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The Landscaper's Guide To Modern Sales and Marketing Newsletter
AUGUST 2023
I talk to landscapers all over the country every day, and right now, a lot of you are reporting the same problems: Lead volume is down, lead quality is down, and closing rates are down, too. Some CEOs and marketing managers have also told me that when their leads DO convert to customers, they have tighter budgets and don’t spend as much on their services. These problems are particularly bad in the northeastern U.S. So, what the heck is going on? Well, I hate to break it to you, but what we’re seeing is the market going back to normal. In 2020, Google searches for snow and landscape companies hit an all-time high. Everyone was stuck at home with money piling up, and nothing better to do than stare out at their boring yards. Google searches for landscaping services have been falling year over year ever since. 2021 was a bit worse than 2020, 2022 was worse than that, and now as we’re in 2023, most homeowners are back in the office and too busy worrying about inflation and politics to think about their yards. Searches are back to 2019 levels — about 25%–30% lower than they were in 2020. And you know what fewer searches mean? That’s right: fewer leads and fewer customers. There are a lot of regional factors involved in this. Some landscape companies are being hit much harder than others. That said, whether you’re seeing a small dip in leads or a big one, this is the No. 1 thing you should know: You don’t have to accept a 25%–30% drop in leads as your company’s new normal just because it’s the new normal in the market. You can and should fight back! You can get back to the level of lead generation and quality you want, and it’s pretty simple: Invest in more outreach and more advertising. If your customers aren’t coming to you, you need to go to them! You also need to adjust the content of your marketing to reflect the moment. To do that, take a second to fill in your answers to these questions. This Is How You Fix It! ARE YOUR LEADS DOWN 25%–30%?
Beefing up your marketing will mean you have a higher cost per lead, but that should just be temporary. The market can change at any moment. If inflation dips or the threat of World War III goes away, demand for landscaping will jump again. By addressing your shortfall now, you’ll set your company up to capitalize on that rebound later. I know answering the questions I laid out can be tough, which is why I went into MUCH greater depth on how to do it in my recent podcast episode, “The Landscaper’s Guide to Sales & Marketing in a ‘Normal’ Economy.” I’m also planning an entire workshop on this topic for my Wild Frontier clients, who get exclusive monthly masterminds with me!
If you’re not a Ramblin Jackson client yet, you don’t have to miss out. You can still listen to the podcast and have a conversation with my
team about ways to increase your leads. Visit LandscapersGuide.com/call now or scan this QR code to schedule a 15-minute brainstorm.
JACK JOSTES, CEO RAMBLIN JACKSON
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HERE ARE A FEW HOT TOPICS WE COVERED Did You Miss Our Client Dinner at SIMA?
If you made it to our Client Appreciation Dinner at the SIMA Snow & Ice Symposium this summer, thanks for being there — it was the highlight of the show for me! I loved hanging out with you at Peppercorn’s Grill in Hartford and eating steak, calamari, veal and ricotta meatballs, and more while we talked shop. It’s a good thing we booked a private room because with 15 landscapers, the discussion got lively. It was great to see Ramblin Jackson clients with $12-million businesses share their insights and tips with landscapers who run $600,000 businesses and vice versa. We all learned from each other. I almost felt like I was sitting in a mastermind! We also talked about some of the hottest topics in the industry, like the entrepreneurial operating system (EOS) software Ninety, how the Personal Histories Exercise can help with employee onboarding and relationship development, how cutting-edge landscapers are using AI to grow their businesses, and how to solve the challenges growing landscape companies face climbing the ladder to $5 million in revenue. We even had a heated (but respectful) debate on how commercial landscapers can handle the challenge of low occupancy in commercial grade-A real estate! This April, Axios reported office vacancies were at an all-time high — 12.9% of all office space was vacant nationwide, causing all kinds of problems for landlords and, by extension,
commercial landscapers. What can you do if a property manager wants you to landscape their building, but your prices aren’t in their budget? It’s a tough situation, and it’s happening all over the country. It was awesome to talk through the issue and workshop solutions. If you missed the SIMA dinner, I hope I’ll see you at our next one. Ramblin Jackson is planning another exclusive get-together with landscapers at The National Association of Landscape Professionals’ ELEVATE conference and expo in September. If you want to join us, check out the insert in this newsletter, then stop by our booth to learn more!
‘When Machines Become Customers’ Gives a Glimpse Into the Near Future
Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere, and it’s not going away any time
inventory of a specific product is low. We can see early-AI customers in companies like Amazon, where Alexa can purchase an item or its Dash Smart Shelf can sense when an item needs to be replenished and reorders for you. So, what are phases one, two, and three? Phase one involves machines being able to purchase items for a customer, but only from a single manufacturer or product type. Some examples are printers that reorder ink when it senses levels are low or coffee machines that purchase more pods when stock runs out. Phase two expands when smart assistants become widespread and can make knowledgeable purchasing decisions. The machine’s intelligence has increased, and it will be able to shop for various products from a range of companies. Suddenly the work of choosing what products to buy is being moved from the customer to the
machine. Machines will decide what items to purchase based on factual information alone, such as best value and healthier ingredients. Finally, phase three involves the machine customer becoming completely autonomous. The AI customer can predict the need for an item, replenish with the best product available, and complete the purchase with zero human interference. This new feature can benefit small-business owners by taking over the time-consuming task of calculating inventory, identifying customer preferences, and purchasing stock. While this may seem like a distant reality, it’s closer than you think. This shift in customer demographics requires an all-new approach to marketing and operations that you should be ready to tackle. Read more about how your business can better prepare for machine customers in this outstanding book.
soon. And while no one can stop how soon it will enter the customer market, you can prepare for it. In the new book “When Machines Become Customers” by Mark Raskino and Don Scheibenreif, the inevitability of AI shoppers becomes apparent, but what does this actually look like? Raskino and Scheibenreif describe AI-enabled customers as technology that shops for us and will overtake the decision-making process when purchasing products or services. In this surprising book, the writers describe three phases regarding the evolution of machine customers. Currently, we’re at “base zero,” where tech can inform us when an
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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?
UPCOMING EVENTS
Ramblin Jackson’s 14th Birthday Party and Client Appreciation Party Aug. 2, 2023 • 3–7 p.m. LaVern M. Johnson Park, Lyons, CO
The Landscaper’s Guide To Modern Sales And Marketing Aug. 24, 2023 • 1–2:30 p.m. Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL 2023 NALP ELEVATE Expo Sept. 10–13, 2023 Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center, Dallas, TX Booth #1110
TAKE A BREAK
LandscapersGuide.com/events
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PO Box 1429 • Lyons, CO 80540 (303) 544-2125 • ramblinjackson.com
1 How to Boost Your Falling Lead Numbers 2 We Ate Steak and Talked Shop: Were You There? 2 Get Ready for AI Customers 3 Upcoming Events 3 Take a Break 4 Jack’s Best Fitness Tip INSIDE
(Hint: It Also Gets Me Ready for Hunting Season) My Fitness Age Is 20! This Is My Workout Secret
I shot my first elk nine years ago, and when I stood beside its body, I suddenly felt weak. Back then, I was a smoker, I drank all the time, and I never exercised. My lung capacity was next to nothing, so there was no way I could field dress my elk and pack it down the mountain! Luckily, 10 other guys were with me on that hunt. If they weren’t there, I would have had to leave my prize elk rotting on the ground. How terrible is that? The moment stuck with me. I never wanted to feel that weak again, so I started looking for ways to become stronger, healthier, and more self-sufficient. It took a while, but I quit smoking, cut back the drinking, and found the ultimate workout: rucking! Rucking (hiking with a weighted pack) is amazing. I’ve experimented with weighted
vests and all kinds of rucking backpacks as I train for my next deer and elk hunt this October. Some of those backpacks aggravated my old spine injuries, but I eventually settled on a GORUCK ruck plate carrier for lightweight rucks and a MYSTERY RANCH hunting backpack with an aluminum frame for heavy rucks. The GORUCK is basically a harness that holds a 30-pound plate. It rides high and tight on my back and actually feels good instead of messing with my spine! The Mystery Ranch backpack has a hip belt, and I’ve loaded it with up to 90 pounds (about the weight of a deer or elk quarter) for heavy rucks. Those can be brutal, but the belt helps. These days, I try to do one slower, heavy ruck and one light ruck every week. I also do kettlebell workouts three times a week,
and I’ve had amazing results with that combination! I’ve lost a lot of weight, and when I went turkey hunting a few weeks ago, I hit my best-ever maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max). According to my Garmin watch, my fitness age is 20! If you’re prepping for hunting season or want to get stronger, rucking could be the way to go.
JACK JOSTES, CEO RAMBLIN JACKSON
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Get a Free, Personal Video Review Of Your Website! • ramblinjackson.com/webreview
ENTER TO WIN A FREE TRAEGER GRILL AT ELEVATE And Score Bonus Gifts, Too! Our team is heading to the National Association of Landscape Professionals’ 2023 ELEVATE conference — and we want to see you there! Our team is heading to the 2023 SIMA Snow & Ice Symposium – and we want to see you there! ENTER TO WIN A FREE TRAEGER GRILL AT SIMA SNOW & ICE SYMPOSIUM RAMBLIN JACKSON BOOTH #1225 And Score Bonus Gifts,Too! See you at ELEVATE booth No. 1110! If you haven’t already registered for ELEVATE and booked your trip to Dallas for Sept. 10–13 , you’d better get on it. Your Traeger is waiting. If you haven’t already registered for SIMA Symposium and booked your trip to Hartford for June 13-16, 2023, you’d better get on it.Your Traeger is waiting. See you at SIMA Symposium booth No. 1225 Stop by our booth (No. 1110) and we’ll enter you into our raffle for three awesome prizes: 1. A Traeger grill 2. A $100 gift card to a wild salmon company run by an arborist 3. A wireless meat thermometer ($100 value) Does landscaper life get better than that?! Oh, yeah it does — because when you take the 2023 Snow & Landscape Sales Survey, you’ll also walk away with a FREE book and a FREE video training that will teach you how to smoke your competition! Stop by our booth (No. 1225) and we’ll enter you into our raffle for three awesome prizes: 1. A Traeger Grill 2. A $100 gift card to a Wild Salmon company run by an arborist 3. A wireless meat thermometer ($100 value) Does snow contractor life get better than that?! Oh, yeah it does – because you’ll also walk away with a FREE book and a FREE video training that will teach you how to smoke your competition!
LEARN FROM JACK LIVE AT THE 2023 LANDSCAPE SHOW IN ORLANDO Ramblin Jackson CEO Jack Jostes is bringing proven sales and marketing tactics to Florida! Join his workshop, “The Landscaper’s Guide To Modern Sales and Marketing,” at The 2023 Landscape Show on Thursday, Aug. 24, from 1–2:30 p.m. Eastern time . You’ll walk away with … • Proven tactics for generating qualified leads based on real landscape contractor case studies from Florida and the Southeast • Game-changing tips to enhance your sales process that will save time for you and your team • Easy-to-use worksheets and templates that will help you organize your sales and marketing processes and take the next steps • And much more!
If you come to see Jack, you’ll leave ready to take action — and it’s not too late to claim your spot. Sign up today at LandscapersGuide.com/ thelandscapeshow or by scanning the QR code. If you register before Aug. 3 , you’ll score an early-bird discount on admission!
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