You'll often hear me say that it is not difficult to stand out in business, especially as a landscaping company. Just calling a client back is more than most contractors do. At its core, standing out in business comes down to DWYSYWD or "Do What You Say You Will Do."
But if you're looking for ways to stand out even further, I thought I'd share some of my favorite "extra touches" that we use at Grunder Landscaping Co. to provide a superior level of service beyond just doing what we say we will.
1. We bring up the trash cans.
If we're on a property at the right time, we'll bring up empty trash cans and put them away for our clients. For the small amount of time it takes our team, this little touch makes a big impact on our clients.
2. We send out birthday cards.
We capture our clients' birthdays and have a system set up to send out birthday cards signed by our team on their birthdays. It's simple, low-cost, and it lets our clients know we're thinking of them.
3. We take every opportunity we can to add a special touch.
We'll plan annual plantings for commercial accounts to match the company's brand colors without being asked. If we finish our annual plantings and have extras left over, we'll use them to surprise a client with an extra flower bed for the season.
Once or twice, we've even loaned out the container plantings from my house or the office to a client who was having a big party. If we have the opportunity to delight our clients or add a special touch, we take it.
All three of these special touches are low-cost but make a big impact, and I believe they've helped us cement loyalty with our maintenance clients and have been big contributors to our strong reputation. Maybe they can work for you, too.
I'd love to see you at Grunder Landscaping Co. this fall for one of our GLC Field Trips. These fast-paced, small-sized events take you behind the scenes at GLC, where you'll hear directly from my leadership team and learn the ins and outs of how we do business. We cover it all and answer any questions you have while we're onsite together so that you can head home inspired and ready to grow your own company. Come see me - the dates are listed below under Upcoming Events!
I'll talk to you next week!
President & CEO
The Grow Group & Grunder Landscaping Co.
P.S. Come see my team and I this fall at one of our Grunder Landscaping Co. Field Trips! These small events fill up quickly every year, and give you the chance to go behind the scenes at our mothership. You'll hear directly from our leaders how we're managing sales, operations, HR, finance, marketing, and more, and we'll save plenty of time for working through the questions and challenges you're facing too. Sign up to join us - I promise it'll be well worth the trip to Dayton!