Mergers, acquisitions, and private equity investment are rapidly redefining the landscape of the high-end lawn, landscape, and outdoor living industry. For growing companies, these shifts are no longer a distant concern—they are an imminent reality. From leadership transitions to multi-location integration, understanding how to maintain brand trust and operational momentum during M&A is now a core growth skill.

You're drowning in leads—but most just don't convert. Sound familiar? You're not alone. Many lawn, landscape, and outdoor living businesses share the same frustration. Now that the COVID-induced boom in home renovations has cooled, quality leads have never mattered more. Let’s shift the focus from quantity to quality and watch the real results roll in.

Rolling out new tools and processes successfully requires thoughtful planning. Businesses that implement change with a clear rollout plan—complete with executive buy-in, easy-to-follow training, and ongoing coaching—tend to see stronger adoption across teams. Aligning incentives and compensation with data quality can further encourage consistent usage and accountability.

If you’ve felt that sting—of invoices stacking up while your phones stay quiet—this guide is for you. We’re not here to sell you another cookie-cutter service. Instead, think of these seven “vetting checkpoints” as guardrails: Apply them to any marketing proposal, and you’ll spot the red flags before you commit. Each checkpoint ends with a simple payoff line, so you know exactly what relief you’ll achieve.

Why Proposals, Not Just Estimates, Win Premium Work

Too often, landscape companies equate “proposal” with “estimate.” A simple spreadsheet with quantities and pricing may suffice for low-cost, commoditized work—but it falls short in today’s more sophisticated sales environment. Kyle Racki, Co-founder and CEO of Proposify, puts it succinctly: “A proposal is your chance to sell when you're not in the room.”

Especially for residential design-build projects or commercial bids with multiple stakeholders, proposals carry the burden of telling your story. They must communicate not just the scope, but the strategy, the professionalism, and the value behind your pricing.

The foundations of the marketing plan aren’t changing—strategy and brand still set the stage. And as the industry becomes evermore competitive—evermore cutthroat—and as the communications landscape is constantly transformed by technology, managing and promoting your brand only becomes more crucial to building consumer connections.

Your website is a multi-faceted marketing tool that really only reaches full potential when it becomes an effective online hub for driving revenue. It’s the central touch point to all others—it’s where most of your prospects ultimately land, regardless of how they first contact you, and increasingly, that first contact is not made while sitting in a chair, browsing on a desktop computer.

Your website is far from the only asset that benefits from compelling content. Not surprisingly in 2020 and beyond, content is, and will be continue to be, king across all initiatives when it comes to marketing pool builders, landscape designb/builds, and kitchen and bath remodelers.

Project case studies present a serious opportunity to let prospects take a deeper dive into your portfolio, to experience the dramatic transformation of successful projects as they unfold—from concept to completion. They’re an invaluable tool for conveying powerful narratives, not only about your most stunning work but about the distinctive nuances of your value proposition and brand.

Past experiences with search engine optimization professionals may have soured many owners and leadership on the whole concept, but that doesn’t change the importance of organic search and paid search (pay per click or PPC) strategies working in tandem.

Not unlike search, social media marketing for design/builds can effectively be broken down into two categories—paid and organic. Depending on the platform, both are worthwhile to include in your budget, but the tactics deployed on each vary greatly based on expected goals.

It’s well-established that the most convincing source of marketing information has always been endorsements from your satisfied customers. That’s been true from the dawn of commerce, and it’s just as true in the digital age.

Holding the attention of your prospects and reliably capturing leads requires a level of responsiveness that’s just not possible without automation. After all, running a leading design/build firm doesn’t exactly leave for a lot of free time.

Of course, the intent is to empower your sales team by giving them the resources to do their job. It’s incredible how many sales organizations put so much effort into setting goals and incentivizing their sales force, then torpedo the entire effort by not providing the resources they need.

Because marketing is a combination of art, data, science, and human emotion, there are a lot of gray areas—that’s the deal.