Most lawn care and landscaping companies track their numbers. Revenue, customer counts, marketing spend — chances are you’ve got those basics covered. But tracking data and understanding what it means are two different things. The businesses that grow consistently know how to read their metrics and use them to make smarter decisions.
Here's what you should be monitoring and why it matters.
Revenue Metrics: Beyond the Top Line
Your total revenue tells you how much money came in. Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) tells you how much you can count on. This predictable income from active service contracts lets you plan hiring, equipment purchases and expansion without gambling on seasonal fluctuations. For example, if revenue spikes in spring but MRR stays flat, you're dependent on one-time projects. That makes every winter a cash flow crisis waiting to happen.
Year-Over-Year Growth Rate gives you trajectory. If you grew 15% but your market grew 25%, you lost ground to competitors. If you grew 30% in a market that only expanded 10%, you're taking market share. This metric tells you whether your growth is real or just riding a strong economy.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) reveals whether you're building a sustainable business or churning through one-time customers. A customer who signs a $1,500 annual contract and stays for five years is worth $7,500. That means you can afford to spend significantly more to acquire that customer than someone who buys once and disappears.
Service Mix Revenue Breakdown shows where money actually comes from. For example, you might think that 70% of revenue came from weekly mowing, but later your accounting reveals that hardscaping represented 45% of revenue at twice the margin. That should change everything about how you allocate marketing dollars and crew scheduling.
Customer Metrics: The Health Check
Monthly Customer Churn Rate reveals how many customers you're losing. If you're acquiring customers at 10% monthly but losing 8% to churn, you're only netting 2% growth—and spending acquisition costs to tread water. High churn usually points to service quality issues, poor communication or pricing misalignment. Fix retention before pouring more money into acquisition.
Net Promoter Score (NPS) predicts future growth better than almost any other metric. Ask customers one question: "How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?" on a 0-10 scale. A score of 50 or higher is excellent. A negative score means more customers are actively warning others away than recommending you. If your NPS is below 30, you have a service delivery problem that no amount of marketing will overcome.
Customer Satisfaction Score catches problems before they become churn. Send post-service surveys and track by service type, crew and season. If satisfaction drops in July, maybe your teams are rushing jobs in the heat. If one crew consistently scores lower, you have a training issue.
Marketing Performance: Where Your Money Goes
Cost Per Lead (CPL) tells you the efficiency of your marketing channels. Track CPL by channel— digital advertising, direct mail, referrals, door hangers, trade shows — so you know where to invest more and where to cut. But CPL only matters in context with conversion rates. Cheap leads that don't close waste money just as surely as expensive ones.
Lead-to-Customer Conversion Rate shows how well your sales process works. If you convert 40% of leads at a $50 CPL with a $2,000 average contract value, your customer acquisition cost is $125. If you convert only 5% at a $15 CPL, your acquisition cost is $300. Suddenly the "expensive" leads look like a bargain.
Website Conversion Rate measures how effectively your digital presence turns visitors into leads. If your website conversion rate is below 2%, your website likely has problems: unclear calls to action, slow load times, poor mobile experience or messaging that doesn't match what brought people there. A website converting at 5% instead of 2% generates 150% more leads from the same traffic.
Market Metrics: The Big Picture
Estimated Market Share tells you how much of your market opportunity you've captured. A company doing $5 million in a $20 million market (25% share) faces a completely different strategic reality than one doing $5 million in a $100 million market (5% share). The first needs geographic expansion or new service lines to grow. The second has massive headroom in their existing market.
This context is critical for every strategic decision you make about where to invest resources and whether to focus on market penetration or expansion.
Using the Data
The formulas are straightforward. Most CRM and accounting systems generate these numbers automatically. The hard part is knowing what to do with them.
Compare your metrics against your own historical performance first, then against industry benchmarks when available. Look for trends over time and investigate when numbers move unexpectedly. A sudden spike in CPL, a dip in conversion rates, or declining CLV all signal problems that need immediate attention.
Your metrics should trigger questions. Why did CLV drop 15% this quarter? What changed in the sales process that added 10 days to the average cycle? Which marketing channel delivers leads that actually convert versus leads that waste your sales team's time?
The businesses that pull ahead treat their KPIs as diagnostic tools instead of scorecards. The numbers tell you where to look; it’s up to you to decide what to do next.
Ready to Turn Data into Action?
Understanding your KPIs is just the first step. The real work is building a strategic plan that leverages these insights to capture market share and drive sustainable growth.
Our Market Domination Planner walks you through the exact framework successful lawn care and landscaping businesses use to analyze their market position, identify growth opportunities and create actionable plans for the year ahead. This comprehensive workbook helps you connect the dots between your KPIs and real business outcomes.
