Company: Commercial and residential lawn care service
Situation Overview: The company’s current marketing efforts are limited to a Web site, a Yellow Pages ad and some outdated sales brochures.
The landscaper’s sales force includes one fulltime employee and several part-timers. With plans to open a second location and expand their client base, they recognize the need for a more aggressive marketing strategy.
Marketing Recommendations:
- Direct Mail Promotion – Use targeted direct mail that delivers high readership, low waste and the ability to generate higher response rates than other traditional and new media.Key to successful direct mail is identifying the right decision makers. Several lists are available to reach potential buyers, including:
- Private businesses that own their building/property
- Property management firms responsible for multi-tenant facilities or multiple buildings, including apartment buildings, co-ops, condos and townhouses
- Residential housing associations – primarily those where home values are high
- Homeowners with high-value properties who could afford monthly lawn care services
- Collateral/Sales Materials – There’s an immediate need for updated materials to use in personal meetings and to fulfill information requests, including:
- Capabilities brochures with two versions, targeting commercial and residential markets
- Presentation folders to include inserts based on individual needs of clients
- Note cards
- Promotional items (pens, note pads, etc.)
- Search Engine Optimization to increase Web presence since there were approximately 15,000 annual Google searches for “landscaping services” in the target area.
- Yellow Pages and local or regional business directories, if effectiveness can be verified. “Landscaping services” is the 27th most referenced heading nationally with 61 million references/year.
Measurement: By monitoring calls, requests for literature and new client contracts, the organization can track new sales and measure the expansion into new target market areas. The direct mail campaign, containing a personalized URL that directs traffic to a special Web site, will enable campaign-specific analytics.
