As I was in Chicago last week and over this past weekend here in Charlotte, I must have seen at least 15-20 different lawn care company trucks driving around. Almost all of them had some type of sign on the side of their truck or trailer advertising their lawn care business.
Now, considering the business I’m in (helping lawn care companies market their services), I paid particular attention to what each of these signs said. I wasn’t really looking for anything in particular. More than anything I just wanted to see what these companies were putting on these signs that are seen by no doubt, hundreds of people each day as they drive from job to job.
Without exception, almost every single sign that I saw had the company name, a phone number, a list of some of the services they provided (mowing, trimming, aerating, fertilizing, etc.), some of them included a website, and most of them said something like, ‘Free Estimate’. A handful of them also included a cutesy tagline such as ‘A Cut Above the Rest’ or ‘Best Service in Town’.
To be perfectly honest, I was pretty disappointed in every single sign that I saw.
Why is that you ask? Well, considering the number of signs and advertisements I saw for these lawn care companies, do you know how many of them I really remember? How many of those companies would I be able to call back today? Heck, even though I don’t remember their phone number or web address, how many would I be able to look up in the phone book?
Zero.
That’s right. I don’t remember enough about any one single ad to be able to get back in touch with them. Even worse, there wasn’t one single sign or ad that I saw that gave me a compelling reason to give them a call. From what I saw, it was just a bunch of faceless lawn care companies blindly fishing for clients.
You see, in order to stand out from the crowd and be recognized and remembered, the most important thing you can do is to stop falling victim to all the copycat marketing that abounds.
Again, I saw no less than 15 signs for lawn care companies and without exception, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM LOOKED THE SAME.
How can you expect to compete when that’s the case? In reality, you can’t.
So what can you do to avoid this costly mistake?
Well, the most important thing to do is find a way to differentiate yourself from your competition. Don’t be guilty of doing what everyone else is doing, simply because that’s what everyone else is doing. If it works, that’s one thing. However, I can tell you that the majority of lawn care businesses are just doing what they see everyone else doing, regardless if it works or not. The reason for this is because they don’t know how to do anything different. However, with the information I’ve shared with you so far, there’s no reason why this should be the case for you.
The second thing you can do to avoid the ineffective copycat marketing used by others is to develop a powerful Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and then use it whenever possible. I included an article in last week’s ‘Lawn Care Marketing Magic Minute’ newsletter last week and I would suggest rereading it to learn more about what a USP is and the importance of it.
In a nutshell, you want to develop a USP that tells people why you are different from everyone else and what exactly they can expect from you. Your USP could and should be your marketing silver bullet. If done correctly, it has the potential to make you stand out from the crowd of other ‘me to’ lawn care marketers.
Finally, give your interested prospects a reason to contact you. Of course you’re goal is to get new lawn care customers and the way most companies do so is by offering a free estimate. Think about it for a second though. Is that really going to help them remember you above everyone else competing for their business?
Try this instead. Offer a free report titled, ‘The 5 Secrets to a Golf Course Like Lawn’ and don’t forget to tell them how to receive the report. They could either call your office, call a toll free recorded message, or they could log onto your website to receive it.
By doing something this, you’re giving your potential prospects a non-threatening reason to contact you. Sure, you want to eventually convert them to a paying customer, but for now you just want to capture their contact information.
I can guarantee you that if I’d seen even one sign or advertisement that included a powerful USP or offered something of value other than a free estimate, I would’ve remembered it without even having to write it down. Not only would there have been a reason to call, but more than anything IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT FROM ALL THE OTHERS!!
Remember, you need to put yourself in the place of your prospects. What would make you take notice and remember? What would make you remember one particular company from all the other countless lawn care businesses?
If you’re one of the 15 signs I saw over the past week, you now have 3 things you can do to make yourself stand out from the crowd. Next time, hopefully I’ll be remembering your sign!
