As the landfill industry continues to decline due to the Zero Waste movement, it is important to know how to grow your business and customer base.
By Abby Hackmann
Zero Waste is the concept of not sending any waste to a landfill or incinerator. It is an innovative movement that has been sweeping the nation from California to New York. In order to generate zero waste, people and companies have adopted the idea to reduce, reuse and recycle.
The Zero Waste movement will likely see an even stronger initiative now that China has decided to reject waste from the U.S. China made the sudden decision to refuse a lot of our recyclable waste, which has resulted in some major issues for the local waste management companies. This decision may force the U.S. to become less wasteful and enforce the Zero Waste movement even more.
Even though Zero Waste is great for the environment, economy and community, landfill operators may notice a loss in business due to the downfall in waste intake. That is why you should work to create long term customers and build your customer base. This will help you bring more customers to your landfill and retain current customers.
Build Relationships
It is important to build and maintain relationships throughout the waste industry. This is the best way to find more business and keep your current customers coming back every time they are in need of a landfill operator. Below are the best ways to build relationships in your industry.
Understand Your Customer Base
It may seem like a no brainer, but you should know exactly who your customer base is. This will help your company better understand your audience or your client base and how you can work to help them. It will also help you know exactly how to target that audience if you decide to use advertisements or other marketing methods to reach them.
Offer Great Customer Service
The key to growing your business is through customer care and service. Research shows that 78 percent of people choose not to work with a company if they have experienced poor customer service. The best thing you can do is to show your customers that you are there to help them every step of the way. Plus, once you have happy customers, they will spread the word to their friends and fellow business partners, which will help you grow your customer base.
Network with Other Businesses
Partner with firms that can help you better do your job. This could be a software company, heavy equipment operators, a recycling facility or anything that relates to your business. Networking will help you reach new people, which will allow your business to expand. Plus, having connections throughout the industry can also make things easier for your current customers whose needs may roll-over into your rolodex of recommended companies.
Photos courtesy of Unsplash.
Right: Find out how to grow your landfill operation business organically.
Provide Expert Knowledge and Advice
Whether you offer your insight through a blog on your Web site, social media posts, a brochure or another avenue, your customers (and potential customers) will love getting more information and hearing from you.
Start a Blog
Blogs are the best way to get your company’s name out there online and help your readers understand the common FAQs related to your business. Through quality blog posts, your company will be able to share your expert knowledge and advice to your current and potential customers, while ranking better on search engines such as Google and Bing.
Post on Social Media
Social networking is a great way to reach new customers. It is also an excellent avenue to share your experiences, photos and tips to people in the industry. Not to mention, companies that use social media generally appear more credible to those seeking them out.
Create Brochures and Other Useful Content
Brochures and step-by-step documents can help make your customers life a lot easier. It also helps make your life easier because you will not have to continuously explain how your process works, what people should know, etc. Something that you can physically handout or send via e-mail will always resonate with your audience and it is a great way to share critical information.
Offer a Simpler Waste Profiling Process
In order to grow your customer base, you should simplify the waste profiling process. To do that, you should plan to find a software provider that can help you streamline the way you do business and make it easier for your customers to get their waste profiles approved. Below are the main features you should look for in a software.
Secure 24/7 Access
Find a system that allows convenient online access to profile forms, state and facility-specific handling procedures, data analytics and ROI forecasting. This will also allow your customers to get the information they want on-demand, reducing working hours spent on the phone with your support personnel.
Adaptive Profile Process
An adaptive profile process is a profile-embedded decision tree workflow that uses state and facility specific logic, pre-populated fields, and business intelligence to reduce the time and effort required to do business with your waste disposal facility.
eSignature
It is extremely beneficial to provide an eSignature feature. You will also want a software system that can save personal and company info (name, e-mail, company name, address, phone number) and then auto-fill the information later to save you time when you fill out a profile in the office or on the go.
Automatic Reminders
Get access to built-in email and SMS alerts of upcoming state regulatory profile renewal requirements of expiring profiles. This allows your generators to proactively start the recertification process, which will save them time and hassle. Also, automatic reminders drastically reduce the risk of unexpected expirations.
Conclusion
Zero Waste is an extremely beneficial concept for the U.S., however, it could mean landfill operators will struggle with their business. That is why it is important to know how to create long-term customers and build your current client list in order to succeed. This is the best way to continue to serve those in need of your business and retain your current customers.
Abby Hackmann is the Marketing Manager for 1WasteProfile (Lakewood, CO), an enterprise waste management software that provides a broad set of features. Their goal is to make it as easy as possible for customers to interact with your business, and for your business to interact with customers. A streamlined profiling experience can help reduce approval times and increase customer satisfaction. For more information, call (855) 971-0601 or e-mail [email protected].