The landscaping business is huge in the United States. All types of properties, from residential homes to commercial buildings to government premises, have landscaping needs that have to be fulfilled to maintain safe areas and positive aesthetics. Since most people do not have the time or the skills necessary to tackle these landscaping needs, your professional services as a contractor may be highly sought after.
Being able to perform the duties of a landscaper is not the same as making decisions aimed at growing. Scaling your business is the best way to increase profits and secure the future of your brand.
To position your company for growth, you need the right set of tools. Some tools may be physical machines that can make your job easier, while others are practices to generate more attention for the brand from a broader audience. Here are five tools that could lead to growth for your landscaping business.
An SEO Agency
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most important aspects of digital marketing in 2023. A business website may be the first place where people learn about your services, but this platform is useless if no one can find it organically. SEO efforts can move your website up the rankings whenever someone searches for words or phrases relevant to your business. To pursue an effective SEO initiative, partnering with an SEO agency could be the best investment for your business. Putting it in the hands of experts ensures that the changes made will yield positive results, resulting in more traffic to your website and a higher chance of conversions.
A Skid Steer
As a landscaper, you probably rely on a lot of equipment to get the job done. Between mowers, weed whackers, wheelbarrows, building materials, and more, there may not be much room in your facility for heavy machinery. For this reason, you can save money by investing in a more versatile piece of equipment like a skid steer. Skid steers are versatile because they can have many different attachments.
Everything from skid steer pallet forks to buckets to concrete breakers can be rented and attached to your skid steer to suit the needs of the current project. Instead of getting more equipment for all these jobs, investing in one skid steer that can handle various projects can save your business money and physical space.
Project Management Software
As a landscaper, your business is very dependent on projects. Whether you install patios, pathways, decks, or other complex structures, there may be a lot of moving pieces involved in completing each project. Managing the workers involved, the ordering of materials, the timeline of the project, and other logistics can be overwhelming when you are also doing manual labor in between. A project management software program can make these tasks much easier. It can organize your workflow, handle task assignments, and keep everyone on track with the goals of the project and its timeline. Smoother operations will result in more efficient projects and happier customers when the job is done.
Clear Onboarding Process
Landscaping contractors are dependent on client intake to succeed. If you do not have a clear and simple process for onboarding new clients, then they can easily grow frustrated and find a more professional team to work with. A clear process demonstrates authority and expertise in the industry. For example, maybe you have an automated system for sending out emails to respond to contact form submissions, letting potential clients know immediately that the team has received their request and someone will be reaching out shortly.
It should also be stated from the beginning how the onboarding process works. Is the next step a phone call with the client? Is there a plan for one or two in-person meetings? Will a team member go to the client’s location for a free consultation about the project? The more clarity your onboarding process has, the easier it will be to turn interested individuals into paying clients.
Social Media
landscaping business is all about visual and functional results. Clients are only happy if the work being done yields positive aesthetics and greater functionality for their properties. That means your marketing efforts should focus heavily on visuals. For contractors, that means a lot of before and after pictures, and what better way to share those than on social media? Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and even LinkedIn are perfect for sharing photos or videos of completed projects or work-in-progress. Utilizing the tools of the 21st century is necessary in the Internet age, and you can generate attention for your landscaping brand by promoting it on social media.
Fill Your Toolbox With Strategies That Promote Growth
If you are not aiming to grow, then what are you doing in the landscaping business? A partnership with an SEO agency, a skid steer, project management software, a clear onboarding process, and social media can all help your landscaping business grow in the future, so consider investing in these strategies now to take your company to the next level with better client services.
