Working with customer relationship management software can help a contractor build a client touchpoint map, finding each place customers could have that experience improved: outreach, quoting, job planning, design, service and follow-up.
“Landscaping work is quite involved,” says Kevin Zentmeyer, senior director, product marketing at Jobber, Edmonton, Canada. Companies that work in the industry often already have amassed a collection of tools to help at each stage of work. “Not all of these tools are going to be built specifically for home service businesses and can be challenging to adopt and then interact with on a daily basis,” he says. “These tools often don’t communicate with one another, creating the inefficiency and errors that come with duplicate entry and jumping between tools.”
Without CRM software, outreach is often a “heavily manual process, following up on requests or leads,” says Ted Rightmire, CEO of HindSite Software, St. Paul, Minnesota. “It’s very difficult to remember who to call or email next, much less if they even opened the last email you sent.”
With CRM software, outreach entails automated emails to key accounts by region, service and property type, among other factors, notes Rightmire.
“The ability to take a list of contacts, filter them down to a specific target market and area and get communication to them with a few clicks makes it faster and easier,” he says.
“Today’s homeowners don’t want to wait to get you on the phone during business hours,” notes Zentmeyer. “A good CRM will allow you to create a request form, customized to capture all the information you need to move forward with the job. That form can be shared on your website or social media for new leads and customers to fill out directly, at their convenience.”
Quoting includes an on-site visit, talking to the customer, understanding their needs, measuring and getting a sense of the property and potential challenges such as trees or landscaping, grading and other factors, says Rightmire.
“A good CRM for an irrigator will include estimate templates that have much of the ‘basics’ already built out,” says Rightmire. “You’re really just scaling the labor and materials, and – because much of the system is automated – you have the time to make sure you’re planning well and able to hit those margins.”
Your CRM should include professionally designed quote templates that allow you to include images for each line item, says Zentmeyer. “While they need to look good, they also need to be easy for you to create quickly from the office or on the go to be the first to quote ahead of your competition.”
Contractors also will want to reduce the amount of back-and-forth required between their initial quote and customer approval and deposit, Zentmeyer notes.
“Modern CRMs will allow you to suggest premium packages or add-ons directly in the online quote,” he adds. “Then let customers choose the services they want and watch their quote total automatically update. A good CRM will alert you when your customer has viewed the quote and will automatically send a follow-up to them after your set time frame.”

Client Contact
In using CRM software for job planning, “much of this comes down to scheduling,” Rightmire adds. “It’s a matter of knowing when your people will be free to take on that next job.”
“A good CRM will make it easy to view your team’s availability to schedule the job and to view your upcoming appointments in an easy-to-read calendar,” Zentmeyer says. “Customers should automatically receive a visit reminder, and your team should get a push notification to their phone if their schedule that day has changed.”
The next step is service.
“Beyond the scheduling aspect, it’s also about communication,” says Rightmire. “Your CRM should be able to automate emails and text messages to clients so they know when the job is scheduled, get a reminder and be able to confirm that date, not to mention day-of ‘we’re on our way!’ texts.”
CRM software can help track who was on-site, when, for how long and what was actually put in the ground, Rightmire notes.
“Plans never survive first contact, so it’s vital you have a CRM with a field app component,” he adds. “This will allow you to understand the reality of a job, have records and notes from the team in the field, and be able to properly service that property in the future.”
Follow up includes client satisfaction, warranty information, a service/maintenance agreement and understanding what other future projects or add-ons should be in the pipeline, says Rightmire.
“How happy is the client? Did your automated ‘job complete’ email also include a survey? Are you using that to ask for Google reviews? What other work could be done for that property?” he adds.
This information should all be stored so you can make sure you have a client for life, says Rightmire. “The maintenance/seasonal agreement, adding a rain sensor, retrofits or controller upgrades – you can’t do that and restart the sales cycle if you don’t know about the opportunity in the first place.”
When the job is complete, a CRM can automatically send follow-up emails gathering feedback or thank customers for their business, says Zentmeyer. “Your referral program and prompts to leave online reviews should also be automated, so you can boost your online reputation and win new leads,” he adds.
“You shouldn’t be wasting your time creating invoices at the end of your day or weekends,” Zentmeyer says. “A good CRM will automatically generate a professional invoice, complete with all the details of the job, as soon as you mark it complete. You review it and send it off to your client. Invoice follow-ups should also be automated by your CRM so you’re not spending time chasing down payment when it’s due.”
A good CRM will allow payment online by credit card or bank payment, plus leave a tip for the team, Zentmeyer says.
Looking into the Long Term
A CRM will offer reliable customer communication over a longer time frame, says Zentmeyer.
“From initial customer request through to payment for the completed work, jobs in this industry can last a number of weeks,” he points out. “Consultation and quoting take time and require back/forth communication. Completing the work itself often can last a few weeks for large-scale jobs.”
Business owners need a system to keep customers informed, he says. “Modern CRMs built for home service businesses allow you to do things like manage text messaging directly in the CRM, so both the office administration and select team members can respond to incoming messages as well as maintain a conversation history. Business owners should be able to automate visit reminders and quote follow-ups, so important communications still go out while the team’s focus is elsewhere.”
“Create custom forms and checklists to create accountability for your team, and easily email to customers to validate completed work,” Zentmeyer says. “Attach photos or property notes, and quickly access important landscape job details while on-site so visits can be completed without a hitch.
A CRM should automatically calculate profitability on each job, says Zentmeyer.
“By tracking all your costs such as material costs, labor and expenses in one place, you will reduce the time spent switching between spreadsheets, physical receipts and bank statements,” he adds. “Some CRMs also make it easier to track your team’s time by automatically starting the timer as soon as it detects them arriving at the client’s property.”
Not only will a CRM with a field app component assist in getting the job done, it also supplements your ability to keep ongoing records for future work with a client, says Rightmire. “This will allow you to understand the reality of a job, have records and notes from the team in the field and be able to properly service that property in the future.”
A contractor should focus their upgrades and efforts to get the most return early by focusing on effective communication, which builds trust, and trust means a lifelong customer, Rightmire points out.
“Make sure you’re using emails and texts in order to have rapid and strong communication,” he adds. “Having that integrated into your CRM and overall business management software – estimating, scheduling and field data – is the only way to do it well.
“If you’re still on paper for that management and process, the time savings and the extra revenue contractors can receive from an efficient system is mind-blowing,” he says. “It’s like adding another crew.”
Zentmeyer says automation is one action contractors can take in focusing their upgrades and efforts to get the most return early.
“Quickly get your repetitive administrative tasks off your plate so you can spend your time where it’s more needed,” he says.

Another is turning existing customers into fuel for the business. A total of 90% of customers say reviews influence their decision to hire a service provider, Zentmeyer points out. “Your CRM should be able to automate your requests for reviews and referrals so that you can boost your online reputation over your competitors’ and use those reviews and testimonials to win work from new leads.”
Zentmeyer says too many landscaping businesses are spending hours creating quotes and proposals with too low a win rate. “Get a CRM that helps you create a professionally designed quote quickly so you can improve your win rate and spend your time elsewhere,” he adds.
In integrating these practices into their processes, contractors should keep in mind that CRMs should not be a standalone software, says Rightmire.
“They should be fully integrated into your irrigation business software. It’s the only way to get the full benefits,” he adds. “Find a partner, not a vendor, and make sure they have software that is designed for your needs. Don’t wait until the spring. Get this done over the winter, and you’ll have a business poised to grow stronger than ever in 2025.”
Rightmire adds if a contractor is evaluating the cost of a communications add-on, put it in this perspective: “How much does it cost for a technician to drive to a house only to find they can’t access the controller or the back yard because a customer forgot about the appointment or couldn’t be there? Just one of those will pay for the communication tools, much less the value you get for being a professional in your communications.”
Zentmeyer says “the best CRM is going to be one that integrates with your existing tools and software so that it’s not up to you to come up with solutions to tie them all together. Ideally, your CRM becomes the single place to manage your entire business, supercharged with the functionality from your favorite apps and software.
Select the CRM that the company’s entire team is “actually excited about using,” says Zentmeyer, adding the best CRM strikes a balance between that and software that comes with all the bells and whistles.
“The right CRM can help landscaping businesses run smoothly, with scheduling, invoicing and payments – all in one place and even when you’re out of the office,” says Zentmeyer.
Carol Brzozowski is a freelance writer with a specialty in environmental journalism based in Venice, Florida. She can be reached at brzozowski.carol@gmail.com.