your customers will be able to tell– and they won’t be happy. You’ll notice that in your online reviews and the fact that they won’t want to contact you again.
You should know how to attract your dream team. If you’re still struggling in that department, our FREE Growth Guide will walk you through it.
8. Let High-Paying Customers Find You
The only way people can find you is if you’re visible. Remember that no customer is itching to find a lawn care service. They’ll likely hire the first one they find that has positive reviews. That said, it’s key to build your online presence so customers can find you.
One way to do this is by signing your business up for Google My Business, which boosts your local SEO ranking. Working on your website’s SEO, social media presence and other advertising tactics will help customers better find you. If you’re not familiar with how this works, call up landscape marketing pros who can help you out.
9. Ask for the Right Referrals and Build Relationships
When you’ve been in the business for a while, ask your loyal lawn care customers to refer you to their friends and family. According to a study by the Nielsen Company, 92 percent of consumers around the globe say they trust earned media. In other words, they prefer personal recommendations over all other forms of advertising.
If your lawn care business is doing a great job, then customers will be more than happy to give you a referral. But you can’t just ask for one and be done with it. You have to actually follow up and build a relationship with the referral.
You can do this, for example, by sending them a thank you card, lawn care coupons or some other type of freebie. This will show them that you’re thankful for their referral and that you’re a lawn care company that cares about its customers.
10. Get Rid of Low-Paying Customers
Unfortunately, there are lawn care customers who just don’t want to pay you what you’re worth. They haggle over price, they complain about everything and they’re just generally a pain to work with.
These are the customers who you need to get rid of. It’s not worth your time and energy to try and please them. (Especially when there are other lawn care customers who will appreciate your services and be willing to pay for them.)
Don’t Be Like Every Other Lawn Care Company
The world of lawn care business is rapidly changing. That means your business must, too.
It’s important to be competitive in this marketing space– and you can think of the online world as a battlefield. Without good marketing tactics to back your world-class business, you’re bound to lose out on customers… Especially to other lawn care companies that have a better understanding of the competitive landscape.
Don’t be like every other lawn care company.
Be better.
Being the lawn care leader in your community is within arm’s reach with better marketing and advertising strategies. It all starts with downloading our FREE growth map, The Hero’s Journey: A Guide to Growing, to guide your steps.