Login

USERNAME
PASSWORD

Become a Registered Guest Login Help Lost Password?

Dazzling your customers

Positive attitude, service orientation drive Masters Green

Lawn care is my first love.” “Do what you’re good at.” “Be honest when selling to customers.” “The key is trying to be the highest quality and best provider.” These are snippets of a conversation with Paul Wagner, founder and owner of Masters Green, Inc., located in Novi, Michigan. His remarks offer insight into how a young entrepreneur was able to grow his small, one-person lawn care company into a multimillion-dollar operation. With two Michigan locations and 70 employees, Masters Green will generate $7 million in revenue this year and service 17,000 customers. It plans to add another $2 million in revenue next year.

Solid foundation

“In my first year in business, I think I experienced every possible ache and pain a new owner can feel,” recalls Wagner. “That year, I personally sold and serviced 700 customers. To say it was difficult would be an understatement, yet it was also very rewarding. I experienced then what my techs, my salespeople, and my customer service people feel today. At some point every day, I go back to that first year and remember what it’s like to work long hours, strive to meet aggressive sales goals, and respond to customers who may have a concern. That foundation of experience has carried me through for 17 years in business.”

Wagner’s early experience makes him less tolerant of a “can’t do it” attitude and more empathetic to his 35 technicians who, in addition to lawn care, are also trained to spray trees and aerate lawns. “I treat my employees like I want to be treated,” he emphasizes. “I never ever belittle them, and I always impress upon them our united common goal — to dazzle customers with service.” To make sure everyone is up-to-date and on the same page, he holds weekly agronomy and production meetings, and all employees attend winter training sessions.

Just how does Masters Green dazzle its customers? For starters, spotless trucks are washed at the end of every business day, and every morning employees come to work with fresh, clean uniforms. After every visit, customers receive a note explaining the service that was rendered that day.

“We also have a service call policy that a customer’s concern or complaint will be addressed within a 24-hour period,” notes Wagner. “If a customer calls at 3:00 a.m. about a weed problem, one of our crews will be at the customer’s property the next day. There is no easy way to do this. You just have to get it done because a customer concern should always take top priority. When someone calls up for an estimate, we try to get to them that day as well. Response time in any service industry is critical.”

He continues, “Customers can access their accounts online and view a snapshot of the services we are providing. They can even pay their bills online, all in the name of making it easy for them to do business with us.” Still, he adds, all the bells and whistles that go with providing exemplary service are no substitute for two primary ingredients: being totally honest with customers and giving them the end results that they want.

Consolidating operations

“If you have the right infrastructure in place and the right people, you can provide a personalized service, even with 17,000 customers,” Wagner relates. “Every person in our company has a computer screen and can network with other employees. Our accounting system allows me to access accounts payable with a touch of a finger, and checks are printed automatically with my signature.”

Yet, size has its limitations. Wagner’s desire to dazzle customers with service is the main reason he recently sold three locations in Illinois to TruGreen. He explains, “My passion is taking care of customers, and I felt we just couldn’t do that to my satisfaction so far from home. We now have consolidated our operation and will focus in tight on Michigan. I firmly believe that if you stay with what you’re good at and keep your focus, you’ll continue to grow and hit your revenue and profit marks.”

This owner admits to being a “glass is half full and not half empty” individual. Even the National Do Not Call Registry hasn’t put a dampener on his aggressive 28-percent sales goal for next year. “I look at everything in a positive light,” he emphasizes. “The Do Not Call Registry forces all of us to be more creative, to think out of the box. Now, we do more direct mail, more radio, and more home shows. Sure, this form of promotion is more expensive, but with direct mail, for example, we have a lower cancellation rate because the customer took the initiative to contact us.”

Wagner re-attributes his success to a positive, “I think I can” attitude. When asked what he would do differently if he could start all over again, he responds, “I would try to borrow money and have a few more resources but probably wouldn’t change the way I conducted business.” In other words, he would continue to maintain that personal contact with customers and spend most of the time in the field. Says Wagner, “I can still out-fertilize anybody, or at least I think I can.”