Rural Kentucky Contractor Builds Big Footprint

When you’re based in a rural town of roughly 10,000, growing revenue can take a lot of work. John Rennels has found that out first hand. But a systematic approach to networking has enabled A Plus Lawn & Landscape in Lawrenceburg, KY, to jump-start sales and push the company over the half million-dollar mark this year.

Get the Whole Team Involved

Rennels, like most owners of smaller to mid-size landscape companies, is the lead salesperson. However, all employees are given the opportunity to sell, and also receive sales training.

Each full-timer also helps A Plus say active in five area chambers of commerce throughout the year. Rennels actually sits on the board for one of them.

Community service projects have been another important component to the A Plus networking strategy. “Our projects have included Green Care for Troops, along with the renovation and maintenance of a local T-ball field,” Rennels says.

Sponsorship of several area organizations has been effective at generating word-of-mouth. A Plus sponsors Little League baseball, Youth Soccer, the Optimist Club and the American Legion. “Two of our employees are Youth Soccer coaches,” Rennels says.

Target Influencers in the Community

The most effective marketing, Rennels points out, is the company’s high-level approach to systematic networking. “Each year we put a list together of influential people in our service footprint,” Rennels says. “Our hope is to earn both their personal business and other business they can send our way.”

There are two types of influencers:

Type 1 represent important, well-known people who do not have a business A Plus can service. “We solicit their personal business, which typically is very minor and does not have a big financial impact for us,” Rennels says. The goal is simply to make these Type 1 influencers happy and get a strong testimonial.

Type 2 influencers represent who Rennels calls “the ideal customer.” A Plus still solicits their personal business, but the bigger opportunity stems from the relationship that’s soon forged.

“The Type 2 influencers have control over commercial accounts,” Rennels explains. “Taking care of their personal property helps us build a relationship with them. Then we have a much better chance of earning their commercial business; we’re no longer just another proposal in a big stack of proposals.”

This strategy has worked very well for A Plus Lawn & Landscape, though Rennels is quick to point out that it does take time. It also takes a team effort, no different than the other networking and community projects the company is involved in.

In working with consultant Jeffrey Scott and his Leader’s Edge peer group, Rennels has been able to formalize many of the company’s procedures for networking and relationship marketing—and that has allowed him to make it a company-wide effort.

“For existing clients, we use a system of unsolicited proposals,” Rennels relates. “Our employees are encouraged to identify services on our clients’ properties that need to be done. We then send the client a proposal for that service. This has helped us tremendously; in many cases the client didn’t even know we offered that specific service. There is nothing that turns my stomach more than seeing a competitor on one of our properties performing a service we offer ourselves.”

A Plus staff also keep in touch with property managers who went with another contractor altogether. “We have picked up several big clients by staying in contact with them—and by being prepared for when that other contractor makes a big mistake,” Rennels says.

Grooming New Hires as Leaders

A Plus Lawn & Landscape still makes a few mistakes itself; Rennels and his team are only human, after all. But they continue on a relentless quest for improvement, and the mistakes come a lot fewer and farther between these days.