How to Get Your First 100 Lawn Care Customers

1. Advertise to family and friends

Reaching out to family and friends is often the first step for many small business owners, regardless of industry. 

Since you don’t have a reputation as a business owner yet, it’s easiest to get your first customers from people you already have relationships with.

There are a few other great reasons to start with family and friends:

• It’s less work. Your friends and family are more invested in your success than anyone, so it can be a lot easier to sell to a relative or family friend than a total stranger. Reach out to your network, to find people who are enthusiastic to help you promote your business.
• It helps you build confidence. Your personal connections likely won’t criticize you as harshly as new customers. There’s also a good chance you can ask them for a positive online review.
• It’s good for cash flow. The revenue you make in the first few months is critical to your long-term success. When you desperately need income in your early days, family and friends will be the first people to choose you over a large business.

When it’s time to start promoting your business, share the announcement on the social media channels where you interact with your family and friends—whether that be LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

You could post a Facebook announcement like this:

2. Set up your Google Business Profile

A Google Business Profile is important because it helps customers find you easily on maps when they’re searching online. 

Your Google Business profile has all the important information like your business name, logo, how to contact you, customer reviews, your service area, and what lawn care services you provide.

Setting up your listing is easy as well—just put in your business name, contact information, operating hours, photos of your work, and anything else special about your business like unique services offerings or the level of your experience.

A complete listing gives you the best chance at attracting new customers as soon as possible.

3. List your business on lead generation websites

The best lead generation websites put your lawn care business in front of customers in need, increasing your chances of a sale.

There are plenty of free, paid and pay-per-lead options to start promoting your business immediately. All you need to do is sign up, create a profile, list your services, show off your best work and start talking to customers.

Online classifieds

There are two ways to use online classifieds are websites where users can either post services they’re offering, or services they’re in the market for.

There are many online classifieds to choose from, including eBay Classifieds, Craigslist, Angie’s List, and even Facebook Marketplace.

Admittedly, finding and filtering through potential customers on the internet this way can be a painstaking process. Also, some classifieds like Craigslist have a bad rap, with dodgy sales, scam artists, and questionable job postings.

The shortcomings of the platform mean it’s easy for you to stand out and win business. Lanier Lawn Care is proof of that—they’ve gained a couple of clients through Craigslist without any hiccups. You can do the same.

Just send a simple email in response to any request for lawn care services. Here’s a basic and effective email structure you can follow:

• Introduction. Quickly introduce yourself and the context of your email.
• Your offer. Explain the service you can provide based on the request in the classified ad, plus any additional lawn care services you can offer.
• Benefits: Detail the value your service will provide (e.g., saving the customer time so they can do more of what they love).
• Getting your foot in the door: Get the prospect to agree to something small first, like a 10-minute call, before having them agree to getting a quote for your lawn care services.
• Call to action: Make sure the prospect responds to your email by asking them a question or giving instructions to get started.

4. Invest in paid advertising online

Paid online advertising puts your brand and your message in front of potential customers and lets you target people interested in lawn care services.

The best two places to start are Google Local Services Ads and social media ads.

Google Local Services Ads

Google Local Services Ads are a great option if you’re willing to spend a bit more money to get early sales.

These simple ads show up at the very top of the Google results page when people in your area search for lawn care services. Potential customers can contact you directly from Local Services Ads—no need to send you an email.

Social media ads

Social media ads let you target specific audiences based on their neighborhood, age, income, and interests. 

You can choose whether you want the user to book a service, visit your website to learn more, or contact you through the platform. 

Here’s what your Facebook ad can look like:

5. Go door to door

Meeting people face-to-face at their doorstep is an effective way to get attention for your business. After all, people say “getting your foot in the door” for a reason—a positive first impression in person is way more influential than one over the phone.

You might not always get that facetime, though, so try both of these door-to-door strategies.

Hand out flyers and talk to prospects

Handing out lawn care flyers can take a lot of your time, but when you get facetime with a prospect, you have the time to connect emotionally. If you manage to get facetime with a prospect, you stay professional and smile.

“A smile gets things started off on the right foot,” says Chris Senger, the founder of Mow Town Edmonton in Alberta. “Always smile, even when you are talking to someone on the phone. People can actually hear a smile. As goofy as it sounds, it works.”

6. Send direct mail to prospects

Direct mail is an inexpensive way to get a fantastic return on investment. It gets your lawn care business name straight into people’s homes without having to interact with them. 

The success of your mailers will largely depend on two factors:

1. The content of your letter, which should be conversational, easy to understand, and include a valuable offer (like discount pricing) and call-to-action.
2. The quality of your list. A great message is pointless if you send it to customers who are not in the market for your services. When you create your mailing list, make sure they’re all residential homeowners in your local market. Use these tips from Chron to build a relevant direct mailing list.

READ MORE: Lawn care marketing examples that’ll inspire you

7. Meet new customers in Facebook groups

Local Facebook groups are a great place to find prospects in your area.  Join groups dedicated to lawn care, landscaping, or home maintenance so you can connect with prospects and build brand awareness.

It’s also a good idea to join groups for small business owners to spread the word about what you do!

When you see someone post a lawn care work request in these groups, politely make contact, explain your offer, and suggest a phone call or in-person meeting so you can give a quote.

Encouraging an in-person meet-up could help you stand out from other lawn care businesses that only post a link to their website and wait for clients to respond. Just make sure you’ve set up a Facebook page for your business before you respond.

Over time, as you interact in these groups and get some clients, you might find clients mentioning you in posts and recommending your services to other prospects.

READ MORE: How this service business gained hundreds of customers using Facebook

You should also consider advertising on Nextdoor, a social network that helps local homeowners find service providers like you.

7. Turn existing customers into ambassadors

When you’re out of ways to promote your business, let your happy customers do it for you. Here are a few ways to make your customers ambassadors that help you get more business:

Set up a referral program

Create a customer referral program that offers a special service or discount to customers who refer people they know. Referral programs work best when you have well-prepared scripts to ask for referrals, and when you listen to your customer base to find out what a valuable incentive would be.

Referrals are the best way to get quality clients who are more likely to stay with you, since they’re choosing you based on recommendations from people they trust.

Collect feedback

Social proof is a must-have tool in your marketing and sales. Praise and testimonials from your existing customers will be highly effective at attracting new customers. It’s rock-solid proof that you deliver quality service.

One of the best ways to ask for testimonials is to ask for genuine feedback. Don’t just ask for praise from your customers—if you show them you’re willing to hear how they really feel, they’ll be much more willing to give their feedback.

It’s also important to make it easy for customers to give you instant feedback on a job. A few days after the job, write a sincere email asking them about their experience. In this email, you can include a link to fill out a Google review or send them a feedback survey to prompt a response.

Or, set up automatic review collection in Jobber. After paying their invoice, those customers will automatically get a direct link to leave a review on your Google Business Profile.

Use testimonials in your marketing

Once you receive a Google review, use it in all your marketing. That includes your website, social media, flyers, email signatures, and anywhere else that you promote your business.

9. Offer seasonal promotions and specialized services

Seasonal promotions and specialized services give your customers something they can’t get from other lawn care businesses, all while saving them time and money.

• Seasonal promotions give customers incentive to work with your team based on a specific bundle of seasonal services at a special price. The more you can do for a customer at a lower price, the better your chances of sealing the deal.
• Specialized services make your lawn care business unique, which is important for customers looking for services not widely offered by other businesses. This could be in the form of individual services like mulching, or as a package of services such as weed control, edge trimming and lawn cleanup.

READ MORE: Starting a weed control business in 9 simple steps

10. Attend local events

Going to local events and networking with complementary businesses allows you to meet the customers and partners you may end up working with. You can attend community events or fairs, home shows, or even the opening of your local garden center.

• Potential customers go to local events to get answers and solutions to their problems. It’s a great opportunity to understand what people need and share information about your business.

• Complementary businesses, like real estate agents, or homeowners associations,  go to local events to build partnerships that strengthen their service offering and could result in more customers. They’re also looking for you as well!

READ MORE:How to get commercial lawn accounts