Green Industry Marketing Secrets – Only 5% of the Population Is Concerned About This

Yep, it’s time again for another tidbit of magical marketing insight.  I sincerely hope you find these weekly emails interesting, compelling, and helpful to you as you work to grow your green industry business.

If you ever have any questions about specific marketing techniques or strategies, please don’t hesitate to ask your questions.  I get questions all the time and even though it takes me a few days to get back to some of them, I do try to answer every single email or comment I receive.

Okay, on to today’s marketing insight.

Did you know that at any given time there are only 5% of the population where price truly is the MOST important factor in making a buying decision? That’s right, ONLY 5%!  And while that percentage may have creeped up the last little while given all the economic uncertainty, it’s probably at a whooping 7-8%.

In other words, there’s a very small segment of the population where price truly is the biggest factor when making a buying decision.  And the best part of this is the simple fact that this 5% of the population doesn’t have to be in your target market!

That’s right, believe it or not, you have the ability to chose NOT to market to those folks.  In fact, if you haven’t already made that decision, you’re smoking some kinda funny weeds and there’s really not much help I can offer.

So, if only 5% of the population is truly concerned about price, then why does it seem like your prospects decision making process always involves price? Because you haven’t given them anything other than price to distinguish you from your competition. Seriously, they have absolutely NOTHING besides price.

Now, I know this doesn’t apply to everyone, because there are a few LCO’s that do a great job of educating their prospects and customers on why they’re head and shoulders above the competition.  Unfortunately, a large majority don’t.

So, what can you do right now to truly differentiate your business from the competition and give your prospects a reason other than price to select you?

First, make sure your service truly is head and shoulders better than anyone else’s. Again, this one really isn’t too tough because most LCO’s these days are of the ‘mow, blow, and go’ mentality.  They spend very little time making sure their service is top notch and as a result their customers are only mildly satisfied.

Second, educate your prospects. Help them understand what makes for a good, quality service.  Teach them the questions they should ask when interviewing contractors.  Tell them what they should expect once they do hire a company.  And let them know how the customer service should be carried out.

Now, the best part about all of these is that you get to decide the answer to all of those questions!

That’s right.  You see, your prospects and customers probably have absolutely NO IDEA what to expect from a quality lawn care service provider.  They certainly have some assumptions, but that’s all they really are.

Because no one’s ever told them what to expect or what the criteria should be and because you’re the ‘expert’, you have an opportunity to define both.  And then it’s simply a matter of making sure your service matches up with the criteria and expectations you’ve set.

Finally, create an instructive and defining USP. If you’re not familiar with the term USP, it stands for unique selling proposition, which means the characteristic or trait that makes you unique from all of your competition.  And an effective USP is typically a short, concise statement of the major benefit(s) your customers receive by choosing you.

Having a clearly defined, benefit filled USP is a perfect way to distinguish you from your competition and it’s something that should be used in ALL of your marketing efforts. You should include it in your 60 second elevator speech you use when networking. It should be included on your business cards, in your brochures, on your website, and in any printed materials you send out.

So, if you find yourself constantly fighting the pricing game, maybe it’s time to take a step back and examine your marketing efforts.  Are you unintentionally going after the 5% truly concerned about price?  If not, are you doing enough to make price a non-factor?

In either case, it’s important to remember that you are in control and you have the power to dictate what happens in your marketplace.

Now go out there and make the magic happen!