How long would you stay in business if you charged upwards of 30% more for your services than the competition? What if you operated with a two-complaint rule, meaning that on the second complaint, you simply told your customer to find another landscaper? Or, perish the thought, what if you maintained a property according to Mother Nature's schedule and not that of the customer?
Sounds like a ticket for a new career! To the contrary. For Rich McClure & Son Landscape Services in Bethel, Connecticut, the bottom line is providing the best service possible. Everything else is really academic, including price, complaints and scheduling.
Rich McClure's grandfather started the business in 1957. Back then the landscaping market was small, comprised primarily of wealthy people who could afford to hire out their lawn maintenance. There were no backpack blowers, edgers or trimmers. And the only real mower of note was a "reel" mower - zero-turn rotary mowers were only a dream.
"Customers expected my father to be a caretaker," tells Rich, who with son Rich Jr. operates the business today. "Things have changed dramatically over the years: the equipment we now use, the competition and the breadth of the market. But one thing hasn't changed for us. We still manage residential properties like they are estates, and we are the caretakers."
The old-school approach to landscaping works for some 130 accounts that stretch between White Plains, New York, to Hartford, Connecticut. The company offers them a full range of services from turf management, including insect control and fertilizer application, to landscape design and installation, lawn renovation, grounds maintenance, and flower bed installation and maintenance. The McClures also maintain and install irrigation systems and remove snow, all with a total of four employees including the father-and-son team.
"What really separates us from the competition is the type of accounts we have and the quality of services we offer," tells Rich. "We don't work for commercial accounts where most of the competition around here is today. Our customers are high-end homeowners who expect a high-quality job."
Tight Niche
Rich McClure & Son Landscape Services wasn't always a four-person operation. As Rich explains, the company was much bigger a few years ago. And then the light dawned on them. "At the time, we were bringing in maybe $1.3 million in sales and made 8% of that," he tells. "We decided we could make a lot more by doing less volume. It would require both my son and me to do more of the actual work, but that's what we decided to do."
So, the McClures went back to their roots and narrowed their niche, offering a full range of services to a select few customers. They sold most of their heavy equipment, pared down their employee rolls and rolled up their sleeves, sharing responsibility for various service categories.
"We've had to share duties and responsibilities," Rich Jr. adds, "because there is so much to learn out there. One person can't possibly spend time going to all the schools, let alone become proficient in all areas." His father agrees, noting that over the last seven years both of them have spent nearly every spare moment during the winter months attending seminars and other educational classes.
As caretakers and not service providers, Rich McClure & Son Landscape Services sees the majority of its customers at least once every month. At that visit, the team will provide whichever service Mother Nature dictates. It may mean trimming a particular type of shrub, but not all shrubs on the property, applying fertilizer or protecting the property from insects that are readying for their seasonal debut.
"We know what types of shrubs are on our properties and when they need to be pruned," explains Rich. "That's when we do the work. If customers ask us to prune or otherwise maintain something out of Mother Nature's schedule, we explain that the end result will not be satisfactory for them or for us.
"How we feel about our work is just as important as how our customer feels. It's such a good feeling for us to know that all the shrubs and flowers are blooming just right, and that the grass is healthy and lush."
Yet, it's how the customer feels that allows Rich McClure & Son Landscape Services to charge a premium for its work. It's difficult for customers to complain about price when the end product meets their satisfaction.
Mowing, Too
Of the McClures' 130 accounts, 22 are full-service accounts, meaning they receive all insect control and fertilizing throughout the year, along with seeding, mulching, edging and mowing. Until recently, the company really hadn't pushed its mowing service. As Rich points out, mowing can contribute disproportionately to overhead. And containing cost has been key to their downsizing.
Approximately four years ago, the McClures launched a search for a new mower. They wanted something that would fit their caretaker approach and deliver a reel mower look, but wouldn't kill them in overhead - either downtime or labor.
"We had nearly resigned ourselves to buy a reel mower when we saw the Walker," relays Rich. "Some area landscapers thought the machine wasn't heavy-duty just because it was small. But size had nothing to do with quality. We found it to be very well built. Our philosophy is if you buy top-quality equipment, you should never have to replace it. We've had some of our equipment 30 to 40 years and it still runs perfectly. Our Turfco edger, for example, is 37 years old and we still use it.
"After demonstrating the Walker, we found that it delivered the closest thing we've ever seen to a reel cut. And unlike a reel mower, we could use the Walker for several different groundskeeping applications."
Another key selling point, Rich Jr. explains, is the fact that Walker Mfg. is focused like they are. The company concentrates its energies on building one type of mower, not a full line of products.
"We knew that if their company's livelihood depended on one machine, that machine would be as near perfect as it could possibly be."
The McClures say they haven't been disappointed in their diesel powered mower and its 48-inch GHS deck. In fact, says Rich, "We're cutting more lawns with the Walker in less time than ever. More specifically, on every property we save at least 30% in time with one less person.
"We've seen landscapers around here with faster mowers. But we find that in many cases they mow so fast they skim right over the grass. In fact, double cutting is not unusual for them."
These faster mowers also don't have the pickup capability that Rich says is so important to their customers. Instead of mow and blow, the McClures do the opposite: They blow and edge the property before mowing. The end result is a clean, neat package.
Cost savings occur in other areas, too. The company spends less time cleaning up at season's end now because it uses the Walker to clean up with each mowing as the season winds down. In addition, attachments such as the rotary broom - used primarily for spring cleanup and sweeping up after lawn renovation- and the blade - for pushing snow off sidewalks - help the McClures get even more mileage out of their machine.
But it's the mowing where the Walker really makes its mark, says Rich. "The Walker has made our mowing so productive we're going to expand our mowing business next year." Growing the mowing business is relatively easy, he admits, especially among the company's current base of non-mow customers. "All they have to do is see the mowing job and they want to sign up for mowing."
Despite customer interest in their mowing operation, the McClures have no plans to launch into a separate mowing operation. Their long-range plan still puts a cap on their business. Simply put, they like the idea of staying small and delivering as many quality services as they can to a select few customers. The Walker fits nicely into that "caretaker" scheme by giving them the ability to deliver a high quality mowing job while keeping overhead to a minimum.
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