MELNA Executive Director Don Sproul


Don’s Digressions: Our Executive Director’s Column


For the past 25 years I’ve worked with a number


of professional trade organizations and I’m amazed that few members, if any, take full advantage of their membership in their respective trade organization in their marketing. Within the landscape/nursery industry, when a typical homeowner is looking for a contractor they really don’t know how to evaluate each company versus their competitors. Tey don’t know what questions to ask or if they do know what questions to ask, they don’t know what the answers should be. I have seen many marketing survey results over


the years. A consistent (and not surprising) conclusion is that clients always want to know “what’s in it for me” or “why would this be important in my decision”. When soliciting proposals for the purpose of making comparisons, there are 3 general areas that clients want information about you and your company:


■ Reputation and Stability of Your Company ■ Experience With a Project Like Teirs ■ Follow Up and Customer Service


Armed with this knowledge, you can now use


your MELNA membership to help position your company as the obvious choice with whom to do business. Studies consistently show the average consumer


already knows that most of the “good guys” in each industry belong to their respective trade association. But a “disconnect” occurs because few businesses take the time to explain to their prospect what their membership means to them. Tey simply put the logo on their marketing, advertising or website and leave it at that. Remember, the homeowner has no idea what that logo represents, so part of your job is to teach them. Cross-industry studies show that 3 to 5% of all contractors belong to a professional trade association for their respective industry. For many industries the percentage is much less. With this fact in hand, how does your MELNA membership help you get business?


GrowingMEGreen In reality, it won’t help you get business unless


you make it work for you. Just by being a MELNA member, you have positioned yourself to be in the top 5% of our industry.


Your goal is to never lose a prospect to a competitor that doesn’t take advantage of all the benefits of belonging to MELNA. Not even one!! You need to educate your prospects about the benefits of hiring you and by doing that they will realize the risks in hiring someone that is not a member. You need to convey your elite status to prospective customers. But how? Te answer is in your own marketing and the presentations of your proposals. How do you market the benefits of your MELNA membership? On your business marketing outlets (brochures, web site, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), how about teaching your prospect the following:


■ Your code of ethics signed as a MELNA member


■ Your ongoing industry training in best practices provided to MELNA members


■ Guidance in complying with new regulations provided to MELNA members


■ Finally, on EVERY proposal you provide to a customer place the following footnote: “As a professional, I take pride in staying current with best industry practices through my Maine Landscape & Nursery Association (MELNA) membership. Even if you don’t hire us, please make sure the contractor you do hire is a member of MELNA. You will save a great deal of money by only having to do the job once. You can check for MELNA membership at www.melna.org”


Te Fall and Winter months are the time to be


revamping or editing your marketing pieces. Take the four suggestions above and incorporate them in everything you do. In 2012, never lose a prospect to a competitor that doesn’t take advantage of all the benefits of belonging to MELNA. Not even one!!


Our Executive Committee


President Mark Pendergast mark@salmonfallsnursery.com Salmon Falls Nursery and Landscaping Phone: 207-384-5540 Fax: 207-384-5680


Vice-President Elizabeth Listowich, MCN, MCL norpine@roadrunner.com Norpine Landscape, Inc. Phone: 207-265-2430 Fax: 207-265-2431


Treasurer Karen Henderson, MCN, MCL khender1@maine.rr.com Phone: 207-221-2045


Executive Director Donald F. Sproul MngmtPlus@aol.com P.O. Box 4666 Augusta, ME 04330 Phone: 207-623-6430 Fax: 207-623-6431


Todd Bangs, MCN, MCL todd@windsweptgardens.com Windswept Gardens, LLC Phone: 207-941-9898 Fax: 207-941-9892


Tom Estabrook, MCN tom@estabrooksonline.com Estabrook Farm & Greenhouses, Inc. Phone: 207-846-4398 Fax: 207-846-5262


Mark Faunce, MCN, MCL mefaunce@roadrunner.com McHutchison Phone: 207-625-3075 Fax: 207-265-2431


Shai Levite sabra@maine.rr.com Sabra Property Care, Inc. Phone: 207-797-6540 Fax: 207-829-4535


Anne Murphy, MCL annem@gnomeldm.com Gnome Landscape & Design Phone: 207-781-2955 Fax: 207-781-5705


Chris Turmelle


chris@atlanticpestsolutions.net Atlantic Pest Solutions Company


Phone: 800-439-7716 Fax: 207-985-8565


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