By Chuck Bowen
Lawn & Landscape Magazine
On a hot summer day in 2009, Brad Johnson opened a form letter from TruGreen. They were interested in talking to him about buying his company, LawnAmerica, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Johnson had done that once before, and wasn’t interested in doing it again, so he tossed the letter in the trash.
But it got him thinking. What would he do if he sold his business and walked away with a pile of money?
The answer came pretty fast: Hike the Appalachian Trail.
The AT starts in Georgia and snakes 2,100 miles up the East Coast through 14 states until it reaches Mount Kathadin in Maine. Along the way, it crosses some of the harshest terrain the woods can throw at a hiker. Fully one-quarter of folks who start at the southern terminus quit before they even make it out of Georgia. A thousand miles later (and halfway through) another half of them have bagged it. Only 20 percent of the thousands who undertake the trek finish. (more…)
What Do Our Customers Think?
Tuesday, August 9th, 2011At LawnAmerica, our Mission is, “To please our customers so much that they’ll tell others about us.” That’s how we’ve grown to become the largest lawncare company of our type in Oklahoma—by taking good care of our customers.
Thumbs Up
We constantly monitor the customer service experience our customers have through the Net Promoter Score. Basically, this is a question that asks a customer to tell us how likely it is that they recommend our service to a friend or neighbor. The results are tabulated and scored as a number, with the higher the number reflecting a better customer service experience and happier customers. Our team members are even paid a bonus if they reach our ambitious goal of a high Net Promoter Score.
Thousands of company’s across the country use the Net Promoter Score to measure customer satisfaction, and even a few lawncare companies that we know of. Our overall company score currently is 79, which may mean nothing to folks who don’t know what Net Promoter is. Any number over 50 is an indication that customers are really happy, and that the company is strong in providing a great service or product overall. A 79 is really good! Nobody in our industry comes close to that to my knowledge. In fact, the largest lawncare company in the country is sitting at 15 the last I heard, and that would get a guy fired at LawnAmerica if his customers had scored him at that low number. (more…)
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