With October nearly here and the demands of summer winding down, now is a great time to take a look back at what you’ve accomplished so far this year and where you hope to finish. We take the time to do this at Grunder Landscaping Co. because it’s our last big chance to fix what we can for the season and to set ourselves up for success in the new year.
We reassess every area of our business—from finance and operations to sales and marketing—but none is more important than the way we’re treating our clients and our people.
Check Back in with Your Clients
Every successful landscaping company I know is working hard all year long to deliver great service to their clients, but fall is the time to wrap it all up with a bow.
At GLC, we’re taking extra care to ensure all our clients’ properties look exceptionally good and to get an extra touch point in with them before the year ends. This helps set the stage for us to convert design/build customers into ongoing maintenance clients, to lock in renewals, and to sell new work for next year. Our team leaders are knocking on doors to check in with our clients and our group leaders are following up to make certain we haven’t missed anything. We investigate thoroughly any issues we uncover and agree on a plan for correcting them for the future.
We understand the lifetime value of our best clients and are striving to build lasting relationships with them. We also know happy clients are our best marketing tool; nothing convinces prospects more about the quality and service we deliver than a glowing recommendation from a friend or neighbor.
Check in with Your People Too
Finding and keeping good team members is just as important to the success of your business as finding and keeping good clients. It’s also an ongoing challenge for nearly everyone in our industry.
At GLC, we’ve been exceedingly fortunate to have been fully staffed all season long, enabling us to have one of our most successful years ever. We’ve taken a multi-pronged approach to hiring, but we also know we have to be just as proactive in our efforts to retain good team members. We work hard to foster a company and a culture people want to be a part of, and we hold “stay interviews” with our team members to see how we’re doing. What, we ask them, would cause them to stay or leave? What can we do to improve?
These can be scary conversations to have, but they can also provide invaluable insight into how to make your workplace better and retain your best people.
What do your clients and team members have to say about you? Now is a great time to ask.
Have a great week!
Marty Grunder
President & CEO, The Grow Group and Grunder Landscaping Co.
P.S. In response to popular demand, we’ve added Marty’s Super Sales Bootcamp to our upcoming events schedule. Join us in Cincinnati on December 10 for a day of fast focused fun and learn how to sell your way to success with tools and tactics that work.