We Could Not Have Predicted This

February 10, 2015

Most weather driven businesses sell their services during the off-season.  To fill their pipeline with projects, it’s time for landscapers to call prospective new clients with a free lawn analysis.  Or is it?

After shoveling two feet of snow for the umpteenth time, a Braintree High School teacher heard her home phone ring.  Normally she would have ignored this caller: identified as  “Unknown”.  She answered it anyway.  Cabin fever does that to you.

Upon hearing the young man proudly announce that he was calling from a turf care company, she couldn’t stop laughing.

Hmmmm…what could this company’s marketing department have been thinking?  Perhaps they analyzed the positives:

1) Lots of people would be home that day.

2) After more than five feet of snow in roughly two weeks, by the 8^th school day, they’d be willing to talk to anybody!

If their goal was to provide much needed humor to a stir crazy demographic, they scored an even bigger win than the New England Patriots.  If their goal was to drum up business for their company, not only did they waste their marketing dollars on cold callers, they put their brand through a shredder by showing potential customers how out of touch and obviously out of town, they really are.

This weather consultant’s recommendation:

To the Homeowner:  Call the turf care company back.  Tell him the middle of next week (after the next two snow storms) would be a perfect time for his free analysis of your lawn on the condition that he actually finds it!  Let’s see how big their dump trucks really are.

To the Turf Care Company:  Do your homework! Position your people to make the right pitch at the right time.

Here at Weather or Not, our experienced consultants are standing by to partner with your company to help you make more money.  If, like that turf care center, your plan continues to rely solely on “common sense”, remember, they don’t make an app for that!

By Sara Croke:  National speaker, Founder of Weather or Not, Inc. and proud aunt of one of the finest teachers at Braintree High School