RELATIONSHIPS, THE ECONOMY, AND OUR SOCIETY
Today we live in a society that has rapidly changed and advanced, for better or worse, in the last 20 years. If you would have told me back in 1990 that I could buy movie tickets on my telephone (cell), video conference with people half way across the world, and shop for groceries at 3:30AM, I’d probably say you were nuts! But here we are in 2010, attached to all of our slick cordless gadgets, with the world at our fingertips in real time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We have embraced all this technology and convenience in our society and have adopted a world of instant gratification that has directly impacted our day-to-day lives.
So what does this have to do with landscaping, you ask? Well, we don’t like to admit it, but our industry is sometimes looked upon as a necessary evil. After all, the grass didn’t get the memo that the economy turned south, and it continues to grow and needs to be maintained each year. Some clients have cut back on the services they purchase, while others search for the lowest price, regardless of the reputation of a prospective contractor or history with their current contractor. It’s what I like to call our “Wal-Mart society” – we want it cheap and we want it now!
But the real question is this: how does an organization like Classic thrive and expand in an economy driven by price shoppers, who expect the best service for less? This is where relationship building comes in to save the day. After all, consumers have seemingly unlimited options today. You can buy the same bottle of Suave at Wal-Mart as you can at Target or Walgreens, and all three bottles are priced within pennies of each other. So what makes you buy from one retailer over the other? The same concept applies to landscaping contractors as well.
We don’t want to be thought of as the Wal-Mart of the landscaping world, but rather the local, family-owned hardware store you remember as a kid. The employees were friendly and knowledgeable and the prices were just right, too. We’ve adopted these fundamentals of old while incorporating and embracing today’s technological advances to remain relevant and solvent. We think of it as the best of both worlds for our clients. On one hand, we provide more personal and attentive relationships with our clients, while on the other we integrate the use of modern, web-based computer technology to streamline our operations. Soon, our customers will also benefit from this technology as we develop customer portals through our website. This will provide our clients with the instant account access they’ve become accustomed to in today’s fast-paced world.
Perhaps the saying, “good things come to those who wait” has become a thing of the past, but we believe that a careful balance between old world values and modern day technology will help us advance in today’s society!