Independence Day is a great day in America. We eat lots of food, drink too much, and blow up stuff.
But for your irrigation business, it typically marks the beginning of the slower summer months leading up to the winterization season. Which hopefully leaves you with a sliver of free time with which to analyze your business.
With that in mind, here are 4 things to do in your irrigation business now that Independence Day has passed:
Assess what went right and wrong in the spring.
If you’re like other green industry businesses who responded to our 2015 Green Industry Benchmark Report, you expected a busy 2015. The economy has kept slowly chugging along and building momentum, delivering more and more customers to businesses throughout the U.S. From what we’ve heard, this spring was very busy. So busy, that you probably haven’t had time to decompress and figure out what worked and what didn’t.
So now’s the time. The fall winterization season is just around the corner. Figure out what you learned from the spring. If you’re still using paper processes, now may be the time to invest in irrigation business software so you can be more efficient. Or maybe it’s time to rethink the way you schedule your winterizations. Or maybe you want to start surveying your customers to determine who’s happy. Or maybe you want to implement a new referral program and roll it out in time for your winterizations.
Whatever it is, now is the time to get started.
Brainstorm ways to improve your winterization communication.
One of the most difficult parts of scheduling your winterizations is communicating the date and time to your residential customers. If you’re still doing it old-school, you probably send postcards and call customers. That can be difficult and lead to miscommunication, right?
Think about using email. If you use a service business marketing solution like HindSite Connect, you can schedule all of your winterizations, send an email with a confirmation link embedded, and then just manage the exceptions - people who don’t confirm via email - with a phone call. It saves time and money and is a much better customer experience.
Get customer email addresses.
Speaking of email, now is a great time to push for customer email addresses. If you plan to leverage email in your winterization communication plan, now’s the time to start asking customers for emails. We’ve heard a number of good email gathering ideas, but the one that really seems to work is offering a discount to customers in exchange to an email address. It doesn’t have to be a significant discount (5%), but it’s well worth the time.
Why do you want email addresses? According to our 2014 Green Industry Buyer’s Report, it’s the communication method your buyers prefer. You can communicate appointment information, but you can also use email for more promotional communication. It’s a great way to get more revenue per customer.
Start planning your winter itinerary.
2015 looks like it’s going to be a busy year. Which means, hopefully, it’s a profitable year. Which means, hopefully, you’ll have some spending money to have a good time in the offseason.
So start planning what you’d like to do. Distributor events are always a great thing to attend. If your field service software vendor has a winter training session (HindSite does!), considering attending. Our Green Industry and Snow Industry Benchmark Reports continue to show that those that attend trade shows or educational conferences are most likely to experience high revenue growth.
But don’t forget to take some time off. Running a business can be grueling. Get away somewhere warm, turn off the cell phone and just relax. Spend some time with your family. Take up a new hobby. Read a great book. Whatever it is, think about what you want to accomplish in the offseason.
Speaking of the offseason, it’s never too early to think about what you’re going to do in the offseason to better your business. For some tips, download our free eBook, 10 Ways to Improve Your Business This Offseason.
