#1 Lawn Care Marketing Door Hanger Mistake

Are Your Lawn Care Door Hangers Delivering Big Results? If not, watch this video and learn how to fix your lawn care marketing.

This video is about why most marketing does not work.  I’m giving just one tip, focusing on one thing, in this example.  Before I talk about door hangers, let me tell you a quick story.  This morning my oldest son, he plays select soccer which is higher level soccer, and we were at a big soccer tournament. As we walked out of the tournament there was a business card on my car.  The business card actually turned out to be from his coach.  Apparently he had somebody pass out these business cards and put them all over the cars.  Basically, the business card just said something like, “Soccer Academy,” and had his phone number.  That’s it.  There was an address or something else on there.

I have absolutely no idea what the point of that card was.  I know that we were all there playing in a soccer tournament, and I know that it said “Soccer Academy,” and it has a phone number.  What does that mean?  Does it mean he’s trying to recruit other kids on to my son’s soccer team?  Does it means he holds a soccer academy?  Does it mean there’s a soccer tournament, or academy, or 3-by-3, or some event coming up soon that he wants to get some kids to participate in?  Does it mean he wants to do some one-on-one teaching?  What in the world does it mean?  It didn’t say anything.  It didn’t tell me anything.  It didn’t give me any benefit.  What am I supposed to do with it?  Am I really going to put it in my wallet and someday call this guy and say, “Hey.  I got this card on my car.  It says Soccer Academy.  Tell me about that.”

It was pointless.  Whoever he paid to put those out, and the printing costs, he might as well have just donated the money to charity.  It was a complete and total waste.  That’s what I think most marketing is.  It’s a complete and total waste.  Yeah, you might get a few clients off of it, but for the most part, you blew your money because it didn’t say anything.

Look at the door hanger on my screen.  As best as you can, imagine that you’re a homeowner.  Get out of the mindset of knowing so much about the lawn care business, and knowing what you do, and knowing why your customers need it. Think about how you, living in a house or an apartment or whatever, would receive a door hanger that says, “Painting.  It’s all about pretty walls” and it’s got a picture of a guy with a paint brush.

What would that mean to you?  Let’s say this is the only thing you get on your door.  Would you think, “Oh.  Thank goodness I got this!  I have to go get my house painted today and this is the company.”  What’s it tell you?  Does it tell you they’re good? And, if it did say, “House painting.  We’re good.” What’s that mean?  Who cares?  You said you’re good.  I don’t believe you.  Everybody says they’re good.  What if it says, “House painting.  Satisfaction guaranteed.”?  Are you like, “Oh.  Wow.  Great.  Satisfaction guaranteed.  I need to call these guys.  I mean these guys, they’re something unusual here.”?  It means nothing.  Everybody says it.  Nobody cares.  It’s pointless.

Really, really think about it from the perspective of this painting concept because you’re not in the painting business I’m assuming. What is it that I would have to say if I put a door hanger on your door, house or apartment, that was trying to sell painting.  What is it that I would have to say to get you to buy?  First thing that comes to mind, if you live in an apartment and I put a house painting door hanger on your door, number 1, it doesn’t matter what I say you are not buying house painting.  You don’t care.  Number 2, if you just had your house painted 2 months ago, and I put a house painting door hanger on your door, you’re not a buyer.  You don’t care.  If number 3, you live in a neighborhood where you can tell nobody hires house painters, and if they do paint their house it’s because they got a citation from the city and they’re going to do it themselves, the door hanger is wasted. Do you really think it’s going to work?

Let’s say you are putting your house painting door hanger on a door of somebody who could legitimately buy house painting.  They’re in a really affluent area.  What is it that you’ve got to say to get them to take action.  I am 100% certain it’s not saying, “House painting.  Satisfaction guaranteed.”

Now, put 2 door hangers on the door. One says, “House painting.  Satisfaction guaranteed” and the other one says, “We can paint your house in one day for 65%  of the price of everybody else in the marketplace. And, when we paint your house, it will not smell.  You won’t even know that we were in your house.  All you’ll experience is an incredibly, beautifully painted house.”

Now, if you could make that statement which is impossible, but how different would that be? Who would they call?  It’s all about what’s in it for me.  Nobody cares about you.  Nobody cares about me.  You don’t care about me recording videos and I don’t expect you to.  You don’t really give a flip about what I’m going to do tonight, or what I did 5 years ago.  You don’t really care.  It’s not going to change your life.  You do care about the stuff I’m saying if it resonates with you…if it’s of value to you, if it can make some difference in your business, if it can change your business and therefore allow you to make changes in your life, then you care about that.

If I was selling this information to you and not just giving it to you, I’d probably have to sell it to you under the idea that if you do what I’m saying, then you’ll get to go to Hawaii next year. And, if you don’t do what I’m saying, I’m pretty positive that you’ll rack up another $25,000 on your credit cards and your line of credit. I’d have to give you something that you feel pain to not buy my product.

I’m being overly dramatic and I’m exaggerating my point, but I’d have to sell you on this thing you want.  I need to get in your head and know what means something to you.  For one person, it could be going to Hawaii.  For another person, it might be taking care of their disabled parent who’s in a retirement home.  If I knew that intimate thing that you wanted and needed so badly, and I could put that on a door hanger and guarantee you were going to get that with no risk, I’d have the ultimate chance of selling you something.  You can’t get in my head at that level.  You can’t get in your customers head at that level, but you can do way better then just, “House painting.  Satisfaction guaranteed,” or “Green Lawns.  It’s all about curb appeal.”

That doesn’t say anything to your customer about what they’re going to get and why you’re different.  How is this going to be good for them?  How is this going to help them brag to their friends about this great deal that they got?  That’s the concept.  We’ve got to get inside our clients head.  We’ve got to answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”

If you’re stuff isn’t answering that, you might be getting some results, but it’s for the most part luck.  You happen to show up at the right time and you were probably the only person on their door and they happen to need you at exactly this moment.  If there’s no other options and they’re too lazy to go get on the Internet and do a Google search, this door hanger might work.  Short of that, this is not going to work.

I’ll add one thing to it.  If you answer the question of what’s in it for them, and you put it on their door at the wrong time, how do you get them to keep it?  What do you have to say, what offer do you have to make that would actually get them to hang it on their fridge, or put it on their kitchen counter, or put it somewhere so that when they need you, they remember you?  That is a little bit more challenging, but it’s doable.  Think about that.  What’s in it for me?  Answer that.  You’ll greatly increase your response rate and your close rate, and as a result, you’ll greatly increase your profit.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS