5 Signs You’re Underselling Yourself
Pricing. There’s a lot of debate around how much to charge for your services. Every business owner at one point or another will question their rates. It’s a natural part of growing.
Wages increase, supplies jump in price, and so does the cost of doing business.
Are you questioning whether you are charging enough?
If so, you probably aren’t.
Not to raise an alarm, but that’s a serious issue, which will negatively impact the health of your business (if it hasn’t already). It’s the lifeline for you and your employees. It’s a big deal.
Uber successful lawn and landscape companies, what are they doing that you aren’t? It’s not that their business is fundamentally better than yours, but rather, they’ve structured it differently. A big differentiator is employee pay. No one is building a million dollar lawn company while charging dirt cheap prices. They wouldn’t be able to keep a steady and dependable pool of labor. It’s not a recipe for success.
Here are 5 Signs You’re Underselling Yourself:
You Struggle to Increase Employee Pay
This is the biggest one, and what we often hear from business owners we work with. Many have issues recruiting, and therefore, retaining employees.
We can write you a kick-ass hiring description that will get people knocking at your door… but how do you expect them to apply when the pay is subpar?
If you cannot afford to increase pay, you will forever struggle to grow, and have to deal with a revolving door of employees. It’s a treadmill you don’t want to be on.
If someone is desperate enough, yes, they will take the work. As soon as something shows up with equal or better pay (and air conditioning) - they’ll be out the door without a two weeks notice. I know this from personal experience working for a particular business in the landscape industry. I witnessed many people jump ship after one day in the field. The pay was almost zero incentive to stay.
In most cases, it’s not that the business owner doesn’t want to pay their employees more. Their monthly income isn’t capable of supporting a pay increase.
They are underselling themselves.
You’re Nervous to Increase Prices
No one wants to upset their customer base, but honestly, it will be the outliers who complain. You have their trust, and they know you do quality work. Are they really going to find someone else, or start mowing their own lawn? I highly doubt it. You’re hesitant to raise your price, but you know you should.
Here’s a tip to increase your pricing:
Test your price increases on the clients who you aren’t so much a fan of - you know what I mean. These are the people who have something to say about everything. It’s impossible to please them. If you lose them, eh, it’s not the worst thing. See how they respond. If they stick around, that’s great! The customers who love your service will take the news a lot better.
Here’s how to go about informing them:
Let them know well in advance before their next service date, it’ll make it easier for them to digest the increase. You can either let them know over phone or email, but definitely email, so you have a concrete record.
Explain your reasoning behind the increase.
Tell them the truth. “In order to better serve you, we are adjusting our current pricing model. This will allow us to cover our rising costs, better pay our employees, and deliver an even higher quality of service that you deserve.” You can fill in the details. Sell the increase, and push the benefits.
You’re Business is Stagnant
This goes back to a cash flow problem. If you’re just scraping by, growing will nearly be impossible. There’s too much instability for you to start expanding and serve other areas.
Company culture is everything. And you guessed it, pay is a big part of it. In most cases, great employees know other great employees. If you nurture a positive place to work and offer great pay, who's going to leave?
If anything, they'll tell their friends about how good their workplace is. Sure you'll have a couple bad eggs come through your door, but that's the exception (hopefully you'll realize before onboarding).
It's not possible to circumvent paying good employees a just wage. They won't stick for long.
Lackluster Branding and Marketing
Sending out an EDDM twice a year is not enough when it comes to marketing. It’s not a switch that you can turn on and automatically bring in leads. You need to nurture these people. It’s the long game. Over time they will convert and will lead to a steady growing flow of customers.
Ideally, here’s what your marketing plan includes:
EDDM
High Quality Branding
Jacob of Scooter’s Lawn Care gets into the details of how aggressive marketing is feeding his business. He built his lawn and landscape company from $0 to multi-million, and is now stretching across 2 different locations.
Looking the part is just as important as being. Clean uniforms, trucks, and equipment show that you are serious about what you’re bringing to the table. It’s more than a lawn. If you can afford to, wrap your truck with your logo. If anything, make sure your truck decals are fresh and not sunburned.
Build your team up as professionals, who can be trusted to work on a stranger’s property.
There are many people who will pay a premium price for a premium service.
You’re Unhappy
This isn’t to say money will solve all your problems, but it can relieve some headaches.
You started your own venture to live on your terms, but you feel trapped. This isn’t what you signed up for. The needle hasn’t moved for quite some time, and you’re beginning to dread Mondays.
You need to swim back to shore, and rethink your game plan.
Your employees can tell something is off with the organization. Not to get all ‘woo-woo’, but everyone can feel the energy. This will quickly spiral into a toxic work culture.
It’s your horse, ride it.
Part of the solution may be a perspective shift. This isn’t to point fingers at one person or another. Start by reframing the problem.
You had the vision and hustle to start this business - you can fix it too.
I linked some books that may find useful.