A well respected member of this forum has taught me that there should always be an equal exchange of value and so I've decided to do my best to add value for readers here.

Basically over the past couple of years running my landscaping business I've utilized most of the commonly recognized marketing tactics available. Such tactics have included fliers, door hangers, post cards, letters, signs, t-shirts, online ads, etc. Overall, they've allowed me the opportunity to grow my business to just under $100,000 in annual revenue within 2.5 years.

HOWEVER, the reason I say "opportunity" is because I believe that traditional marketing tactics will only get your foot in the door. I've begun a whole new marketing plan that had originally stemmed from realizing how I was ACTUALLY getting all of this business....

My secret? Set aside the time to befriend your customers and build lasting relationships with them.

Sure, my flier may have got me a measly lawn, but my positive attitude is what got me the huge landscape renovation. Your competitors only see dollar signs when they interact with their customers. They want to get done with them as rapidly as possible just to move to the next customer in line. This, in turn, causes customers to feel like nothing but a number. A lonely number with no one to care for them or their needs.

The best investment I've ever made in life so far was sitting down for a few hours with my team to think of genuine ways to become closer with our clientele. Instead of printing addresses onto envelopes, I make sure that they are personally addressed. Instead of sending out fliers to my customers, I take time to call them and ask if there is anything I can help them with. Rather than try to shake the change from their pockets, I make it known that we truly care about their property. We even send out handwritten holiday cards in the off season.

This all may seem obvious to some, but it really surprised me that most just don't get it. As (successful) business owners we need to build relationships with our customers, not just the amount of money in our bank accounts. Since putting these simple, yet effective, strategies into effect our business has really taken off. Not only do we spend far less on previous forms of advertising, our customers love us and can't keep their mouth shut about us. I cannot stress enough the importance of truly caring about the customer. We've received more thank you phone calls/cards than I can count, our phone rings much more often because of all the referrals, and our tips from last season alone allowed me to buy brand new full uniforms for all of our employees.

Save yourself the dollars, ink, stamps, etc and pick up the phone to see how your customers are doing. The biggest jobs we've ever gotten have come from phone calls that we made just to see how they were doing. Best of luck and I hope you experience the same results I have!

-Sean