Virginia Green is the largest locally owned lawn care company in central Virginia, with more than 250 associates servicing six locations throughout the state. They provide a wide range of services, including weed control and fertilization, aeration and seeding, pest control, tree and shrub services, and commercial services. They’ve been around since 2004, but only relatively recently started using RealGreen’s solutions, signing on with Service Assistant 5 in 2019. Right now they’re in serious growth mode, with several recent acquisitions and plans to expand into new territories, and RealGreen is helping them power that growth. Here’s a look at the top five reasons Virginia Green switched to RealGreen.
1. RealGreen knows the green industry. “We switched to RealGreen for the simple reason that your focus was strictly lawn care and you knew lawn care – the conversations, the pains, all of it,” explains Joe Donchez, Director of Sales for Virginia Green, noting that their previous provider “just kind of dabbled” in lawn care. That industry-specific knowledge and focus show that RealGreen’s solutions are designed to work the way green industry companies like Virginia Green need them to, a major selling point when it came time to switch.
2. RealGreen makes sales easy. With automatic reminders, prepay letters, upsell capabilities and more, RealGreen’s integrated solutions smooth the path to easy sales, says Donchez. He notes that with their previous provider, the team could send out emails, but would still then have to follow up with everyone with phone calls and conversations since customers couldn’t purchase directly online. With RealGreen, “You have the click-to-buy. It works out a lot better. A much easier flow than [our other software].”
3. Streamlines processes and saves money. Virginia Green uses several RealGreen Solutions, including Service Assistant 5, Routing Assistant, Mobile Live, Measurement Assistant, Customer Assistant Websites, and Automated Marketing Assistant. According to Donchez, the integration between all aspects of the software is key to streamlining processes, saving time, and saving money. With SA5, he says, “it’s very convenient for sales reps and easy to enter a sale when all of the conversations and contact information are logged into the program.
Mobile Live has also been extremely effective and working well for our service reps out in the field doing applications.” Donchez also points out that Measurement Assistant is an effective tool as well. “I like the integration where it can take the map, the square footage and everything else and put it all right into SA5. You’re saving money because you’re not paying somebody by the hour to go ahead and input everything.”
4. Automated Marketing Assistant. Donchez says he especially appreciates what AMA does for Virginia Green’s sales performance. “I always say that AMA is my number one sales rep. I look at it from a cost analysis standpoint. For a couple of pennies an email, you can send out click-to-buy messages with no sales conversations necessary. From the customer standpoint, the most cost-effective salesperson you will ever have is Automated Marketing Assistant.”
5. RealGreen is a good growth partner. “To somebody considering using RealGreen: Start now,” says Donchez. “They know the lawn care industry. The people working behind the scenes know. They understand it. They speak the same language. It would be the number one choice I would recommend to anyone just starting out, or to someone who is already in the business but looking to take it to the next level. I would say that RealGreen is a fantastic partner because they help grow your business along with you. they’ve been down that road and they know the pitfalls and what to do and not to do. RealGreen is the engine behind making sure we run correctly.”
We can do for your business what we’re doing for Virginia Green – talk to one of our product experts today to find out how to leverage the RealGreen suite of solutions to grow and thrive.
