July 13th, 2010
All right, it has been almost 10 years since Lawn Care Directory got it’s start. In order to improve the user experience for those of you trying to find a landscape company, I literally went through and called every single premium advertiser we had in all 50 states that was listed before Jan 1 2010 to make sure they were still in business.
The results of this little escapade really surprised me. Apart from it taking me a week to make over 1000 phone calls, the experience was very enlightening. Here were my takeaways:
1. It is unbelievable how many companies do not answer their phone or have in their answering machine greeting their company name. Answering the phone “Hello” screams out unprofessional.
2. I was surprised to see how many companies were still in business but had a completely different business name. How are you going to build a brand people.
3. Most of the companies listed with Lawn Care Directory are still in business and doing great. Yeah I ended up deleting more than 200 companies from the directory, but I spoke to so many companies that love being members of our directory. Listen to what one landscaper had to say when I called him:
July 5, 2010
Hi Adam,
Just wanted to let you know that having my business listed with lawncaredirectory.com that my business has grown. Approximately 35 to 40 percent of the calls I get are from the listing.
When a search for lawn care companies in the local area is done, the listing with lawncaredirectory.com always pops up on the first page. Thanks for getting your website out there in front.
Thanks
Ron Cobb
All Pro Lawn Svc
Conclusion: I have more confidence than ever that Lawn Care Directory will provide the best experience to both lawn care/landscaping company as well as the property owner looking for the best company to do the job.
Posted in Customer Service | No Comments »
June 2nd, 2010
As many of you are aware, all those who placed orders in the month of April or May received and email stating that you had been billed another $13 30 days after your order was placed.
This was a glitch in our shopping cart and NO MONEY WAS CHARGED to your credit card. If this happened to you as a lawn care business kit purchaser please check with your bank to make sure that $13 was not deducted from your account.
We have fixed the problem and no more of these emails will be sent out. I apologize for the confusion and hope to help you make your lawn care business as good as it can be.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
May 19th, 2010
I recently heard about a home owner in my area that was getting quotes to re-landscape his front yard. He called two “big landscaping companies” that had a very professional look and feel. Both companies gave detailed quotes with line by line pricing on each part of the landscaping job.
By the time the home owner was done going through the two bids he realized that the landscaping project was going to cost him $10k. Like most people in this economy he was not willing or able to pay cash for a $10k landscaping project.
So he started talking with his neighbors and they referred a landscaper they had used. He called up the landscaper and when he came over to give the bid he could tell wasn’t a huge landscaping company and was more in touch with those of us not living in million dollar homes in the hills.
Well he gave a bid, not as detailed as the other two big landscaping companies but still line by line he bid out the job and the total came to $2k. Guess which landscaper he chose to use? Here is the kicker, I have seen the landscaping job the smaller guy did and it looks phenomenal.
You are probably in the situation where you are not a huge landscaping company yet, but take a lesson from this guy and be mindful of the economy we are in. People are looking to save money. You should still try to make good money on every job you do but don’t get greedy.
Posted in Bidding & Estimating | No Comments »
