Take a look at our June newsletter!
The Landscaper's Guide To Modern Sales and Marketing Newsletter
JUNE 2021
What if Your Video Did the Selling for You?
What would happen if before the first meeting with a potential client, they had watched a video that helped them understand the following:
Our client, Brandon, over at 3 Bears Landscaping in Minneapolis, recently emailed me letting me know about the impact his pricing page and Sales Indoctrination Video has been having on his sales. His pricing page was updated about a month ago to include detailed pricing information on his services, and a video was added at
• • •
Budget Timeline
Frequently Asked Questions
What if it could save you 30–45 minutes from every meeting? That’s what is possible with a Sales Indoctrination Video.
A Sales Indoctrination Video is something that potential clients will watch on your website before they meet with you. The purpose of the video is to pre-qualify them before you spend your valuable time meeting with them and ultimately prepare them to buy from you. What if you could close deals faster and with less friction? You’ll still go out and bid jobs in person, but using a video along the way can help make up for the areas of your sales process that you used to rely on in-person skills for. This video should answer the questions that customers are most curious about and should help potential clients feel more at ease when they finally do meet with you … if they decided it’s a good fit! If not, they’ll decide not to meet with you, and that will save you time.
the bottom of the page. In this video, Brandon, the owner of the company, goes into detail about their price brackets, describes their process, and talks about their common project timelines. In his email, Brandon let me know that he’s already seeing better leads come through his pipeline as a result of this pricing page and his video. He also poked fun at my haircut he saw in our last podcast episode … but I’ll forgive him for that! The moral of the story is that if you run a landscaping company, you can use a video to share important information with prospective clients so that they come prepared to your first meeting. Once you have the system down for informing and preparing potential clients to meet with you, you can train your staff to continue the sales process with minimal friction involved. Eventually, you’ll be able to remove yourself from the sales process and give yourself more time to work on your business rather than in your business.
Get a Free, Personal Video Review of Your Website! ramblinjackson.com/ webreview
Happy Selling,
JACK JOSTES, CEO RAMBLIN JACKSON
ramblinjackson.com • 1
Read It in Your Truck on a Rainy Day
Bad News Gets Worse With Age TELL CUSTOMERS ABOUT DELAYS SOONER RATHER THAN LATER
The fact is that things come up in business, no matter how hard we try to prevent them.
You might be wondering why we’re making such a big deal out of this, and here’s why:
At this time, there’s a shortage of plant material. In construction in general, there are longer timelines for getting materials, and things are expensive. Even OSB is nearly twice the cost of what it was before COVID-19!
Bad news gets worse with age.
If you have a client who has signed on for a project and is getting excited for their new backyard, and then two months into the project, you tell them about a delay due to material shortages … they will not be happy with you. They might assume that you’ve been keeping this from them, or they might think you’re clueless since you didn’t bring it up earlier! Either way, it’s not a good situation. Instead, prepare your customers! Let them know about these shortages on your contact page and consider even adding an informative message in your voicemail.
This is the fact — and the sooner you let customers know about it in the process, the less likely they are to be upset with you.
In addition to shortages, there’s record demand. In Texas, a gnarly frost in February created Plantmageddon. Not only did the plants in homeowners’ yards die, but many nurseries also suffered losses. This has created demand. I have a couple of clients in Texas who are dealing with the aftermath of the frost and the material shortages. Together, we came up with a plan for how they can keep their customers informed about what’s going on in the area and why they may experience delays.
Keeping your customers in the loop about material shortages and timeline delays will help you continue to build trust with them.
IF YOU WANT A HEALTHY BUSINESS, NURTURE A HEALTHY MIND
Entrepreneurs drive the economy forward with innovative solutions to big problems in business. How different businesses have weathered the pandemic this past year is proof of that. However, while entrepreneurs generate success for their businesses, one aspect of that role isn’t discussed enough: their mental health.
According to Dr. Michael Freeman, a psychiatrist who studies how entrepreneurship affects the brain, entrepreneurs are more susceptible to a number of mental health conditions than non- entrepreneurs. They’re 30% more likely to suffer from depression, 29% more likely to live with a hyperactivity disorder, and 11% more likely to fall on the bipolar spectrum. The confidence of your customers and workforce depends, at least in part, on your mental health, which is why every entrepreneur should consider seeing a mental health professional. However, abiding by a few basic principles can also help you nurture a healthy mental state. Pivot well and stay positive. The unexpected will happen. Ironically, that’s all you can expect as an entrepreneur. So, when you put together plans to grow your business, make contingency plans as well. Just because you have those back-up plans does not mean the worst will happen.
Continued on Page 3 ...
2 • (303) 544-2125
Read It in Your Tru
... continued from Page 2
Management Tip From The New One Minute Manager:
If something unexpected does happen, instead of immediately considering all the possible negative outcomes, think of the potential positive outcomes instead. Remember that just because the steps to achieve your goal might shift, it doesn’t mean your goal has to change. Schedule time to do things you find restful. We have a pretty good idea of how to improve our physical health in various situations: If we’re cold, we throw on an extra layer. If we want to lose a few pounds, we exercise and eat some vegetables. However, when it comes to improving our mental health, we might be at a loss. According to the Harvard Business Review, the best way to rest your mind is to force it to work on a singular task, such as a puzzle, craft, or exercise routine. So long as you find the activity restful and it takes your mind off work, you should set aside time to do it for the sake of your mental health. Limit the time you spend on social media. The world is a chaotic place — it always has been. The only difference is that now, we have the means to see everything happening on our planet through our computers and smartphones. It’s good to stay informed, but when we let the media noise dictate how we feel on any given day, it might be time to curtail social media exposure. The world will continue to turn, even when we’re not looking. The above tips are by no means prescriptive. You can take parts of one or a couple of them and leave the rest. The point of sharing these tips, however, is to encourage you to do something. As an entrepreneur, you can’t afford to ignore your mental health and hope everything is okay. So, take some of this information and use it to build success in your business and your life.
One of my favorite tips from The New One Minute Manager is the One Minute Praising, which is telling people “Good job” and being specific about the behavior they display in your company. I’ve found that in running Ramblin Jackson, we’ve really created a positive culture where there’s a lot of deposits in the ‘Praise Bank Account.’ We have an actual Beef Jerky Club where employees nominate each other for doing a good job.
What I’ve found is that people continue doing the things that you praise them for.
By building up that relationship with people and telling them “good job” for specific things, not only are they going to continue doing a good job, but also, when you need to have a harder conversation — what the book refers to as a One Minute Redirect — you’re not operating at a deficit.
TAKE A BREAK
UPCOMING EVENTS
ADVENTURE CAMPING FATHER GEMINI HIKING JUNETEENTH PARK PICNIC PRIDE SANDALS SUNBURN SWIMMING
2021 Nursery/Landscape EXPO Education Conference Aug. 5–6 • San Antonio, TX Jack Jostes’ Book Launch Party! Oct. 20 • Louisville, KY Register for our events at ramblinjackson.com/events.
ramblinjackson.com • 3
uck on a Rainy Day
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
PO Box 1429 • Lyons, CO 80540 (303) 544-2125 • ramblinjackson.com
1 What if Your Video Did the Selling for You? 2 Bad News Gets Worse With Age 2 How You Can Improve Your Mental Health as an Entrepreneur 3 Management Tip From The New One Minute Manager 3 Upcoming Events 4 Have You Tried Chicken Salmon? INSIDE
Have You Tried Chicken Salmon?
My boys hate salmon.
that we agree — it’s mutual. Contracts have a negative connotation … They involve lawyers and such. The words contract and agreement mean the same thing, but agreement has a positive connotation. Use “and” instead of “but.” Another one I learned from Hugh Liddle — replacing “but” with “and” is a big deal, especially when addressing concerns from a customer (and definitely an employee). “I hear what you just said, but …” means that you’re not going to listen to what they just said. “I hear what you just said, and …” has a whole different level of agreement. Use “plan” instead of “estimate.” Estimates are kind of like suggestions. They can be way off — and expensive. Avoid using “estimates” whenever possible and
choose more assertive words that imply you know what you’re doing, such as “plan,” “anticipated budget range,” etc. Of course, words can be misleading and manipulative. One of our core values at Ramblin Jackson is “Create Profit and Results With Integrity,” which includes not bulls---ing people or using fancy internet jargon to confuse our customers (which is something the snake oil salesmen in our industry do all the time).
“I don’t want fish!” they groan.
But when I tell them, “We’re having chicken salmon for dinner,” they’re excited.
Maybe it’s the Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce I smother the salmon in before I bake it — but I believe it’s an equal part in calling it “chicken,” which is a food they love.
In business, words matter.
As long as your words are rooted in integrity, and you do what you say, you’re gold.
Here are a few words we’ve found that work:
Use the word “agreement” instead of “contract.”
Word,
This is one I learned from sales coach Hugh Liddle early in my career. Agreement implies
4 • (303) 544-2125
Get a Free, Personal Video Review Of Your Website! • ramblinjackson.com/webreview
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4Made with FlippingBook Converter PDF to HTML5