Potential unlock for our business:

Facebook groups.

I am learning so much about this right now.

Here is how I think it will add a lot of value… First: @DannyMagazu coached me recently.

He is a pro.

Helped me understand this a lot.

It is a lot of work to do this well and he has a team and systems to execute at the highest levels.

I am considering hiring him to do this for me.

Potential unlock for our business:

Facebook groups.

I am learning so much about this right now.

Here is how I think it will add a lot of value… First: @DanielMagazu coached me recently.

He is a pro.

Helped me understand this a lot.

It is a lot of work to do this well and he has a team and systems to execute at the highest levels.

I am considering hiring him to do this for me.

I am far from a sales expert.

But I’ve learned a lot while selling our landscape services.

From one learner to another here are some of my biggest lessons: 1. Follow ups are underrated.

Follow up more than you think you need to. A lot more.

I run a business with 80 employees.

If you’ve ever wanted to run a business, read this: Humans are hard, illogical, funny, delightful. Here are a few experiences from a heavy human business:

1. Had a client cancel their lawn service bc Trump was elected. This was her explicit reason for canceling. Had to add a new reason to our cancelation list.

She came back when the world didn’t collapse.

We do hundreds of jobs each day (we have over 1000 mow clients).

Unfortunately, that means that we make mistakes and frustrate customers.

Here is a good framework on how to handle frustrated clients (credit for this goes to Leroy on my team).

See below... #1
Attack the problem not the client
We tend to view the other person as an adversary. This is not the case you and the client are solving this together (unless the client is being unreasonable)

I have sold millions of dollars of landscaping via marketing emails to our customers.

64% open rate in the first 24 hours with an email I sent yesterday.

This is pretty normal.

Here is how I do it... 1 - Consistency for a long time

Our customers know that the emails are worth their time. This took years.

I’ve sold millions of dollars worth of landscaping via our company newsletter.

Here is the simple method I’ve developed over the years:

INFOTAINMENT =

- Useful
- Authentic
- Entertaining

Here is what I mean👇 First let’s talk about the value of an internal email list.

It’s free.

Just about every industry should use this. There are tons of methods to collect emails.

When I hear that a company isn’t using email to sell, entertain, educate, and stay top of mind…

I’m flabbergasted

You need to improve your hiring...

Here is how:
- Start with a better job post. Example below.
- 5x your reference checks (and how)
- Tell them why they shouldn't work for you.

Thread 1) Make the job title more noticeable. Titles generally don't matter. For a customer service position, I call it "Czar of Customer Service"

2) Start strong. Most job posts are full of buzzwords and cliches. Take every one of them out. See the picture for example beginning.

Ever wonder how to pay yourself as an owner?

I pay myself two ways:

1) As an operator
2) As an owner 1) As an operator

I have a healthy salary,

But it is lower than my partner's and the same as my operations manager's

Then the three of us split a bonus pool.

Quarterly, we split 40% of profits over 5%.

How do you price your goods and services? How do you raise prices?

Here is what I did to make our company an extra 50k last year. (It takes courage). Inflation is real. It will eat your profits. I put sticky notes and other reminders around my office to give me the guts to raise prices each year.

For all you ETA and PE guys out there:

I’ve had close friends and family make exits on their SMBs recently.

Here’s what you need to know about owners’ psyche, motivations, etc.

#ETA #SMB Selling is often a sad experience for these guys.

Their work is a significant chunk of their identity.

They know that selling is a good thing (for risk mitigation, estate planning, reward for diligence, etc)

But…

How I got 400 reviews on google with a 4.9 rating. 

For consumer facing businesses, reviews are gold (if you are under 25, think #bitcoin). 

This is a thread on how to think about them, how to get them, and which reviews are better than others.

👇🧵 84% of people value online reviews just as much as a friend's recommendation. 

People are increasingly using reviews to help them make decisions. 

- Where should we eat?
- Who should fix my toilet? @StrongpointRich 
- Who is the best at installing artificial turf? @HockJohannes