Lawn Mowing Leads: Are You Leaving Money on the Table?
When you get incoming leads, you obviously mow lawns, but what else do you do? How about gardens, trees, hedges, rubbish removal, or lawn treatments? These are all jobs that people expect lawn-mowing businesses to do.
We get a couple of calls every month for lawn treatments, which is definitely not a service we offer. Now, the chances are that you only do some of these things. In fact, if you are offering all these things, you may need to focus more on your core offerings—but that’s another story.
Anyway, it doesn’t matter if you do these other jobs or not. You are going to get calls about them. Here is why you shouldn’t just say “No.”
The Power of the Positive Referral
People will assume that since you mow lawns, you may offer everything from gardening to repairing garden gates. If you tell the customer that you cannot help, they will think twice about ringing you when they have jobs that you can do.
We only accept lawn mowing jobs (small ones at that), but we like to make sure that everyone who rings us gets put in touch with someone who can help (within reason, of course). You want the customer’s experience on the phone to be good. If you can’t help them, you should immediately put them onto someone who can.
Key Takeaway: If you can tell (or text) them another contractor’s details, the customer experience with your business will be much better, and they will be more likely to ring you again next time.
Building Your List of Local Contractors
We try to have all these extra services covered in our list of local businesses. We have built our list up over the years, but there are a few shortcuts to building yours. Approach other businesses while you are out working. Look in places like
- The local mower repair shop.
- The local green dump.
- On-site encounters: When you work on a lawn and another contractor turns up to do a job.
I was on a lawn a couple of weeks ago when a tree guy turned up. This guy was different; he had the smallest portable stump grinder I have ever seen. I got his card and put it on my list. That will come in handy the next time I talk to someone with a hard-to-access tree stump.
Active Searching
Another way to work on that list is to search actively. This is better for new businesses or existing businesses with few connections:
- Search for a local business on Google.
- Look at the “Google Business Profile” (Google Maps) listings.
- Find the ones with the best reviews.
- Call them and have a chat.
How to Talk to Other Contractors
When making a deal with local businesses, determine first that they are not offering your service or already recommending another lawn mowing business. If they mow lawns as well, then the conversation is over.
If they don’t offer your service but are currently recommending another business, ask if they would be open to working with you. The most common agreement is a lead swap: you send them garden/tree quotes, and they send you lawn mowing leads.
Note: Ensure it isn’t one-sided. The agreement needs to be fair for both parties.
Tracking and Managing the Leads
How do you know what quotes you are forwarding to each other?
- The Simple Way: Tell the customer the contractor is busy, but if they mention your business name, they will be fitted in quicker.
- The Professional Way: Take the customer’s details and text them directly to the contractor. This proves the lead came from you.
Don’t Let the Lead Die
One of the significant problems with giving away leads is that they can appear to lack value because they are free. If the contractor is busy, they may decide to ignore it. This makes your business look bad.
- Make an Agreement: Agree that both parties will call back leads promptly.
- Follow Up: Tell the customer to let you know if they don’t hear back from the contractor.
- Two Strikes Rule: If a contractor fails to follow up once, remind them. If they fail twice, stop sending them work.
Pro Level: Selling Your Leads
I have found that selling leads is the best way to get quick responses and reliable contractors. My lead buyers respond within the hour because they paid for the info. We make roughly 20% of our yearly turnover just by selling excess leads.
If you go this route, you must provide a premium service:
- Full details: name, number, address, and a quick job description.
- Immediacy: Send the quote info immediately; never send old leads.
- Qualification: Qualify the call to ensure the quality is high.
Summing Up
Always be making connections. Find businesses that will do the work you don’t want to do and who will send you lawn-mowing leads in return. As you grow, you can move toward selling excess leads, allowing you to focus strictly on the specific work and neighborhoods you prefer.
