LAWNCAREPRO
LM ’S OPERATOR OF THE MONTH » BY RON HALL
Things are looking up in the weed business. Tom Mauer,
president and owner of two Springfield, MA-based
Weed Man franchises is expecting a year of growth.
“Our payments are ahead of last year, and it appears customers are making the commitment to get caught up on
some of the services they might have skipped last year.”
Mauer discusses changes in the industry and how he
deals with a fluctuating economy.
Tom Mauer, tell us when, how
and why you got involved
with the lawn care industry.
“I fell in love with the Green
Industry when I was a little
kid following my grandfather
around in his gardens and
greenhouse. I grew up work-
ing in the soil, and when it
came time to make a decision
about college, it seemed a
natural fit for me to start off
in the direction of landscap-
ing and lawns.”
the lawn and soil ecology.
And educating the customer
on issues like water needs
and promoting best practices
validates our commitment to
protecting our green spaces.”
How to you respond to cus-
tomers who ask for organic
or natural lawn care? “We’ll
ask them ‘What is it exactly
that you’re looking for? Do
you mean organic fertil-
izer? Or do you mean you
don’t want pesticides?’ And
oftentimes, they will respond,
‘Yes, I don’t want pesticides.’
Or they will say, ‘Give me a
program without pesticides
unless I want you to spray the
weeds, then I’ll let you know.’
We can work with that.”
selling to the customer is
really still the same. For the
most part, they want a ‘green,
weed-free lawn.’ Making
a sale means educating the
customer about the value of
their lawn or green space, and
helping them to understand
there is no way to guarantee
a totally ‘weed-free lawn,’ but
we will work with them to
improve their lawn and soil’s
health. And when there are
problems, we’re the profes-
sionals who will be there to
take care of it.”
LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT.NET | APRIL 2010 36 “OUR GOAL IS TO WORK WITH A ‘BIG PICTURE’ APPROACH THAT HELPS TO IMPROVE THE LAWN AND SOIL.”
New England is one of the
most ecologically conscious
regions of the country. How
does your company meet the
environmental expectations
of your clients? “It comes
down to communication of
what we’re doing on the lawn
and to the recommendations
we make for each customer.
We try to let the customer
know there is no standard
fit that works on every lawn.
Our goal is to work with the
customer with a ‘big-picture’
approach that will include
nutrients, control applications, cultural practices and
improvements like core
aeration that help to improve
How would you describe
selling to and serving today’s
customers versus customers of 10 years ago? “
Tactically, the selling process
has changed because of the
do-not-call legislation. But
What do you feel it’s going to
take for the lawn care industry to see the kind of growth it
experienced in the years prior
to this recent recession?
“We need to educate
consumers on the value of
lawns and landscapes to the
environment. Customers buy
lawn care because they want
their lawns to look nice, and
possibly because it’s an expectation a lawn should look nice
AT A GLANCE
COMPANY: Weed Man,
Springfield, MA
FOUNDED: 2001
TITLE: President/Owner
NUMBER OF LOCATIONS: two
franchise locations
EMPLOYEES: 15
INDUSTRY INVOLVEMENT:
Started in landscape and
lawn care business in
1977, former member of
PLCAA, current chairman
of the PLANET Lawn
Care Specialty Group,
board member and immediate past president
of Massachusetts
Association of Lawn
Care Professionals.
PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS &
HOBBIES: “I love to be
outdoors and to spend
time with my family
camping, hiking, biking
and kayaking.”
FAMILY: Wife, Joy, and two
daughters: One in college
and the other getting
ready to go to college
next fall.
to add value to a property.
We tend not to focus on the
real value of what a lawn does
as a ‘green space.’ It’s time
for us to move beyond pure
aesthetics to creating interest,
value and demand based on
our contribution to ‘green.’”
