If you’re a NJ landscaper, please don’t keep your potential customers waiting

With spring now in full swing across the Garden State, many in New Jersey are getting their landscaping ready for the warmer weather ahead. And New Jersey landscapers are here to help.

Spring is definitely one of their busy seasons. Everything's in bloom and we all want our yards looking the best they can.

We do acknowledge that. We're fully aware that this is a crazy time of year for our landscaping businesses, who are working tirelessly to get each and every one of us ready for the season.

Sometimes, however, we, the homeowner, might feel like we're being ignored. That's the case with the story we're going to dive into.

One of my co-workers recently purchased a new home. And we all the joy of getting a new place, right? Especially if it's a house with a yard. The list of projects begins the moment you set foot into the home.

And it should, as it shows the true Jersey pride we have with what we own. Now granted, we pay an absolutely ridiculous amount for what we do own, but it's ours nonetheless, and we should want to make it a better place as time goes by.

My co-worker falls into this category. And with outdoor projects on the bucket list, they contacted a handful of New Jersey-based landscapers to come on out and take a look at what the job would entail.

Here's where we hit that snag. Every one of the landscapers that went out to see what they wanted never got back to them.

What makes this more upsetting is the fact that they said they would get back to them with a quote within a day or two. Every single one of them.

And want to guess how many got back to them at some point since the visit? How about zero. Yup, not a single company.

This isn't a very complicated job, either. Think of a nice walkway with a lawn at the minimum. Nothing crazy at all for a landscaper to take care of.

This has been going on for weeks now as my co-worker wanted to get a jump start on planning and preparing for the season. And anytime they contacted the companies who said they'd get back to them still never provided a quote.

That's it. A quote. Just an idea as to how much the project would cost. If you say you're going to get back to someone within a certain period of time, please follow through.

Now to be fair, it's possible some of the landscaping companies might be dealing with some of their own challenges right now. I mean, we did just go through two of the craziest years in our lifetimes.

Maybe being it's still so early in the season that they're not fully up and ready with all their equipment yet.

Or perhaps they don't have the necessary help yet. In fact, many companies are still struggling to find employees so this is very plausible.

And there's the possibility of having a huge list of jobs lined up. Whether potential quotes are jobs already contracted, this could also cause a delayed response.

Whatever the reason may be, please don't keep your potential customers waiting, especially when you say you'll get back to them. Just be upfront about it if it's going to take longer than you'd like. For the most part, the customer will understand.

In fact, they'll probably appreciate that more instead of receiving what feels like a cold shoulder.

That's the only thing my co-worker is asking for, and I'm sure many of you would appreciate it, too.

So for our landscaping companies, it's OK to say it might take longer to get back to your potential clients. We completely understand how hard you have to work to keep our home properties looking great, and we really appreciate it.

The main thing we're just asking of you is simple. Please don't make any promises you can't keep and keep us in the dark. Yes, none of us like to be delayed for any reason, but your customers will understand as long as you don't keep them in the dark.