When you work as a professional landscaper, understanding how to keep clients happy and eager to continue using your services is essential. Otherwise, your more customer-centric competitors could overshadow you and make it difficult to remain in business. Fortunately, your decision to embrace technology could be essential for client retention.
Here are some ways that technology helps landscapers keep their customers.
1. Project management software aids planning
One of the most frequently used applications of digital technology in the landscaping industry involves using project management software. Taking that approach allows professionals to get a detailed view of things like scheduling and budgets. Clients won’t generally show patience if their landscaping professionals continually get behind schedule or can’t meet budgetary requirements.
Project management software is user-friendly, and many options are cloud-based. That’s particularly convenient when a landscaping professional needs to manage teams and figure out which projects they should work on during a given day. Since many project management suites allow indicating the amount of time spent doing something, it’s easy to set initial budgets or anticipate potential problems.
If you choose to use project management software, it can centralize essential information. Plus, these tools also often have historical metrics that assist with seeing the costs for similar projects. Having that information could help when estimating expenses for a new job.
Project management interfaces enable you to rely more on hard metrics and less on guesswork or what you recall from past projects. Then it’s easier to set realistic expectations for clients.
2. Social media fosters client engagement
Early in a client-landscaper relationship, it’s especially important for the landscaping representative to stand out. Then, it’s more likely that the person will consistently depend on them for all their relevant needs.
One of the most accessible ways to stay visible to clients is for landscapers to maintain a regularly updated social media presence. Besides making landscaping companies more visible, being active on social media can help position them as authority figures in the community. For example, they could post timely articles about topics such as which flowers attract bees or butterflies and invite readers to schedule appointments.
A company could also post information about a new design tool it has that helps them cater to client needs. In that case, an accompanying video clip could be excellent for describing the device, plus informing clients how it would benefit them.
Clients also respond well to storytelling, and social media is a prime platform for connecting with audiences. You might create a story that centers on a common problem that people in your area have, then position your landscaping team as having the means to solve it.
In addition to retaining clients, social media can attract new ones. For example, you could run a referral campaign where each party gets 20 percent off a landscaping appointment if they quote something you mentioned in a social media post.
3. New technologies can enhance performance and avoid breakdowns
The rise in digital technologies makes it easier for people to use the internet or apps to find out about what kinds of equipment might help them with their landscaping business. Moreover, it’s common for the machinery itself to have high-tech components. You can also benefit by renting it instead of making a substantial upfront investment and buying it.
One of the major benefits of renting modern equipment is that you can try it out and see how it fits your workflow. If you find it brings anticipated advantages, it’s easier to justify the possibility of owning it. You may also want to rent a piece of equipment to fill a short-term or seasonal need. Renting allows you to meet the demand while keeping costs down.
Perhaps the majority of your items are outdated or excessively worn. Then, your productivity may suffer, especially if there are ongoing breakdowns.
Clients could also get the impression you’re not reliable because your equipment can’t perform as expected. A significant part of getting on board with technology involves being open to how it could help your career. Figuring out which items might help you excel is now a more straightforward process than in the past.
4. Technologies help you make better use of time
Clients are impressed if it appears landscaping professionals don’t waste time during their appointments. Some landscapers have even started using gadgets like automated lawnmowers that free up their time for other things. As technology improves, more businesses may let robotic technology take care of less-involved tasks while they focus on duties that require a human touch.
Determine whether your landscaping company has too many manual tasks it could automate. If so, technology can help. Moreover, it can strengthen your supplier relationships by streamlining administrative tasks and speeding up communications with those external parties. Then, it could be easier to get what you need for clients without delays.
Connecting with your clients
This overview shows the link between technology and retaining your clients. Regardless of the size or age of your landscaping business, learning about current technologies is good for prosperity.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was written by Holly Welles. Welles is a freelance writer with an emphasis on home improvement, business and commercial real estate. She regularly contributes to sites like Homes.com and Porch as well as publishing weekly updates on her own home improvement blog, The Estate Update.
Landscapers use a variety of attachments for doing everything from snow removal to jobsite cleanup, and regardless of how often they are used, every landscaper has a favorite attachment.
