What Are Add-On Services All About?
Today's Pro-Motion Consulting blog post was written by Dana Davis, a Senior Consultant with our company. Enjoy!
You read articles in trade magazines all the time about adding services to your lawn or landscape business, but which ones are right for you and when is the right time?
Let’s begin by listing a few examples of add-ons: lawn fertilization & weed control programs, perimeter pest control, snow & ice management, tree & shrub care, bed weed control, pruning, landscape lighting, aeration, slit seeding, and even artificial golf greens.
One of the first steps in deciding which add-ons are right for your company, is to determine whether you have a person who can “champion” the project – someone who can drive the research, figure out the pricing, and most importantly, sell it. You see, a terrible thing happens when we don’t sell… NOTHING!
Some of the easier add-on services are landscape lighting, perimeter pest control, aeration, and slit seeding. Keep in mind, however, that perimeter pest control in some states requires adding a general pest control “option” to your pesticide license. The general pest option is the same test pest control operators have to take, but is a little more difficult if your technicians are not well versed in entomology and animal & bird control. By the same token, landscape lighting and artificial golf greens will often require additional training and equipment, as well as learning the processes from a specialty supplier.
Tree & shrub care is probably one of the more difficult add-on services to get going. To start a tree & shrub care service, your key component is going to be an individual with a degree in horticulture, forestry, landscape technology, or years of industry experience.
Bed weed control programs are very popular. Let’s face it, no one likes to do weeding. However, like tree & shrub care, it does require the skill set of knowing most all of the perennial flowers. Many perennial flowers look like weeds when they first come out of the ground, so caution needs to be taken on the selection of this technician. Take advantage of sources that are available such as chemical or fertilizer representatives, equipment suppliers or consultants.
The timing is now, if you are going to get add-on services up and running. Using a consultant is a very good way to accelerate the process of adding services. I have started up add-on services at several companies over my 30-year career and now enjoy working with clients at Pro-Motion Consulting. If you would like help in learning the best way to implement the add-on process, as well as discovering the benefits of adding services to your organization, feel free to contact me. [email protected]