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The Landscaper's Guide To Modern Sales and Marketing Newsletter
FEBRUARY 2023
GIVE IT A TRY THIS VALENTINE’S DAY This Book Could Strengthen Your Marriage — and Your Business
Valentine’s Day is supposed to be a celebration of love. You’re told to spend the day with your partner and toast all the wonderful times you’ve had together … So, what the heck should you do if your relationship is in a rough patch? These bumps in the road happen to the best of us. Last fall, my wife and I experienced one when we ran into an issue we disagreed on. I felt frustrated about it and shared a bit of the story with my business and life coach, Wayne Herring. I hoped he could give me advice — and he delivered!
Fortunately, Regi writes, we can solve this problem by talking about our expectations ahead of time. This simple step can turn one-sided expectations into two‑way agreements!
Imagine your family is hosting Thanksgiving. You expect your
spouse to cook, and your spouse expects YOU to cook, but you never have a conversation about it — so you end up with bitter feelings and no turkey. That’s an example of expectations gone wrong. If you’d sat down to come up with an agreement instead (e.g., I cook, you clean up afterward), the fight never would have happened. Reading that chapter, a lightbulb went off for me: This was exactly the issue my wife and I faced! We hadn’t been clear with each other about our expectations, and now anger and anxiety brewed. All we needed was a mutual agreement. This realization blew my mind. The concept is incredibly basic, but it’s useful in every type of relationship. In business, our employees and clients have certain expectations of us. Imagine a landscaping client expects you to pull weeds from their garden bed as part of your lawn mowing service, but you expect them to pay an extra fee for it. If you never discuss these things, you’ll be stuck with an unhappy customer! To
“Jack,” Wayne told me, “you should read ‘What Radical Husbands Do’ by Regi Campbell. It will show you where you went wrong.”
I bought the audiobook right away and binge-listened to the whole thing on my next hunting trip. It was excellent! Since September, I’ve listened to it 4–5 times. The book taught me a lot about strengthening my marriage — and surprisingly, some of its lessons also apply to business. (Regi Campbell is also an entrepreneur and four-time CEO.) One nugget of wisdom that stood out to me was the topic of Chapter 3: Drop your expectations. The chapter explains that in relationships, expectations are the enemy of intimacy. There’s a slippery slope leading from expectations to demands, and when your spouse doesn’t meet your expectations — or you don’t meet theirs — you’ll end up stewing in anxiety and anger.
keep your relationship healthy, you must create an agreement upfront. Your initial proposal should spell out exactly what your basic lawn mowing package includes and what it doesn’t. I learned a lot about myself from “What Radical Husbands Do” and I think you could, too. If you don’t mind books written from a Christian perspective, I’d highly recommend picking up a copy!
Learn how to keep new hires on the job, streamline your purchasing, get more Hell Yes customers from your website, and more at our Win The Spring! virtual workshop on Thursday, March 9. Scan this QR code to sign up today! Want to crush your competition this spring?
JACK JOSTES, CEO RAMBLIN JACKSON
RamblinJackson.com • 1
Read It in Your Truck on a Rainy Day
Join Us This March to Help You Win The Spring! Stressed and Overworked? We Can Help
Given how chaotic the lead-up to spring is in the landscape industry, we’re grateful you’re taking the time to read our newsletter! Between all the new employees quitting within two weeks and the crazy uptick in bookings this time of year, you’re probably stressed out
Here’s a peak at the Win The Spring! agenda:
• Learn how to boost your employee retention with the latest communications technology from special guest Dave Pacifico , co-founder of Team Engine — the self-proclaimed leading HR automation platform for blue-collar companies. • Discover how to transform your website into your best-trained salesperson, pre-qualify leads, and get out of sales from Ramblin Jackson CEO Jack Jostes. • Find out how to streamline your purchasing to save time, money, and other resources from special guests Joe Juricic and Will Haverkamp of LandscapeHub , a real-time inventory source for green industry professionals.
and stretched thin. Fortunately, we’re planning something that will make the season easier: our Win The Spring! virtual snow and landscape event on Thursday, March 9, from 9 a.m.–12 p.m. MST. This half-day virtual workshop is short enough to squeeze into your busy schedule but packed with all the information
Ready to spring-clean your company and reclaim your nights and weekends for good? Sign up for our virtual Win The Spring! event today! Scan the QR code or visit WinTheSpring.com to register. We promise it will be well worth your time.
you need to “spring-clean” your landscape company and crush your competition this season. You’ll learn how to boost your efficiency and get time back in YOUR schedule by leveraging the latest landscape technology and systems.
TAKE TIME TO UNPLUG! Though technology makes everyday tasks a bit easier, sometimes, the best thing a business owner can do is unplug and recharge! Running a business is a time-consuming and stressful effort. But by stepping back, you can reset and get a fresh perspective on your work. RETURN TO WORK RECHARGED
Choose a second in command. Suppose you’re dedicated to checking out now and then. In that case, it can be beneficial to have someone handle anything that may arise. Consider someone trustworthy and reliable, and give them an
Start small. Create small habits if you can’t go an entire day without technology! Try starting your morning completely unplugged until you get into the office, or step away from your devices for an hour or two during the day. When you start small, you can build from there! Schedule email time. We are all too familiar with an overwhelming email stream. We wake up and fall asleep to it, and if we’re not careful, the constant interruptions can run our entire day! If you want to cut down on screen time, schedule email checks. You can make a commitment to address them in the morning or maybe the late afternoon. But during after-hours, establish a hard cutoff time! Inform your employees and clients of your available time frame — set an expectation for more productivity and communication.
overview of day-to-day operations. You can explain what can and cannot be done and alert other employees that all questions and concerns be directed to this person. Make time for yourself. When you’re at work, your main priority is to focus on your business and clients. But when you pack up and head home, you must take time for yourself! Do activities you love, spend quality time with family and friends, and put away your laptop and phone. That email or call can wait until the next business day begins. Pulling the plug on technology can feel intimidating as a business owner, but give it a try! You may be surprised at how refreshed you feel returning to work.
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Read It in Your Tru
TAKE A BREAK
Schedule a 15-minute Marketing Brainstorm with our Senior Landscape Marketing Strategist, Robert Felton! In just 15 minutes, Robert will … • Offer game-changing feedback on your marketing ideas. • Find gaps in your existing campaigns. • Discuss your best marketing strategy. • Share next steps for success! This is a quick, easy, no pressure call — and we’ll even send you beef jerky or candied almonds for your time. Visit LandscapersGuide.com/call to schedule your Marketing Brainstorm today. Ready to Level Up Your Marketing and Get More Hell Yes Customers? WINTHESPRING.COM March 9, 2023 $79 Early Bird tickets end March 1! Bring your sales, marketing, and operations teams to our half-day virtual event and Win The Spring!
AQUARIUS BICYCLE DREAM EQUALITY
FESTIVAL GROUNDHOG KING LINCOLN
MUFFIN PANCAKE RABBIT ROSES
RamblinJackson.com • 3
uck on a Rainy Day
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PO Box 1429 • Lyons, CO 80540 (303) 544-2125 • ramblinjackson.com
INSIDE
1 The Book That Will Strengthen Your Marriage 2 How to Prepare Your Company for Spring 2 Ways to Disconnect From Technology 3 Register Now for ‘Win The Spring!’ 3 Take a Break 4 A Long-Term Fix to Your Hiring Problem
By Creating a High School Apprenticeship Program Solve Next Year’s Hiring Problems
How to Get Started Casey recommends outlining your apprenticeship first, including the requirements, responsibilities, time frame, and possible next steps for apprentices. Once you have the details worked out, you can approach your local high school’s career technologies director, horticulture department, or agriculture department with
In Jack’s recap of 2022 last month, one of the big wins he shared was meeting Abigail — a high school student who was working with Tex-Scapes Nursery and Landscape in Ennis, Texas. Abigail started planting and designing for Tex-Scapes as an apprentice, then fell in love with landscaping and decided to make it her full-time career! Meeting Abigail convinced Jack (and the rest of our team) that FAR more landscapers should consider creating high school apprenticeship programs. Why? Well, business owners like you enjoy a few key benefits. The Perks of an Apprenticeship Program 1. Your apprentices can turn into full-time, reliable, educated team members — solving your future hiring problems! 2. Apprenticeships will ensure that passionate people will continue your work, expand the green industry, and carry on your legacy. As Casey Hendrix of Tex-Scapes put it during our 2022 Landscaper’s Summit, “The challenge that we find as industry leaders is it’s our mission to inspire the next generation, to not only explore the green industry as a career choice but to show them that the green industry is the most fulfilling career choice of our lifetime. … The solution to this challenge is to start early, and we found a way to do that.”
the idea. Hopefully, they will agree to partner with you and invite you to present the opportunity to students! From there, you will need to review applications, bring on apprentices, set goals for them, and assign them a supervisor on your team. This process will take time, but hopefully, it will reward you with excellent employees for years to come. To learn more about Casey’s experience, check out the episode “How to Create a High School Landscape Apprenticeship” on the “Landscaper’s Guide to Modern Sales & Marketing” podcast.
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Get a Free, Personal Video Review Of Your Website! • ramblinjackson.com/webreview
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