Lawns require many macro and micro nutrients to stay healthy. They also grow best at a certain ph (soil acidicy) level. When a lawn service business markets a six step application program for a green lawn how does the customer know if that is really what they should be getting? More applications is always better, right? That’s why they cost more. Or is it just to boost the company’s profitability?
By taking a soil sample and getting it tested by the state cooperative extension (NJ link) you will know exactly what should be done that year to make the lawn it’s healthiest. It is possible to overfertilize. That’s where the term fertilizer burn comes from. Too much fertilizer at once and it will kill the grass. That’s one reason frequent applications are preferred. They also prevent the grass from growing too quickly. Imagine a three year old kid on Halloween with a huge bag of candy. Binge feeding is never healthy. Plus frequent visits allow more inspections for weeds, damaging insects, and diseases.
Soil tests also provide accountability. If there are nutritional problems that show up, a follow up test the next year will determine whether or not the lawn company properly addressed those issues. Think of a well fed person with high colesteral. They never know they have a problem until they take a test or have a heart attack. If the average customer is already spending hundreds of dollars on lawn applications, a yearly soil test may be their best purchase.
How can being accountable not help build loyalty?
#1 by John Seiffer - Business Coach on October 20th, 2006
>>How can being accountable not help build loyalty?
#2 by Jake Wolf on October 20th, 2006
John,
I assume you’re asking me to explain that line. When I wrote that I wasn’t sure if I was saying the right thing, but that’s what these comments are for.
If you listen to a bunch of homeowners talking about their landscapers the biggest negatives you’ll hear is that the lawn crew come and go in minutes and don’t seem to do anything, it’s hard to get ahold of the guy in charge, the crew members don’t speak enough english and there are weeds in the lawn.
Listen in on landscapers and you’ll hear them talking about how efficient their $10,000 mowers are, about how hard it is to find good workers who will work for nothing because they haven’t been able to raise lawn cutting rates in years and about how weather conditions are wreaking havoc on the lawns with crabgrass growing everywhere and fungus infecting certain grass blends.
Soil tests can be used as a tool, just like a blood test, to show that certain steps need to be taken throughout the year to get the desired results. If landscapers included a short paragraph about the previous months weather and the effects it had on lawns with an invoice, they will be excused from maintaining a not so perfect lawn.
Do you blame your airconditioner guy for having a hot house when the power goes out? No, it’s beyond his control, but he makes sure that when it is running that it is working properly.