services. "We only provided these to our immediate list of cus- tomers, and did not take on any new customers," he said. "We re- duced income by 15 percent, but we reduced labor associated with this by more, so that was profit to the bottom line."
Maximizing efficiency and productivity Some of the lawn maintenance professionals with whom we
spoke are utilizing more technology to help optimize and stream- line business functionality. Precht put all client data and paperwork on a Cloud-based sys- tem to access from any PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone. McAfee added Xora GPS tracking to all his vehicles. "We are also installing CLIP at our office to be able to increase production and streamline things more effectively," he added. "I am really excited about our new technology for 2012," said
Parker. "We have integrated Exaktime to replace our hand-written time sheets and job site time cards. By doing this, our times are now GPS monitored and accurate. If someone is not where they are sup- pose to be or not really on time, we know it. This has saved us on regular time and saved us on bogus overtime. At the end of the day, the crew will sync up the day's work, we will review it and sync it to QuickBooks time sheet, and invoice customers. This process will save us time on payroll and offer true job time costing." Parker added that with the QuickBooks online version, his
company is able to add a link to invoices and customers can pay online — thus saving PLM time by allowing for faster payment. PLM also added an iPhone credit card reader to accept an instant payment from a customer in the field. "It is really cool to be able to sell a job and get paid on the spot," said Parker.
www.landscapeirrigation.com
Promotional practices When asked about how they market their lawn maintenance
services, respondents overwhelmingly stated that word of mouth is still the primary way that they attract clients. "I stand by word of mouth," said McAfee. "You can advertise
all you want, but word of mouth can help, and also hurt, you. I al- ways think that if we do a good job, that person might tell one other person. But if we do a bad job, you can guarantee they will tell about five other people how bad of service we did — so we stand by word of mouth." In addition to word-of-mouth referrals, Pete Dove of Dove
Lawn and Landscaping Service advertises in the Yellow Pages in two local phone books. Richard Lauger of Lauger's Good Lawn, LLC utilizes uniforms and lettered vehicles to enhance visibility.
"If we do a good job, that person might tell one other person. But if we do a bad job, you can guarantee they will tell about five other people how bad of service we did — so we stand by word of mouth." — Michael McAfee, McAfee Mowing and Landscaping, Inc.
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