FOR LANDSCAPING COMPANIES
Your whole year arrives in three weeks of March.
The first warm weekend and the phone doesn't stop. You physically can't quote them all, so enquiries you'd have wanted get answered too late — and by November you're wishing you'd kept a few of them.
TYPICAL PROBLEMS
Seasonality makes every other problem worse.
A slow reply in March costs you more than a slow reply in October, because everyone is enquiring at once.
THE SEASON, HANDLED DIFFERENTLY
Two things change the shape of your year.
MARCH TO JULY
Answer everyone, visit only the right ones.
■Every enquiry gets a reply in minutes, even at peak
■Size, access, scope and photos collected in the conversation
■Site visits grouped by area so you're not zig-zagging
■Smaller jobs answered honestly rather than ignored
OCTOBER TO FEBRUARY
Fill spring before spring arrives.
■Advertising aimed at people planning, not buying today
■"Maybe next year" enquiries kept on file and contacted in January
■Design and consultation work sold through the winter
■March starts booked in December, so the rush is already half spoken for
WHAT WE'D USUALLY SET UP
For a landscaping business, in this order.
QUALIFYING A GARDEN ENQUIRY
Roughly how big is the garden?
Patio, turf, fencing, planting — or the whole thing?
Can a machine get round the back, or is it barrow only?
Could you send a photo or two?
Which month would you ideally start?
Do you have a rough budget in mind?
Access and a photo are usually the two that decide whether a visit is worth booking.
Landscaping questions
Should we advertise in winter?
Often yes, with different messaging. People plan garden projects months ahead, competition for attention is lower, and it lets you book spring work rather than scrambling for it.
Can we pause advertising when we're full?
Yes — spend can be turned down or off at short notice. It's usually better to reduce it than stop entirely, so the account keeps performing when you turn it back up.
We don't want small maintenance jobs. Can we filter them?
Largely. Advertising can focus on design and build, and qualification can direct smaller enquiries elsewhere politely — some of those people return later with bigger projects.
What about rescheduling for weather?
Appointments and reminders can be moved in a couple of taps, with the customer notified automatically instead of you sending fifteen texts on a wet Monday morning.
How much of next spring is already booked?
The best time to sort this out is the quiet bit before it starts.