You have heard me say often: “Treat your clients like prospects” (and vice versa!)
But in today’s market, what does that really mean? And more importantly—how do you do it?
Why Treat Clients Like Prospects?
This past week I spent a few days unwinding on Prince Edward Island (PEI) in Canada — hiking, biking and recharging with my partner, Corine. We also visited Mark Bradley (founder of LMN) in his hometown on PEI. We enjoyed some local oysters and farm-to-table food together (photos at bottom.) Naturally we discussed the big opportunities and challenges facing our industry. I asked Mark about his big secret to scaling his own landscape firm.
Every contractor faces the same challenges:
There are a few important times each year to reflect on how things are going.
Right now is a big one. The kids are back to school, summer vacations are over, and it’s time to recommit.
Before you start your final push this fall…
• Pour yourself some coffee
• Grab your computer or “remarkable” tablet, and
• Ponder the following important questions.
Ten strategic questions to ponder right now:
For those who missed our blockbuster 7th annual Summer Growth Summit, here are a few nuggets for you to chew on and implement in your business.
1. #1 Priority. Until your #1 priority is recruiting, developing and retaining employees, you don’t have a #2.
This quote was relayed by the host, Larry Ryan, who has successfully scaled to over 80M without outside investment.
This week we are busy in KC, holding our 7th annual Summer Growth Summit, hosted by Ryan Lawn & Tree.
Next week we will be holding our first ever livestream on the topic of Maximizing Conversion from Design-Build to Maintenance.
It will be a Q&A, moderated by Kelly Dowell.
We have already collected 20 burning questions related to this topic that we will tackle.
Please join us August 28th, 1pm ET, using the link below. It’s complimentary.
Are you converting enough of your install (design-build) clients into maintenance clients?
Some of the common challenges and questions I hear are: Why do clients hesitate on signing up for maintenance after we have installed a project at their home? How do we overcome the obstacle of “I like my current service provider”. Should I have my install salespeople do the selling of the maintenance program?
There are so many related questions that continue to arise, that I have decided to offer a free webinar (livestream on LinkedIn) on this topic on August 28th.
LIVESTREAM: From Projects to Partnerships: Converting Design Build to Maintenance
Every Spring landscape companies leave money on the table. They are so busy making the big sale, that they miss important opportunities to make additional sales. It’s a lose-lose situationYour client doesn’t receive all the great solutions you offer, and Your company doesn’t maximize its profit potential. To help you capture these missed opportunities, here are four examples of better ways.
A few weeks back I was honored to speak at the Kentucky Expo / Equip. It was a great show, seeing so many cutting edge technologies coming to market. I gave two presentations (to standing room only). One was on Open Book Management. To add some spice to my presentation, I included a case study from the highly successful Whispering Pines Landscape (“WPL”) in Ontario, owned by my good friend and client, Greg Wildeboer. When he and I started collaborating together in Dec 2015, he was under $4M, with a need to greatly improve cash flow and remove himself from the center of everything.He dreamt of implementing an effective profit sharing. (He had one in place, but it was not working great.)A PROFIT SHARING CASE STUDY: We proved that for Profit Sharing to be effective, you need “two shares”Gains: a fair and motivating way to share the financial gains. Numbers: a simple way to open the books and share the numbers.
Our Summer Growth Summit at Mariani Landscape in Lake Bluff, IL was the HOTTEST landscape event of the year! Over 3 days, we had 26 speakers covering inspiring and cutting-edge topics to help any attendee grow to their next level of success. The Summit concluded with a discussion between Jeffrey Scott and Frank Mariani regarding how Mariani Landscape grew from 90k in 1973 to 59 million in 2020. Then they discussed what has happened since making a private equity deal in 2020 and where the company is headed now. Frank and Jeffrey were like two old friends talking around the fire pit. They also covered the pitfalls of the 4 day work week, how to solve the labor issue, and how any company could pursue an acquisition growth strategy. Many companies brought their teams, and the energy was palpable. Here are 7 takeaways to get your mind thinking:
How do you know if you are giving your clients a five-star experience? You can check your google reviews, but that gives very limited info.Here are two stories to illustrate the need for clarifying your customer service vision in today’s uncertain economy. I was recently helping a friend of mine (an entrepreneur in another industry) with his 3-year growth plans. Over the past few years his business has scaled nicely, and he was enjoying the sweet spot that he called ELF (Easy, lucrative and fun). He wanted to keep growing, but it was not clear what direction he should take his business. Should he change direction, or do more of the same?
