Marketing

Basic Marketing Strategies for Improving Business
Performance in the Turf and Lawncare Industry1
John J. Haydu and Alan W. Hodges2
1. This is EDIS document FE709, a publication of the Food and Resource Economics Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Published March 2008. Reviewed February 2011. Please visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu. 2. John J. Haydu, Professor and Associate Extension Specialist, Food and Resource Economics Department, University of Florida, Mid-Florida Research and
Education Center, Apopka, FL; and Alan W. Hodges, Associate Extension Specialist, Food and Resource Economics Department, Florida Cooperative
Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service,
University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Millie
Ferrer-Chancy, Interim Dean
Introduction
Marketing can make a difference! Whether selling sod, irrigation or drainage supplies, horticultural chemicals and fertilizers, or lawncare maintenance services, the difference between profitability and bankruptcy could be the presence or absence of a well-defined marketing plan. Numerous studies have firmly established the relationship between marketing and business profitability (Kotler
1999; Cespedes 1995; Wayland 1997). Marketing has broad applications, regardless of the