With so many leads coming in digitally these days, it’s important for landscape companies to adapt their marketing strategies. Glen Baisley, marketing and customer service director of Neave Group Outdoor Solutions in Wappinger Falls, New York, says that the company has had to find new ways to engage clients in this digital day and age.
Engaging with more customers online has been a learning experience but by keeping up with the times, Baisley says they’ve been able to continually connect with clients, even as more of them have gone digital. In fact, Baisley says that these days the majority of the leads they get come in digitally.
“I think one of the biggest mistakes companies make with online marketing is constantly trying to sell to the customer without actually engaging with them or offering them something of value,” Baisley says. “You can show a lot of pictures or tell them what you’re selling, but what is the client getting out of that? How are you engaging with them?”
Baisley offers value to the clients in terms of blog posts with helpful advice. They also offer downloadable e-guides, tip sheets and even short videos.
“It’s very easy to talk about how you sell a holiday décor service. It’s a whole other thing to offer the customer tips for decorating their own home,” says Baisley. “They see value in those tips — but more often than not they wind up not having time to do it all themselves.”
Baisley says the company has blogs on everything from the best way to maintain a lawn to signs a tree may require health care.
“We provide a ton of DIY content,” Baisley says. “That might sound counterintuitive but we’re positioning ourselves as the experts. And at the end of the day, people have busy lives and often hire a professional. They appreciate you for showing them how to do it — how to solve problems — but they usually end up wanting you to do it for them.”
In addition to frequent blog content, Baisley says the group utilizes social media to “pull back the curtain” and give an inside look to projects that are underway.
“It seems the more we pull back that curtain, and show our clients the behind-the-scenes stuff that’s going on, the more trust we build,” Baisley says. “Again, it’s positioning ourselves as the experts. We have nothing to hide when it comes to showing clients how we do things. Building trust is everything.”
Baisley says that the most successful companies will be those that “continue to embrace technology in this digital day and age.”
Our Like a Boss series highlights some common business challenges landscape professionals face and how they conquer them.
