Who is winning: you or your competitor?
I have been operating in business for a long time and discovered two truths:
Things are always changing.
Competitors always win.
But I don’t mean that your competitors are beating YOU.
Rather, they are competing against themselves — pushing, grinding, and making constant jumps forward.
Are you a worthy competitor?
Here are 3 case studies to help you figure this out.
Next year will not be easier than this year, in terms of making sales. There are uncertainties in the air: with the wars, the high interest rates and the upcoming election. All this makes it harder to set your budget. The best you can do is make a forecast, and then revisit those forecasts on a regular basis. Your budget cannot be set in stone.With that in mind, here are 3 sales strategies to help you think differently and increase your chances of sales success. Three sales strategies to help you think differently in 2024.
Five takeaways from the Building Branches masterclass,
You can put these to use even if you don’t plan to build branches.
1. Maximize your home base.
There is no reason to build a branch, especially from scratch, if you have not optimized your current base of operations.
Maximize market share right where you are! Don’t think branches are an easy growth strategy because they are not.
2. Set up good systems first.
You can’t manage a branch if you can’t manage your own operations with good (great) systems.
If you are running the home base by gut feel in any shape or form, it will backfire when you expand afar.
3. Have the Leadership Team “Plus” in place.
The “plus” means you not only have a strong team locally, but you can peel someone off to operate at the new branch, to oversee “culture” to ensure you integrate the two into a larger whole.
There is no synergy when the parts don’t integrate well.
4. Acquisitions can kick start it.
It’s hard to build up a branch from scratch, especially when you don’t have a base of business as a foundation.
An acquisition can help that. But don’t get lazy, because organic growth is still “the killer app”.
When you combine these two strategies, that’s when the magic happens.
5. Don’t forget the hugs.
The new branch needs over-communication and inclusion from the ownership and leadership, if it is to take on all the best attributes of your home base.
Like a child, if you leave it alone, it will underperform or worse. whither on the vine.
This past week I had some thrilling conversations with my coaching clients on their growth strategies. I told a few of them “either you are buying low, or someone else is buying low, and they could be buying you!” Let me explain what I mean. Scale Determines Value. As the hype of the merger-mania floods our industry, it makes it looks sexy to sell one’s business. But unless you have achieved significant scale, you are losing out and leaving massive opportunities on the table. The scale of your business determines its value.
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:
Did you know that you can use “throughput” to guide your sales team on which sales to go after, and even how to price them?Here is a brief case study, with a resource (podcast) at the bottom for you to learn more. Using Throughput To Your AdvantageI met this spring with a green roof company. (They had been to many of my events and finally pulled the trigger to meet with me.) The two owners brought their team to NOLA where we performed a two-day strategic review of their entire business, top to bottom. When we got to the financial analysis, we uncovered something interesting.
Landscape professionals are always asking me “What is the best incentive?”
While that answer depends on the company situation, the best overall incentive is to empower your employees with “trust” in the form of more information.
One of the best ways to do that is with Open Book Management.
In March, I wrote that the common industry expression “100 days of hell” should be changed to “100 days to sell.”
It’s more upbeat and helps your team stay optimistic in tough times.
Here are two quick tips to keep you sane and selling in the 100 days of sales.
Do you know if you are winning the GPM (gross profit margin) game? This was a question I posed at my Jan 2023 “Financial Master Class.” We collected the financial numbers from almost 200 participants, and looked at both their overall company margins, as well as their divisional GPM numbers. How Do You Compare?
Are you using technology to create a competitive advantage? If not, you will get passed by your competition, eventually. I guarantee it! Join me for our FREE Contractor Conversation Webinar Series, this Wednesday, February 7 @ 1pm, EST: Scale Your Landscape Business...
