Become a Leading Commercial Landscaping Company: The Business Development Guide
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The Content Team,
HALSTEAD.
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Imagine being able to rely on ongoing landscaping work on a larger scale, knowing that you can realize significant profits if you do everything right—all while forming mutually beneficial partnerships for years to come. Leading landscaping companies that made the leap from being homeowner focused to putting most of their effort on commercial properties have proven this can happen and have experienced business growth as a result. Sound out of reach? Turning into a commercial landscaping company is possible if the proper steps are taken.
Being the awarded bidder for major commercial lawn care accounts with the potential for consistent income certainly has substantial benefits. While you may have fewer accounts than you would have within the residential sector, each account will be worth far more in the long run.
That’s one reason the commercial landscaping sector is incredibly competitive, in addition to the fact that there are much fewer commercial properties than residential ones. To stand out and be among the top choices, there is one sure-fire rule any landscaper will want to follow: Approach commercial accounts completely different from residential projects.
Of course, leading commercial landscaping companies consistently look for ways to improve their businesses—it’s a practice that has gotten them where they are. Today, more often than not, they’re finding success by leveraging technology, getting more creative in their business development efforts, and eliminating inefficiencies.
Landscape Contractors May Be Better Off Picking a Side: Commercial or Residential?
If you take a close look at Lawn & Landscape’s Top 100 Largest Companies List, you’ll notice that not a single company in the Top 20 lists their revenue as coming equally from both the commercial and the residential sectors. Instead, this number will weigh heavily on one side, if not all on one side.
This congruency is because it is challenging to be largely successful in both sectors simultaneously. These top landscaping firms have chosen a side, stuck with it, and earned a top spot among landscapers throughout the nation.
To do it, they had to narrow their strategy. Simply saying that your company offers commercial or residential services isn’t enough. The strategies for attracting and attaining commercial accounts are much different than residential projects, reflecting the differences between how marketing is approached for B2B vs. B2C.
There is a distinct difference in motives, habits, and behavior that drive the decision-making for both groups—because of this, having a dedicated marketing approach that targets the commercial decision-maker is essential.
Property managers are financially motivated in their decision-making, so they often look for the lowest bid. Knowing the company’s numbers before placing a bid can make a big difference, as does considering your competition. Since margins are much thinner, logistics optimization and crew efficiency are of utmost importance when working toward becoming a player in the commercial world.
For even better results, top landscaping companies with a commercial focus have dialed it in even more to get precise in their messaging. They’ve chosen a specific niche, such as homeowners associations (HOAs), while others concentrate on fulfillment warehouses, airports, educational campuses, etc.
These efforts allow for better market penetration and increased crew and equipment efficiencies, and it’s a big reason for their continued success. If your business currently serves both markets, you may want to transition from one to the other. The keyword is transition—it’ll be a process that won’t happen overnight.
Transitioning to Being a Commercial Landscape Service Provider
The transition from residential landscaping projects to commercial accounts takes a new way of thinking. Perception matters to commercial decision-makers because their business choices have a financial impact. It must be clear that your business can handle the large commercial properties, and you’ll likely need new equipment to do so.
While you may need to keep the residential side of your business strong to support this new venture into the commercial sector, an excellent place to start the transition is to have designated equipment, crew members, and a sales team for each side.
Put together a team of your best people for your commercial accounts and your best foot forward. The decision-maker will pay close attention to your company’s level of professionalism across the board—from their in-person interactions with you, to your emails, phone calls, visits to your website, social media profile, and the overall image (branding) you put out there. This is where leveraging technology to land large commercial accounts largely comes into play.
Building Relationships & Extending Your Network: Welcome to the Commercial Landscaper Big Leagues
One of the biggest differentiators between commercial and residential marketing is that landscaping companies have to be much more targeted in their approach to commercial accounts. Often, commercial accounts have to be specifically sought out and contacted directly. And if your business isn’t doing this, you can rest assured that your competition will be—and guess who will get the account?
The age-old saying comes to mind, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” and it couldn’t be more accurate. The landscape contractor making the most impact, investing in the relationship, and getting noticed most (in a positive way) will be the one who wins the account. Simply said, building relationships and expanding your network will be crucial to success in the commercial sector.
Utilize Your Existing Customer Network
As you grow your network, don’t forget to nurture your existing relationships. Do any of your residential customers have connections to commercial properties? It’s highly possible that some of your customers are business owners and can be a great first contact to extend your network. There is power in referrals, and knowing someone connected to a commercial property can help you land a big account.
The first thing that comes to mind when considering networking opportunities is often the traditional in-person events, such as community events and meetings, professional networking events, or Chamber of Commerce meetings. There are many organizations that host meetings or events where landscaping professionals can connect with prospects, such as real estate groups, BOMA International, CREW, or you could even host a seminar for a local HOA. These are all helpful for networking events, but technology can make it easier to reach more people in less time while also serving as a means to continue building on any connections you have made during in-person events.
Speeding Up Business Development When Transitioning to Commercial Landscaping
Word of mouth and expanding your network are proven ways to close deals, but they are time-consuming. To accelerate awareness of your business's strengths and capabilities on the commercial side, you can lean on the latest advances in marketing technology. Make sure your company comes up when commercial property owners and managers are looking for a new solutions provider and that you can keep track of all leads and prospects.
Rethinking Website Design for Commercial Landscape Contractors
If your website entirely focuses on swimming pools and luxurious outdoor living, consider how your website design can attract savvy business owners who will do their due diligence when researching service providers. While commercial contracts involve more legwork than residential contracts, and prospective clients’ research may not begin with the website—they are likely to end up there to see your capabilities.
Top commercial landscape companies have sections of their website dedicated to the commercial sector, designed with commercial decision-makers in mind. These users approach websites differently, and your website design can influence how they move from one section to another to explore your specialties and portfolio.
This concept plays out in having a separate landing page for each service. For example, a commercial landscape company may have website pages for commercial snow and ice management, commercial lawn mowing services, commercial landscape design and build services, and commercial landscape maintenance. These dedicated pages are helpful in search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.
Online Business Listings & Why They’re Important
Ensuring your commercial landscaping business has online business listings is one of the foundations of online marketing because of SEO. Most people first do a Google search when they need a specific product or service.
Companies with a positive online image have created that image—it doesn’t just happen organically. It takes effort and consistent work. Many successful landscaping companies utilize reputation management services to ensure their online image is a good one so that when they appear in the search results, what the prospect sees is positive. A consistent flow of online reviews can also serve as a referral source and help with SEO efforts.
In this case, a decision-maker may search “commercial snow plowing,” “irrigation systems for business properties,” or something similar. With proper SEO efforts on your website and online business listings on Google, Yelp, Houzz, Angi, and others, your business will be at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) in the business listings section and the general search results. Even more importantly, the online reviews you’ve garnered will help provide social proof and establish trust.
Outbound Marketing: Hub Data Software & Data Source Tools
Hub data software is a tool that can help optimize your outreach efforts by providing professional email addresses in seconds and helping you connect with the right people. One such data source software is Hunter, which allows you to get the email addresses behind any website, making it easy to contact your prospects. Simply type the company’s website address into the search box, and you’ll receive a list of all the emails associated with that website. Even better, they offer 25 free searches each month.
Another valuable data source is Zoominfo, which provides B2B data and the software you need to connect with your prospects. The database has over 100 million companies profiled, making it a handy tool.
Maximize Efficiency with Customer Resource Management (CRM) & Automated Emails
CRM software is also a valuable tool for streamlining operations. It helps with contact and sales management, syncs with your website, and allows for automated emails. Since nurturing the commercial lead is an integral part of the process, CRM ensures that this is done consistently and automatically—making the sales process effective and efficient.
Hubspot Sales Hub is one example of a powerful sales software for CRM. It offers reporting and analytics and the ability to integrate with over 1,000 tools in the HubSpot App Marketplace. With one easy-to-use platform, you can keep a record of all interactions and prospecting, schedule calls, and set up email marketing campaigns, among other features.
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THE ROLE OF CONTENT IN BUILDING A COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPING BUSINESS
The content on your website can serve as education for your prospects and a way for you to establish your business’s expertise in the industry. It may take a while to develop trust with the commercial decision-maker, but your content can serve as a means to do that over time.
Long-form and in-depth content, such as whitepapers and reports, will be more meaningful in the commercial market. For example, you could publish a blog post about the benefits of commercial snow removal or how to attract more customers to a business by investing in commercial landscaping. These articles plant seeds that, over time, will grow into trust in your business’s thought leadership and authority in the industry.
Investing in professional creatives is a non-negotiable for leading commercial landscaping companies. An online portfolio featuring colorful photos that showcase your work, including professional videography of any commercial accounts, can also have a massive impact. As an added benefit, these professional photos and videos can be used across various marketing channels—from your website to your social media platforms, informative marketing emails to eBooks, and even more traditional marketing methods.
Why Commercial Landscapers Shouldn’t Completely Discount Traditional Marketing Methods Just Yet
Technology is king; there’s no doubt about it. But there is still a place for traditional marketing methods (i.e., marketing that isn’t online)—even in a tech-centered world. The key is a good mix of both digital and print marketing.
Print & Digital Sales Brochures: The Ultimate Leave Behind in the Commercial Landscaping Industry
Leave behinds still hold a place in marketing today. In fact, 83% of people are likelier to do business with a company that has given them a promotional product. A portfolio or sales brochure printed on high-quality paper helps create psychological ownership that triggers an emotional response, a response that is key to landing any sale.
Imagine this scenario: Your commercial sales rep visits a retirement community and meets with the facility manager. They discuss your company’s comprehensive lawn care and snow and ice management services, and the prospect ends the meeting by saying they are still taking other bids and will get back to you.
The salesperson hands them a high-quality portfolio with professional photos showcasing other accounts for which your business has provided services. The salesperson leaves, and the decision-maker sets the portfolio on their desk. Over the course of a few days, they keep seeing the portfolio in front of them and pick it up to flip through the photos of gorgeous landscapes.
This traditional marketing method has served its purpose of keeping your company top of mind, so it’s the first company they think of when it’s time to award a bid. Even better, you can easily post this portfolio online in a digital version that you can email to prospects you’ve met in your networking efforts.
Social Media: Using LinkedIn to Build Relationships Effectively
Commercial decision-makers, such as property managers, facility managers, asset managers, etc., aren’t likely to be found where your residential prospects are and vice versa. For example, even the social media platforms they choose to hang out on differ. Since the decision-makers are professionals, they are more likely to be found on LinkedIn than on Facebook—simply because it’s a social platform for professionals.
According to LinkedIn, B2B marketers see 2x higher conversion rates on LinkedIn, and 40% of B2B marketers say LinkedIn is the most effective platform. The 2021 Digital Trust Benchmark Report lists LinkedIn as the most trusted social media platform, ahead of the major players such as Facebook. LinkedIn is an excellent place for targeting and warming up highly qualified contacts—establishing a connection and starting a foundation for a relationship, and its targeting capabilities are tremendous.
It is critical to have a strong LinkedIn profile. 79% of consumers are more likely to consider a brand if the person they’re working with has an informative LinkedIn profile, and 73% are more likely to consider a brand if the salesperson reaches out via LinkedIn. With a strong LinkedIn profile, you can make better connections by interacting with others on the platform. Make sure you use a professional profile photo and an eye-catching background photo, take time to share your story in the summary field, and provide detailed information throughout your profile.
Paid ads on LinkedIn can be effective at getting noticed, and retargeting efforts can lead to even better results and conversions. There are four types of LinkedIn Ads, including sponsored content, sponsored messaging, text ads, and dynamic ads. Each can be used in different ways.
For example, you may use a Message Ad to share information about the commercial snow and ice management services you offer. As part of a retargeting effort, a Carousel Image Ad could be used to display cards highlighting your company's services (commercial snow and ice management, lawn mowing, fertilization, seasonal cleanup, etc.).
A consistent mix of building a presence on LinkedIn by posting links to the educational content you have on your website, interacting with other local professionals, and LinkedIn Ad campaigns will help you get your foot in the door.
Getting the Appointment by Standing Out from the Competition
Once the connections have been made, the next step is getting the appointment. Offering to bring or buy lunch for the staff at a commercial property is always a popular option that helps you earn some brownie points. The connection you’ve already made, either in-person or online, will help ensure they accept your offer.
Even if you don’t have a connection yet, you can always establish one by stopping in at a local business. Keep your eyes open in your community for ways your company can solve a problem or meet a need. For example, you may notice turf issues, poor lawn maintenance, or sidewalks and a parking lot that haven’t been plowed. These are all ways your business can help, so grab your portfolio or brochure and stop in to start building that relationship.