How to Get Commercial Lawn Accounts?

Commercial lawn care is a small but potentially lucrative market.

The Landscaping Services industry, which includes lawn and garden maintenance, landscape services, and groundskeeping, is forecasted to generate $128.8bn in revenue in 2022. The industry’s growth in the US has averaged 5.3% annually over the past five years.

Many companies love to get more calls from commercial clients and use digital marketing to reach them. But most commercial landscaping companies successful today started with the business owner knocking on property managers’ doors and doing the selling themselves. 

This article will answer how to get commercial lawn accounts, a popular topic many beginners ask about when they first start.

How to Get Commercial Lawn Accounts in 7 Steps

Commercial lawn care accounts is a dream for any lawn care company. They’re a steady source of income, and they can be pretty lucrative. But it’s not as easy to get commercial lawn accounts as you might think!

If your commercial lawn care game is just starting, you might feel like you don’t have enough experience with commercial lawn accounts. But remember that every business started somewhere, and with a strategic approach, you can become one of the most sought-after commercial landscaping companies in your area.

If you have the ambition to land a big commercial lawn care contract and increase revenue, you must be willing to do the work.

1. Identify the target audience

When it comes to the market research phase, many people focus on their competition. But if you’re looking for commercial lawn accounts, it can be a big mistake. 

It’s not enough to come up with an idea and hope that your target audience will find you.

Instead, you should start by identifying your target audience to land significant landscaping contracts. 

The first step of the target market and potential client identification is creating a customer persona. It means coming up with every detail possible about your ideal customer. 

You want to know-

• What do they do for a living?
• How old are they?
• What are their hobbies?
• Where do they live, and more importantly?
• How can you reach them?

Commercial maintenance accounts work differently than residential accounts. Your potential targets are commercial property managers.  Hence, you should look for ways to understand them and pitch your services.

2. Target local businesses

When securing a commercial lawn care contract, one of the biggest frustrations is dealing with brokers. It is incredibly confusing to know who to contact. These middle people often don’t seem to have the authority or interest in helping you.

You can avoid this problem by focusing on local businesses with local building owners. As you knock on doors in your service area, observe which lawns need more attention.  Locate who manages the property by looking up those businesses online. 

Additionally, you may ask your current commercial customers if they know anybody employed at those commercial properties. For example, they might go to their barber, dentist, child’s daycare, or friends or family’s workplaces.

3. Network like crazy

Networking is the best way to grow your landscaping company and land new commercial lawn accounts.

You might be surprised at how few people realize this. Most of us think of networking-type events to get new clients and make deals, but it can also help you build a solid relationship with your existing customers plus gain referrals.

Networking can also help you win new retail lawn care accounts by getting in front of the right people. If you’re lucky, those introductions will pay off when those people need a landscaper for their property.

If you come to know that particular government officials or community leaders oversee awarding bids for large projects in your area, it makes sense to go to their (networking) events and try to get on their radar.

But networking isn’t just about what happens during the event itself. It’s about building relationships with people who can refer business to you even after the event

And that’s why it’s so important to take advantage of all your opportunities for networking!

4. Go digital

Social media is mighty for building your brand, marketing your commercial lawn care business, and bagging commercial lawn accounts. Digital presence is a must to gain credibility and have more business inquiries. 

It’s also a great way to connect with people who have similar interests or work in similar industries as you. You can make more connections and get introduced into the right circles through social media, which can lead to new commercial client opportunities.

So, how can you use social media to connect with others? 

• Researching other businesses, especially successful ones, in your space is vital. It will help you with competitive analysis, so you know you’re headed in the right direction. 
• Identify accounts worth connecting with (like property manager, facility manager, or members of managers associations), and send them a personalized message letting them know who you are and why they should connect with you.

5. Address the pain points

To get a commercial lawn care contract, you must focus on common pain points. 

According to a recent survey by the National Association of Landscape professionals, the top concerns about landscape contractors were that they “don’t seem to be actively involved in the landscape” and that their services are “too pricey.” 

The survey showed that –

• Seventy-four percent of respondents wanted more consideration of long-term planning from their landscape contractor. 
• Seventy-two percent of respondents wanted more information about plant material options.
• Sixty-four percent wanted more information on budgeting for enhancements and replacements.

Such surveys are a good starting point to understand the service gap in the commercial market, address it, and sign more commercial lawn accounts.

Instead of telling customers how bad their mower is, try telling them about how good yours is.

If there’s anything, people don’t care about price. They care about value while finalizing landscape maintenance contracts.

6. Build personal business relationships

If you’re a small contractor for commercial work, you know that it can be tough to get commercial lawn care bid. Building personal relationships is the best way to quickly scale your commercial landscaping business. 

Developing relationships with independently owned hardware stores, plumbers, landscapers, and construction companies, will help you bring in more customers and make more money.

Business networks are groups of businesses (like similar real estate groups) that collaborate to bring more customers to each network member. By sharing ideas and referrals, members of a business network can improve their services and make more money.

Here’s how you can establish a business network in your area:

• First, identify potential partners who share similar goals. 
• Then reach out to those partners to see if they’re interested in working together. 
• Once they agree on the idea, schedule networking events where all members of the business network can meet each other. 
• Discuss how they can work together and what resources each has available for referrals.

It’s essential not just to think about how much money you’ll make but also how much value this will bring to other small businesses.

7. Place the bids smartly

Although a high-profit job, pricing your commercial lawn care services is a delicate process. If you price your maintenance contract too low, you won’t earn enough profit margins or cover your costs, and if you price too high, you’ll drive away business. Setting service pricing for prospective clients is a vital part of landing the job, and it’s essential to get it right.

The first step in setting service pricing is doing your homework on what other companies in the area are charging for similar work. You can ask or look at local job sites to see what other providers charge for their services. It will help you set a reasonable competitive price but still allows for a healthy profit margin for your business.

Once you know how much others are charging for comparable work, it’s time to create a proposal showing how much money you need from this client and how much profit will go back into your business account. 

When submitting proposals, including information about

• How long will it take to complete the project (the more specific, the better your professional proposal)?
• What kind of equipment will be used?
• Who will be doing the work (your employees)?
• Any other details that seem relevant to this client’s situation?

Conclusion

These are all the ways you can start implementing right away to bag better quality and more commercial lawn accounts. 

If you are looking to get commercial lawn care accounts early, you should build an omnichannel presence. You should be one step ahead of the services that your competitors are providing in the market. 

Impeccable customer service bundled with a thorough customer-centric approach will grow your budding commercial lawn maintenance business exponentially.

When you’re pitching for commercial lawn care contracts, don’t be desperate. You have to trust your offer before anyone else. Give an irresistible offer. After all, you want them to remember your professionalism and high-quality service, not desperation.

To manage your commercial lawn care business, all you can do is adopt FieldCamp software that makes things clear and smooth than ever. From managing job scheduling to dispatching lawn care technicians, creating invoices to receiving payments, this lawn care software handles all these things in clicks.