Director of Mark's Mowing - Mark Oosterhoff

As a budding entrepreneur I was always impressed with business people who saw a client's need and met that need. And I found the businesses that tended to succeed were companies that didn't just provide a product or service but a solution. I saw that clients tended to be attracted to businesses that created solutions rather than more problems.

This is where Mark's Mowing became successful. If people employ a gardening service they typically don't want to get involved with the garden. By creating problems the clients must then become involved and may as well spend the time doing the work themselves. Creating solutions means the clients only have to become involved at the point of sale, freeing their time to do what they like.

Providing a solution involves 2 things for Mark's Mowing:
(1) Actively looking for things that need to be done and doing them
(2) Getting things right the first time

I teach my franchisees to keep their eyes on the move for things that need doing in a client's yard. If I can stand at the back door of my house and make a list of 10 things that need doing in my own yard, how much more in someone else's yard. If it's only something small I'll do it as a freebie.

At a time when the fast food giants were tightening their grip on the Australian fast food market, there was a small fish & chip shop in Sydney doing a roaring trade. The key to his booming business was in freebies. A customer would order 4 fish and 2 servings of chips but when they opened the box at home there would be a spring roll or a handful of potato wedges too. Next time the customer may also buy a spring roll but even if they don't he has won over a regular customer - someone who will now have fish & chips every Saturday night instead of KFC, Pizza Hut pizza, or McDonalds.

Getting things right the first time is crucial in being part of the solution. When I arrive at a hotel at 9pm I expect that things will be exactly as I asked them to be. No one enjoys being shuffled around to another room at 10 o'clock at night after numerous phone calls. Especially if they have spent a long time travelling and eagerly long to put their feet up.
It's the same with a lawn and gardening service. It's important to provide an exacting service but why just meet a client's expectations when you could exceed them with not much more effort. It doesn't hurt to do a little bit extra and it means we keep our clients for a long time. That's what makes Mark's Mowing different.