Most service-based companies have high goals for customer relationships. Green industry professionals might have an edge on understanding how to really build something that lasts. Developing a strong customer relationship takes a lot of the same things that cultivating a healthy plant does, including plenty of time and effort, right from the start.
The first meeting with a new client is all about finding common ground and education, says Laura Harrigan, director of customer service and sales, Nature- Works, Walpole, Massachusetts.
“I love making connections. Understanding what’s at the heart and soul of what a customer wants and cares about and then connecting that to my knowledge of horticulture and design and making suggestions for them that are super personal,” she says. “I really try to understand what they care about and what would bring them joy, whether that’s a plant material or an aesthetic look or feel.”
James Tolentino, owner of Imperial Landscaping, Winston Salem, North Carolina, says he tries to be very informative and realistic about the services his team can provide to establish options and set expectations.
“I don’t try to sell them something that we can’t deliver on,” Tolentino says.
“Some people have expectations that beautiful lawns are grown overnight, and I try to impress on them that that just isn’t how it works.”
Starting from a place of education gives the relationship the chance to develop based on trust, he says.
“I’m realistic and honest with them,” he says. “That’s the skeleton of the relationship, it’s truthfulness, and offering what they’re seeking in a realistic timeframe.”
For John Bell, operations manager, Quiet Village, St. Louis, good customer service has its roots in company culture. Training on how to listen to people and take action on their wants and needs are great techniques, but client retention comes from the company’s values, he says.
“We hire people that have the same value systems as we do, and we train on those systems and make decisions on them,” Bell says. “It’s baked into everything we do.”
Taking care of needs
One of the first notes in Quiet Village’s value system is to “love on the customer,” Bell says. “We do whatever we can to get the client to a ‘yes’ situation when we’re listening to them. We’re taking care of their needs. We go the extra mile.”
That can mean taking on difficult tasks that a client asks for “with joy in our hearts,” he says. It’s about meeting the client’s needs where they are that day. It takes understanding that every client is going to have a different perspective based on the stresses or other inputs they’re dealing with that day and having empathy.
“Today’s upset, irrational client who won’t pay anything for a service is going to be tomorrow’s exuberant, loving client who’s going to spend 10 grand, right?” says Bell. “We just have to love on them in whatever mood they’re in.”
Harrigan encourages her team to “make it personal, whatever it is you’re doing for the client. That’s what makes those relationships.” For a recent customer whose mother had died, Harrigan asked if she could plant an Alice Oakleaf hydrangea, which shares its name with the client’s parent. Nature- Works installed the plants at their own cost.
“They’re there, and they’re thriving in a place that I think reminds her of her mom,” Harrigan says. “We try to do really personal, meaningful things like that for our clients a lot.”
Tolentino takes the time to look over the client’s property while talking with them. Walking the yard gives him the chance to listen to what parts of the lawn the customer is most concerned about while also doing his own evaluation, he says. It also allows him to organically introduce different levels of service and related prices to the conversation, so the client feels like they’re receiving a personalized package.
“I can tell them what I think their needs are and give them a real explanation of why they need them,” he says.
Similarly, Bell thinks of the sales team as consultants who get a call from a customer because there’s a problem, or they have a dream they’d like to build.
“We take the approach that we’re going to go out there and see if it’s in our wheelhouse,” he says. If it is, “Then we’re the professionals who are going to teach the client what we think the best solution is, or what certain things would work in this situation.”
Harrigan says taking that first walk around the customer’s property is where you’re able to learn what parts of the property the client values, and what they’d rather see changed, on top of your own insights. If the client doesn’t have much to work with on their property, Harrigan suggests they look to neighboring yards for inspiration.
“You give them something to react to, and you learn from that,” she says. “Sometimes it’s a process by which the client also learns what they really like and want. They might not be able to articulate that quickly, but by questioning you can get there.”
Getting to the heart of the actual problem the client is trying to solve might take time, but it establishes your expertise and professionalism, says Harrigan.
“The more consultative you can be and the more you can bring ideas, I think that’s always really appreciated by the clients,” she says. “Then they start to turn to you more and more, and you become the go-to problem-solver.”
When a customer has an issue, Harrigan’s account managers try to take care of it immediately or make a quick call to her to brainstorm the best solution, she says. Each week, the company has a team meeting, and there’s always time set aside to discuss what she prefers to call “tricky situations.”
Quiet Village also doesn’t use terms like “problem customer” when dealing with someone who’s upset, says Bell. Instead, they say that a client is “at risk,” similar to a new lead, because they’re at risk of going to another company. A technique that he uses to work with a customer who calls with a complaint is to have them explain the problem to him three times in full, maybe asking for a repeat to make some notes. By the third time, the customer realizes that Bell is actually taking the time to listen to them, and even the most angry customer begins to calm down.
“They start realizing, ‘This person is listening to me. And I was not expecting that,’” Bell says. That’s the point when the caller will actually tell you what can be done to solve the problem. Once that solution is provided, make sure to follow through and make the customer a partner in the process by showing your efforts.
Surprise and delight
Part of going the extra mile for customers involves taking as little time as possible to make the right decisions for the job, says Bell. Part of his job is to make sure his team uses their time efficiently, and to do that, he hires and trains people who use as little of his own time as possible.
“We try to push the decision for a job as close to the people who are actually doing the work and as close to the client as possible,” Bell says. “That’s part of the client relationship. Instead of having the client having to ask the crew leader, who has to ask an account manager, who has to ask somebody else, we want the crew leader to be able to answer those questions and install that bush or fix that sprinkler head.”
To do that, it means that leadership often acts more like support staff than direct overseers, he says. Crew members could be afraid to make those decisions because they could get in trouble for the wrong call. So Quiet Village has a rule that as long as they’re trying to “love” on the customer, no one will get in trouble for a decision made.
“Even if it’s the wrong decision, we will come and debrief on it and help change our decision parameters for the future,” he says. “But people are free to make mistakes as long as they’re honestly trying to do right.”
Bell looks at his crew leaders as people who have a lot of direct, professional experience with the projects and who love the job, which often makes them the best person to make the right call on a job site, whether it’s adding another plant or fixing a sprinkler head. Afterward, the account manager can catch up with the client and determine the next steps.
“They can make that call because they’re constantly speaking with their clients. They know the homeowner, they have the relationship,” he says. “We equip all of our crews with the tools and implements where they can make those decisions right there.”
Throughout the summer, Tolentino makes it a point to remain available to his customers. Each customer has his direct cell phone number and can contact him as needed for concerns, he says. Usually those questions can be handled quickly over the phone, or an appointment can be set up.
“I develop that closeness in a relationship, as I’m being accessible,” he says. “They can always call me. A lot of my customers choose to text me.”
Account managers at NatureWorks have a regular visit schedule that varies depending on the landscape’s sophistication and the client’s involvement level, says Harrigan. When they visit the property, they make it a point not only to drop a quick note detailing any issues that they’ll be taking care of on the next visit, but also a positive point such as the flowers blooming.
“Sometimes clients don’t see things as they’re happening,” she says. “If they have a huge property, they might not notice something way out in the back.”
The continued physical time spent on the property helps give the customer confidence in the work that’s being done, she says.
Tolentino stays in communication with the client throughout the season to evaluate where the property stands and what he’d like to do going forward, he says. That gives him the chance to talk about other services he can offer such as aeration or other treatments, which is an easier sell with customers who are already buying from him.
“I’m trying to retain their business,” he says. “I’m trying to make sure that I can keep the customers that I’ve already got.”
Even though Tolentino is the main point of contact for his customers, he trains his team to be able to respond to customer needs and be knowledgeable about the project. “They’re the first contact between the customer and the company when they’re out there,” he says. “I need to make sure they know what they’re doing and that they’re always exuding that sense of positiveness.”
Harrigan’s research found that 50% of the company’s new clients came from referrals from the existing portfolio. That led to the development of the “Surprise and Delight” initiative, in which a budget is set aside and is available to the entire staff to find a way to add something special to the property.
“The idea is that when you’re on the property, whether you’re mowing, gardening, whatever it is, pick up your head and look beyond the scope of the task you are there to do and see what else the property could benefit from. And just do it,” she says. “It’s been awesome, because we’ve come up with some incredibly creative things and really impactful things.”
The company has a form that allows employees to submit the projects they’ve completed and developed a reward system around it that includes gift certificates and monetary rewards.
“We’ve made a big deal out of it, because our best clients come from our current clients,” she says. “We look to create what we call raving fans. And it makes people feel good at the end of the day to come up with something that has an impact directly for the client. It’s so much more rewarding when the work you’re doing, you feel like it’s appreciated by someone.”
