Lost a customer?

It happens to all of us. You get beat on price. You’re late on a delivery. Or you get out hustled for the business.

Everyone loses customers for all kinds of reasons, but after they are lost, then what? Do you give up on them? Do you try and get them back? How do you find them?

Finding a lost customer and regaining their business is usually pretty easy. Most people see it as too big of an obstacle to overcome to regain the customer’s business. Just give it a try and I guarantee you will win.

Start by making a list of all the customers that were lost by your company over the last few years. Dig through all of the old files and customer histories. Write down everyone that could qualify as a lost customer.

Next, find out the reasons why they quit buying from you. If you can figure out the real reason a customer left, you can then begin developing a solution to try and get them back.

The reason they left could be something simple and easily resolved. It could be more complicated and involve other departments and people within your company, like the credit department. Whatever the case, make sure you ask the customer ask why they stopped doing business with you. Be sure to listen and write down their response.

After you find out why the customer left, start working on a plan to get them back. If you got beat on price, figure out how to show them that your company may not have the lowest initial price, but has the best value and lowest cost over the entire use of your product.

Make a plan and act on it. Showing lost customers that you are willing to fight for their business will help grow your relationship and turn them into loyal customers.

Calling on customers that have been lost is one of the highest percentage sales calls you can make. They know your company and are familiar with the way you do business. All you have to do is to solve the problem that the customer currently has with your company.

In addition to regaining their business, you also get to learn the reasons why the customer left in the first place. This is the best part. You get to learn how to improve your business from the customer’s prospective. Take these issues and make a plan to keep them from happening to your existing customers.

If you are looking to increase your sales this year, look for your lost customers. The profits and insight they bring to your business will be well worth it.

John

When you water your yard, try watering less frequently but for longer periods of time. Watering deeper develops a healthier root system which in turn promotes healthier grass.

How long do I need to water?

For most types of Bermuda grass, the most common type of grass in West Texas, you can water once a week applying somewhere between ¾” – 1 ½” of water. At first try ¾” per week and watch the color and softness of your grass closely. If it starts to fade, or doesn’t have the softness it normally does before the next weeks watering, increase to 1” – 1 ½” per week. Try to get the water applied in one application per week, but watch out for run-off.

How long do I need to run my irrigation system to get ¾” – 1 ½” of water per application?

In order to put down the appropriate amount of water, you need to understand your irrigation system. Every system varies, but here are the two basic types of irrigation heads.

Spray heads (Pop up and spray in a preset pattern) – Spray heads with a coverage distance ranging from 12’ – 15’ foot apply approximately 1.5” of water per hour. This means to apply ¾” of water, you need to run each section of your system with these types of heads for 30 minutes at a time, once a week. You can increase this time to an hour per week to get approximately 1 ½” of water.

Rotors - (Pop up and have one stream that rotates back and forth) – A rotor’s performance depends on the nozzle you select, but on average applies about ½” of water per hour. If you use these types of heads, you will have to water longer to apply the appropriate amount of water. In order to apply the ¾” in one application, you will need to run a section of rotors for 1 ½ hours.

These measurements vary with every irrigation system, but with the above information you can reasonably adjust your system to water appropriately with one application per week. Doing this will help your grass grow a more extensive root system and will help save money on your water bill.

SVC-100 Battery Operated Controller

Do you need an irrigation zone and can’t get power to the valve? The SVC-100 controller from Hunter Industries is a battery operated controller that provides the perfect answer to this problem.

The controller is a breeze to operate and installs in minutes without the use of additional tools. It operates off a 9-volt battery which lasts through the entire irrigation season.

For more information you can visit the link below.