# Proven, quick ways to gain market share



## hansenslawncare (Feb 23, 2012)

As the title states, what are some proven methods you've used to gain market share; and quickly?

Thank you.


----------



## SharpBlades (Sep 13, 2009)

Lowball everyone else... 25-30% at least ... You might not make a profit, but you'll gain market share. 

Honestly, that's all I can come up with to gain market share quickly. 

Quality service, and fair prices along with a strong marketing campaign will work but will take 3 or more years


----------



## terrapro (Oct 21, 2006)

Hitman is probably cheaper and more efficient


----------



## djagusch (Oct 15, 2007)

Buy another guys company or accounts. Quickest way. You may need to drop of the bad accounts but that's part of it game.


----------



## hansenslawncare (Feb 23, 2012)

I've considered purchasing another company. A little nervous on the acquisition though...worried about everyone dropping my company after paying thousands of dollars.


----------



## djagusch (Oct 15, 2007)

hansenslawncare;1661646 said:


> I've considered purchasing another company. A little nervous on the acquisition though...worried about everyone dropping my company after paying thousands of dollars.


Figure less then 5% loss after 2 yrs (my experience). I paid one a % of sales to xyz number (accounts only). Other was a payment plan over 1yr time. Accountant was uneasy about it but now both laugh about it. Added $150k in sales with those 2 deals.

Watch out for the guys wanting way too much though. Guys wanting $50k for $20k in equipment and $50k in sales. Bad investment.


----------



## Buswell Forest (Jan 11, 2013)

Sponsor a little league team, sponsor a free vaccine clinic for dogs and cats, things that get your name out there, make you look good, and provide a worthwhile tax write-off..


----------



## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Market share of what? If your plowing by yourself whats the most you can handle? 40-50 driveways.Put some fliers out in the area you want.


----------



## hansenslawncare (Feb 23, 2012)

grandview;1662029 said:


> Market share of what? If your plowing by yourself whats the most you can handle? 40-50 driveways.Put some fliers out in the area you want.


Who said I'm alone???


----------



## Precedence (Oct 3, 2008)

Spending money on marketing works for me, i don't think anyone is going to give you there sure fire secrets for getting customers through marketing (and neither will i) but figure on a 1-2% (1.5% average) call back on non-targeted marketing (flyers ect) and if you have a way to more specifically target customers you want you can get up to 25-30% (27.5% average) call back. Conversion will depend on your sales ability, 30% conversion is pretty good. So it's basically math, how much do you want? Let's call that X, Y is the number of customers to target:

So for non targeted: Y=(X/0.3)/0.015 
And for targeted: Y=(X/0.3)/0.275

Ta da, now you just have to figure out what marketing will work. Simple.

Let's get more complicated now, say you've figured out Y now you have to figure out Z which is the cost to acquire each customer. Your cost per piece of marketing for production and distribution should be known let's say $0.65 for production and distribution.

So Z=(Y/X)*0.65

If your going to buy accounts then the cost of those accounts should not exceed the cost to acquire that number of accounts through marketing.

Static marketing (like little league teams, billboards, bus benches, magazine ads, ect) works but takes a lot of effort in order to develop the name/logo recognition in peoples minds. People have to be exposed to something 27 times before they begin to actively recognize it and seek it out.


----------



## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

Lets try this,market share is doing a percentage of the whole,So where you live how many driveways are there? What percentage of them you want? How many trucks you running?


----------



## mark268 (Oct 10, 2007)

Increased 300% in three years. Not to bad in my book. I've tried door hangers, flyers, etc... Results weren't anything to brag about. What I found to work is quality work, excellent customer service, going the extra mile for your customers, and reasonable rates. Trust me, when someone tells you word of mouth is the best advertising, it truly is. Your customers will make or break your business.

Whatever you do, don't lowball. You will loose money in the end, and eventually your customers will leave for someone else who may charge more but provide a much higher quality service. Find out what your market rates are and stay within them.

Good luck, its tough out there dealing with every Joe that throws a plow on thinking they will get rich.


----------



## SnowClear (Feb 24, 2012)

hansenslawncare;1661217 said:


> As the title states, what are some proven methods you've used to gain market share; and quickly?
> 
> Thank you.


Gain residential market share or commercial? Two very different animals, which require different strategy.

I've looked at your site and it appears you're interested in both. Regarding residential it is more about marketing efforts whereas commercial is more about sales efforts.

Acquisition would be a very fast way to accomplish this followed by a market penetration strategy (low-balling as previously suggested). Acquisition requires specific talent to merge to separate companies into one cohesive unit. Definitely not a strategy for everyone, but perhaps for you.

Organic growth through consistent marketing efforts to develop brand recognition will increase conversion rates from both responders to advertisements and referrals alike. This method creates brand stability and enhances valuation of the company revenue stream.

Acquisition is for you if you have the general business acumen to meld two or more companies, however I'd say you shouldn't attempt to acquire other companies until your existing company brand is stable, respected, and recognized within the targeted community. If it is... go for it.


----------



## BC Handyman (Dec 15, 2010)

good post Snowclear, the last paragraph is quite true & good advise.


----------



## hansenslawncare (Feb 23, 2012)

grandview;1662667 said:


> Lets try this,market share is doing a percentage of the whole,So where you live how many driveways are there? What percentage of them you want? How many trucks you running?


32,000 drives approximately. ten percent would be nice. currently running two trucks...but it's not a matter of how many we're running, but how many CAN we run?

Like I said, gaining the market share is key focus here obviously. If we had the accounts would could run 7+ trucks this season.


----------



## grandview (Oct 9, 2005)

More like a 1 percent with 7 trucks.


----------



## hansenslawncare (Feb 23, 2012)

grandview;1667127 said:


> More like a 1 percent with 7 trucks.


Yeah, I understand the limitations with a plow truck. I didn't say 10 percent today. But we'll add eblings as needed. In the near future we'll switch to an operation like Neige's.


----------



## Wilnip (Oct 4, 2011)

I do print adds, billboards, etc. But by biggest bang for the buck is yard signs. I get the most new customers that way and it's the least expensive. Works well on residentials. Blind bid mailings work the best for me on commercial accounts.


----------

