So you probably thought getting your first paying customers would be the difficult piece to your fine gardening business puzzle. But once you've gotten past that giant milestone (congrats!!) you're probably asking yourself how do I keep those customers?
It is so much easier and more profitable to continuously provide the same service to the same customer than it is to acquire new customers for one-time services.
What do I mean by that? With recurring customers, over time you build a relationship where they learn to know, like, and trust you. Once customers get to know you, they're more willing to continue booking services, trust your opinions, and understand how your gardening business operates. Customers love predictability. And if you're able to provide that predictability through consistent communication, kindness, and cooperation, they're not going to bother looking for other gardeners.
And if those happy clients keep booking more services, that means there's less time you have to spend marketing and advertising to gain new leads and customers. Advertising is my least favorite part of owning and operating my business. So I've developed strategies to retain customers, create recurring income, and reduce advertising and marketing needs.
Here are my tips for retaining customers and building lasting relationships where they know, like, and trust you.
Communicate
Educate
Take Interest
Be Predictable
Give the Extra Pickle
Be Authentic
Communication
I like to think that I'm a born communicator--but I'd be lying to you if I didn't admit that it took me years of working in customer service before the whole "communicate effectively" thing clicked.
Years ago, when I had first been promoted to a supervisor working for the US National Park Service, I was sent to Supervisory Ranger School (yes, this exists, and yes! it was an amazing experience!). I was a little apprehensive of what new stuff I could learn, but I went into this training with an open mind. And to this day, the most valuable piece of information I took home was to communicate with people the way they want to communicate. Not how you prefer to communicate--but how they prefer to communicate.
A simple way to figure out how people prefer to communicate is to ask them. Seriously--either verbally or on a new client intake form, ask how they would like to receive communications with you. Typical methods include:
Text Message
Phone Call
Email
In-Person
Mail
Granted, you're not likely sending clients snail mail in 2024 (except for holiday cards), but you should be asking them if they prefer text messages, phone calls, email, or all forms of communication.
I have several elderly customers who primarily use their home phones and do not want text messages. That's fine with me, I just give them a phone call the day before a scheduled service to verify the time and if they need anything specifically taken care of (so I know what tools to pack).
For the majority of my customers, however, I typically text service confirmations the day before the scheduled service and I e-mail them invoices. Texts for service reminders are pretty standard these days for almost all industries and people are used to getting PDF copies of invoices sent to their emails.
When you're communicating with clients in person, you don't have to be particularly formal, but you should always be courteous, affable, and curious.
Take Interest
You don't have to be their best friend, but you should know their spouse and kid's names, know a few facts about them (if they like a particular sports team or their favorite television show), and always find at least one thing you have in common. Commonality is particularly important because it allows you to share something with your client. People love finding out they share something in common with someone else--so spend to time to find a commonality to grow your relationship. Some commonalities may be:
a hobby
favorite television show
favorite sports team (or even a rival sports team!)
favorite board game
favorite book genera
favorite plant
maybe you both like traveling?
your love for Mexican cuisine
your love for orange cats
The list of possible commonalities is literally endless; be creative, ask your customers questions, or just notice things around their property (a bumper sticker, a flag, a plant in their garden, a book on the table). It's easy to spend a minute talking to your clients and slowly building a relationship with them.
Finding commonality with your customers is vital to your relationship because people want to be heard, they want to be valued, and they want to be seen. Taking the time to ask a client about their knitting obsession or kid's soccer team will show that you took the time to listen and remember them, which will make them feel heard, valued, and seen. Which in turn will build your relationship.
I do, however, suggest leaving politics and money issues out of your conversations. Both of these topics are very polarized and there's no need to bring that type of energy to your gardening business.
Educate
Has anyone ever made you feel stupid for asking a simple question? I have and I vehemently dislike it. That's why I try my hardest to be understanding, empathetic, and put myself in other's shoes (so to speak). I attempt to understand where people are coming from when they ask me questions so that I can best educate in a kind and professional manner.
But how do you educate your clients? First, tone of voice is incredibly important here. If a client asks you a question, answer with kindness and in a neutral or positive tone. Affirm that what they asked is a good question. And try to not make any faces.
My partner likes to joke with me about the million faces I make--he likes to say that I'm as animated as a cartoon character. But while I can be 100% myself with him, I do try to keep my facial reactions to a minimum with clients.
For instance, if someone asks me to prune their apple tree during the fall time (which is completely the wrong time of year to do this), here is my reaction:
Keep my face neutral (no furrowed eyebrows or squinty eyes because I think this is an asinine request)
No frowning
No condescending or harsh words
Instead, I try to keep a neutral or positive expression and educate:
Smile
Slightly nod my head to confirm that I heard them
And reply "I'd love to help you with your apple tree pruning needs. However, I typically don't start fruit tree pruning season until January. Waiting until the winter, when your tree is dormant, will allow me to safely prune your tree to ensure vigor, increase fruit production, and reduce the potential spread of disease."
See what I did there? Instead of making the client feel stupid for asking a simple question (and wanting to give me work, no less!), I turned this into an educational moment. First, I confirmed that I'd like to help them with their request (I'd love to help you with your apple tree pruning needs). Then I followed up with an educational explanation by telling them why I do something a certain way (waiting until the winter, when your tree is dormant, will allow me to safely prune your tree to ensure vigor, increase fruit production, and reduce the potential spread of disease) and when I do it (January).
This type of response is educational and allows me to retain my client and book in the future.
Educating is also another way your customer gets to trust you. If you're able to explain why or when you do something in a particular way (with sound reasoning), they're more likely to trust that you know what you're doing and not trying to take advantage of them to make a quick buck.
Be Predictable
One of the things I hear clients complain the most about is "the last guy just stopped coming" or "I never knew when my old gardener would show up--she was so unpredictable!"
People love order, timeliness, and predictability. If you can master this, then you'll keep customers for a lifetime. If you have a method, do what you say you're going to do, and do it when you say you're going to do it--that's predictability.
For instance, if I have a monthly recurring client where I provide recurring garden maintenance for 4 hours, once a month, on the second Tuesday of that month, you better believe that I'm going to show up and do my job on that date. Now, of course, there's always exceptions, but the key is to still be predictable (even in unforeseen circumstances).
With regards to scheduling clients, always confirm the next scheduled service when you invoice for the service you just provided. That way the client knows that they're on your schedule and the time and date. If some unforeseen circumstances come up, communicate with your customer ahead of time (always!!!). This communication creates predictability in your business and relationship.
Other methods of predictability:
Returning texts, emails, and phone calls within 24 hours
Writing newsletters twice a month
Write a blog post once a week
Always texting service confirmation 24 hours in advance
Invoicing within 3 business days
Always sending an invoice via email
Booking the next scheduled service date during the current service or at the time of invoice
Showing up on time (or within a narrow time frame of 5-20 minutes)
Leaving on time
Always taking a vacation in March (ok, this is more personal predictability, but my clients know I take 2 weeks off after the fruit tree pruning season ends!)
There's a million ways to be predictable. Most importantly, however, is that your clients view you and your gardening business as predictable. Predictable businesses show up on time, complete tasks and projects within a reasonable time frame, communicate well, and invoice shortly after completing a job.
Give the Extra Pickle
When I first started working for the Park Service, I had a lot to learn about customer service. For one, I had to get off my high horse and learn how to be compassionate and kind to strangers (the first pillar of good customer service). Second, I had to learn to give the extra pickle (the second pillar of good customer service). You may be asking, Katie, why are you talking about pickles when you're supposed to be telling me how to retain gardening clients? And I swear this is relevant.
I had an older coworker who, at first glance, didn't seem to take her job very seriously. But after I got to know her and worked with her more, I realized that she was incredibly laid back, didn't let awkward customer interactions phase her, and almost always gave the customer what they asked for. One time I asked her "why do you always give the customer everything they ask for?" And she said, have you ever heard the phrase give the extra pickle? And obviously I hadn't because I had no customer service experience or training before that point. So she explained.
If you're working in a restaurant as a waitress and a customer asks you for something small--something that costs the business just a couple of cents--like a pickle, just give it to them. The customer will be happy. And you can move on with your job. No need to ask why the customer needs that small thing, just give it to them with a smile and move on. The customer will be thankful for your good customer service and that leaves a lasting impression and positive memory.
Young, and fresh out of grad school, I had never really thought about the positive customer service interactions I previously had. But she was right. If I had ever asked for an extra pickle (I truly love pickles), I was always really happy about the restaurant experience and my interaction with the waitress.
And because of this story, I started testing out the extra pickle theory of customer service. If a customer asks me to do something small but isn't something that I typically do for my job, I just do it. The customer is happy and I can move on with all the other things I need to get done. Some small extra pickles include:
Moving a customer's trashcans from the street to their storage place (after the trash has been picked up)
Sending a few before and after pictures when a client isn't home during a service
Answering questions with thoughtful answers
Spending the time to chat with a customer about non-garden related things (because they want someone to talk to)
Offering to do something in the garden they hadn't thought of
Watering a plant that looks thirsty
Picking up trash that blew into the yard
Freebies like magnets, pens, and small notebooks with your business logo and contact info (people love freebies)
Sometimes the client specifically asks for the extra pickles, but often time you can find ways of giving extra pickles that they didn't even know they wanted. Giving just a little bit more to your customer will go a long way and hardly inconvenience you.
Be Authentic
If you're operating a Fine Gardening Business, whether it's your first day or your 20th year, it's important to be authentic. In a world of AI robots taking over the internet and transactional business (doing anything for a buck), it's important to keep your business authentically you, multi-dimensional, and genuine.
Please, I'm begging you, don't let greed, fame, or aspirations take over your business. Constantly remind yourself why you started your business, what your business goals are, and remember that your customers chose to continuously hire you because of YOU!
Chances are, your clients chose to keep hiring you because of the relationship they formed with you. They learned to know, like, and trust you. And when you stray from what's authentically you, those clients may become disenchanted, unsatisfied, or even want to fire you.
Business isn't easy. And growing and scaling a business is a difficult and stressful task. But it's important to remain authentic and maintain the same (or similar) business culture while growing. Don't be fake--everyone can see through inauthenticity.
Summary
So there you have it, my top six ways to maintain customers for a profitable and predictable fine gardening business.
Communicate
Educate
Take Interest
Be Predictable
Give the Extra Pickle
Be Authentic
When you maintain recurring clients, you guarantee yourself a predictable income. And providing recurring services to the same group of clients reduces your need to advertise and market to new potential clients. You'll always have to do some level of marketing and advertising, as clients do come and go, but you won't have to spend as much time advertising if you have reliable clients and work.
And I almost forgot to mention the most important reason for keeping recurring clients: once you get to know a garden, it's a whole lot easier to maintain that garden, know its quirks, and know how to tackle specific client requests. Every garden is unique, and the more time spend with a garden, the more familiar you become. Familiarity with a garden ensures you can easily estimate time needed for recurring services, know what garden tasks (such as weeding, pruning, extra watering, etc.) will need to be done throughout the year, and enables you to do your job incredibly efficiently.
My best advice is to find what works for you in your market and stick with it. Predictable profits are the easiest and least stressful method of operating a successful fine gardening business. Good Luck!
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