Other companies customers should be your focus!

I was reading a FB thread the other day and someone was getting flamed for suggesting that he was targeting other companies customers. I've heard a common saying over the years that "there's enough customers for all of us" but that simply isn't true. Here is a fact that I learned while attending a seminar at the GIE+EXPO... There are more registered lawn/landscape companies in the United States than any other segment of business. Think about that... There are more lawn care companies, than there are Pizza Shops, more lawn care companies that car dealerships, more lawn care companies than McDonald's!! Yet I still hear there are enough customers for all of us, not true. Here is a staggering statistic... there are 14,157 McDonalds in the US, and according to The National Association of Lawn Professionals, in 2016 there were 474,237 lawn/landscape businesses!!

Think of it this way, you have to assume that almost EVERYONE has made up their minds whether or not to have a lawn care company next year, the day they received their last service the previous year. Chances are they intend to use the same company they had last year. Then you have a SMALL PERCENTAGE of people who are new homeowners deciding what to do with the lawn, the older couple that may be contemplating not doing the work any longer, and of course the people who are upset with their current company. If you are smart enough to agree the latter portion of those "potential clients" is small, it's important to target other peoples clients. This notion of "kumbaya" among lawn care owners is great, but as the saying goes, "it's not personal, it's business!" Cell phone companies are the best example of this... EVERY SINGLE ad is specifically geared to steal a customer from another company. If you're not doing this, you will not grow your company fast as you want. Your marketing should be 100% geared to what makes you better than someone else, and have an offer so enticing that the person can't resist switching to your service. This is just something to keep in mind when searching for new customers. You really should be finding a reason to make people leave and switch to you. Lot's of people like free stuff, so maybe 3 FREE MOWINGS would entice some.