2016 Green Industry Benchmark Report finds optimism among green industry businesses.
With more than 40 pages of results and analysis and more than 60 graphs, the Green Industry Benchmark Report is the most comprehensive survey of the green industry freely available.
St. Paul, MN (PRWEB) March 01, 2016
According to a comprehensive benchmark report recently released by HindSite Software, green industry businesses have high expectations for 2016. In fact, 89% of respondents expect to grow their revenue in 2016 - a 7% year-over-year increase - while 48% expect the economy to improve.
2015 was a good year for the typical green industry business, with 82% of survey respondents reporting year-over-year revenue growth, up 4% from a year ago. Even better, 28% of respondents saw revenue growth in excess of 20%.
These findings are reported in the 2016 Green Industry Benchmark Report recently released by field service software vendor, HindSite Software. The report is the culmination of a two-month-long surveying effort that reflects the opinions of hundreds of green industry business owners and managers who provide services including landscaping, irrigation service and installation, mowing, fertilizing and snow removal. This is the fourth year HindSite has released a Green Industry Benchmark Report.
“Our goal with the Green Industry Benchmark Report is to take an annual pulse of the typical green industry business,“ explained HindSite’s Marketing Manager, Chad Reinholz. “With more than 40 pages of results and analysis and more than 60 graphs, the Green Industry Benchmark Report is the most comprehensive survey of the green industry freely available.”
Among the key findings:
· In the past year the typical green industry business has shifted from trying to fill their pipeline through marketing efforts to trying to find enough employees to complete all the work that’s available. The #1 issue a typical green industry business faces - identified by 28% of respondents - is attracting and retaining employees.
· That fact explains why 79% of green industry businesses expect to add staff in 2016, up 6% from a year ago.
· One way green industry businesses are growing revenue and profitability is by installing field service software. 55% of respondents who saw their revenue grow in 2015 used field service software compared to just 38% of businesses who experienced no revenue growth or saw revenue decline. That explains the growth in field service software usage, as 49% of respondents indicated they use field service software, up 12% from a year ago.
· Training frequency also corresponds to revenue growth. Businesses that train employees weekly were more likely to have experienced revenue growth in excess of 20% than their peers.
· Expect a price increase if you buy green industry services – 71% of respondents say they expect to raise prices in 2016 - up 9% from a year ago. Rising labor costs and low profitability are the two primary drivers behind the price increase
This year’s Green Industry Benchmark Report also includes an analysis of the sales and marketing attributes of high-performing green industry businesses. Businesses that experienced growth in excess of 20% were significantly more likely to have a website, use social media and have a search engine optimization plan.
“We’ve consistently heard that marketing and selling were two areas of interest to green industry business owners,” Reinholz said. “The results were pretty clear - in order to have a high-performing green industry business you need to focus on improving your sales close rates and invest time in your website and social media.”
The Green Industry Benchmark Report is available free at http://info.hindsitesoftware.com/2016-green-industry-benchmark-report.
About HindSite Software
HindSite Software has helped green industry contractors better manage and grow their businesses with field service management software since 2001. Initially designed as irrigation business software, HindSite today assists service businesses with scheduling and billing (e.g quickbooks scheduling software), contact management, field data collection, and invoicing in QuickBooks®, Sage Peachtree®, and Simply Accounting®. This paperless field service management software has been proven to increase efficiency and organization, meaning greater profit potential with less administrative time.