Why Quiet Lawn Care, Landscape & Tree Care Clients Should Worry You
Don’t you just love clients who are easy to do business with?
You know the ones.
- They never complain
- They rarely call
- They don’t question the invoice
You perform their lawn care, landscape maintenance, tree care, or plant health care, and you hardly ever hear from them
They must be happy, right?
Well Maybe…Maybe not.
When it comes to customer service and client retention in the lawn, landscape, and tree care industry, silence is not always golden.
In fact, your quietest customers may be the ones you should worry about most.
The Dangerous Assumption: “No News Is Good News”
One of the biggest customer-service mistakes a lawn care, landscaping, or tree service owner can make is assuming:
“If I’m not hearing complaints, we must be doing a good job.”
Most dissatisfied clients don’t enjoy complaining. Some don’t want confrontation. Others don’t believe complaining will accomplish anything
- So, they remain quiet
- Until they cancel
- Or don’t renew
- Or hire your competitor
- Even worse, they may be silent to you while talking about their dissatisfaction with:
- Neighbors
- Friends
- Property managers
- HOA board members
- …or online
That is why I have always liked this reminder:
“Silent customers can be deadly…encourage them to complain.”
A complaint gives you something silence doesn’t:
- A chance to fix the problem.
Listen to the Voice of the Client
Owners of landscape maintenance, lawn care, and tree care companies measure all kinds of things—labor hours, route density, gross margin, job costing, callbacks, chemical usage, enhancement sales, and revenue per hour.
But there is another measurement that matters:
What does the client think?
- Not what the salesperson thinks.
- Not what the production manager thinks.
- …And certainly not what the owner assumes.
Your company needs a system for capturing the Voice of the Client.
Here are seven ways to break the silence:
1. Ask for feedback before there’s a problem
Don’t wait for complaints. Ask, “How are we doing?” Better yet: “What is one thing we could be doing better on your property?”
2. Create regular client contact standards
Account managers, production managers, technicians, arborists, and crew leaders should know when and how clients are supposed to be contacted. Communication shouldn’t depend on someone remembering.
3. Don’t confuse service with communication
You may have serviced a property 25 times this year. That doesn’t mean you’ve communicated with the client 25 times. Service contact and client contact are not the same thing
4. Keep a Client Contact Log
Use your CRM or business management software to track meaningful interactions. Who contacted the client? What was discussed? Were concerns or opportunities identified? Is follow-up required?
5. Share the Voice of the Client
Pass along compliments, complaints, cancellations, and concerns to the people actually delivering the work. Everyone needs to understand what clients are saying.
6. Turn complaints into opportunities
Don’t become defensive. Listen, investigate, respond, fix the problem when appropriate, and follow up. A well-handled complaint can actually strengthen a client relationship.
7. Pay attention to the quiet clients
Who haven’t you heard from in six months? Which commercial landscape client hasn’t had a property review? Which lawn care customer receives applications but little personal communication? Which tree care client hasn’t heard from you since the last treatment?
Those are the clients I would start calling.
Communication Creates Growth
Regular communication isn’t just about customer retention… … It also creates sales opportunities.
- A lawn care client may need aeration and overseeding
- A landscape maintenance client may need mulch, irrigation repairs, seasonal color, or enhancements
- A tree care client may need pruning, removals, or a Plant Health Care program
You can’t uncover those opportunities if nobody is having the conversation.
Proactive client communication is a customer-service strategy, a retention strategy, and a growth strategy.
Don’t measure customer satisfaction by the absence of complaints.
Ask — Listen — Document — Respond — Follow up.
Because by the time a silent customer finally tells you they’re unhappy, they may already have decided to leave… …Clients who are silent to you are not always silent to others.
Be Well. Do Good Work. Keep In Touch.
Fred
To Learn More Contact Fred…
(619) 665-7854
