Green Industry Advice: Alpine Lawn Services
Being a bit new to the industry, he brings a unique perspective and gives some sound advice to those just getting started in the lawn scene.
1. Get a good CRM (Customer Relationship Management) service.
Schied explained how he began with the basics and moved onto using one of these services to create a more organized and efficient business model to make things easier on himself and his customers.
“I started the business out with a good old pen and paper. That works, but this is something you should do from the very start. It doesn’t matter if you have five clients, 50 clients or 500, this is something we should all be doing.”
It all comes down to organization. “I know it’s helped me to stay more organized and I know when I’m organized, I get just a little bit more done,” Schied said.
He went on to explain how after using one of these services, he noticed a big difference in the communication between himself and his clients because now there’s no confusion on money or dates since it’s all laid out in black and white.
2. Set aside money for taxes.
This piece of advice may seem a bit obvious, but there are always businesses who let this slip between the cracks and then end up forking out a large amount of money during tax season.
“That’s something that you really don’t think about, so it’s important to set aside the money from the very beginning,” he said.
3. Take pride in your work.
Being proud of the job you’re doing for clients is a huge piece of a successful career in the green industry because if you can stand out from the rest with high-quality work, you can gain a larger customer base.
“I believe that the reason I was able to grow my client list was because I put a lot of time and work into each lawn.” Schied went on to say, “if you Google companies, the list just goes on and on, so that’s why you have to take great pride in your work and do the very best you can.”
Bottom line, you have to stand out above the growing number of businesses in the green space, which leads us to Schied’s last piece of advice.
4. Communication is key.
As he explained above, it’s important to give it your all, not only in your work, but also when it comes to communicating with clients. If you fail at the communication piece, your clients can easily hire a new company to get the job done.
“They can just go right to the next person. There are so many people with good reviews online, so you have to put in the effort to do good work and to be a good person,” Schied said.
You can check out the full interview with Mitchell Schied of Alpine Lawn Services on our Gravely YouTube channel below, as he talked with our marketing team about his journey as a young business owner and how clients react to that, his approach to stand out among the competition, and his favorite parts of the industry.
To learn more tips for success in the new year, see what other lawn experts had to say.