If homeowners call Ring from outside his coverage area, it’s easy to refer a closer contractor like Hansen
Shrinking service area
Weekly mowing, blowing, trimming, edging, core aeration and snow removal: the majority of lawn care services offered by Ring Lawn Care and Hansen’s Lawn Care are identical.
�The reason this works is that we stay in our own areas,� says Richard Hansen. �It enables our service areas to be smaller. Most people think that’s a negative because there’s not as much potential for business in a smaller area, but this enables less time driving.�
Hansen stays within a 3- to 4-mile radius of Woodbury, while Bryan Ring focuses on a 7 to 9-mile radius of Stillwater.
For example, Ring took on a customer in Oakdale. But the more he made the 20-minute drive, the more he told himself the property was too far away to be profitable, even though it was a sizable account. So he handed the account over to Hansen, who’s based less than 5 miles from it. �When you shrink your service area, you’re making routes denser so your profitability goes up and your expenses go down,� Hansen says.
�If you’re not driving 15 miles to these clients, you can be more serviceable to them, especially with snow removal, where 15 miles could be several hours. (more…)