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Callahan’s Corner: What Type of Marketing Works Best (Direct Mail or EDDM)

Video Transcript

0:02 Callahan’s Corner where you ask
0:04
the questions. We answer them
0:05
live right here on Facebook.
0:07
So, one of the many Facebook
0:08
groups we are involved in with
0:11
Callahan’s Corner s, there was
0:11
a question asked this morning,
0:15
what works better? Direct mail
0:16
or Every Door Direct Mailing
0:19
EDDM. Well, really the question
0:22
is right off the bat is, is
0:24
this individual or if you’re
0:25
looking at exploring different
0:27
marketing options for Everydoor
0:28
Direct, mailing, mail Facebook
0:30
ads, Google Ads, whatever that
0:32
is, are you actually tracking
0:34
the data? So, we did, in our
0:38
run, usually in the spring, we
0:39
run 75 to maybe $85, 000 at the
0:42
peak of the advertising season
0:44
in a month in Upstate New York
0:46
for the lawn care company I own
0:48
and that definitely worked but
0:50
the thing that I will tell you
0:51
is is working with hundreds of
0:53
businesses all over the US and
0:54
Canada, even Australia, and the
0:55
UK now. Um each market is the
0:58
same but it’s going to be a
0:58
little bit different based on
1:01
how they digest and what target
1:02
market actually demographic
1:04
you’re going after. So, really
1:06
I think it would be foolish to
1:06
answer the question directly
1:08
what worked better in my market
1:09
and actually show you how to
1:10
track your own data for
1:13
non-emotional systematic way
1:14
and I can show you how to
1:15
actually create a high-level
1:16
marketing plan to go along with
1:17
this. Once we got some good
1:18
data. So, what I’m going to do
1:19
here is open up the screen and
1:22
open up service autopilot. So,
1:24
this is one of the CRMs that we
1:26
use, customer relationship
1:27
management software is here. Um
1:28
so, if you using service
1:30
autopilot and the gentleman
1:31
that actually asked this
1:32
question, I know, is using
1:33
service autopilot. I’m going to
1:34
open it up and show you how to
1:36
actually use service autopilot
1:37
to track this stuff. Literally,
1:38
automatically, once you set it
1:40
up, it takes about five minutes
1:41
to set up. I’m going to show
1:43
you actually how to do it. So,
1:45
first thing you want to do is
1:46
go to our gear icon. and we’re
1:50
going to go into
1:54
client source right here and
1:55
client source is going to be
1:56
lead source tracking. So,
1:58
whether you’re doing Everydoor
1:59
Direct Mail ing, direct
2:00
mailing, or any other type of
2:03
advertising, literally, word of
2:04
mouth, they saw your truck,
2:05
whatever that is, that will be
2:07
able what we’re, we’re looking
2:09
at here. So, as you can see in
2:11
my old account here, we had our
2:13
20 twenty Every Door Direct
2:15
Mail ing with the long copy,
2:15
and one with the picture of a
2:18
family. So, you may be testing
2:19
different copies of this
2:20
marketing copy as well, because
2:22
Avidor Direct Mail ing may work
2:24
great on one piece but not as
2:26
good on in others. So, this is
2:27
how we go in a non-emotionally
2:28
set this up. So, if we go in
2:31
and let’s add a new source
2:33
right from the beginning, I’m
2:34
going to put this as our Every
2:35
Door Direct Mail ing test. 2022
2:41
and we can go in and put some
2:42
details in here. Now, the first
2:44
thing we need to do is set
2:45
these up. The second thing now
2:46
is when we do that Every Door
2:48
Direct Mail ing, we need to
2:49
actually go in and add a
2:50
campaign. So, if we
2:54
let’s say in March and it ran
2:56
all the way through the end of
2:58
April, we could put that date
3:00
in there. So, anytime a lead
3:02
comes into the system in that
3:03
date for that particular client
3:05
or lead source, it’s accredited
3:07
to that. Now, let’s say we’ve
3:09
did a ten thousand distribution
3:12
and it ran us to $8000 dollars.
3:15
So, we put the 10, 000 in here.
3:18
And our eight-thousand-dollar,
3:20
oh,
3:23
$10, 000 distribution and our
3:27
8, 000 dollars to actually have
3:30
the expense. Now, if you’re
3:31
actually marketing your current
3:32
database, we can actually hit
3:33
upsell and it would track the
3:34
upsell conversion ratio. So,
3:35
what this is going to give you
3:37
is how many leads came from
3:38
each marketing source? how many
3:42
converted into a client, the
3:43
closing percentage for your
3:45
actual estimator, and the
3:48
client acquisition cost. So,
3:49
what it costs you acquire for
3:50
each and every client that you
3:52
get and then, in addition we
3:53
could have a client lifetime
3:55
value. Uh if you are going to
3:57
this extent, I’m also going to
3:59
recommend that you go in and
4:01
track your cancellation and one
4:03
and loss reasons. So, if we go
4:05
into the gear icon, and go into
4:10
cancellation reasons and
4:11
estimate reasons. So, we have
4:12
estimate reasons and we’re
4:13
going to go in and put the
4:15
reason why we won and lost the
4:17
estimate and then, we’re
4:19
going to go back in. And
4:22
cancel, track our cancellation
4:25
reason. So, what we’ve done is
4:25
track our acquisition, cost,
4:27
and percentage of closing and
4:29
client lifetime value per lead
4:31
source and then, we can also
4:31
track our cancellation. So,
4:34
dissatisfied, whatever those
4:35
may be, we just go in and add a
4:37
cancellation reason and it’s
4:38
based on gleed or client. So,
4:39
once we have that information,
4:41
all the data now flows
4:42
automatically So, if you’re
4:44
using service autopilot, the
4:46
other thing that you may
4:47
want to look at here is your
4:50
website lead capture form. Now,
4:51
there’s two different versions
4:52
of it. There’s a V 2, there’s a
4:54
Vthree, for simplicity,
4:55
whatever I’m in here. I think
4:57
we’re in probably Vtwo. I’ll
4:59
show you but it’s going to be
4:59
the same exact thing whether
5:00
the V2 or V3 version but what
5:03
you want to do is go in and
5:04
when you create a form, we
5:07
want to be able to have it
5:08
automatically submit, do some
5:10
duplicate checking but the
5:11
thing that we’re looking at for
5:13
this video is how do we track
5:14
that lead acquisition off the
5:18
website. So, what we want to do
5:19
is autoproof, create on,
5:21
submit, and we’re going to
5:23
update and probably create and
5:25
update a lead source on submit
5:30
So, we’d actually go in and
5:32
have one in here for our
5:35
website. In that way, we would
5:36
have the ability to track the
5:37
lead sourcing coming off your
5:39
website or if you have separate
5:40
forms embedded into a Facebook
5:43
ad or a landing page, you
5:44
probably want separate lead
5:45
source tracking to track those
5:47
campaigns with the pricing
5:48
behind it. So, that’s how we
5:48
would be able to tackle that.
5:50
So, the final part is here,
5:52
when we go in to the My Day
5:54
screen, your office is working
5:56
this. We want to go into the
5:57
green plus icon, add a lead and
5:59
this is the important here. So,
6:01
we’re going to put in our first
6:04
name last name, the service
6:08
address,
6:12
As we’re talking to him, we’re
6:13
going to put in the postal code
6:15
and we’re going to update the
6:16
city. We’re going to get the
6:17
Email in here.
6:24
and we want to put the phone
6:25
number in the cellphone field.
6:27
Once we get the basic
6:28
information, we, this, the main
6:30
part around this question is we
6:31
want to go into details, select
6:33
the account type, and most
6:35
importantly, the sales type,
6:36
how did you hear about us? And
6:38
that’s where we can go in and
6:39
say they selected the Every
6:40
Direct Direct Mail ing with the
6:43
picture. Now, if they were
6:44
referred by someone in your
6:47
list here and you actually went
6:47
in, and had a customer referral
6:52
in here, you can go in and if
6:56
this wasn’t a test account, a
6:57
list of all our leads and
6:57
clients would show and you
6:59
would select the appropriate
7:00
person. So, not only do you
7:01
know the effectiveness of your
7:03
mail, your marketing copy but
7:05
your customer referral,
7:06
conversion ratio, and client
7:08
lead acquisition. If there’s
7:09
any gift cards or things you
7:12
send out for referrals. So,
7:13
comments, questions, drop
7:14
below. Callahan’s Corner. You
7:15
ask the questions. We answer em
7:16
live right here on Facebook.
7:17
What marketing source is
7:19
better? Direct mail, every
7:20
door, direct mailing. That’s
7:21
going to depend on your market
7:24
but a pro tip here is if you
7:25
are doing Every Door Direct
7:27
Mail ing, we want to do it not
7:29
just once. We want to do three
7:30
to five times. That’s going to
7:31
give us the best result and
7:33
then, in addition to that, one
7:35
thing that we did in my lawn
7:37
care companies, we drove around
7:39
literally with a notepad, a
7:42
notepad, something like this
7:44
and we wrote down the addresses
7:45
of all the homes that looked
7:47
like they were commercially
7:49
mowed and we went in through
7:50
the winter months when we’re
7:51
slow and went in through
7:52
satellite imagery and measure
7:54
all those and did direct
7:56
mailing to all those properties
7:58
with property specific pricing
7:59
and in the Email or on the
8:02
envelope, the address would be
8:03
lawn mowing customer. So, we
8:05
knew they were getting their
8:06
lawn mowed most likely and we
8:06
sent them a direct contract to
8:10
sign up with us. With property
8:12
specific pricing. So, that was
8:14
a huge way that we dominated
8:14
our market and grew market
8:16
share specifically in the
8:18
neighborhoods that we’re
8:18
already in and the
8:19
neighborhoods in between the
8:20
neighborhoods that we weren’t
8:21
servicing to build route
8:22
density. So, once again, you
8:23
want to the lead source on that
8:26
as well so you know the
8:27
conversion ratio and the cost
8:28
per acquired client. So it
8:30
actually cost a little bit more
8:30
to do the direct mailing with
8:32
property specific pricing. But
8:34
on average our client
8:36
acquisition cost because it was
8:37
so effective was actually
8:39
lowered. So the upfront cost
8:41
was a lot more but when you
8:42
average it over all the clients
8:43
we gained. Um that was a great
8:45
way of doing that. So it’s kind
8:46
of a pro tip. Callahan’s
8:48
Corner. You ask a question to
8:49
answer live right

Tracking what Matters in your Business

Video Transcript

0:00 hey mike kelly here had a quick question
0:02
submitted to callahan’s corner about
0:04
what they should be tracking in their
0:06
service business particularly a lawn
0:07
care business they said mike what should
0:09
we be tracking on a daily and weekly
0:12
basis to outline success so i kind of
0:14
want to start it out right now with the
0:16
crazy inflation in gas prices and labor
0:18
at an all-time high as far as wages uh
0:21
there are some things we need to
0:23
actually track for success um but a
0:26
pre-note to that really is let’s go in
0:28
and focus on the things that we can
0:30
control now there’s going to be some
0:31
things we want to track
0:33
but what are we tracking right now on a
0:35
daily and weekly basis that we can
0:37
actually control we can’t control gas
0:39
prices we can’t control the inflation
0:42
but what we can
0:43
control and track are certain key
0:45
metrics in the business so we’re going
0:47
to talk about gas prices and how we
0:49
should look at that in a few minutes but
0:51
the main things that i want to be
0:52
looking at in my service business
0:53
particularly a lawn care or a home
0:55
cleaning company is going to look in
0:58
at the biggest hitter right off the bat
1:00
which is labor that’s going to count for
1:01
about 60 percent of your expenses in
1:03
your service business so what i’m going
1:05
to recommend if you have not we need to
1:07
build an estimating system um based on
1:10
how long you think it’s going to take or
1:12
production rate based estimating system
1:13
but the key variable that we need from
1:15
your estimates when we go to schedule a
1:17
job is how long will it take
1:20
or should it take for that job to be
1:22
done now the crews need to see a
1:24
budgeted time so we need to track budget
1:26
versus actual the way that i would train
1:28
this in the lawn care company uh with
1:31
really good success especially when i
1:32
was on the trucks training the guys and
1:34
then when we trained our trainers they
1:36
would do it this way but let’s say we
1:37
have a
1:39
full day of mowing today
1:41
and we want more training those guys and
1:42
girls on the crew what we’re going to do
1:44
is take a large overview so you’ve had
1:47
the budgeted time for the whole entire
1:48
day so let’s say we’re working for 10
1:50
hour days so we’re going to have 10
1:52
hours budgeted time
1:54
for the day so minus lunch 7-5 we’ve got
1:57
a 10-hour day so the goal is we need to
1:59
have all 30 or 33 lawns cut
2:02
in 10 hours now that is going to seem
2:04
extremely overwhelming for even a
2:06
veteran person on that crew no matter
2:08
the route density that we’d run 30 to 33
2:10
lawns a day in our residential cruise
2:13
we did that through route density so
2:14
we’d say hey we’ve got 10 hours to get
2:16
this done we need to be back at the shop
2:17
at 10.
2:18
let’s ignore the launch just for easy
2:20
math but between seven we leave at seven
2:22
we get there five we need it back to the
2:24
shop by by five o’clock
2:27
what i did is i broke down the schedule
2:29
itself into quarters um and then i broke
2:32
it down into hours the first thing we’re
2:34
doing is we’re gonna set some short-term
2:35
goals so if on average we need to cut
2:38
three lawns or three and a half lawns an
2:40
hour to hit that goal uh we labeled that
2:43
out and basically i would sometimes when
2:45
they first started print the schedules
2:46
out so i could physically show them we’d
2:48
use the mobiles from the clock in and
2:49
out but i can physically show them that
2:51
these are the three lawns
2:53
at this point at 9 a.m we should be at
2:55
and at 10 p.m we should be or 10 a.m we
2:56
should be here at 11 am we should be
2:58
here and at noon before we go to lunch
3:00
we should be here but we’re giving them
3:02
short-term executable goals now keep in
3:04
mind in most areas of the country these
3:06
the mowing early in the morning the
3:08
lawns are going to be wet with dew um
3:10
it’s going to take a little bit longer
3:11
so we’re going to account for the
3:13
slowness in the morning based on the
3:15
conditions and the speed that should be
3:17
picked up
3:18
on there but we’re going to set short
3:19
and long term goals so 10 hours for the
3:21
day
3:22
how many lawns per hour at 9 10 11 noon
3:25
and so on
3:26
and then break it up in quarters where
3:28
we should be at the parts of the day
3:29
that actually helped a lot
3:31
and as you’re training your quality
3:32
standard they’re going to get into a
3:34
pace and be able to visually see where
3:35
they’re at so as a business owner that’s
3:38
how we actually start to institute that
3:39
into the cruise with quality but at the
3:42
end of each day we need to make sure
3:44
there’s good start and stop times for
3:45
every job and a budget first actually
3:47
it’s on the shop wall the next day for
3:49
accountability publicly and personally
3:50
for those crew members with a quality
3:52
standard so the first one is budget
3:54
first actuals for the crews
3:56
next one is we should be looking at on a
3:59
weekly basis
4:01
our new clients canceled clients
4:05
and our net new clients in addition
4:07
depending on the services that you are
4:09
providing we also probably want to look
4:12
at our monthly reoccurring revenue so
4:14
how much reoccurring revenue for lawn
4:16
mowing and fertilizing have we budgeted
4:18
for and what’s the budget versus actual
4:20
we also want to track the one-time sale
4:22
so if you’re in design build or soft
4:24
skates and you’re doing maybe some
4:25
maintenance and design build want to
4:27
break those out separately so we have a
4:29
idea of what the recurring revenue is in
4:31
the one-time revenue and the final thing
4:33
that you’d be probably looking at here
4:35
especially if you have a sales team is
4:36
the opportunities that will close in the
4:38
month in your sales pipeline
4:41
and
4:42
projected next month out
4:44
or maybe quarter based on hardscapes but
4:47
those are some key variables you want to
4:48
look at but don’t get hung up in my
4:50
opinion we’ve been through this in 2008
4:52
uh with the recession we had and wicked
4:54
gas prices in my company and in the
4:56
beginning we started to get focused on
4:57
the things that we couldn’t control like
4:59
gas prices
5:00
um and that’s not where you want to play
5:02
and it’s only going to be two to three
5:03
percent of your budget
5:04
and we can also do a surcharge for gas
5:08
and systematically go out now i’m going
5:10
to recommend we’re coming up around july
5:12
4th weekend uh we would run a job
5:15
costing report so if our goal is 65
5:17
dollars per man hour anybody below 65
5:20
unless it was a commercial contract
5:21
locked up we would actually do price
5:23
increases on the customers not hitting
5:26
that threshold but let’s say your goal
5:28
is at 65 dollars per man hour and fuel
5:30
continues to go the way it’s going and
5:32
it probably will continue that way maybe
5:34
you need to be at 67 or 68 per ml now we
5:36
can systematically raise the prices on
5:38
the clients that are not hitting that
5:40
new financial break-even threshold so um
5:43
a lot of content right there but these
5:45
are the things that are kind of top of
5:46
mind with that question submitted
5:48
comments questions drop below callahan’s
5:50
corner you ask the questions we answer
5:52
them live for right here on facebook

Employee Theft… How would You Handle it?

Video Transcript

0:01
hey mike kelly here i want to make a
0:02
quick video had a
0:03
question submitted earlier this week
0:04
regarding employee theft just on the
0:06
road here about to uh hop on the plane
0:08
but thought it was important to tackle
0:10
this one head-on this morning so issue
0:12
was that gentlemen had someone steal a
0:14
piece of equipment and want to know if
0:16
you should just press charges fire the
0:17
gentleman or
0:19
what else should he do so i’m going to
0:20
reflect back on my years of 25 plus
0:22
years of my lawn care company and how we
0:25
handled threat and what the biggest
0:26
thing that popped into my mind was when
0:29
a gentleman a few years ago actually
0:31
stole uh gasoline from us well below the
0:34
gas prices that we’re seeing now
0:36
but this approach to how we handle the
0:38
prolly that may actually surprise some
0:39
people so
0:41
at that point our shop was about a half
0:42
a mile down the road from the gas
0:44
station we’d have four or five gentlemen
0:45
come in and gas up 18 to 20 trucks every
0:48
morning load them up and then um the
0:50
crews would arrive between 7 and 7 30
0:52
and they’d be staged out to go out so i
0:54
got a call around 8 8 30 in the morning
0:56
from the gas station obviously spending
0:58
a significant amount of money there
1:00
they alerted us that one of the
1:01
employees pulled up in their personal
1:03
vehicle
1:05
and actually grabbed the
1:06
gas handle and filled up their personal
1:09
vehicle
1:10
while
1:11
some of the crews were filling the
1:13
trucks
1:14
while the crew leader actually was
1:15
inside the gas station
1:17
going in to pay for one of the other
1:18
pumps so the other employees saw but
1:20
didn’t necessarily facilitate it but
1:23
what’s going to probably shock you is
1:24
the amount of gas this gentleman
1:26
actually stole
1:27
if he’d actually asked me i probably
1:29
would have just told him to put in his
1:30
tank and not to worry about it but he
1:31
actually stole about three dollars and
1:33
say 75 cents worth of gas probably just
1:36
enough to get to the shop problem is
1:38
ethically we did not stand for theft in
1:40
the company it did not align to our core
1:43
values at all um so
1:45
literally went down to the gas station
1:47
got a picture and a video of the
1:49
gentleman stealing the gas
1:51
spent about two and a half to three
1:52
hours went down to the police station
1:54
press charges but
1:56
the way i tackled it was a little bit
1:58
different and we had been plagued with
2:00
theft as well already
2:02
our shop had been broken into twice some
2:04
of the trucks and the tablets ripped off
2:05
the dashboard so
2:07
this was literally the last straw for me
2:08
but i needed to make a stand that i was
2:10
not standing for
2:11
a couple dollars worth of gas or
2:13
thousands of dollars worth of equipment
2:14
being stolen so after getting to the
2:16
police station and pressing charges
2:18
the officers wanted to know if i knew
2:20
where the truck was well that this guy
2:22
was working i knew exactly where it was
2:23
but i said listen guys could you do me a
2:25
favor i know you’ve been down to the
2:26
shop a few times we’ve been broken into
2:28
really want to uh unfortunately make an
2:30
example this gentleman to let people
2:31
know where we stand on theft
2:33
so what they did is they arranged to
2:35
come down to the shop
2:37
at 7 00 a.m during our team meeting
2:40
unbeknownst to me they came in hot we
2:42
had the gate open because we had an
2:43
electric gate with a passcode but they
2:45
came in hot with about three cruisers
2:48
and pulled up to probably about 35 to 40
2:51
guys literally standing at a team
2:52
meeting uh while i was on top of one of
2:54
the trailers kind of addressing the team
2:56
and we literally as the officers pulled
2:59
up and got out of the car i went over
3:01
and basically talked to them thank them
3:03
for coming and we actually pulled out
3:06
um and asked the gentleman to actually
3:08
come out
3:09
and kind of present himself uh to the
3:11
officers and at that point they actually
3:13
arrested him put him in cuffs
3:15
and put him in back of the cop car and i
3:17
will tell you
3:18
by doing this we were able to really
3:21
address how we stood on theft and where
3:23
we were going as a company and aligning
3:25
to those values so yes we actually had a
3:27
gentleman arrested for a little under
3:29
four dollars worth of gas in front of
3:31
the whole entire company
3:34
but what they did is it created a story
3:36
and it created clarity so literally
3:38
after the gentleman got drove drove away
3:41
in the car i asked everybody there are
3:43
we clear of where we stand on theft and
3:44
they were like yes we are crystal clear
3:47
and it was interesting things in the
3:48
shop stopped going missing things like
3:51
um additional gas or weed whacker line
3:53
things like that started to actually use
3:55
less and i have a feeling we actually
3:56
had some more theft
3:58
or people taking things probably for
3:59
their own home that we didn’t realize
4:01
but the end of this was it was very
4:03
clear where we stood on theft
4:05
but the cool thing was it was a story
4:07
that got better and better year after
4:08
year and i remember by the third or
4:10
fourth year um the story got so
4:12
embellished but it was just one of those
4:14
things that it when these things happen
4:16
you’ve got to literally act in the

Best Practice for Pre-Estimate Nurture

Video Transcript

0:01 hey mike allen here want to make a quick
0:02
video i had a question submitted this
0:03
morning around
0:05
pre-estimate nurture or education so
0:07
where this really comes into play um is
0:10
what we used to do in the early days is
0:11
actually manually do this but the
0:13
question was specifically around
0:15
automations and how do we educate and
0:16
nurture around
0:18
pre-estimate education so the instance
0:22
or how this would actually happen is if
0:23
somebody hits your website they’ve
0:24
requested an estimate commercial or
0:27
residential or they’ve hit the office
0:29
and requested an estimate so the way we
0:32
would automate this and if you’re going
0:33
to do it manually this is how you would
0:34
do it is we want to segment the database
0:37
based on the service they’re interested
0:39
in so one of the biggest mistakes that
0:41
we found out in the early years was
0:43
having too many services to nurture upon
0:47
because we wanted to make it automated
0:48
but personal so the way i recommend
0:50
tackling this is having five or less
0:53
services
0:54
that are going to be automated for
0:56
estimate nurture and the reason being is
0:58
if you’re building this out in a
0:59
automated fashion
1:01
we want to rank the most important
1:03
service from one two three four five in
1:06
descending order because the logic of
1:08
your automation now is going to go in
1:10
through a true statement if this then
1:12
that basically and based on the
1:15
importance of the service so if you’re
1:17
doing landscape maintenance per se
1:19
um
1:20
your fertilization weed control i’d
1:22
imagine is probably going to be more
1:23
important than your lawn mowing because
1:25
that’s a higher margin and easier
1:27
services scale with one technician
1:28
versus two to three man crew so the idea
1:30
here is that we want to go in and off
1:32
that website lead capture uh at least in
1:35
the logic only nurture up to five
1:38
services and base them on the importance
1:40
level that we want to nurture on so it’s
1:42
for instance if you had 10 services on
1:44
there that automation potentially could
1:46
be blasting 10 different pre-estimate
1:48
educations out that you don’t want so
1:50
you want to avoid the spam and keep it
1:52
personalized but automated so in the
1:54
marketing content
1:55
of the actual pre-estimate education we
1:58
should be talking about what a
1:59
professional does on that service so if
2:02
we’re using lawn mowing an example
2:03
proper mowing height how to sharpen the
2:05
blades how to go out and alternate the
2:08
different cutting directions you get the
2:09
idea but we want to provide a higher
2:11
value to the service basing you as the
2:14
expert
2:15
what are they getting it’s just not a
2:16
college kid going out and blowing an
2:18
engine we’re going to get actual
2:19
professional service that’s predictable
2:22
in addition the secret sauce is going
2:23
out in your pre-estimated nurture
2:25
education is to overcome the price
2:27
objections or salaries objections you
2:28
always hear so do i need to be home to
2:30
have the lawn mower what happens if it
2:32
rains are you going to cut in the rain
2:34
all the different questions we get what
2:36
happens if a rock goes and damages a
2:38
window what are those things we’re going
2:39
to answer the questions that most
2:40
contractors do not want to answer up
2:42
front
2:43
to shorten the sales cycle build more
2:46
trust so they know like and trust you
2:47
and educate them that you are the
2:49
professional to create a higher
2:50
perceived value so you could be
2:52
charging the highest amount in your
2:54
market so once again we want at most
2:56
five services we nurture pre-estimated
2:58
education they hit the website they hit
3:00
the phone they get that pre-estimate
3:02
education after their lead letter which
3:05
is the five or six main reasons you’re
3:06
different and when you are going out to
3:09
pre-educate if they select say lawn
3:11
mowing and fertilizing we educate to the
3:14
most important service then we delay the
3:16
next um sequence of education going into
3:19
the next service so most are getting
3:21
five communications about the top five
3:23
services spread out so we’re not
3:25
spamming them the next key to this is
3:27
based on an automated estimate file such
3:29
as 20 days to close when they accept
3:31
that estimate
3:33
that nurture automatically ends and we
3:35
start having the conversation of welcome
3:37
and wow and acclimate them and get that
3:38
credit card on file and get them
3:39
scheduled so comments or questions drop
3:41
them below
3:42
high summary of it though no more than
3:44
five services do we ever want to nurture
3:47
and we want to rank them in order from
3:48
the most important service to the least
3:50
important service and as we go out and
3:52
up to five emails educating we want
3:55
those properly spaced out and as soon as
3:57
the estimate is one we automatically
4:00
stop that nurture and drive them into
4:01
the welcome and acclimation sequence
4:03
comments or questions drop below
4:05
callahan’s corner you ask the questions
4:06
we answer them live right here on
4:07
facebook
AllRelatedLiveRecently uploadedWatched

Is your business broken? Our audit will show you what you need to fix in YOUR business now.

Video Transcript

Hey, Mike Callahan here with
0:03
Simbler Growth. We’ve got our
0:05
seven business, seven-figure
0:07
business expert, Dylan here
0:07
with us from the Simple Growth
0:09
Team and Dylan and I were just
0:10
talking about all the things
0:11
that are going on in
0:12
businesses. It potentially
0:13
could be broken without the
0:15
business owner really knowing
0:16
it. Uh so, we decided to hop on
0:18
a quick Facebook Live here to
0:20
actually break down something
0:22
we’re going to be doing free of
0:23
charge for any service business
0:25
that’s willing to take 15 to
0:27
maybe 20 minutes with our
0:28
Simple Grow team to actually
0:29
show you the in your business
0:31
potentially are broken. Um and
0:33
Dylan, I know you’ve done this
0:34
audit over the last six to 12
0:36
months with probably hundreds
0:38
of of different service
0:39
businesses based in lawn care,
0:41
home cleaning, pest control,
0:42
pool services, you name it. Um
0:44
but right now there’s a lot of
0:46
uncertainty right now. A lot of
0:47
businesses are trying to
0:48
continue to grow to that
0:49
million mark and well beyond.
0:50
Uh but inflation, gas prices,
0:52
labor shortages. Where do I
0:54
need to work on my business
0:56
specifically right now to go
0:58
out and just crush my goals but
1:02
stay alive and continue the
1:02
same size I’m at. Um now,
1:04
obviously, most people watch
1:05
this want to continue to grow
1:06
their business successfully and
1:08
profitably but if you’re
1:09
looking at your service
1:10
business right now and you’re
1:11
like, I need to make sure my
1:13
business is okay to sustain
1:14
what’s going on in the
1:16
ecosystem right now. Uh we’ve
1:17
got good news. Dylan has the
1:18
ability for you to hop on the
1:20
team with one of our
1:22
seven-figure growth experts to
1:23
go through this free audit. So,
1:25
Dylan, I know we’ve got some
1:26
compressed time because you
1:26
actually have an audit here in
1:28
another 10 to 15 minutes. Um if
1:29
you don’t taking the wheel
1:32
brother and just kind of going
1:33
through what we we walked
1:34
through. We’re going to put in
1:35
some fictitious answers here so
1:36
people can actually see what
1:37
you get at the end of this but
1:39
like it’s a massive, actionable
1:41
information that would cost a
1:43
lot of money but we’re just
1:45
literally trying to help every
1:46
service business we can know
1:48
where they need to focus and
1:49
what pinpoints are going to
1:50
help them along the way. So, if
1:52
you don’t mind, brother, let’s
1:53
let’s walk through this and see
1:54
what it is and when we’re done,
1:56
if you’ve got a link, if you
1:57
want to slack it to me or after
1:59
this, we can post the sign up
2:01
link in the Facebook Live here
2:03
so people can sign up for this
2:04
free audit but I’ll let you let
2:05
you take over here. Cool, cool.
2:08
Yeah, it’s not every day that
2:09
you can kind of get like a a
2:12
scorecard almost on how your
2:14
business is doing, right? You
2:15
see your financial statements
2:16
at the end of the year and
2:17
you’re like, oh, I I think I
2:19
did pretty good but sometimes
2:21
the financial statements don’t
2:23
say everything as well. So,
2:24
this kind of secondary report
2:26
card just to make sure that
2:28
your business is healthy in all
2:29
aspects and that there’s not
2:29
really any glaring things that
2:33
you’re just missing can be
2:34
really beneficial. So, step 1
2:37
is, obviously, we’re going to
2:39
expect different things
2:41
depending on the size of your
2:42
business, right? If you’re just
2:43
starting out and you’re 50, 000
2:45
a year in annual sales,
2:48
going to be totally different
2:49
expectations on a company
2:50
that’s doing $3 million dollars
2:52
a year. And that’s the actual
2:54
process we go through here. So,
2:56
what if I’m a steady operation
2:57
between a half a million and a
2:58
mill? Alright, so we’ll mark
3:01
that down. And then we roll
3:03
into just a simple setup
3:05
analysis here. So Mike in your
3:08
company, are you using a CRM?
3:10
Uh well Dylan, what is a CRM?
3:12
Uh CRM is a customer
3:14
relationship management
3:16
program. Um that you would
3:17
house your customers in, you
3:19
know, kind of think service
3:22
autopilot, jobber, yardbook,
3:24
something like that. A little
3:24
bit different than QuickBooks
3:26
which is primarily just a
3:28
financial software. Okay, so
3:29
our Aspi and other softwares
3:32
like that would probably
3:32
qualify as that as well. Yeah,
3:33
I’m I’m definitely using a CRM.
3:35
Okay. And I do have a a website
3:38
and a Facebook page. Okay,
3:41
perfect. Um. And are your
3:44
services priced based off a
3:46
square feet or are you just
3:47
kind of eyeballing it? Oh,
3:48
let’s play. I’ll play doubles
3:50
advocates. Um let’s say it’s
3:52
the early years and I’m just
3:53
eyeballing it. Okay. So, I’ll
3:57
mark that as no. And when
3:58
you’re doing these quotes,
4:00
Mike, are you jotting them down
4:01
on a notepad? Are you entering
4:02
them in directly into your CRM?
4:05
How are you capturing that
4:06
information? I’m going to
4:06
answer this fictitiously just
4:08
to kind of see what it looks
4:10
like but I’m going to say we’re
4:11
driving around in an estimate
4:12
truck or car, writing it down a
4:13
pen and paper and then we get
4:14
back to the office. We put it
4:16
into that CRM.
4:22
and are your team members, if
4:24
you have any team members, are
4:24
they clocking in and out using
4:26
like a mobile app, tracking
4:27
their time, or? I’m going to
4:29
say for this exercise, they are
4:31
not. You’ve gotta be making
4:33
money because there’s money in
4:34
the bank. So, why would I
4:35
want to track that, right?
4:36
Gotcha. Yeah, well, we’ll see
4:39
why. You do want to track that
4:40
shortly but I like the
4:42
fictitious example. Oh, yeah.
4:43
So, the next part here is the
4:46
sales analysis and basically,
4:47
you’re going to receive a score
4:48
on each one of these segments
4:50
which is really cool Do you
4:53
have a website quote form? And
4:55
if so, is it automatically
4:57
entering the leads into your
4:59
CRM? Yeah, I’ve got one, Dylan,
5:01
but it sends me an Email and I
5:03
gotta type them in. You tell me
5:04
there may be a way to get those
5:05
in automatically, huh? Yeah.
5:06
So, right now, I do not have it
5:07
automatically getting those in.
5:10
Okay. So, I’ll put no for now.
5:13
And are you tracking and
5:16
reviewing where these clients
5:17
and leads are coming from, your
5:19
client’s source? Fictitiously
5:21
for this example, I am not.
5:25
Okay? And are you sending out
5:26
at least 20 quotes per month?
5:29
Oh, yeah, for sure. We’re
5:30
blowing it up. Okay. Uh, and
5:34
are you following up on these
5:35
quotes at least five times? Uh,
5:38
I will pretend it’s, I will
5:39
pretend it’s early days before
5:40
we automated. Be lucky if you
5:41
got maybe a phone call back.
5:42
So, definitely not. I’m out
5:43
there in the field or at least
5:44
I was back in the day. Uh,
5:46
getting that work done. So,
5:48
we’ll say no. Yep, been there
5:50
for sure. Um, are you upselling
5:53
your database at all? Uh, well
5:56
fictitiously, who has time for
5:57
that? Maybe, maybe in the
6:00
spring and. Yeah, maybe, maybe.
6:02
Obviously, things have changed
6:03
but we’ll we’ll answer this as
6:05
if we’re in the early days.
6:09
Turn turning back time. Um you
6:11
turn it back my hairline will
6:12
be better, huh? So the last
6:16
part here is operational. This
6:18
one’s a little bit tougher, a
6:19
little bit more advanced. Are
6:22
you tracking daily if your
6:23
teams are hitting their
6:24
budgeted times? Uh yeah I am
6:26
but it’s it’s through a pen and
6:28
paper. Excel sheet. Do my best.
6:30
So I’ll say yes. I mean you’re
6:33
tracking it. Uh however you’re
6:34
doing it. Might be a little bit
6:36
more of an efficient way to do
6:37
it. But at least you are
6:38
tracking it. That’s great. Are
6:41
you communicating any of those
6:42
findings with your for
6:45
accountability. I’m going to
6:46
say I know because most people
6:47
we talk to right now are scared
6:48
to do such because they’re
6:49
afraid they’re going to lose
6:50
their employees but obviously
6:51
when you do it correctly,
6:53
that’s a good way to get
6:54
employees. So, and keep them
6:55
but I’ll say no for this
6:56
example just so we see what the
6:58
report kicks out. And are you
7:02
reviewing any of your clients
7:03
that you have that you’re not
7:05
hitting your revenue goals
7:07
with? Um we’ll pretend this is
7:08
back in the day. Let’s say no.
7:10
Okay. So, if you are doing a a
7:13
price increase, it’s just a
7:14
blanket across the board. It’s
7:16
usually what we see in these
7:17
Facebook groups. So, yeah,
7:18
let’s let’s roll with that and
7:19
see what the the audit comes
7:20
out with. have you received
7:22
over 25 five-star reviews in
7:25
the last 12 months? Uh let’s
7:27
put a note because before we
7:29
systematically went out to get
7:29
those reviews, it didn’t
7:31
happen. Mm hmm And are you
7:34
tracking your equipment
7:35
maintenance and warranty
7:36
expiration automatically? Uh
7:40
no, we definitely weren’t too.
7:41
We were blowing two or three
7:41
engines in a year. So, let’s
7:43
check in the oil. So, let’s
7:44
let’s put no because that was a
7:45
big issue in the early days.
7:47
Yeah, I’ve been been there as
7:48
well. Those add up pretty
7:50
quickly. I’ll say no there. So,
7:52
that’s the end of the quick
7:54
quick analysis and then like
7:57
what? Maybe eight to 10
7:59
minutes? Maybe 15 tops with
8:01
some some in some conversations
8:03
back and forth and dive in a
8:04
little bit deeper? Pretty
8:05
pretty painless? Exactly, yeah.
8:07
we went to some of these
8:08
questions a little bit more
8:09
detail. A lot of them are,
8:11
well, maybe sort of I do this
8:13
but. Okay, maybe we’re having
8:14
some fun with it but just
8:15
kind of let people know what
8:16
what this audit actually does
8:17
for him. Yeah and so if we go
8:20
over to the results page now
8:23
which we include as a PDF to
8:24
everybody once we’ve done this,
8:27
looks like we’re having a
8:29
little bit of an error here,
8:30
but that’s okay. I’ll tally up
8:31
the results, shouldn’t be a,
8:34
shouldn’t be a hard equation to
8:36
do here. Um, so you, you
8:39
basically got about 60% on the
8:40
setup side of things. So, I’ll
8:44
have to, oh, let’s just go. Um,
8:50
Three divided by five. There we
8:53
go. That looks a little better
8:54
anyways. Um. All the things
8:56
that happen on Facebook Live
8:57
but we’re we’re good. So.
8:59
Alright. No. No, Biggie. Um so,
9:00
you’re a stage three business
9:02
on the setup side of things. Um
9:03
you got 60%, which, you know,
9:06
is a passing grade and not
9:07
passing with flying colors but
9:09
past. Um then, on the sales and
9:12
the operational side of things,
9:14
you didn’t do so well. Um ten,
9:17
10% is basically what you got.
9:19
So, the overall score is about
9:22
17%. Um with the the biggest
9:25
issues coming from like the
9:27
sales and the operational side
9:28
of things. Obviously, you can
9:30
kind of see it in graph form
9:31
here. But usually what I’ll do
9:33
is when I send over the
9:34
results, I don’t just send you
9:36
this and say, hey, have fun
9:37
with it. Um there’s obviously
9:39
like some recommendations, very
9:40
high level that can be made to
9:42
improve these sections. Um
9:44
usually, they’re fairly easy
9:45
things to fix. It’s just a
9:47
matter of, you know, enlisting
9:48
someone to do it that’s someone
9:51
at your company or or someone
9:52
else but that’s that’s
9:55
typically the process that I
9:56
would do is just add in some
9:58
some kind of concrete
10:00
recommendations here based on
10:03
what she answered no to. Yeah,
10:05
I’ve seen those recommendations
10:06
are really solid and and a lot
10:08
of things, I mean, obviously,
10:09
we’re doing this for free but a
10:10
lot of the stuff, honestly,
10:11
don’t want to, we’re not really
10:12
selling anything with with a
10:13
lot of it. It’s it’s really,
10:14
these are things you need to
10:15
take action on and fix and if
10:17
you do need some help, some of
10:18
it, we provide services, some
10:20
we we actually don’t. Um but it
10:21
really is some great
10:23
transparency and you know, it’s
10:24
just 60%, you know. I mean,
10:27
that’s how I got through some
10:28
of my chemistry classes at in
10:29
high school. Um you know, I got
10:32
through but it really wasn’t
10:33
successful and it’s something
10:34
that I probably couldn’t take
10:35
later on life with me. Um so, I
10:37
mean, if you’re 10% of your
10:38
sales and operations, those are
10:40
usually traditionally very easy
10:41
fixes and some can be
10:43
automated, some can be systems
10:44
and processes but the idea here
10:46
is if you’re looking at it and
10:47
you kind of want to know what
10:48
stage business you are from one
10:50
to a million or beyond and what
10:53
we do is we look at the
10:53
different stages business one A
10:57
and one B I like to call it.
10:58
So, one A, you’ve got a
10:59
part-time or you got a
11:00
full-time job, you’re doing
11:01
your your service business full
11:02
or part time. One B, you
11:04
kind of said the hell of the
11:05
man. He’s making too much money
11:06
off you. I’ve quit that job and
11:07
I’ve become an entrepreneur.
11:09
Now, my biggest pain point is,
11:11
how do I get more leads? Stage
11:14
number two, your biggest issue
11:16
now and it’s based on and we
11:18
can break down the sales
11:19
revenue things but the biggest
11:20
hurdle there is going to be
11:21
going in and figuring out how
11:23
to make sales. Stage 3 is
11:26
systems, and then stage four is
11:28
at Million Beyond. Um so,
11:30
that’s really SOP, standard aid
11:32
operating procedures, and
11:33
building a team. The stage 5 is
11:36
three to five million and
11:37
beyond is really building a
11:38
leadership team. Um so, if
11:40
you’re kind of looking at that
11:41
stage of business that kind of
11:43
correlates and behind the
11:44
scenes of this, it’s looking at
11:46
the biggest pinpoint and hurdle
11:48
and are you at 1 hundred
11:49
percent? So, if you’re at a
11:50
stage three business, just to
11:52
about to break a million or or
11:53
button up again it, the biggest
11:56
pinpoint right now is sales and
11:58
operations. So, this kind of
11:59
lines up perfectly against
12:01
that, Dylan and there are some
12:02
very strategic things that
12:03
every service business should
12:04
do with a stage three business
12:06
and obviously, if this was a
12:07
real business, they’ve got some
12:09
really tough issues here. So,
12:11
somewhere between that $750 and
12:12
a million dollars or even a
12:13
half a million and seven fifty.
12:15
If they don’t fix these things,
12:18
they’re they’re at serious risk
12:20
of financial failure. Um and
12:22
not being able to recruit and
12:24
train and and retain the
12:24
employees that we all need. So,
12:27
if people are interested, we’re
12:28
going to drop a link here below
12:30
this but basically, it’s a 15
12:32
to 20-minute free audit with
12:33
Dylan or somebody on the Simple
12:35
Growth team that has scaled a
12:36
seven-figure business beyond.
12:37
Um it’s all private and then
12:39
once you get this graphic
12:40
underneath it, there is some
12:42
detailed plans of things that
12:44
you should do specifically now
12:46
at that stage one, two, three,
12:48
or four, five business to be
12:49
successful. Um and there’s
12:51
there’s a decent amount of
12:52
detail in there. So, I’d wish
12:52
something like this was around
12:54
when we were trying to break
12:55
that million mark at $750 to a
12:57
million mark. As you know,
12:58
Dylan, you’ve been there
12:58
before. It’s like the gray area
12:59
of death. You gotta you gotta
13:01
get over that or you’re
13:02
going to die in there. Um as is
13:03
well, that one to two 2. 5
13:06
million mark, there’s also some
13:07
massive hurdles there. So, this
13:08
is built to just literally
13:10
pinpoint the exact pinpoint
13:11
based on your business and what
13:14
the pinpoints are in each stage
13:15
of business and how they
13:16
correlate. So, Dylan, I know
13:18
you’ve got a another audit to
13:19
do here in another minute or
13:20
two but any closing thoughts
13:21
before we wrap this up and post
13:23
the link and I guess if you can
13:23
actually message me on Slack if
13:27
you have it afterwards I will
13:28
post the link for people to
13:30
sign up for the free audit.
13:31
Yeah, we’ll do. Um I guess my
13:33
only thing to add is some
13:35
people want to go a little bit
13:37
more in depth with it. Um so,
13:39
sometimes on a screen share,
13:41
like we don’t need to follow
13:43
this exact format, right? Um
13:44
sometimes, someone comes to me
13:46
and says, hey, this is my issue
13:48
specifically. I know what it
13:49
is. Um I’d like to do the audit
13:51
but I’m more interested,
13:53
kind of your opinion on this
13:53
one issue. So, we kind of scrap
13:56
this format if necessary and
13:59
really dive in a little bit
13:59
more in depth to a specific
14:02
issue Maybe their budgeted
14:04
times aren’t matching up with
14:06
their actual times and they
14:07
just want like a more in-depth
14:09
analysis on that. So, you know,
14:11
I’m interested in stuff like
14:13
that. Kinda nerd out on on
14:15
solving some of these problems.
14:16
So, I’m more than happy to to
14:19
kind of break the mold of this
14:20
if it is necessary. If people
14:22
do want to get a little bit
14:23
more in-depth with it. Yeah,
14:24
glad you said because some of
14:26
the biggest breakthroughs of
14:27
when you’ve gotten off the path
14:28
of this. We’re actually done
14:29
this and dove in a little bit
14:30
deeper but I know some of our
14:31
our clients that we work with
14:33
have literally ended up sitting
14:34
with us knee to knee for 23
14:35
hours over screen share or in
14:39
person to actually rebuild
14:40
their whole entire pricing
14:42
matrix and service business
14:44
after diving in and actually
14:46
seeing the solution. They tried
14:47
it themselves. They didn’t have
14:48
the time or the bandwidth to do
14:49
it and they said, you know
14:51
what? We just trust you guys
14:52
after this. You showed us how
14:53
to do it. We just didn’t have
14:54
the time ability to do
14:55
ourselves. So, we’ll we’ll show
14:56
you how to do it and then, if
14:58
you need some help, obviously,
14:58
we’re here. The idea is just to
15:00
to go and pinpoint those
15:01
business pain points right now
15:02
in the uncertain times we’re
15:03
living in to to be make sure
15:05
this business survives and
15:06
thrives throughout the year and
15:08
in the next year. So, we’ll
15:09
post a link right after the
15:10
video and Donna let you take
15:11
her home. Alright, sounds good.
15:13
Yeah, I was just going to add
15:14
one last thing like there’s,
15:15
it’s just so important to get a
15:18
second set of eyes on things.
15:19
There’s things that me and you,
15:21
Mike, if we’re looking at
15:22
someone’s file, would be able
15:22
to see and notice, then would
15:25
never ever reach your
15:26
accountant’s eyes. Um so, you
15:29
know, little things like the
15:31
discrepancies between actual
15:32
and budgeted times that can
15:33
actually be a massive issue
15:34
depending on the size of your
15:35
company. Um you know, your your
15:38
accountants are never going to
15:38
see those those data points.
15:40
So. Yeah and pro tip,
15:42
especially with gas prices
15:43
right now, off-road fuel credit
15:45
tax. If your accountant is not
15:46
getting you the off-road fuel
15:47
credit tax in the states, get a
15:51
new accountant but we’ve had
15:52
people literally seven or $8,
15:54
000 of tax credits for fuel.
15:57
that their accountant never got
15:58
them. So, you can reimmend
16:00
those tax returns up to three
16:01
years at a very small price.
16:03
So, you know, this video may
16:05
just profit you seven to $10,
16:07
000 in tax credit. So, Dylan,
16:10
can’t thank you enough and
16:11
we’ll get that link under here
16:12
to sign up for your free
16:12
business audit coming up here
16:15
shortly. Thanks again, Dylan.
16:17
Appreciate it. Yep, thank

When Half Your Employees Quit Over The Weekend.. What NOT To Do!

Video Transcript

0:00
Here, want to make a quick
0:01
video. I was reading a Facebook
0:03
post earlier today and
0:06
literally someone was freaking
0:08
out as a lot of us do in our
0:09
lawn care companies when
0:11
someone actually quits on a
0:13
Monday morning as a no-call, no
0:14
show and you find out the
0:15
individual is never coming back
0:16
to work for you. What do you
0:18
do? Well, it got me thinking,
0:20
holy **** I’ve got a an
0:23
interesting life lesson here
0:24
that I would like to share that
0:27
happened in my lawn care
0:28
company probably about 10 or 11
0:29
years ago. Um happen is
0:31
literally on the same exact
0:34
experience this gentleman was
0:35
having, I rolled into the shop
0:38
with all intentions of getting
0:41
all the crews out and
0:42
literally, I think at that
0:43
point, we had probably 12
0:46
crews, two-man mowing crews,
0:48
and some maintenance crews and
0:49
fertilization but literally, we
0:51
didn’t have enough bodies for
0:54
six of the crews, approximately
0:56
five or six crews. Uh so,
0:57
basically, a little, little,
0:58
more, little, less than 50% of
0:59
our team didn’t show that
1:02
morning. So, literally, in a
1:03
frantic we started calling
1:05
these individuals to see like,
1:07
hey, if they’re okay and B,
1:08
were they coming in? And a lot
1:10
of them didn’t answer their
1:11
phones, but one or two of them
1:13
actually did, and basically
1:16
told us that they had basically
1:18
quit and started their own
1:20
well-attempted to, start their
1:21
own lawn care and landscape
1:22
company. So, the point of the
1:26
video here is, we need to
1:27
build, build some redundancy.
1:29
So, literally, when I lost
1:31
about 50% of our staff that
1:32
day, Uh I went into panic mode
1:36
and literally jumped on one of
1:38
the mowing crews in some crazy
1:41
wild idea thinking that I would
1:42
actually be able to cover the
1:44
production of five or six crews
1:46
which obviously looking back at
1:48
it is a complete insanity. Um
1:51
but such a whirlwind, such a
1:53
devastating thing to lose about
1:53
half of your team and literally
1:55
have them go out and try to
1:56
start a competing company with
1:57
you. Um and they come to find
2:00
out they’re actually starting
2:00
to steal some of your clients.
2:01
Um a lot of when we’re in the
2:04
trenches of the war of our
2:05
service business, we don’t
2:06
actually have a clear mind of
2:08
what we should be doing. So,
2:10
kind of responding to A, the
2:12
gentleman that lost one
2:13
employee, thankfully, he didn’t
2:14
lose half his, half his team
2:15
for the maintenance division.
2:17
Um what what I should have done
2:19
looking at it in retrospect is
2:21
gone right back to the office,
2:23
got the, the five or six crews
2:24
that were left out, had them
2:26
tag team at the end of the, end
2:28
of the day, to just start
2:29
chunking away at the additional
2:31
work if they could, incur the
2:33
overtime, that would have been
2:34
fine, and rally the troops
2:35
around that, but Really, what I
2:39
did is, is I jumped out on a
2:40
truck thinking I was going to
2:41
cover that gap which obviously
2:42
didn’t happen. So, I should
2:44
have went back to that office
2:45
and started working that
2:46
database of potential new hires
2:49
that we had previously
2:50
interviewed. I should have ran
2:52
some Facebook ads, should have
2:53
put a basically a one-day
2:57
recruiting and hiring session
2:58
together and try to actually
3:01
fill that gap. Now, yes, some
3:02
of the clients may have been
3:04
aggravated. The key commercial
3:05
HOAs and other places like yes,
3:08
we’d obviously prioritize
3:10
those. Um but I think if
3:11
through some communication, I I
3:14
think we could’ve worked a
3:16
seven-day week that week and
3:18
maybe the next week and covered
3:20
a lot of that gap but what I
3:22
did is actually going back on
3:23
that truck, I prolonged the the
3:26
the pain of it and didn’t allow
3:28
the company to respond the way
3:30
it should. So, what we need to
3:32
be doing proactively to beat
3:34
this really is to go out and
3:36
constantly recruit and to that
3:39
day moving forward, we have
3:40
always gone out in that lawn
3:43
care company and interviewed
3:44
every Monday, Wednesday, and
3:46
sometimes Friday and what we
3:47
found in the Northeast in
3:49
Upstate New York is
3:51
traditionally over the last 10
3:52
or 11 years, we had looked at
3:53
it, we would always lose one or
3:55
two employees either they would
3:57
get fired or we’d have to let
3:59
them go but there are main
4:00
things right before within a
4:02
week before after Memorial Day
4:03
and within a week, before,
4:05
after the July 4th weekend or
4:07
holiday and then right around
4:09
the second or third of August
4:12
which ends up being my
4:13
birthday, August 18th, but that
4:15
week, before or after, we would
4:18
consistently lose guys or girls
4:19
and then right before the fall
4:20
cleanup season going into
4:21
November. It it just around
4:24
those holidays, whatever it is,
4:27
the traditionally, we knew we
4:29
were going to lose people
4:30
whether they just got burned
4:33
out and they weren’t a good fit
4:34
anymore or people would just
4:35
quit, no show. So, we knew
4:38
around those three or four
4:39
times throughout the year that
4:41
we would ramp up the recruiting
4:42
even more and that’s when we
4:44
would kick in the Friday
4:45
recruiting. So, if you’re
4:46
looking at you’ve lost some
4:47
employees. Uh hopefully you
4:49
haven’t lost half your team. Uh
4:50
the desire or the first
4:54
interest is to go out and jump
4:55
on that truck or really that’s
4:57
the worst thing you can do in
4:58
my experience and I’ve made
4:59
that mistake more than a few
5:01
times that I like to admit. Uh
5:02
but every time that we’ve
5:03
actually gone back to the
5:04
basics and said you know what?
5:05
Let’s let’s get the initial
5:06
team to cover that. And maybe
5:08
shift the guy for the
5:09
fertilizing crew over the
5:10
maintenance crew for a day just
5:12
to cover the gap. Um obviously
5:13
a higher expense but we can
5:14
shift some fertilizing around
5:16
We got creative while we
5:18
covered that gap but the way
5:19
that we solve that right out
5:21
the gate, the most successful
5:22
was to go right back to the
5:24
office, start working the
5:26
database, and if you don’t have
5:27
a database, we need to start
5:28
interviewing Monday, Wednesday,
5:29
and sometimes Friday because
5:31
when we need the employee, it’s
5:33
too late. We need to have an
5:34
active database segmented, in
5:35
my opinion, rated in A, B, and
5:37
C fashion with or without a
5:38
driver’s license and then, we
5:40
can pull from that database and
5:42
if you end up losing half your
5:43
staff, really, you want to go
5:44
out and you want to have a
5:45
hiring, basically, a vent, pump
5:49
it out, give it two, 3 days
5:50
notice, and then literally go
5:52
in, interview everybody anybody
5:54
who made the cut, have them
5:56
come back for the second
5:57
interview, about halfway
5:58
through the day, and then at
5:59
the end of the day, you
6:00
actually have job contracts and
6:02
offers there, and you actually
6:03
signed it on, on the spot, and
6:05
that’s how you would actually
6:06
do that, because we did that in
6:08
the spring, many of times to
6:09
hire when we, we grew the
6:11
company, literally doubling in
6:13
size some years, how did you go
6:14
out and actually staff that?
6:16
Well, we actually went out and
6:16
had hiring events live. Well,
6:17
there’s nothing really stopping
6:19
you doing that in the spring,
6:20
or on a given Wednesday or
6:23
Thursday after you lose half
6:24
your half your team on a
6:25
Monday. Um but what I’m
6:26
going to suggest and really
6:28
really talk about here is this
6:30
you don’t ever ever want to go
6:32
in and fill that gap unless you
6:34
absolutely have to by
6:36
physically jumping on the
6:37
truck. Now if you’re still on
6:38
the truck nothing wrong with
6:40
that. Like that’s a different
6:41
story. Um but even if you’re on
6:43
your truck and you lose your
6:44
helper you definitely want to
6:45
take a half a day to a day and
6:47
just work on the business and
6:48
not in it. To fill that gap.
6:49
Because you can physically not
6:51
keep up the work of two people
6:53
by yourself. You may be able to
6:54
do it the short term but like I
6:56
said, I’d rather see you work,
6:57
a half day, or full day on a
6:59
Saturday, or even a Sunday to
7:00
cover that gap but push the
7:03
work off and work on the actual
7:05
issue at hand and go out and
7:06
staff for it. So, main video
7:09
today is I saw a gentleman who
7:10
lost his his one employee. Uh
7:11
thank god he didn’t lose half
7:13
of his employees like we did
7:14
one time when they went out to
7:15
go start their own company.
7:15
Now, you’re probably wondering
7:17
what happened to those five or
7:19
six guys that went out to try
7:20
to start own company. Um we’re
7:22
actually 10 to 12 guys based on
7:24
the five or 6 crews. Uh we we
7:26
systematically wiped wiped them
7:28
clear and and basically put
7:29
them out of business where they
7:31
started. Um it circled back to
7:32
the clients that they had taken
7:33
and and recovered 99% of them.
7:36
So they stayed in business for
7:37
about maybe two weeks if that.
7:40
Um but we took care of that as
7:42
well. I mean that’s obviously
7:43
something I would not take
7:44
lightly and obviously I didn’t.
7:46
Um but the main point of the
7:47
video is listen if you’re
7:48
losing an employee don’t on
7:50
that truck especially if you’re
7:52
not on the truck normally. Go
7:52
out and do what the business
7:54
owners supposed to do. Set the
7:55
vision, set the strategy, and
7:56
this is the strategy. We need
7:58
to go out and hire and recruit
8:00
constantly. Monday, Wednesday,
8:02
sometimes Friday. If you look
8:03
in your business, you’re
8:04
probably going to see that
8:05
Memorial Day, 4th of July,
8:07
middle of August, and right
8:08
before fall cleanups. If you’re
8:09
in the northeast area, those
8:12
consistently happen in the
8:13
business. We would always lose
8:14
somebody or we’d let somebody
8:15
go. Um those seem to be the
8:17
burnout points or maybe people
8:18
are shift jobs going into the
8:21
winter when that happens in
8:23
November. Whatever the case may
8:24
be, if you can find a
8:25
historical trend, that’s when
8:26
you start recruiting that third
8:28
day on the week. So, Monday,
8:30
Wednesday, Friday, or Monday,
8:31
Wednesday. Build that database,
8:32
segment em, and now, when you
8:34
need an employee, you’ve gotta
8:35
qualified list to start
8:36
working. Man, if I had that
8:38
list when we had lost all those
8:39
guys and girls, it could’ve
8:40
probably spend a half a day
8:42
working that list and on
8:43
Tuesday morning, we would have
8:44
been back up and running but
8:45
no, I let the insanity run for
8:47
almost a month and just about
8:47
killed myself mentally and
8:50
physically. Um it did take a
8:51
toll on the family and not
8:53
being able to go and I remember
8:54
that one day I had to work
8:57
three quarters a day on
8:58
Mother’s Day just to literally
9:01
get caught up when I was still
9:02
in the truck with those guys
9:03
and and then then the light
9:05
came on later that day that you
9:07
know, let’s just wait a day or
9:08
two. Let’s go out. Let’s
9:09
recruit and fill that
9:11
bottleneck of employees and
9:12
within a few days, we had it.
9:13
Now, they may not have been the
9:14
best employees. They may not
9:15
have been the best fit but to
9:17
get through that short short
9:18
area, We hired, we overhired,
9:21
and then we literally kind of
9:22
had a tryout for the best
9:24
employees and those actually, a
9:25
couple of the guys that came
9:26
out of that were some of the
9:27
best employees we had right up
9:28
to the end. So, that’s it.
9:31
Aaron’s got a quick question
9:32
here. I might answer as well.
9:34
Uh are you always paying for
9:35
recruiting job boards, Facebook
9:37
jobs, post to keep the list
9:38
fresh? Aaron, yes, that’s
9:39
exactly what I’m talking about.
9:40
So, we need to be running those
9:42
ads. We need to be doing
9:43
referrals for current
9:44
employees, referring their
9:45
friends and family in for jobs.
9:46
Uh we had a bunch of guys from
9:47
Guate that we brought in in H2B
9:50
visas. They went to a
9:51
particular church on Sundays
9:53
and we would drive the guys
9:54
every Sunday to church and and
9:56
that was some of our best
9:57
referral because those guys
9:59
loved us and they would get 250
10:00
bucks every time they referred
10:02
somebody from the church would
10:03
work for us. Um you gotta
10:04
figure out where is your your
10:05
best employee hanging out and
10:06
go to that place. Uh there was
10:08
also a trailer park that I had
10:10
probably 70% of my employees at
10:12
one point were living in. So,
10:13
we actually went out and
10:15
targeted that trailer park for
10:16
job ads you gotta figure out
10:19
where that demographic your
10:20
perfect employee is kind of
10:21
living or hanging out and every
10:23
week, we need to invest money
10:25
into the Facebook, the job
10:27
boards, all the things you’re
10:28
talking about as well as
10:29
organically going out and
10:31
trying to find some people.
10:32
Local Dunkin’ Donuts or things
10:34
like that. You’re going through
10:35
the drive thru. Uh we had one
10:36
gentleman that was just a
10:37
standout. Um so we literally I
10:39
threw him a had a good
10:40
relationship with him because I
10:41
was getting a a coffee every
10:42
morning and and literally I
10:44
threw my car and said hey man
10:45
if you’re ever looking to make
10:45
a change you know hit us up.
10:46
Guy hit me up six later and he
10:48
he joined the team. So, look at
10:50
those different areas because
10:51
if you’ve got Cooks or waiters,
10:53
things like that in the back of
10:54
those kitchens several hundred
10:55
degrees at some point in
10:57
summer. Those are the folks
10:58
that are going to be able to
10:59
survive outside doing landscape
11:00
maintenance and maybe they
11:01
want to get out and just get
11:02
some fresh air. So, we need to
11:03
be creative especially now in
11:04
the tight labor market but as
11:06
soon as we stop looking for
11:08
future employees, it’s when we
11:09
get in trouble. So, we gotta be
11:10
looking and if you, if it hits
11:12
the proverbial fan and you lose
11:14
one or two employees on a over
11:15
a weekend, don’t jump back on
11:16
the truck take a day, reset,
11:19
and start focusing and
11:20
recruiting because that will
11:21
pay big dividends in the long
11:22
end and maybe we gotta pay a
11:24
little extra overtime or work
11:25
an extra day on the weekend.
11:27
The team will survive and so
11:29
will the business in a lot
11:30
better way if we go out and
11:31
just try to fix that right off
11:32
the gate. Um Aaron says other
11:34
sources for employees besides
11:35
indeed Facebook and referrals.
11:37
Um Aaron, depending on right
11:39
now, sometimes like local
11:41
Craigslist ad will actually be
11:43
pretty good. Um we gotta be
11:44
creative. A lot of times
11:46
actually put like a yard sign
11:47
in front of a Lowe’s or Home
11:49
Depot on the exit. If if it’s
11:51
in a plaza, you can get away
11:52
with that usually times they
11:53
take him down. You gotta put
11:54
him back up. Or if you’re like
11:56
a site one or Ewings, things
11:57
like that. Um putting some
11:59
roads, some signs where those
12:00
guys are driving by. that
12:02
worked well for us as well like
12:04
a site one or Ewan’s. Um a lot
12:06
of those counterwall cards if
12:09
you ask them nicely. Um because
12:10
those are where you’re
12:11
potentially pre-employed at a
12:13
level. We gotta be creative
12:14
right now. Um but those yard
12:15
signs outside of Lowe’s or Home
12:17
Depot near the exit. Um if you
12:19
can get them out there.
12:20
Especially when you’re doing
12:21
that live hiring event. Uh
12:21
that’s a great Great idea I’ve
12:24
seen some great results out of
12:26
that as well. So, love the
12:27
comments, love the questions,
12:29
Aaron. Hopefully, you’re not in
12:30
this scenario that I was in but
12:31
if you’re out there and you
12:32
lose an employee this week,
12:34
don’t learn the temptation to
12:36
jump in that truck immediately.
12:37
Go out and dial in to hopefully
12:41
that database that you’ve
12:42
created for hiring and if you
12:43
haven’t, that’s your action
12:44
plan this week. Go out and
12:46
start recruiting for every
12:47
position. If you’re saying,
12:47
hey, Mike, I’m still in the
12:49
truck. I don’t have time to do
12:50
that. Blackout an extra fifteen
12:51
to 20 minutes during your lunch
12:55
hour, twice a week, which you
12:56
can do. I don’t care if you’re
12:57
at Mickey D’s or you know,
12:59
pizza joint or just eating your
13:01
bagged lunch on the side of the
13:02
road in the parking lot. Take
13:03
an extra 15 minutes, twice a
13:05
week, and start working those
13:06
over the phone interviews and
13:08
start start recruiting because
13:09
we need to do that. Well,
13:10
one-man show or two-man show or
13:13
15 to twenty-million-dollar
13:14
company. This is this is this
13:15
is what breeds success but
13:17
remember, when you lose those
13:18
employees, fight the temptation
13:19
to getting on that truck. I’d
13:20
rather see you a half a full
13:21
day behind but then have that
13:24
work, that team coming in and
13:25
hopefully, you’ve got them
13:26
covering the tail end of the
13:27
week to get you caught up. So,
13:29
comments, questions, drop
13:30
below. Callahan’s Corner. You
13:32
ask the questions. We answer em
13:32
live right here on Facebook.

Callahan’s Corner: What Type of Marketing Works Best (Direct Mail or EDDM)

Video Transcript

0:02
Callahan’s Corner where you ask
0:04
the questions. We answer them
0:05
live right here on Facebook.
0:07
So, one of the many Facebook
0:08
groups we are involved in with
0:11
Callahan’s Corner s, there was
0:11
a question asked this morning,
0:15
what works better? Direct mail
0:16
or Every Door Direct Mailing
0:19
EDDM. Well, really the question
0:22
is right off the bat is, is
0:24
this individual or if you’re
0:25
looking at exploring different
0:27
marketing options for Everydoor
0:28
Direct, mailing, mail Facebook
0:30
ads, Google Ads, whatever that
0:32
is, are you actually tracking
0:34
the data? So, we did, in our
0:38
run, usually in the spring, we
0:39
run 75 to maybe $85, 000 at the
0:42
peak of the advertising season
0:44
in a month in Upstate New York
0:46
for the lawn care company I own
0:48
and that definitely worked but
0:50
the thing that I will tell you
0:51
is is working with hundreds of
0:53
businesses all over the US and
0:54
Canada, even Australia, and the
0:55
UK now. Um each market is the
0:58
same but it’s going to be a
0:58
little bit different based on
1:01
how they digest and what target
1:02
market actually demographic
1:04
you’re going after. So, really
1:06
I think it would be foolish to
1:06
answer the question directly
1:08
what worked better in my market
1:09
and actually show you how to
1:10
track your own data for
1:13
non-emotional systematic way
1:14
and I can show you how to
1:15
actually create a high-level
1:16
marketing plan to go along with
1:17
this. Once we got some good
1:18
data. So, what I’m going to do
1:19
here is open up the screen and
1:22
open up service autopilot. So,
1:24
this is one of the CRMs that we
1:26
use, customer relationship
1:27
management software is here. Um
1:28
so, if you using service
1:30
autopilot and the gentleman
1:31
that actually asked this
1:32
question, I know, is using
1:33
service autopilot. I’m going to
1:34
open it up and show you how to
1:36
actually use service autopilot
1:37
to track this stuff. Literally,
1:38
automatically, once you set it
1:40
up, it takes about five minutes
1:41
to set up. I’m going to show
1:43
you actually how to do it. So,
1:45
first thing you want to do is
1:46
go to our gear icon. and we’re
1:50
going to go into
1:54
client source right here and
1:55
client source is going to be
1:56
lead source tracking. So,
1:58
whether you’re doing Everydoor
1:59
Direct Mail ing, direct
2:00
mailing, or any other type of
2:03
advertising, literally, word of
2:04
mouth, they saw your truck,
2:05
whatever that is, that will be
2:07
able what we’re, we’re looking
2:09
at here. So, as you can see in
2:11
my old account here, we had our
2:13
20 twenty Every Door Direct
2:15
Mail ing with the long copy,
2:15
and one with the picture of a
2:18
family. So, you may be testing
2:19
different copies of this
2:20
marketing copy as well, because
2:22
Avidor Direct Mail ing may work
2:24
great on one piece but not as
2:26
good on in others. So, this is
2:27
how we go in a non-emotionally
2:28
set this up. So, if we go in
2:31
and let’s add a new source
2:33
right from the beginning, I’m
2:34
going to put this as our Every
2:35
Door Direct Mail ing test. 2022
2:41
and we can go in and put some
2:42
details in here. Now, the first
2:44
thing we need to do is set
2:45
these up. The second thing now
2:46
is when we do that Every Door
2:48
Direct Mail ing, we need to
2:49
actually go in and add a
2:50
campaign. So, if we
2:54
let’s say in March and it ran
2:56
all the way through the end of
2:58
April, we could put that date
3:00
in there. So, anytime a lead
3:02
comes into the system in that
3:03
date for that particular client
3:05
or lead source, it’s accredited
3:07
to that. Now, let’s say we’ve
3:09
did a ten thousand distribution
3:12
and it ran us to $8000 dollars.
3:15
So, we put the 10, 000 in here.
3:18
And our eight-thousand-dollar,
3:20
oh,
3:23
$10, 000 distribution and our
3:27
8, 000 dollars to actually have
3:30
the expense. Now, if you’re
3:31
actually marketing your current
3:32
database, we can actually hit
3:33
upsell and it would track the
3:34
upsell conversion ratio. So,
3:35
what this is going to give you
3:37
is how many leads came from
3:38
each marketing source? how many
3:42
converted into a client, the
3:43
closing percentage for your
3:45
actual estimator, and the
3:48
client acquisition cost. So,
3:49
what it costs you acquire for
3:50
each and every client that you
3:52
get and then, in addition we
3:53
could have a client lifetime
3:55
value. Uh if you are going to
3:57
this extent, I’m also going to
3:59
recommend that you go in and
4:01
track your cancellation and one
4:03
and loss reasons. So, if we go
4:05
into the gear icon, and go into
4:10
cancellation reasons and
4:11
estimate reasons. So, we have
4:12
estimate reasons and we’re
4:13
going to go in and put the
4:15
reason why we won and lost the
4:17
estimate and then, we’re
4:19
going to go back in. And
4:22
cancel, track our cancellation
4:25
reason. So, what we’ve done is
4:25
track our acquisition, cost,
4:27
and percentage of closing and
4:29
client lifetime value per lead
4:31
source and then, we can also

Callahan’s Corner: What Is Your Area Of Genius In Your Business?

Video Transcript

00:01
mike calling here wanted to make a quick
00:02
video about
00:03
your areas of genius in your business
00:05
what i mean by this is
00:06
there’s certain things that um you as a
00:09
business owner the people in your
00:10
business
00:11
is their specific uh skill set or genius
00:14
so
00:15
what we see a lot of times is business
00:16
owners wearing multiple hats
00:18
and not really specific specifically
00:20
focusing on what they’re good at or
00:22
their area of
00:23
being um skill set as as basically a
00:26
genius so
00:27
there’s several areas in the business
00:28
that i recommend looking at especially
00:30
in the service business and
00:32
the first one is financials and
00:35
production and basically budgeting so
00:36
the financials and how do we actually
00:38
price stuff
00:39
so if that’s not your area of genius
00:41
then i suggest going out and hiring
00:43
someone and if it’s
00:44
not in the budget or the scale of your
00:45
business quite yet actually going out
00:48
and hiring a consultant or professional
00:49
to help you there next part is going to
00:52
be your internal systems and processes
00:54
as far as your equipment if you’re in
00:55
the lawn care
00:56
or landscape industry uh this definitely
00:58
was not my area of genius for sure in my
01:00
lawn care company but preventative
01:01
maintenance
01:02
and working on the equipment things like
01:04
that that’s an area
01:05
that we need to be able to uh manage and
01:07
be able to effectively take care of
01:08
because that’s a major
01:10
pain point if the equipment’s not
01:11
working properly or engines are being
01:14
blown in multiple things
01:15
that are going wrong so we’re looking at
01:18
our financials
01:19
and production rates we’re looking at
01:21
equipment and preventative maintenance
01:23
and then the big one right now
01:24
is employee systems and training
01:28
so along with that i would probably
01:30
encompass recruiting so
01:32
this is another area of genius that i
01:33
would go out and hire for specifically
01:35
hr recruiting training
01:39
now depending on the size of your
01:40
organization it may be two separate
01:41
positions but the idea is we’ve got to
01:43
have somebody that
01:44
their native geniuses going out and
01:46
recruiting
01:47
and making sure your new applicants
01:49
align with your mission vision values
01:51
it’s a cultural
01:52
fit in addition in the field whether
01:55
it’s lawn care home cleaning pest
01:56
control
01:57
we also have need to have a native
01:59
genius
02:00
or a skill set to actually be able to
02:02
train and a lot of things that we really
02:04
miss in the service industry is we don’t
02:06
actually go out and train our trainer to
02:07
train
02:08
so your guy or girl in the field might
02:10
be the best lawn mowing crew leader
02:12
there is
02:13
but unfortunately they don’t have the
02:16
native genius to actually go out and
02:18
train
02:18
and actually replicate a standardized
02:21
operating procedure
02:22
so what we really want to do is go in
02:24
and tackle the financial production rate
02:26
estimating
02:27
uh equipment preventative maintenance
02:29
systems around that and then employee
02:31
system as far as recruiting training
02:33
and onboarding that’s gonna be another
02:35
area and then
02:37
the last area of there’s several more
02:38
but the main areas that i want to talk
02:40
about today is going to be
02:42
your sales and marketing systems um and
02:45
that is going to be another native
02:46
genius area that we probably should hire
02:48
specifically for
02:50
um to go out and re get those leads
02:53
qualify and close sales and then
02:55
upsell to raise that client lifetime
02:57
value as well as
02:58
creating a marketing system to drive
03:00
qualified leads in
03:02
so as you’re looking at the financial
03:04
productions uh the equipment
03:05
preventative maintenance
03:07
and systems around maintenance
03:10
employee systems and now sales and
03:13
marketing systems you got four distinct
03:15
areas and
03:15
what you traditionally see is in an
03:18
organization starting the scale
03:20
the business owner should really be
03:21
ahead of the strategy
03:23
and the mission and the vision in
03:24
leading the charge but what we find in
03:27
most service businesses is that
03:28
owner um native genius is traditionally
03:32
not going to help the business scale
03:35
quickly so a lot of times a a lawn care
03:39
business owner
03:39
may be really good at sales or equipment
03:42
and preventative maintenance
03:43
but they’re not really good at the
03:45
operational part of getting employees
03:47
recruiting training and onboarding and
03:48
training those trainers
03:50
and they’re maybe not really strong on
03:51
the financial and production rate area
03:53
to actually go out and bid jobs
03:55
profitably to be able to scale and
03:57
create budgeted time and profitability
03:59
so
04:00
really the point of the video today is i
04:01
think we as business owners we need to
04:03
take a look
04:04
inward and see exactly
04:07
what our native genius is our strength
04:11
and we probably should also make sure
04:13
that that native genius that we’re
04:14
providing for the business
04:16
is those hundred to two hundred dollar
04:18
value things um
04:19
if your native genius is preventative
04:21
maintenance and equipment maintenance
04:22
that’s great maybe that’s your passion
04:24
but we need to go out and hire people to
04:26
plug those other holes
04:28
but at the end of the day maybe that is
04:30
your passion but once you’re starting to
04:31
scale that business
04:33
working a wrench and working equipment
04:35
and changing oil
04:36
is probably not the 100 to 200 dollar
04:39
jobs that you need to be doing to scale
04:41
the business and create a system around
04:43
it so
04:43
it’s not only that your native genius
04:45
needs to be focused on
04:47
um where you bring the best value but
04:50
it’s got to be those hundred to two
04:51
hundred dollar an hour jobs now
04:53
as the business scales and i know a few
04:54
business owners actually their native
04:55
genius is preventative maintenance
04:57
equipment and they really enjoy
04:58
wrenching on the equipment
04:59
nothing wrong with that um but
05:02
what they’ve done is gone out and hired
05:04
people to fill the other gaps to
05:05
basically run the business
05:07
and they focus on the equipment and set
05:08
up so they’ve got 20 30 crews
05:10
with all the equipment and that’s that’s
05:12
where they want to be um there’s nothing
05:13
wrong with that but you’ve got to have a
05:15
look inward to be able to say
05:16
okay this is where my skill set is this
05:18
is where i can provide the most value
05:20
but now at scale i can afford to bring
05:22
these other people in to continue to
05:23
scale
05:24
this business so um today’s challenge is
05:26
kind of go out and take a look at it
05:27
where is your native genius where are
05:28
you bringing the most value to the
05:30
business
05:31
is it the financial estimating product
05:33
or financial and production rate
05:35
set up for estimating is it the
05:38
recruiting and training and onboarding
05:40
piece is it the equipment and asset
05:42
management
05:44
or is it the sales and marketing and i
05:45
suggest that we build and go out and
05:47
hire around this and if we’re not at the
05:48
point where we can afford to hire for it
05:50
we go out and hire experts where it’s a
05:52
virtual assistant
05:53
a consultant uh going into a masterminds
05:56
group and kind of working together on
05:57
those things but those are the things we
05:58
need to focus on in my opinion
06:00
to go out and scale at business quickly
06:02
i did that exactly in my
06:04
seven-figure business now with simple
06:05
growth outside of the lawn care company
06:07
but i went out and
06:08
um got bill and laurie as expert
06:11
developers
06:12
and as bill and lori continue to grow
06:15
they’ve brought chad in as a
06:16
junior developer and almost basically a
06:18
developer at this point we’re building a
06:20
bench that can continue to scale and
06:21
retrain
06:22
we brought dylan and virginia in who
06:25
both have owned seven figure lawn care
06:27
businesses and snow removal
06:28
they’ve lived in the trenches that
06:29
everybody has already lived in that
06:31
we’re working with they
06:32
understand the needs of our clients and
06:34
they also understand how to scale a
06:36
business
06:37
and they have native genius in helping
06:39
people
06:40
um achieve that they’ve already done it
06:42
and they understand those pitfalls but
06:44
um in its simple growth you know
06:46
obviously my native genes is kind of
06:48
setting the strategy and the vision
06:50
but in addition um i do have a passion
06:52
for helping business owners create
06:54
production rate-based estimating systems
06:56
that are scalable and they can be
06:58
delegated so
06:59
those are the different ideas that i’ve
07:00
kind of taken into simple growth and
07:02
it’s allowed us to scale the seven
07:03
figures and beyond
07:04
significantly quicker than we did in the
07:06
lawn care company because
07:08
going at it the second time they say
07:09
it’s easier to break a million dollars
07:11
i don’t want to say it’s necessary
07:13
easier but it is a little bit easier
07:15
because you already understand
07:17
that you can’t do everything and it’s
07:19
better to surround yourself and go out
07:21
and get
07:21
the experts or the geniuses in each part
07:23
and build and scale a team around that
07:25
and with the labor market how tight it
07:27
is
07:28
we may have to pay some more and charge
07:30
some more but i’m going to recommend
07:32
that you go out and find
07:33
people that have the native genius in
07:36
the gaps in your business
07:37
and look at that finance and estimating
07:40
systems to make sure
07:41
it’s hitting your financial goals we
07:43
look at someone to recruit train and
07:45
onboard and train your trainers
07:47
which is probably the most important
07:48
right now given the labor market
07:50
we’re going to go in and do sales and
07:51
marketing and then if you’re in the lawn
07:53
care and landscape industry we need
07:55
somebody
07:55
that has a native genius for equipment
07:57
and managing the fleet because that can
07:59
get out of control and get extremely
08:01
costly especially with downtime or
08:02
replacing engines so
08:04
we’ve made all the mistakes possible in
08:06
my business not plugging these holes
08:07
with the right people but i will tell
08:08
you
08:09
the second time at it and as we continue
08:12
to grow my lawn care company
08:14
after learning these lessons um it went
08:17
significantly smoother and faster
08:18
so uh homework today is go in and figure
08:21
out what is your native genius is it at
08:22
least 100 to 200
08:23
an hour job and where is the biggest gap
08:25
the pain point in your business that you
08:27
could go out and hire someone on your
08:28
team to fill the gap of that native
08:30
genius that’s missing
08:31
or if you’re not at scale to have a
08:33
full-time person is there a consultant
08:35
is there a business coach or something
08:37
or a virtual assistant
08:38
or part-time agency that can do that for
08:41
you until you can actually bring it
08:43
in-house and sometimes it may be easier
08:44
to not even bring it in-house
08:46
build it in the budget with a fixed cost
08:48
and that is a quicker way to scale
08:50
occasionally
08:51
so comments questions drop them below
08:53
what’s your native genius and how are
08:55
you going to go fill the gaps
08:56
probably around your employee recruiting
08:59
training and onboarding process to
09:00
overcome
09:01
this labor crunch and a big surprise
09:03
coming up here
09:04
in the next month or so we are going to
09:08
unveil a new employee recruiting uh
09:11
process that we’ve been working on for
09:12
the last five or six months at simple
09:13
growth that should
09:14
be able to help everybody and we’ll
09:15
provide provides more information about
09:17
that and how you can do it yourself
09:19
and a big magazine article coming up i
09:21
just wrote for snow magazine
09:23
this september from gie media so
09:26
hopefully see you at
09:26
gien expo and mike callahan with
09:29
callahan’s corner you ask questions we
09:30
had some

Work On It Wednesday: Fertilization Estimates With Price Breaks & Production Rates

Video Transcript

00:02
Welcome back to work it
00:03
Wednesday. Mike Allen here with
00:04
Dylan from the Simple Grow
00:06
Team. Going to be talking about
00:07
things you should be working on
00:08
in your business um and well,
00:11
actually the things you should
00:12
be working on in on your
00:12
business and not in your
00:13
business is Michael Gerber says
00:14
but Dylan and I are going to be
00:15
breaking down production rate
00:17
based estimating for
00:18
fertilization and weed control
00:19
based on a standard push
00:22
spreader hose and reel in a
00:24
stand on unit. Some of those uh
00:26
prima green or maybe a Toro X
00:27
mark Um but Dylan, I know
00:29
you’ve got some insight working
00:29
with of businesses already this
00:32
year. Um so, we’re going to be
00:34
going over a basic matrix of a
00:35
uh standard based price. The
00:37
minimum to show up in a set
00:39
amount. There are over a
00:40
thousand square feet and then
00:41
we’re going to go into breaking
00:43
down um price breaks based on
00:46
larger properties up to an acre
00:47
and actually over. So um I know
00:49
you’ve been dealing with a lot
00:50
of people here with simple
00:50
growth facing uh selling a
00:52
product based estimating
00:54
system. We’ve budgeted time and
00:55
actual budgeted cost including
00:57
overhead recovery and the
00:58
actual materials per round So,
01:00
I’ll give you the floor here
01:02
before you open up the screen
01:02
and actually show people how to
01:04
do this. Yeah. Uh speaking with
01:06
so many people recently, uh
01:09
obviously everybody here knows
01:10
that the matrix is like a
01:11
really really important tool, a
01:14
really neat tool rather than
01:15
taking so much time to build
01:16
out an estimate every time you
01:18
do it, you put in the work up
01:19
front and then estimates become
01:21
very very easy. The one thing
01:22
that I’m excited to break down
01:24
here is the number one issue I
01:26
see with Matrix is people say,
01:28
oh it might is actually built
01:30
up pretty well but over 20
01:33
thousand square feet, I always
01:36
find myself having to adjust
01:37
the price that it actually
01:38
produces because I know for
01:39
sure that’s not going to get
01:41
accepted and then it it just
01:43
kind of compounds as you get
01:45
into bigger, larger, and larger
01:46
properties like two, three
01:48
acres and above. A lot of
01:49
people just throw the matrix
01:51
kind of out the window. Um so
01:53
with certain price breaks
01:55
actually built into it, you can
01:57
still ensure that you’re
01:58
profitable um but also sure
02:00
that you’re your price isn’t uh
02:02
you know, too outlandish.
02:03
You’re actually going to be
02:04
winning these bids because if
02:06
you’re having to manually
02:06
adjust the price that the
02:07
system produces for you, your
02:10
your matrix is broken to some
02:11
degree So that that’s kind of
02:13
what kind of what I wanted to
02:14
say before we hop in here.
02:15
Yeah, I could agree with the
02:17
bar too and like it face value
02:18
where he thinks it’s it’s set
02:19
up correctly and it may be but
02:21
once it gets past a fifteen to
02:23
20 thousand square feet the the
02:24
prices get really wonky and
02:26
then the other thing that we
02:26
see is a lot of times is like,
02:28
hey, we’ve got a production
02:29
based system but it doesn’t
02:31
actually show us what the
02:32
projected profit profit
02:33
percentages with materials and
02:34
a lot of times we don’ a
02:37
budgeted time um and we
02:38
obviously really want to base
02:39
in that square footage because
02:40
no matter the software we’re
02:41
going out when we go out to
02:42
dispatch it on a dispatch board
02:44
or whatever that is in your
02:46
software, We really want to be
02:46
able to dial that custom field
02:48
of that job Variables such as
02:50
church square footage because
02:51
that’s going to give us the
02:51
ability to go out then and
02:54
actually project how many bags
02:56
or gallons or ounces of
02:58
material we need per round per
02:59
day and actually set a goal for
03:01
the technician with a quality
03:02
standards. So, um couldn’t
03:03
agree with you more on that
03:04
one, Dylan. So, what to do is
03:06
break open here in the stream
03:08
and uh show the simple growth
03:11
uh blueprint here. So, I love
03:13
the fact that you came in after
03:14
me. So, you’re actually on top
03:15
now and I’m not on top of the
03:16
video here. So this is perfect.
03:17
Thank you. So, what we’ve got
03:20
here is uh you Dylan is raising
03:21
the roof. Um so, over here,
03:23
we’ve got the simple growth
03:25
blueprint and I’m going to go
03:26
into a very basic uh two line
03:28
production based estimating
03:30
system. Dylan, feel free to hop
03:31
in and and you know give some
03:33
some feedback on this year but
03:34
I’m going to scroll on here
03:35
just to service number one and
03:37
I’m going to call this uh we’re
03:38
not going to build out all five
03:40
rounds but I’m going to show
03:41
you some examples of the basic
03:42
matrix and then with price
03:43
breaks but this could be round
03:45
one. Uh pre emergent
03:51
is our service. Um with her.
03:57
abbreviated here just for
03:58
today. A formality but we have,
03:59
that’s the service name or it
04:00
could be round one but round
04:02
one is that service. So, the
04:05
custom field of the job
04:06
variable is going to be curved
04:08
square footage that is going to
04:12
be a core service. So, if
04:13
you’re using a product like
04:14
service autopilot, this is
04:15
actually going to be one
04:16
service that’s actually
04:17
buttoned up into a package. So,
04:19
we have time. We’ll actually go
04:20
into there. So, the question I
04:21
always ask Dylan is um what is
04:24
your base price to show up if
04:25
you have one for your
04:28
fertilization service. So,
04:29
Dylan, you may say, hey, Mike,
04:30
my base price to show up for
04:33
fertilization is $45 um $45
04:36
here to show up and then the
04:38
next question really is Dylan,
04:39
how many, how many square feet
04:41
does that cover um of just turf
04:43
area? We’re not looking at lot
04:45
size like full area. We’re
04:45
talking about treatable and
04:47
that’s what we’re going to
04:48
recommend. It may take an extra
04:49
minute or two to measure that
04:51
area but we really want to be
04:52
competitive and make sure we
04:53
know our production rates once
04:55
we get these numbers in to run
04:57
in the report center. So, uh
04:58
Dylan, you may be coming at me
04:59
and say, hey, Mike. uh that
05:01
covers up to 5000 square feet
05:04
That’s great. So, Dylan, uh if
05:05
you are on a call with Simple
05:07
Growth here building it out
05:08
yourself, what would be your
05:09
charge per manner? What would
05:10
be looking to get per man hour?
05:13
usually on fertilization, weed
05:14
control services like this.
05:15
it’s a little bit more than
05:16
like the lawn mowing rate. So,
05:18
a pretty common one that I see
05:20
and uh people strive for is
05:21
about Seventy-five bucks uh uh
05:22
a an hour and in the northeast
05:25
here, we may be breaking even
05:26
it’s a little higher uh
05:28
overhead recovery and the
05:30
technicians especially with
05:31
kind of post COVID or or of
05:34
covid’s higher. So, I’m I’m
05:36
going to say that this is
05:36
probably going to be close to
05:37
about 46 bucks per hour break
05:39
unit So total overhead with
05:40
labor and labor and recovery.
05:43
So, what we’ve got here is our
05:44
base price is one to 5000 bucks
05:46
are based price. Um we’re going
05:48
to adjust a budgeted time. now
05:52
looking at this. So, an
05:55
industry average is maybe like
05:56
.05 or .047. If you’re using a
05:58
push spreader Now, uh Uh I’ll
06:00
put in there. So, maybe it’s uh
06:02
let’s round it up to 105 Times.
06:04
We’ve got five parts and
06:05
thousands. So, it’s basically
06:08
15 minutes .25 Man hours. Well,
06:10
Dylan, I don’t know about you
06:11
but if I’m I’m including my
06:12
base price, our technicians
06:14
probably going to have to get
06:15
out and unload the machine,
06:16
fill the hopper and maybe in
06:18
certain areas actually put up
06:20
some pesticide warning signs.
06:21
So maybe we’re going to bump
06:21
this up to uh .35 Man hours to
06:25
cover that extra uh set up time
06:28
to actually be covered in
06:29
there. Now, a lot of companies
06:30
will also cover your non
06:31
billable um mobilization on
06:34
average. So, maybe your first
06:36
5000 square feet really is
06:37
going to be close to the .45
06:39
because we’re going to include
06:40
some mobilization in there. So
06:42
So, that’s normally the to
06:43
three different things we’re
06:44
talking about are looking at is
06:45
we’re building out the basic
06:47
methodology before we go to a
06:48
price break methodology. So, as
06:50
you’re looking at the top
06:51
numbers here, Dylan looks like
06:52
your company. I was really
06:53
doing really good. We’re we’re
06:54
we’re making uh $24 profited a
06:58
54% margin. Well, the one thing
07:00
that most companies always
07:02
forget about is product cost
07:05
and I know for a lot of
07:06
companies, this can be really
07:08
tough. So, if we’re looking at
07:10
a product for pre emergent, um
07:12
traditionally, that is a
07:13
granular product with the
07:15
fertilizer baked into it. So,
07:16
let’s just say we’ve got a bag
07:17
of fertilizer that is running
07:19
us um $16 a bag now across the
07:22
US and Canada, it’s going to
07:23
vary but that’s probably
07:24
somewhere in the middle sixteen
07:25
to twenty. bucks depending on
07:28
where you’re at. So, the math
07:29
behind this is really, we want
07:31
to say what we have. $16
07:33
divided by five parts of a 1005
07:36
times a thousand is 500. So, if
07:38
I divide that by five, my cost
07:41
per thousand is $3.20. So now,
07:46
this has this equation has
07:48
changed quite a bit here. So
07:50
and and and Mike, sorry that
07:52
that would be if the bag covers
07:55
5000 square feet, right?
07:57
correct? Yes. My bad. So,
07:59
you’re correct 100%. So, that’s
08:01
Facebook Live is kind of
08:03
crazier. So, actually, your
08:03
cost per unit is, let’s say
08:05
this bag covers. What do you
08:07
want to say? Uh 10 thousand
08:07
square feet. Uh hey, well, we
08:09
don’t even have pre emergence
08:11
up here in Canada. so, you
08:12
probably have a clearer idea
08:14
than I do on that one. Yeah,
08:15
it’s a sixteen divided by uh
08:18
yeah, let’s call it 15 thousand
08:20
square feet. So, that is uh
08:23
that’s correct me if I’m wrong
08:24
then so this is uh It’s
08:27
probably going to be closer to
08:30
ten. So, it’ll be a dollar
08:34
sixty per thousand. It’s the
08:37
math that way there. So, that
08:39
would be
08:43
I’d chime in and help but it’s
08:44
like it’s a little tiny on my
08:46
screen but III trust your math.
08:48
don’t worry Facebook Live,
08:52
brother. Yeah. So, it’ll be a
08:53
bit about a dollar fourteen per
08:54
thousand. So, it’s five parts
08:55
of a thousand. So, five times.
08:57
1.4 1.414. Make sense. It’s
08:59
about $5.71 per thousand. So, I
09:00
appreciate you. Obviously, the
09:02
Facebook Live. You don’t think
09:02
about that occasionally but now
09:04
we’ve got an interesting
09:06
scenario here. So, this is the
09:07
issue that sometimes goes in
09:08
with a lot of companies when
09:09
they’re building out of
09:11
mattresses. So, based on that
09:14
uh .45 if that is the actual
09:16
time we’re going to be
09:17
budgeting, we’re actually
09:18
losing between product and
09:20
material this cost here. Now,
09:22
let me just double check the
09:24
math here because this is
09:26
prebuilt. So, we’re what we’re
09:27
going to do if you’re building
09:28
a math yourself, this actually
09:29
is kind of cool. We’re doing
09:29
this. We’re taking our budget
09:31
hours and tying it by our 46
09:32
bucks per man hour and we’re
09:35
adding our $5.71 So, math now
09:40
is actually correct. So, if
09:42
you’re looking at the math, you
09:43
are taking a break, even times
09:44
your budget or your cost per
09:46
hour. So, it’s going to give
09:47
your labor with overhead
09:48
recovery costs and then you’re
09:49
adding your cost
09:54
5000 square feet here.
09:57
and our cost per thousand is a
09:59
dollar for. So, we’ve got got
10:00
about a 41% net profit margin
10:01
and not have to labor overhead
10:03
of material. Um so, anywhere
10:06
between about forty to 45% that
10:08
what we’re seeing nationally is
10:09
probably about right right now
10:10
so that that that is falling in
10:12
the ballpark. Um any questions
10:13
or comments on that Dylan
10:14
before we kind of dive into the
10:16
overage Uh the only thing that
10:18
that kind of came to my mind
10:19
was I hear some people say
10:20
like, oh I know a competitor’s
10:23
charging $45 as their minimum
10:24
fee so that’s what I want to do
10:26
as well. Uh it’s just so
10:30
important to run this like when
10:31
you’re when you’re entering
10:32
your services, run it with your
10:34
actual numbers. You know, maybe
10:35
that competitor that you think
10:38
is low balling has no office,
10:39
has no overhead to to actually
10:40
recover. Um so they might be
10:42
able to actually price
10:43
themselves considerably lower
10:46
and still hit that that really
10:47
really uh profit margin but you
10:50
know, a lot of the companies
10:51
that we deal with they have
10:53
office staff and you know,
10:55
offices and stuff like that
10:56
that they actually need to
10:58
recoup in a lot of these costs.
10:59
So, it’s just so important to
11:00
use your actual real numbers.
11:02
Yeah and the other thing that A
11:03
lot of people do we talk about
11:05
is a is a benchmark is the cost
11:07
or the charge. Basically, the
11:08
charge per thousand. So, if you
11:11
took the Forty-five and divided
11:12
by five parts um and you did
11:14
the math, you’re charged per
11:15
thousand is actually $9. This
11:17
is going to get interesting as
11:18
we get into a larger acreage
11:20
break point of um cost break
11:23
but I think this is something a
11:24
lot of people don’t necessarily
11:25
look at it. You nailed it on
11:26
the head, Dylan. Hey, well, my
11:28
competitors charging 45 bucks
11:29
in the first 5000 so I gotta do
11:31
the same thing but we’re really
11:32
kind of want to look at it is
11:33
we at and it’s an internal
11:34
benchmark are cost per thousand
11:35
and as we go to our price
11:37
breaks, what can we afford and
11:39
how does that as it gets more
11:41
productive? Um how do we, where
11:43
does that come out as a price
11:44
per thousand? So, in a basic
11:46
scenario, I’m going to say
11:47
using a push spreader here, we
11:48
will keep the production the
11:49
same at about .047 .05 around
11:53
man hours per per thousand
11:55
every thousand over 5000. My
11:57
base price is let’s say we’re
11:59
going $6.50 per thousand I go
12:02
in and round that up to .00.
12:05
.05. My cost now is going in.
12:07
Same kind of equation. I’ll do
12:08
this live here. Here’s your .05
12:10
man hours time, your $46 break,
12:13
even what it cost you before
12:14
you make a profit. Plus, the
12:16
cost of that bag uh per
12:20
thousand square feet was $1.14.
12:23
So, you’re charging 650 and you
12:26
are costing you overhead and
12:28
materials $3.44. So, if you
12:31
want in and said, hey, I’ve got
12:34
minus my 344 and I divide that
12:37
out here at about a 47% net
12:41
margin. So, it’s actually based
12:42
on that math right now. It’s
12:44
actually a little bit more
12:45
profitable. So, if you’re
12:46
trying to become down and be a
12:48
little more um competitive, you
12:51
can actually drop that down but
12:52
the one thing you’re going to
12:53
find here is you probably get
12:55
on the $5.75. So, you’re pretty
12:58
close to the rounding up. So,
12:59
you’re at 41% Margin on top,
13:01
your base price but you
13:02
remember we added some extra
13:03
time for drive time. We added
13:05
some time for the the filling
13:06
and kind of getting the
13:07
equipment ready Now if we want
13:08
for every over the five at 575
13:12
per thousand. That’s still
13:14
going to get us about a 40%
13:16
margin. So, that’s still really
13:17
in the ballpark. maybe a little
13:18
bit on the lower end but those
13:19
are the numbers you want to
13:20
start looking at because if you
13:21
just go into a product like
13:22
service, autopilot here and go
13:24
into a rate mattresses, it
13:25
doesn’t show you um your profit
13:28
profit percentage. So, if you
13:29
were to take that uh equation
13:32
here, these top five lines,
13:33
I’ll do it a little bit later
13:34
after you go to the price break
13:35
in the bottom five cells now
13:39
load into these five cells up
13:43
top and the bottom and we would
13:44
go in and grab turf. Square
13:46
footage is our variable and
13:48
we’d go in and create our
13:50
calculations, quantity reaps
13:51
visits. So, does that make
13:53
sense though before I actually
13:54
dive in and show a production
13:55
rate based estimating system
13:56
and I’m going to try to show an
13:58
example between the push
13:58
spreader hose and reel and um
14:01
through a Facebook post,
14:01
somebody wanted to actually
14:03
have like a ride on the X mark
14:04
Toro or production. Yeah, that
14:06
looks good. The one thing about
14:07
the the profit and actually
14:09
showing that by taking a couple
14:11
extra seconds and doing the
14:12
blueprint before just sticking
14:14
it into a CRM like service
14:16
autopilot is typically on these
14:17
larger price mattresses that
14:18
I’ve seen built out when we
14:20
actually transfer it out of
14:22
service out about into this
14:23
blueprint. You see that profit
14:25
margin percentage just shrink
14:27
as you get into these larger
14:28
properties. Absolutely dwindles
14:30
are sometimes are actually
14:31
losing money We can be an eye
14:34
opener and they’re like, well,
14:35
I can’t be right, Mike and and
14:36
Dylan. I’m like, well, it is
14:36
actually, the numbers don’t
14:37
lie. Obviously, we go through
14:39
and we update the formulas
14:40
based on what we’re doing um
14:42
because you saw it was a little
14:44
misinformed that I actually
14:45
updated it based on our product
14:46
the way we put it together. Um
14:48
the other I think for a pro tip
14:50
would be as well, it’s like,
14:50
let’s just say you’re doing, I
14:52
PM integrated pest management.
14:53
I’m not sure if you have that a
14:54
can of Dillon but uh I PM is a
14:56
big thing in the states and uh
14:58
with I PM uh you’re only spot
15:00
spraying post emergent
15:02
pesticides on the the areas
15:03
that need to be treated. So, if
15:05
you’re looking at your cost for
15:06
the emergent chemical. I
15:09
suggest kind of looking at it
15:10
and say, okay, based on a
15:11
thousand square feet, what
15:13
percentage on average in my
15:15
spring, is it 20%? Is it 50%?
15:16
And then we can kind of back
15:17
that math in there. So, I think
15:19
that’s the other big thing when
15:20
you go to put this into a
15:21
software program, most software
15:23
programs don’t have the
15:25
ability. Um almost none that
15:27
I’m aware of. They do have
15:27
chemical tracking but they
15:29
don’t really have um the actual
15:31
job costing materials per
15:32
round. So that’s how we want to
15:33
look at it before we get it
15:34
into the system. Um so now that
15:37
you’re looking at is going
15:39
well. if I’m in in something
15:39
like service, autopilot,
15:40
there’s no room for price
15:42
breaks. So, we’re going to show
15:43
you how to add these lines in
15:44
here if I hit this button but
15:45
how do we actually create this
15:47
and this is applicable to any
15:48
software Um in my opinion or no
15:51
software. If you’re running a
15:52
pen and paper Excel sheets, uh
15:53
the early days of accounting,
15:54
this is how we did it. So,
15:56
yeah, I’m not just guessing
15:57
about it either, right? Just
15:59
saying. Oh, I think maybe we
16:00
should drop it by a buck after
16:01
10 thousand square feet. Well,
16:02
where did that number actually
16:03
come from? Like it’s a fine
16:04
line between you want to win as
16:06
many as you possibly can but
16:08
you also need to be profitable.
16:10
It’s all warm and fuzzy inside
16:12
to have that big property on
16:13
like the cornerstone in in your
16:15
market but if you’re losing
16:17
money every time you go and do
16:18
do that property, even with the
16:20
visibility, it’s it’s just not
16:21
worth it, right? So, what I did
16:23
is I took the $75 charge per
16:24
hour and I spent per hour and
16:26
our cost per 5000 was it was
16:28
the base price and we had our
16:29
cost per unit a dollar fourteen
16:30
and we’re going to do this for
16:31
every round. Probably not live
16:33
but the idea is we want a job
16:34
costs and build this offer
16:35
right around because what
16:36
you’re going to find is certain
16:37
rounds are going to be more
16:39
profitable than other rounds.
16:40
So, maybe before you actually
16:42
break it down per round, you
16:43
may average all your chemical
16:44
cost across five or six rounds
16:46
together and use that up here
16:49
to say on average, what is my
16:51
average profit margin across
16:53
all the rounds. Now,
16:54
traditionally last round at
16:55
least in the northeast is
16:56
probably the most profitable
16:58
for sure. So, that’s another
16:59
thing we want to look at. Uh so
17:00
we’ve got our uh pre with fruit
17:05
is program. Same thing. Custom
17:07
field is going to be our church
17:09
square footage um and let’s
17:10
take a look at it. So, your
17:12
full transparency, you push
17:13
spreader hose and reel are
17:15
going to be the same. You’re
17:16
looking at about .5 to .047 Ish
17:19
Man hours as an industry
17:20
average per thousand. Now,
17:22
you’re right on machines. most
17:24
right on machines are going to
17:25
produce. I would say ballpark
17:26
uh if if it’s a veteran rider,
17:29
you’re you’re in about a minute
17:30
per thousand um and you can be
17:32
doing granule and liquid at the
17:33
same time. Now, the first three
17:34
to four square feet are
17:37
probably not going to be as
17:38
productive because you’re
17:39
slowing it down. You’re hitting
17:40
the edges. You’re not trying to
17:41
drift into flowerbeds and kill
17:43
the plants, things like that.
17:44
So, let’s just say the
17:46
production for the first 5000
17:48
is consistent then, uh we may
17:49
dial it back. So, same exact
17:52
thing. One to 5000 square feet
17:56
is our base price of Forty-five
17:57
bucks that Dylan gave us uh we
18:00
go back, let’s just say that
18:01
first that first group is .45
18:05
I’m going to probably say it’s
18:08
going to be closer to . .05 is
18:10
my guess. Um times 5000 square
18:13
feet. It’s .25 and then maybe
18:16
another. I had another .01 Man
18:18
hours to bring that up to .35
18:20
for loading and unloading the
18:21
machine. If we gotta gas it up,
18:23
we’ve gotta put some liquid or
18:24
or product in there. Um so that
18:27
would probably be my assumption
18:29
here then I would I’m going to
18:30
update this formula. so equals
18:32
are budgeted
18:39
times our break-even for an
18:41
hour. So, as you can see, our
18:42
labor and overhead cost a 1610.
18:44
Then, I want to go in and add
18:47
five times. So, it’s five parts
18:49
of a thousand times. Um our pre
18:52
unit cost or if you’ve already
18:54
built it out in your matrix as
18:55
you take that 571 and just plug
18:58
that in there. So, we’ve got
19:02
our number here of our break in
19:18
So, we’ve got our profit here
19:19
of 2319 and a profit percentage
19:21
of 51.5 51.52. So, obviously,
19:24
it becomes a little more
19:25
profitable when when we’re
19:26
starting to use right on
19:27
machine and we’re being ultra
19:29
conservative here. If you’re
19:29
doing this yourself, you may
19:30
want to lower that budget of
19:32
time but I want to use that as
19:33
an example. Um so, does that
19:34
make sense at that point doing
19:35
any thoughts before we do that?
19:37
Yeah, no that that all looks
19:39
good and the industry averages
19:41
that we’re using here are just
19:42
like averages, right Of course.
19:43
So, um the most concrete way to
19:45
do this is is pulse my actual
19:49
examples from like an average
19:50
applicator that you have maybe
19:51
not yourself as the owner going
19:52
out there and doing stuff and
19:54
zooming through the route but
19:55
just uh someone that’s easily
19:58
applicable. Yes, a good point
20:00
to you probably don’t want to
20:01
base on the owner because we’re
20:02
we’re probably going to go a
20:03
little bit bit faster. Um so,
20:04
what I’m doing here is I’m just
20:05
adding some math uh F five here
20:07
is the one to 5000. So, I’m
20:09
always going to go up one. So,
20:11
we’ve got some gaps and
20:12
differentiation and I’m adding
20:13
an extra thousand. So, if we
20:15
grab these formulas and drag
20:16
them down Um not really doing a
20:19
class on Excel or Google sheets
20:20
here but uh I’m going to get
20:21
you kind of close here. So,
20:22
we’re going to go all the out
20:23
to about 42 to 43 thousand
20:24
basically an acre pretty close,
20:26
Okay. And we’re measuring this
20:28
online and we’re going up to
20:29
the nearest thousand square
20:30
feet. So, when we’re measuring
20:31
this online, don’t worry that
20:33
you’ve gotta put so many dots
20:34
in it. It’s going to come out
20:35
in the wash if if you’re within
20:37
five to 600 square feet, you’re
20:38
going to be in that range
20:39
anyway. So that’s going to be
20:40
kind of a tip when we go to
20:41
measure this. So now we’ve got
20:43
maybe a charge per thousand
20:45
here. So, uh if you remember We
20:48
were at our charge per thousand
20:51
was the 45 divided by five
20:54
parts of a thousand. We’re at
20:56
$9 per thousand. So, we
20:59
potentially could be drawn to
20:59
that formula but maybe we’re
21:01
going to get down here and now
21:03
based on the first example,
21:05
we’re at 575 per thousand
21:08
that’s still around 40% profit
21:10
margin. So maybe the next one
21:12
will go in. We’re going to go
21:13
drop that down to 575 to be a
21:15
little more competitive and
21:16
what we’re going to do make
21:18
this Forty-five plus at 575. Um
21:22
if you are taking an Excel
21:24
class here or Google sheets
21:26
especially Google sheets, the
21:27
dollar sign between the end
21:29
here, The letter is going hold
21:31
that equation. So, uh I’m going
21:33
to drive that down to what do
21:36
you what do you think Dylan uh
21:38
about about 10 thousand? Yeah,
21:39
I think after 10 thousand,
21:40
you’re probably going to need
21:41
to lower it a little bit.
21:43
Alright so and and you
21:44
definitely want to base on your
21:46
numbers. We’re just kind of
21:47
doing this off the cuff and
21:49
each market is different for
21:50
sure. Uh but the one thing We
21:52
didn’t. we didn’t look at Dylan
21:53
is what is the production rate?
21:54
So, we said, you know, the
21:55
first 5000 is going to be
21:57
around .05. I’m I’m guessing
21:59
that we’re going to go down to
22:01
about a minute per thousand for
22:02
using a ride on machine. So,
22:05
our production now is going to
22:06
be a little bit different. So,
22:07
I’m going to take that bass
22:08
production and I’m just going
22:09
to go in for every thousand.
22:10
I’m adding .00 .02 but
22:13
basically 1 Minute divided by
22:14
sixty is .02 Man hours so
22:16
that’s kind of what we’re
22:18
driving. Once again, we’re
22:18
going to want to go in and do a
22:20
little uh sheet math or magic
22:23
and we’re going to drag that
22:25
down. okay? So, we’ve got that
22:28
in there. So, now, you can see
22:29
our production is it is going
22:30
up 1 minute. uh per thousand.
22:32
Now, our break-even is going to
22:33
be a little bit different. So,
22:34
I’m going to say, hey, and
22:38
actually we may
22:43
So, we’re going to take our .37
22:45
which is our H and we’re going
22:48
to take that by our K. Right
22:49
here is our expense per hour.
22:52
That’s K three and I’m going to
22:56
take our F six which is our
22:58
square footage. I’m going to
22:59
want to divide that by a
23:01
thousand there because I want
23:02
to know how many parts of a
23:02
thousand are in there and then,
23:04
I’m going to multiply it by my
23:07
MR 114 thousand. So, that’s
23:11
going to be Mthree
23:25
and uh
23:30
Alright, so let’s double check
23:31
our math here. Eight, six,
23:37
times are Forty-six. This is
23:41
our labor and overhead recovery
23:43
and remember, it’s like sixteen
23:44
oh one. So, that would be
23:45
correct. there and I should
23:47
learn by now using the prebuilt
23:48
templates here. So, we’re going
23:49
to go in and divide this by a
23:52
thousand
23:58
times. cost per unit is 114 per
24:01
thousand.
24:07
Here we go. So, there we go.
24:09
We’ve got the the product. So,
24:09
our product market actually
24:11
goes up a little bit because
24:13
we’re we’re catching that gap
24:14
and that was about the same
24:15
percentage as we saw on the
24:16
original one here. So, that
24:19
doesn’t surprise me. So, we’re
24:20
going to go in and grab that
24:21
profit and profit percentage
24:22
and our Break-even drive that
24:25
down the sheet. So, what’s the
24:27
what’s the price coming out to
24:29
now like they were charging the
24:29
customer at around 10 thousand
24:31
square feet. Uh we’re about
24:34
7375. Okay, I think that seems
24:36
pretty reasonable still. okay
24:41
Maybe we’re going to go in here
24:42
um in this cell here and and
24:43
the cool thing is once it’s
24:44
built, we can actually play the
24:45
math game and say, hey, how how
24:46
lower or how high we can get.
24:47
So, once we build this out,
24:48
then we can actually play with
24:50
these great cells um but let’s
24:51
just say we went down and we
24:53
went down a dollar per thousand
24:54
probably aren’t going to go
24:55
that low but let’s just let’s
24:57
play the game here to see What
25:00
happens here?
25:06
So, we’ll take that up to 20
25:09
thousand. 20 thousand. Are you
25:10
saying we’re charging an
25:12
additional dollar per thousand
25:13
square feet to the customer? Uh
25:15
we’re charging a dollar less
25:17
per thousand. Okay. So, instead
25:19
of the five something. Yeah. So
25:21
we’re going 575 per thousand
25:22
now, we’re charging 475 per
25:24
thousand. Okay. Make sense.
25:31
and we’ve got our profit. We’ve
25:34
got our profit percentage. So,
25:36
maybe here fictitious. Let’s
25:39
make it a pretty heavy drop.
25:40
drop on let’s say $3 per
25:42
thousand
26:05
We’ll double check the math and
26:06
the formulas. Uh once we’re
26:07
done here too just because it
26:09
is easy to mistresses. Yeah,
26:14
it’s interesting because I got
26:15
a certain point. you’re not
26:16
going to get any quicker. Uh I
26:18
don’t know if you’ve reached
26:19
that point yet but at a certain
26:22
like that and maybe we’ve
26:25
already passed him but like
26:26
that minute per thousand square
26:27
feet it doesn’t it doesn’t
26:31
matter if you’re in an open
26:32
field or or whatever it is you
26:35
just you literally can’t go any
26:36
faster than that. Nope. Yeah.
26:37
So It literally just stays
26:38
where it’s at. I’m going to try
26:40
to make these price breaks come
26:42
across here. as we go. So you
26:46
can kind of see it comes up a
26:48
little bit. Uh this may not be
26:50
actual market pricing but as
26:51
you go down now, your profit
26:53
margins are starting to kind of
26:54
dwindle. So, traditionally,
26:56
when we get most folks on a
26:57
call um as we get into that
26:59
3035 thousand, their profits
27:01
are just like absolutely
27:02
shrinking. So, we came in
27:03
pretty heavy Um here up top but
27:07
if we just change this to five
27:10
bucks and 450 see what starts
27:14
to happen here. Things just
27:16
start shifting a little bit.
27:21
And where do you want to go
27:22
here, Dylan? On price per
27:25
thousand. Uh so, so what square
27:29
footage amount are we at right
27:30
now And what is the I’m at 3000
27:33
or 30 thousand square feet.
27:35
Okay. So, I’m going to be going
27:39
and do you want to go to keep
27:41
it at three? Do you want to go
27:42
lower? Just to kind of see what
27:43
happens. I mean, I don’t
27:43
suggest going any lower than
27:45
where we’re at. Probably not a
27:46
lower like $5 per thousand but
27:48
these are obviously very
27:50
fictitious numbers but I want
27:50
to show people how to actually
27:52
build this out. Yeah. Well,
27:54
what’s so what’s the uh break
27:57
even uh or sorry, what what was
28:00
the chemical cost and the uh uh
28:03
a dollar a dollar fourteen. I
28:04
mean, I’m I’m usually seen in
28:05
between 225 and 250 on average
28:08
so that’s probably why the
28:08
numbers are looking a little
28:09
funky. Okay. Um but we can we
28:11
can manipulate that up here in
28:12
a minute just so we can
28:13
actually show people what that
28:14
looks like. Yeah, I would think
28:16
the price breaks are going to
28:17
get less and less. Um you know
28:20
what once we you know, even
28:22
though we’re talking about a
28:22
larger property here like at a
28:24
certain point you don’t want to
28:25
completely erode your margin.
28:26
Yeah, you’re going to go
28:27
negative basically. So, let me
28:31
pull this down here.
28:45
is going to go in and we still
28:47
got still got some decent
28:49
margins here. So, I mean, I
28:50
don’t know. Let’s just double
28:52
check to make sure all these
28:53
formulas rolled down and what
28:55
is the percentage that you’re
28:56
seeing even on like the the
28:58
larger property Uh 73%. Oh wow.
29:03
Okay. Yeah. a traditional.
29:04
we’ll see it around thirty to
29:07
35% ballpark but obviously
29:09
these are these are very
29:10
fictitious numbers So that’s
29:11
kind of the issue because we’re
29:13
not dealing with actual numbers
29:16
that someone would give us.
29:18
Yeah. the out the methodology
29:20
is exactly how you would do it.
29:22
Yeah. Even if like you had no
29:24
idea what you should be
29:25
charging. Um you know, it is
29:26
good to go on the higher end as
29:28
well and hey, if you start
29:30
sending out quotes at this rate
29:31
and 75% of your quotes are
29:33
getting accepted. Well, maybe
29:34
you don’t need to adjust them
29:36
down but I do hear from some
29:38
people like my my my quotes are
29:41
getting accepted at like a ten
29:42
to 20% rate. Well, I would
29:45
recommend really making sure
29:46
you know what your break even
29:47
is and relook at some of your
29:50
services and say, am I too
29:51
highly as well. Yes. So, I
29:54
bumped that up to $50 just to
29:56
kind of see what happens here
29:57
um but that it’s going to be a
30:00
pretty realistic um production
30:02
right now. You may be up to 78
30:03
thousand before you really
30:04
catch the efficiency but like
30:05
you said, you’re not really
30:06
going to get any faster. I
30:07
suggest you put some breaks in
30:08
probably around ten 1520 uh
30:13
thirty and then somewhere
30:14
around an acre. So, if we’re at
30:16
$3 per thousand fictitious here
30:20
every thousand over the 43
30:22
thousand we may be charging
30:26
$2.75. But I mean, we’re really
30:26
in a real world scenario. We’re
30:28
probably not going to go any
30:29
less than $5 per thousand. um
30:31
with actual real cost and
30:33
overhead of materials is what
30:36
I’m seeing traditionally. So,
30:38
you’re and then you’d be going
30:39
in and the line will be your
30:41
budget hours times. your break
30:45
even plus your cost per
30:48
thousand
30:52
And this this can be
30:55
extrapolate as well. if you
30:56
only do twenty acre complexes,
30:58
well, maybe you do have an
31:00
extra price break in there like
31:02
five or ten acres uh but you
31:05
know, obviously that’s a little
31:06
bit outside of the norm. So,
31:07
we’re not going to build that
31:08
out here today but if you do
31:10
those massive complexes uh
31:12
whether it’s weed control or
31:13
lawn mowing or whatever it is,
31:15
right? Just know that this this
31:16
can be extrapolate to however
31:19
many acres you’d like. Yeah and
31:21
it’s interesting, Dylan. So
31:22
once we got to the overage here
31:24
um with that formula. We’re
31:26
actually at $3.33 cost
31:31
per
31:31
thousand. and we’d only be
31:35
fictitious. charging 275. So,
31:36
you’re actually losing money
31:38
but we’re catching some of the
31:40
extra higher profits up here.
31:42
Is it kind of scroll down? So,
31:43
the main things you want to
31:45
look at is the price, the
31:46
budgeted time, and the break
31:48
even cost and that’s going to
31:49
be your time. Time to break
31:51
even. So, the scenario here,
31:53
your budgeted time, you got
31:56
that 1750 now based to fifteen
31:58
an hour and then we want to add
32:00
the 1250 for the first 5000
32:02
square feet that was this
32:04
Mthree. The 250 per thousand is
32:07
our cost. So, it’s 1250 for the
32:08
first thousand and then our
32:12
break-even here moving forward
32:14
is going to be just so it kind
32:16
of reiterate what this is is
32:17
you’ve got your your budgeted
32:20
time, time to break even. So
32:22
once again, that’s seventeen
32:24
went up to eighteen. So that’s
32:25
our labor and overhead and
32:26
labor burden recovery and then
32:28
we would go in and just hit
32:30
plus and you’d want to take the
32:35
total square footage here.
32:37
6000. 6000 divided by a
32:40
thousand because we’re always
32:41
dealing with how many parts of
32:42
thousand time our cost per
32:44
thousand there and Mike, did I
32:47
hear you say that you
32:48
fictitious increased the the
32:51
break even on like the the very
32:52
top cell to to fifty or did I
32:55
miss that correct? I did. Yeah
32:56
and I just want to make sure
32:58
there’s our cell is not covered
33:01
out. so that is
33:06
and three. So, that is I might
33:07
have forgot one of our things
33:08
being on live. So, let me
33:09
update this because that that
33:09
makes you the numbers that to
33:11
Thirty-three to nineteen looks
33:12
a little suspicious that looks.
33:14
There we go. So, full
33:17
transparency. we’ve done
33:17
hundreds of these now that
33:19
looks like it should. Okay. I
33:21
thought it looked a little
33:22
funny. So now it’s a really
33:24
realistic numbers that’s that
33:26
break even So your percentage
33:28
now is going from about 33% all
33:30
the way down to 12% based on
33:32
these numbers. So, and I don’t
33:35
think it’s worth glossing over
33:37
this point. I mean, we could
33:38
probably talk for hours just on
33:39
that point alone but these like
33:42
that that Forty-three uh as a
33:45
break, even an all-in break
33:46
even including your overhead
33:47
recovery jumping to fifty like
33:49
it’s it’s not unheard of with
33:51
all the labor shortages and and
33:53
stuff that’s been going on with
33:54
COVID lately Um these types of
33:57
break even numbers are going to
33:59
have. I’m at least predicting
34:00
once we see some year end
34:01
numbers. Um some pretty
34:04
increases like that. So, this
34:05
is like the the major benefit
34:07
that some people don’t realize
34:09
about taking the extra time and
34:10
building it out in a template
34:11
like this rather than just
34:12
sticking it right into your CRM
34:14
and kind of forgetting about it
34:15
is when you do have those major
34:18
um you know, company expense
34:21
changes such as labor. Uh the
34:23
cost of labor has gone up
34:23
dramatically or if you’re a
34:25
design build company with the
34:26
cost of wood has absolutely
34:28
ballooned Well, you need to be
34:31
able to to enter in those cost
34:34
increases and say, well, how
34:34
does this affect my origins.
34:38
Maybe we’re not okay with it
34:38
dropping from a 35 or 50%
34:41
margin down to twelve. You’re
34:42
most likely not. So, you gotta
34:43
raise your prices. Yeah, good
34:45
point to it too. So, I mean, we
34:46
do hundreds of these So you
34:48
gotta double check your
34:48
formulas as well as you put
34:50
this in. So like it it just
34:51
didn’t look right here. So,
34:53
what we did is when you’re
34:54
pulling that number here,
34:55
you’ve gotta make sure those
34:56
dollar signs are holding the
34:58
cell here for the material cost
35:00
and the expense cost.
35:01
Otherwise, when you pull it
35:02
pulls the mat down so it’s off
35:03
a number that wasn’t there uh
35:04
but now We’ve kind of firm this
35:06
up. We’re making $9. We’re
35:08
charging $9 per thousand on the
35:09
base price which we were in the
35:12
earlier service here but now,
35:15
what we’ve done and I just
35:17
obviously made this on the fly
35:18
um but we’ve recharged it If
35:20
we’re charging 575 per thousand
35:23
um here it goes up and our
35:27
budgeted time is going up a
35:28
minute per thousand with the
35:29
machine So we kept the
35:31
production basically the same
35:32
as Dylan said but as I drop my
35:34
price of 575 per thousand to
35:36
550 to 535 to 520, and then
35:41
everything over an acre.
35:42
Approximately $5 per thousand.
35:44
You can see that margin really
35:45
starts. It’ll weigh a little
35:47
bit in and out but really it’s
35:48
going all the way from that
35:52
like 3536 area all the way down
35:54
to uh averages out again around
35:57
Thirty-five and then the
35:58
overdue beyond 33%. So, as you
36:01
start to manipulate these
36:03
prices and the production rate
36:05
based on historical numbers,
36:06
you can really see where you’re
36:07
at. Um so, I think this is
36:09
really a great way of looking
36:10
at it and my assumption really
36:13
is based on this if I was to go
36:15
in and do an analysis that 33%
36:17
is really probably too low for
36:18
a base price. So you really
36:21
probably need to be closer to
36:22
let’s see what it looks like.
36:23
Fifty Yeah, I mean, this is
36:25
going to be Fifty-five to
36:26
Fifty-seven. In my opinion.
36:27
that’s going to get you in that
36:29
proper percentage and get you
36:32
really where you need to be. Um
36:33
I mean that five bucks per
36:35
thousand may actually need to
36:36
come up to more closer to that
36:38
that 5.25 and if you got
36:39
multiple acres that was
36:40
probably right but once this is
36:42
built out, I think this is
36:43
really in my opinion, it’s
36:46
invaluable. You can go in and
36:46
say, hey, I’m at Forty-five
36:48
here
36:54
Wait a minute. We’re we’re
36:55
we’re well below that industry
36:56
average but if I bring this up
36:59
to 55, now we’re we’re driving
37:02
pretty good here. Mm hmm. That
37:04
looks to where I would want to
37:05
be. So, I would actually say if
37:06
this is my company, I would say
37:08
that base price is going to be
37:10
probably close to 57 maybe even
37:10
six, maybe even sixty. Yeah.
37:12
And I see a lot of people steer
37:15
away from like small to
37:17
medium-sized commercial because
37:18
they’re like we we want to
37:18
focus just on residential. The
37:20
margins aren’t there and
37:21
commercial in my area. No one,
37:22
no one charges enough. Well,
37:23
you don’t need to replicate
37:25
that. That model that you think
37:26
is’t charging enough, Right.
37:27
You can still do this small to
37:30
medium-sized commercial
37:31
properties that don’t require
37:32
if you don’t have a ride on it,
37:33
you don’t need to go buy a ride
37:35
on. You just need to be making
37:36
sure that you’re charging
37:37
appropriately for it and
37:39
Wouldn’t you take a commercial
37:41
that’s right next to a
37:42
residential property, right? If
37:43
you’re making the same margin,
37:44
right? And I think this is
37:46
where a lot of our clients are
37:47
seeing and this is where we saw
37:49
saw the sweet spot is, you
37:50
know, somewhere between 5000
37:52
5000, maybe 10 thousand max,
37:54
that ceiling, that’s, I mean,
37:55
that really is a sweet spot.
37:57
Yes. Um and you’re catching a
37:58
lot of extra budgeted time here
38:00
at that .35. So, if you got
38:02
route density that actually
38:03
could probably be closer to
38:06
that .25 that we had in there
38:07
and now you’re really some
38:09
serious margins. So, uh the
38:11
money is really if you can
38:13
build your density isn’t a
38:14
smaller, tight-knit residential
38:15
but if you’re going into larger
38:17
properties, price breaks, this
38:18
is how we’re going to break it
38:19
out. Um this is obviously an
38:20
example of a ride on machine
38:21
but we can go in and literally
38:24
if that productions at .05 the
38:26
whole time and you’re you’re
38:27
playing the math game. it’s
38:28
saying, hey, is it is it time
38:31
to actually go out and buy uh a
38:33
ride on machine and in full
38:35
transparency, I’m going to
38:36
guess that this production
38:37
actually is going to go down
38:38
the bigger the property gets to
38:39
you by the .06 because the
38:41
guy’s back um but if you had it
38:45
like this, wait a minute, we
38:47
can’t really afford to use a
38:48
push spreader now. we’re losing
38:50
money with that price break.
38:52
So, this is a great tool before
38:53
you build it in your software
38:55
to really play the game and
38:56
say, okay, if I’m riding a
38:58
machine or if I’m pushing or
39:00
using hose reel, where am I
39:02
really at? And then just
39:03
updating this as we go is
39:05
literally just showing you not
39:07
emotionally where you’re at.
39:09
So, but the example it was that
39:10
is the ride on machine and this
39:13
number is probably a little
39:14
heavy for the first 5002 so
39:15
that probably could come down
39:16
but if you’re putting in a
39:17
little drive time and a little
39:20
operator loading machine. I
39:21
think that’s a safe bet and
39:23
then to test this, you may want
39:25
to go in and you may not be at
39:28
uh per unit as an average if
39:31
you want to cross five or six
39:33
rounds, maybe you’re really
39:34
averaging out at $2.70 or maybe
39:38
even cheaper. Now, we can see
39:40
what it looks like as an
39:41
average across all around and
39:43
the only way to build out each
39:44
round separately but what you
39:45
would do is take this whole
39:46
entire matrix is once you’ve
39:48
tested out, you know, you like
39:49
it and you go into a product
39:50
like autopilot and literally
39:52
just go in and copy and paste
39:56
the cells all the way across
39:59
here. Open it up and then the
40:01
bottom line, every Os there.
40:03
So, yeah, I don’t know if that
40:05
was helpful. Kind of confusing.
40:06
I apologize. I had that
40:07
formula. I didn’t drag it all
40:08
the way down but that I mean
40:09
that’s that’s a normal error
40:10
that anybody can do Um and
40:12
obviously that’s why we put a
40:13
second set of eyes on it and
40:14
look at it to make sure all
40:15
those formulas are driving
40:16
before we ever get into the
40:17
software because we put it in
40:18
the software. You don’t know
40:19
that you may not have dragged
40:20
that formula all the way down.
40:21
Um so you got a you got a
40:22
blooper before you implement, I
40:24
would, in my opinion, at least.
40:26
Yeah. And I think that mistake
40:27
uh and you catching it is
40:29
probably pretty helpful because
40:30
I know a lot of people watch
40:31
these videos and you know,
40:33
maybe they’ve tried to
40:34
replicate this spreadsheet in
40:35
some way, shape or form and
40:36
Yeah, if you’re putting in bad
40:37
data, um you’re you’re going to
40:39
be making some bad decisions
40:40
off of that. The other thing I
40:42
just wanted to mention quickly
40:43
is it might seem like a lot of
40:45
work to do this but in my
40:46
opinion, totally worthwhile.
40:47
You know, you you need to to
40:49
build out a proper matrix
40:50
that’s going to work on small,
40:52
medium, and large properties
40:53
but important thing and maybe
40:56
we can talk about this next
40:57
Wednesday. um is the reporting,
40:59
right? These are time based
41:02
estimates, right? We’re hoping
41:04
that this 10 thousand square
41:05
foot property takes this amount
41:06
of time. Now, in in practice or
41:10
not in theory in practice. Um
41:13
if your employees are actually
41:14
taking Twenty-five 25% more
41:16
time than what what we’re
41:17
estimating here. Well, that’s a
41:19
big problem that 3040 percent
41:22
margin that you had is all of a
41:23
sudden completely eroded Yes.
41:25
Right. So, actually need to be
41:26
comparing this uh and you know,
41:28
if you’ve already built up some
41:29
some data in your system,
41:30
that’s even better because
41:31
you’ll have some legitimate
41:32
comparisons to say, okay, based
41:34
on my price matrix, are these
41:38
margins actually going to be
41:38
real at the end of the year.
41:39
So, you don’t want to be
41:40
surprised at the end of the
41:41
year and say, wow, we only made
41:42
or we lost 500 bucks instead of
41:45
um you know projecting uh a 30%
41:47
margin. Yeah, I could agree
41:49
with you more and it looks like
41:50
a lot of work but I mean I
41:51
think literally once a year you
41:52
you gotta do it and your
41:54
product cost are going to
41:56
change. um especially the crazy
41:59
times we’re in now. They’re
41:59
going to change. You may have
42:01
to do this twice a year. if
42:02
you’re distributor. Uh Uh if
42:04
you’re not prey, your materials
42:05
like if it’s a drastic change
42:07
uh job costing going into the
42:10
production based estimating
42:11
thing is it’s just it’s an
42:13
essential thing that we’ve
42:13
gotta do. Um so, we’re really
42:15
breaking out how to do that
42:17
yourself here if you need some
42:18
help, obviously reach out to us
42:19
but the whole idea is just the
42:21
mindset of abundance. We wanted
42:22
to show everybody how to do
42:23
this because in the early
42:23
years, if I had on this. You
42:25
know, there’ll be a lot more
42:26
money in the bank for the first
42:27
year or two in business until
42:28
you figure it out but um it’s
42:30
tough when you go into a
42:31
software and it doesn’t tell
42:32
you what your projected profit
42:33
is and then Dylan, you know
42:35
that the estimating and the
42:36
production is only as good as
42:38
it is. if it’s not being
42:40
actually replicated in the
42:41
field. So, we actually need to
42:42
go out and track a budget of
42:44
time and hold those folks
42:45
accountable with accountability
42:46
and the other thing we didn’t
42:47
really talk about is what about
42:50
callbacks. Those can be a bear
42:52
because if our product mix is
42:55
not correct or the applicator
42:56
is not a standardized
42:58
procedure. Um the cost of going
43:02
back could be astronomical and
43:03
it could completely erode this
43:05
to begin with. So, we gotta
43:06
make sure that we’re actually
43:08
treating with the right
43:08
chemicals or organics. We’re
43:10
have a process and if we do
43:12
have a callback, we use
43:14
something that I like to call
43:14
the waiting list. So, we go in
43:16
and put all the callbacks on a
43:18
waiting list. We geographically
43:20
be responsive like it’s maybe
43:22
not the next day but the next 2
43:24
days or 3 days but we’re we’re
43:26
systematically routing the
43:27
callbacks when the technicians
43:28
are already in that area. So,
43:29
we’re not driving all the way
43:31
across the city for one call
43:32
back. So, we need to be
43:33
responsive but we need to be
43:35
responsive enough to understand
43:37
that it’s going to erode our
43:37
profit margins just for a
43:39
callback as well. Yeah, yeah. I
43:41
had uh a person I was dealing
43:43
with as well where they had
43:44
some repeat offenders, not
43:45
really callbacks per say but
43:47
when they actually went to the
43:49
property, the gate was locked
43:50
and they didn’t want to just
43:52
spray the front lawn. Um so
43:54
they they just kind of tried to
43:56
call the customer weren’t able
43:57
to get a hold of them and then
43:58
they had to go back and and
43:59
reschedule an app that was you
44:01
know they were actually there
44:01
to go and do it and that’s
44:02
that’s where automations comes
44:04
into play. Uh automation we Be
44:05
there. Been there or pre and
44:07
post notification. dispatch but
44:09
that’s the client and I know a
44:10
lot of people that work watch
44:12
work on it. Wednesdays are lawn
44:13
care folks but we work with
44:14
some home cleaning individuals
44:16
as well um and even when Tina
44:17
comes to get my house, I get a
44:18
text message and uh she lets me
44:20
know when we’re coming but they
44:21
have AA lockout policy
44:23
basically. Um so if they can’t
44:25
get into the house to clean,
44:25
they actually charge me fifty
44:27
bucks. Probably not the same in
44:29
lawn care. can’t get away with
44:30
it but we can kind of take a
44:31
page out of a different
44:32
industry and say, hey, we can
44:33
set some precedents of it like
44:34
hey, if we’re like out. We may
44:35
be only applying to the yard
44:37
area we can get to and if you
44:38
want us to come back, maybe
44:40
this is just a break. even that
44:41
destination um but that pre and
44:43
post notification is absolutely
44:45
huge especially if you’re
44:45
dealing with chemicals and you
44:46
have kids or dogs and pets and
44:48
things like that. Yeah, totally
44:50
and even with that
44:51
notification, this person still
44:53
had some repeat offenders that
44:54
got the notifications still
44:55
wasn’t doing what they what
44:57
their duties were as a client.
44:58
So, we actually implemented a
45:00
really simple system but to be
45:02
able to track those repeat
45:03
offenders um you know, The
45:04
first offense. second offense
45:06
and third offense and at that
45:08
point, it kind of notified the
45:09
owner and said like, you gotta
45:10
make make a decision here. you
45:11
want to continue servicing this
45:12
person? It might look great.
45:13
$100, an application but if you
45:15
gotta go back three times and
45:16
you’re none the wiser that you
45:18
had to reschedule this three
45:19
times that’s going to erode
45:20
your profits to three strikes.
45:22
You pay or three strikes,
45:23
you’re out either way. So,
45:24
alright. Well, I appreciate it
45:25
buddy. Coming back at you next
45:27
week, work on it Wednesdays,
45:28
Mike and Dylan from the Simple
45:30
Grow Team. Uh happy to get some
45:32
more pres submitted questions.
45:33
We’ve got a couple good ones
45:34
coming up but uh if you have
45:36
some questions or things that
45:37
you would like to work on in
45:38
your business, uh we’re going
45:39
to break down step by up and
45:40
actually like we did today,
45:42
show you how to make the
45:43
formulas and how to actually
45:44
build that out uh outside of
45:45
the software and then
45:46
hopefully, how to implement it
45:47
in the software to buy those
45:48
time back and actually buy some
45:50
more freedom for you to
45:52
actually work on these
45:53
processes and systems in your
45:54
business instead of actually to
45:55
be a slave to your excel sheets
45:57
and pen and paper. So, we’ll
45:58
see you next Wednesday work on
46:00
it Wednesday with Mike and
46:00
Dillon from the Simple Grow
46:03

Work On It Wednesday: Automate Your Business

Video Transcript

00:01
Welcome to work on it
00:03
Wednesday, Mark Allen here with
00:04
villain from the simple grow
00:05
team where we’re breaking down
00:07
the river. We’re going to have
00:09
to work on your business, not
00:10
in your business. so this is
00:12
going to be an ongoing.
00:16
for the Facebook world. We’re
00:19
going to actually do some of
00:20
these things. We’re moving
00:23
forward. We’re be the first
00:23
first webinar here.
00:28
Dylan here for work on it
00:30
Wednesday, so we’re going to
00:31
actually go out and help you
00:32
work on your business and not
00:33
in it as Michael Gerber says.
00:35
so growing and scaling a
00:37
seven-figure business has been
00:39
well. Let’s just say a little
00:40
bit challenging here for
00:41
myself. There’s some things we
00:43
got right. There was some
00:43
things well we just didn’t get
00:45
right. We had to figure it out
00:46
and Dylan. I’m assuming that
00:48
was probably the same thing in
00:49
your seven figure business.
00:52
We’re in. about 10 million
00:56
dollars, lawn care lines to
00:56
your business business. Yeah
00:57
definitely. I guess you could
00:59
say there’s a couple hiccups
01:01
along the way. If you see me
01:06
hiccup at all today, that’s
01:08
that’s the ongoing joke I’ve
01:09
had about 24 hours of non-stop
01:12
pickups. so if you see myself,
01:14
muted and and kind of having a
01:15
little bit of a shake in the
01:17
background, that’s why well,
01:18
Hey man there are always some
01:20
hiccups in owning a small
01:21
business and a service business
01:22
for sure, so we can respect
01:24
that but work it work on it.
01:26
Wednesdays We’re going to dive
01:27
in in Automations. It’s the
01:29
first thing we’re talking about
01:29
so in my business kind of a
01:32
background story is I automated
01:33
my business basically not
01:35
because it was something that I
01:37
wanted to do, but it was
01:38
something I needed to do so I
01:39
have to work. Hours a week in
01:42
my service business, the
01:43
business actually ended up
01:44
causing divorce so by hitting
01:46
rock bottom, it forced me to
01:47
make some changes and looking
01:48
at different things in my life
01:49
that I loved and hated one of
01:50
the things I didn’t like
01:51
actually at that point. Dylan
01:52
was my lawn care business and
01:55
in order to actually get my
01:56
life or take my life back from
01:58
my business, we went in and
01:59
started automating different
02:01
pieces of the business. so I
02:02
went from 100 hours a week
02:03
literally 7 days a week to
02:04
three to 5 hours a week to an
02:06
absentee owner so along that
02:08
journey, what we’re going to do
02:09
is. Today is how do you
02:11
actually go Automate your
02:12
business? so we can’t just eat
02:14
the whole elephant, but we’re
02:15
going to bite off a little
02:16
pieces, the biggest pain
02:17
points, but if you’ve ever
02:18
wondered what like a fully
02:19
automated service business
02:21
looks like we’re going to dive
02:22
into this and literally lift
02:23
the hood and show you how we
02:25
both automated our service
02:26
business to the same exact
02:27
process that hundreds of simple
02:30
growth clients used so the good
02:31
news is if you’re not looking
02:33
to hire an automation expert
02:34
like simple road to do this, we
02:36
are going to show you the step
02:38
by step. To do this in
02:41
addition, if you stick to the
02:43
end of this there may be a
02:45
special offer for you just for
02:47
your spending your time here to
02:49
have actually work on your
02:50
business, not in it. so what
02:51
we’re going to do on these
02:54
events is literally every
02:55
Wednesday permitting vacations
02:57
and things like that we are
02:59
going to come live to you and
03:01
go into pain points to your
03:01
business. so if there’s certain
03:03
pain points in your business
03:04
that you would like us to talk
03:06
about with the solution around
03:07
trying how to. Is it Automate
03:09
it or dominate it? We are going
03:11
to go in and do that live on
03:13
Wednesday so in the library
03:14
recorded version type that in
03:15
but if you stick to the end of
03:17
the work on it, Wednesdays, we
03:19
usually have a special offer
03:21
for you. if this is something
03:22
you don’t want to do yourself
03:24
but otherwise we’re going to
03:25
show you the step-by-step
03:26
processes on each Wednesday.
03:28
How to work on it and not in it
03:30
so without any further delay
03:31
Dylan Do you have any other
03:33
comments before we open up the
03:33
screen and actually get into
03:34
the work on it. Wednesday
03:36
content today of how to
03:37
automate your search. Business
03:40
Yeah, I think the only thing is
03:42
why we’re we’re focusing first
03:44
on the sales Automations is a
03:46
lot of problems in a business
03:49
result from a poor sales
03:51
process or lack of sales or or
03:53
not profitable sales. so the
03:56
first kind of you know hole in
03:58
the boat that we might want to
03:59
clog. it is a sales problem.
04:02
That’s you know having amazing
04:04
sales fixes a lot of other
04:05
issues in the business right
04:07
off the bat. so. We can kind of
04:09
move on to some different areas
04:10
that we can potentially
04:12
Automate you gotta kind of
04:14
start with the the foundational
04:15
elements of you need sales
04:17
coming in the door to continue
04:19
to operate. So go ahead,
04:23
awesome. No. that’s that’s
04:24
awesome. So as we go, we’re
04:26
going to open up the screen
04:27
here and. basically the nitty
04:31
gritty of it and I’m going to
04:32
pop the screen around here so
04:33
you guys can see this but
04:34
basically. Dylan I’ll let you
04:36
lead the way here, but we’re
04:37
going to talk about automating
04:39
your sales process in your
04:40
service business to literally
04:42
hit that seven figure mark and
04:43
beyond. So I’ve I have a
04:45
feeling Dylan that throughout
04:46
the workout on Wednesdays,
04:47
we’re going to be diving into
04:49
different parts of automating
04:50
your business. so the three
04:51
main hurdles that I found in my
04:52
business to break a million and
04:54
well beyond or businesses have
04:56
already broke a million, but I
04:56
just buried in the. Of the
04:58
business and firefighting is
05:00
literally sales. employees and
05:03
repetitive tasks. So we’re
05:04
going to be looking at the
05:05
sales process today and
05:07
automating that it’s if I’m not
05:08
mistaken. Yes, you got it.
05:10
That’s that’s where we’re going
05:11
to begin. so I think I can. I
05:14
think I can skip over this one.
05:15
I think everybody knows who who
05:16
we are. I like to start with
05:20
the the typical sales cycle, so
05:22
this is this is kind of unique.
05:24
you need to kind of address
05:26
where you are potentially now
05:27
not not everybody and then we
05:29
can kind of you know, determine
05:31
the best path forward but. I
05:35
guess where we’re at you know
05:35
kind of in between Memorial Day
05:38
and July 4th here a lot of
05:40
people might be let’s see if I
05:43
can can you see my motion. No
05:48
slightly okay, so a lot of
05:50
people might be in the green
05:51
box on the right hand side the
05:53
fourth box that says gets very
05:55
busy right you you’ve realize
05:57
you gotta ramp up the marketing
05:59
you’ve probably done some form
06:01
of marketing and now you’re in
06:03
this this stage where you’re
06:05
putting out fires, you’re
06:07
extremely extremely busy and
06:08
you’re thinking like okay. We
06:10
just had a nice little long
06:11
weekend. Maybe you work the
06:12
entire long weekend We need to
06:14
push just to keep up with the
06:16
workflow that we’re having now
06:17
up until July. And then maybe
06:20
we’ll we’ll take a breather
06:22
after that when things slow
06:23
down, it’s a really really
06:25
common mistake that people make
06:27
it’s it’s kind of
06:28
counterintuitive. you wouldn’t
06:29
think you need to be you know
06:31
pressing on the gas pedal when
06:32
you’re already super super busy
06:34
but this is where people tend
06:36
to take their foot off the gas
06:37
pedal. and then they’re they’re
06:40
wondering why their pipeline
06:41
kind of dries up in July August
06:43
September, October, and and
06:45
they’re maybe not hitting some
06:47
lofty sales goals that they’ve
06:47
set right so. Work flows and
06:50
then you attempt to drum up the
06:52
work, which is kind of the last
06:53
green box. the process from or
06:57
I guess the timeline from
06:59
deciding hey, we got a drum up
07:00
some more work to getting very
07:03
busy again. That could be a
07:05
month or a 2 month long process
07:07
right so this needs to be kind
07:09
of an ideally automated but a
07:11
continuous sales machine that’s
07:14
going all throughout the year
07:15
and not with like these, these
07:17
troughs and valleys right where
07:19
you’re you’re getting very busy
07:20
and then really really slow so
07:22
it almost sounds like we had.
07:23
Sales pipeline or funnel Dylan,
07:26
If you only got the really hot
07:27
ones that are right here at the
07:28
bottom ready to go and you
07:29
don’t have anything up top as
07:30
it starts to filter down and
07:31
you actually need to pick the
07:32
phase back up. It’s too late
07:34
because that sales cycle could
07:35
be several weeks a month maybe
07:36
2 months depending on the time
07:38
of the season so being
07:39
constantly in front of people
07:41
through educational content and
07:43
hitting on the pain points is
07:44
probably going to be a great
07:45
solution. I’m imagining. Yeah.
07:47
Yeah. That’s that’s a great
07:49
point and just consistent
07:51
marketing right it is. Allow
07:54
you to have more time in the
07:56
spring rush and you know for us
07:57
in the fall rush when getting
07:59
ready for snow removal if you
08:01
can get a lot of these things
08:02
out of the way earlier, such as
08:05
renewing all your customers or
08:06
you know having the the early
08:09
birds all attended to so that
08:10
when people are making that
08:11
last minute decision, you
08:13
actually have the time to talk
08:14
to those people and close those
08:15
sales right away. You know all
08:17
these little things start to
08:19
add up. but if what we’re
08:21
showing you here, you know we
08:22
kind of jokingly say this is
08:23
like a typical sales cycle
08:24
doesn’t mean everybody’s doing
08:26
this, but a lot of people are
08:27
doing this. They’re just
08:30
working so so hard during their
08:31
their heavy points of the
08:32
season and then things get
08:33
slow. You know know you kind of
08:34
want that be stabilized, so
08:35
it’s a little bit more of a
08:36
predictable workflow if this is
08:39
your current workflow right,
08:41
some of the you know kind of
08:44
the side effects right is is
08:46
you’re literally kind of
08:47
pouring money down the drain by
08:48
neglecting a lot of these leads
08:51
you you’re paying to acquire
08:52
them. Maybe you’re doing
08:53
Facebook ads or even just word
08:55
of mouth that you’ve you know
08:57
invested so much time to have a
08:58
good reputation and then
09:00
someone calls you and you’re
09:01
too busy to even get back to
09:02
them right. so you’re.
09:04
Neglecting your leads, you know
09:06
you as the business owner kind
09:08
of become frustrated because
09:09
you’re pulling your hair out
09:10
working those dreaded 100 hour
09:13
weeks like you had mentioned,
09:14
Mike and and even then it’s
09:16
still kind of feels like you’re
09:17
not you’re not getting
09:19
everything done that you should
09:20
be right and at a certain
09:21
point, you can’t just throw
09:23
more time at a at an issue
09:24
right you need to take a couple
09:26
steps back and and get things a
09:28
little more systematized. and
09:31
then the the the definitely the
09:32
end result. here is plateaued
09:34
growth right at least at my
09:36
company the first couple. Years
09:38
before we had an actual
09:40
automated sales system and we
09:42
are really starting to ramp
09:43
things up and everything was
09:44
kind of flowing symbiotic. Our
09:48
growth was maybe not plateaued,
09:50
but we were just kind of
09:52
tracking along right maybe 1020
09:54
percent growth, which might
09:56
seem okay if you’re a large
09:58
company. But at that point, you
09:59
know almost a decade ago. now
10:01
we we’re talking very very low
10:02
sales numbers. That’s where you
10:04
should be easily growing, You
10:05
know, maybe even a. Per year,
10:09
when we’re only talking about
10:09
fifty or $100000 in sales. once
10:13
the sales is actually ramped up
10:15
quite a bit and we had this
10:17
automated system, we’re able to
10:19
to be hitting 5100% growth per
10:21
year, and we’ll talk about some
10:22
some of those stats anyways
10:24
later on even though our sales
10:27
figures were much much higher
10:28
at this point so the actual
10:30
absolute value of sales that
10:31
we’re adding each year was
10:33
extremely substantial
10:35
interesting one thing that you
10:36
had out there was plateau.
10:37
Gross. So I know a couple of
10:40
guys in the Facebook groups are
10:41
talking about this recently
10:41
that believe it or not. Only
10:44
about three to 5% of all lawn
10:47
care businesses, seven to 10%
10:48
of all small businesses in the
10:49
United States and Canada North
10:51
America ever break a million
10:53
and where they die is at 750 to
10:56
just under a million kind of
10:58
like trap of death. and this is
11:00
where I think when we figure
11:01
out how to sell and how to
11:03
automate that plateaued growth
11:05
can exponentially go so working
11:07
with hundreds of service
11:08
businesses, lawn care and home
11:09
cleaning. We’re seeing a lot of
11:10
our clients at simple growth,
11:12
Dillon literally hitting. 750
11:14
850 mark and literally
11:15
skyrocketing past that in in a
11:17
year maybe a year and a half so
11:19
the idea of seeing this just to
11:21
not only my business and
11:22
Dillon’s business and a few
11:23
others on the team, but
11:25
actually they have hundreds of
11:26
clients and a good portion of
11:27
them coming to us either right
11:29
before or right after a 1
11:30
million dollars and seeing that
11:31
skyrocketing off that plateau
11:34
is is exactly what Dillon’s
11:35
talking about here so Dillon I
11:37
really I can’t wait to see how
11:38
you actually go in and create
11:40
this automated process to
11:41
exponentially. Through that
11:43
plateau, because I know that’s
11:44
one thing in the early days
11:46
that I was like, I’m just kind
11:47
of going along going along and
11:48
then boom once it was
11:50
automated, we went through and
11:51
dominated it, You know and II
11:52
think it was maybe Jonathan
11:55
pets or I heard it somewhere,
11:57
but they’re saying like up into
11:58
like a million or a 1000005,
12:00
your only goal should be
12:02
getting past that mark because
12:04
everything becomes so much
12:05
easier after that mark and that
12:07
kind of brings back home where
12:08
I said at the beginning, you
12:10
gotta focus on sales. First.
12:12
There’s a lot of these issues
12:13
that I just don’t have time to
12:14
do this or or whatever it might
12:15
be it can ideally be handled.
12:17
And automation, but sometimes
12:19
you actually need to make some
12:19
critical hires in the in the
12:21
business. You know if you don’t
12:23
have an office manager or you
12:24
don’t have a salesperson right
12:26
that’s strictly focusing on
12:27
that, but you can’t do that at
12:30
$400000 a year in sales, you
12:32
can’t have all these extra
12:34
admin roles in the company
12:37
right, so a lot of that gets
12:38
resolved literally just through
12:40
growth. So you know, obviously
12:45
our automations help with with
12:47
kind of diverting and and and
12:49
not hitting that growth plateau
12:51
and getting stuck there. So you
12:54
know simple growth automations
12:56
we’ll we’ll break it down at a
12:57
high level, but any type of
13:00
legitimate system that you’re
13:02
using are going to help to
13:03
accomplish these things. I
13:04
guess the the really important
13:07
thing here is. and and the
13:09
difference between you know,
13:10
potentially just setting up a
13:11
couple of random automations
13:12
and and what we do at simple
13:14
growth is it is an actual
13:16
system. We didn’t just. Kind of
13:18
heck, a bunch of random
13:19
automations and say well, this
13:21
is going to be for billing and
13:22
maybe we’ll do this over here
13:24
too They literally all work in
13:26
conjunction so that the
13:28
customer journey from
13:30
requesting a quote all the way
13:31
to receiving their invoices and
13:34
potentially getting promoted
13:35
some other services they all
13:36
need to be working together.
13:41
Obviously, Mike Mike has
13:41
mentioned you know our
13:43
automations were crafted by
13:44
people that were in the
13:46
trenches and have actually
13:48
endured some of these pain
13:49
points that you’re probably
13:51
experiencing right now. You
13:52
know this wasn’t just you know
13:55
someone in the tech industry
13:56
that that put this system
13:57
together. and then the the last
14:01
part here is I know the focus
14:03
here is kind of around sales
14:05
Automations, but it’s not just
14:07
sales focus even some of our
14:09
sales packages that are called
14:10
sales packages they. Start to
14:14
free up a lot of time in the
14:15
office that we’ll get to as
14:17
well. Yeah, one of the things
14:19
you hear on Dillon is just like
14:21
it’s not just thrown together.
14:22
so this is thousands and
14:24
thousands of emails and text
14:25
messages and call scripts So
14:26
like I mean I’m bi imagine if
14:30
somebody requested estimate and
14:32
in that estimate we follow up
14:34
multiple times over 20 days
14:35
over different communication
14:36
channels, but if it doesn’t
14:38
look automated, it sounds
14:39
obvious not saying it it
14:40
actually converts better so the
14:42
second communication we sent
14:44
out 20 days in the 20 day.
14:46
Follow up an estimate if it’s
14:47
not one or loss is an email
14:48
that. Looks like it’s out of
14:50
your cellphone looks like it’s
14:51
sent from your iphone. It’s a
14:52
quick two liner like hey Missus
14:55
Smith haven’t heard back from
14:56
you. I was wondering if you
14:57
want me to save you a spot on
14:57
the list this season for for
14:59
that lawn mowing sent for Mike
15:01
and iphone. Obviously it’s not
15:03
sent from the iphone, but it’s
15:05
not branded. It’s not loaded up
15:06
and it’s just plain simple text
15:08
that looks like it’s from the
15:10
salesperson the business
15:11
owner’s cellphone, but I would
15:12
tell you 20% of the sales that
15:14
we want in a pretty close
15:15
percentage with one or 2% of
15:16
the way of all the sales that
15:17
are. Or one on that one you now
15:21
without ever talking to the
15:22
person. so the concept of
15:24
automation is the first part,
15:25
but then the best practice of
15:27
talking to the person
15:28
specifically where they’re at
15:29
in their customer journey or
15:31
the life cycle. And that’s
15:32
where we’re starting to see a
15:35
huge huge success of a multi
15:38
multiple levels of success if
15:40
you’re jumping up and up and up
15:40
and up far as return on
15:42
investment for folks in
15:43
building this out. so if you’re
15:44
building yourself, you
15:45
definitely want to make sure
15:46
it’s personalized. but. And it
15:48
speaks to the client or lead
15:50
where they’re at in their
15:52
journey. Yeah, No. that’s
15:53
that’s great stuff and I guess
15:56
the last point here just before
15:57
I go to the next slide is
15:59
another big benefit is like all
16:01
these tasks they add up time
16:03
wise right you might think I’m
16:05
not really spending that much
16:06
time sending out these emails
16:07
and talking to leads and and
16:08
doing all this stuff but it
16:10
does aggregate into quite a
16:12
substantial amount of time each
16:14
year and each month. By
16:17
automating a lot of these
16:18
processes, frees you up for for
16:21
doing bigger and better things
16:23
that are a little bit more
16:24
difficult to be to be
16:25
automated. Yes, you can
16:26
automate portions of it, but
16:27
things like quality control
16:29
production right if you’re
16:31
super swamped and you’re just
16:32
trying to get the work done and
16:34
and keep the waiting list
16:36
emptied you’re probably not
16:38
going to have the most
16:39
efficient production as if the
16:40
you know in retrospect, the
16:42
owner they’re in comparison,
16:44
the owner had you know. Nothing
16:46
to do except for focus on
16:48
production well who who’s going
16:49
to be more efficient right and
16:51
then recruiting this is another
16:53
massive pain point right now,
16:54
everybody’s having trouble
16:55
finding labor. well are you
16:58
dedicating almost your entire
17:00
day to finding labor or is this
17:02
kind of an afterthought where
17:04
you may be slapped an ad online
17:05
or you know posted something on
17:07
indeed and hope for the best
17:09
right these these companies
17:12
like you know larger companies
17:13
like Amazon and Walmart, you
17:14
know recruit. Isn’t an
17:17
afterthought for these these
17:18
companies right? It’s it’s in
17:20
the the front of their mind.
17:22
This is something that they
17:23
spend a good portion of their
17:24
time because these employees
17:25
are the lifeblood of your
17:27
business, but if you’re stuck
17:29
doing this kind of monotonous
17:31
tasks, how are you going to
17:32
spend you know a good amount of
17:35
your week recruiting?
17:38
A
17:39
big shout out to Rudy Roder
17:40
as well in the house. Long-time
17:43
friend, Absolutely absolutely.
17:47
so so what’s the difference
17:48
between automations and regular
17:50
marketing? You know a lot of
17:51
people probably know this, but
17:53
they’re extremely
17:54
cost-effective right you need
17:56
to be as a business owner
17:58
finding something where you can
17:59
put a dollar in this is just
18:02
hypothetical, but you put a
18:03
dollar in and you get $100
18:04
worth of sales out of it. You
18:06
know, maybe that’s not
18:08
realistic $1 to $10. Let’s say,
18:09
right if you’re putting a. Into
18:12
your marketing, whether it’s
18:13
like, let’s say, Facebook ads
18:14
or Google ads or postcards
18:16
whatever that might be and
18:17
you’re getting a dollar and 5¢
18:20
out of that. Yes there there’s
18:22
some return on your marketing
18:23
dollars there, but that’s not
18:25
going to you know, make you
18:28
super appealing to a potential.
18:31
company that wants to buy you
18:33
out. That’s not going to allow
18:34
you to reinvest in more
18:36
marketing and buy equipment and
18:37
all this other stuff right so
18:39
you need to find a really
18:40
unique method where you have
18:41
an. High return on your
18:44
advertising dollars and that’s
18:46
that’s really where automations
18:48
come into play. Obviously it’s
18:50
building out your sales machine
18:52
right having consistent things
18:54
going out and drumming up
18:56
business all throughout the
18:57
year. And it really works in
19:00
conjunction. We get this
19:01
question a lot like if I was to
19:03
do this and everything works.
19:06
can I stop my regular marketing
19:08
Well, I would definitely not
19:10
recommend that we have seen
19:11
some people being able to
19:12
reduce the amount that they’re
19:14
spending on the regular
19:15
marketing because they’ve
19:17
realized that the golden nugget
19:18
is in their database of people
19:20
that we can conjure up more
19:22
business with but really it’s
19:24
supplements that the regular
19:25
marketing really well II know.
19:28
Me like even just having
19:29
something as simple as 20 days
19:31
to close when we would do a
19:32
round of postcards it took a
19:35
little bit of the pressure off
19:36
of us because we have such an
19:38
influx of people contacting us
19:40
and we knew we were kind of
19:42
able to just get them in the
19:43
database. A lot of them are
19:44
filling out an estimate form on
19:45
our website. they’re getting
19:46
into the database and we were
19:48
able to launch out quotes very
19:50
very quickly. and and not
19:52
really have to worry about if
19:53
these leads were slipping
19:55
through the cracks because we
19:55
had an estimate follow-up
19:56
system. And God forbid they
19:59
didn’t accept the proposal
20:01
well, they’re still in our
20:02
system and we’re going to be
20:03
upselling them throughout the
20:04
year as well.
20:07
Okay.
20:08
So so let’s down the the
20:10
automations so some people must
20:12
have seen this chart before.
20:15
but essentially this is the
20:17
system that we’re talking about
20:18
if if you want to have a fully
20:20
automated system. Dylan are you
20:22
I’m sorry to cut on. Are you
20:23
showing the screen right now As
20:24
far as the flow chart, I’m
20:25
seeing the hand shaking right
20:26
now. Oh there we go perfect.
20:27
Oh. yeah. Okay. Yeah without a
20:29
hiccup today. Brother. We are
20:31
live. We’re we’re we’re working
20:31
on it Wednesday. so we’re in
20:33
the trenches so they can pick
20:35
up for free so far. Absolutely.
20:37
so we’re good. but yeah diving
20:39
this on this is. I guess if I
20:41
could take a minute just to
20:43
kind of explain where this
20:43
actually all came out of like
20:45
this literally was on a napkin
20:47
in a bar with some automation
20:50
experts on top of the country,
20:52
US and Canada dialing in and
20:54
they said, You know, here’s my
20:55
different pain points. Here’s
20:57
the things in my business and
20:58
the biggest pain points that
20:59
are killing my personal life
21:01
and my bandwidth. How do I
21:03
actually get that out of my
21:05
head and start to automate
21:06
these pieces So? hundreds and
21:09
hundreds of businesses using
21:10
this process right now, but
21:12
this was built for my lawn care
21:14
business with no intentions of
21:15
ever sharing or even. Selling
21:17
It probably eight or 9 years
21:19
ago, but this is the exact
21:21
process that I use in my
21:22
business. The Dillon’s used his
21:24
and hundreds of others so we’re
21:26
really in the mindset of
21:28
abundance, even if you aren’t
21:30
going to work with so we want
21:31
to show you how to dissect the
21:33
life cycle of a business and
21:35
automate the entire thing and
21:37
with the new shift in buying
21:39
habits on the on demand buying.
21:42
automated bots as well. so
21:43
we’re not going to get into
21:44
conversational marketing or
21:45
bots today, but In the graphic,
21:48
Dylan is explaining at least a
21:49
little bit how that kind of
21:51
ties in. in omnichannel
21:54
communication omnichannel
21:56
marketing isn’t a thing in the
21:58
future folks. It’s here it’s
22:00
live today. So are you going to
22:01
be the early adopter to go out
22:04
and out organize out Automate
22:05
and out dominate your
22:08
competitors and I know you’re
22:08
going to get into it. Dylan but
22:09
I just want to hit on it really
22:11
quickly if you’re not following
22:13
up five or more times through
22:14
multiple. Points on your
22:18
estimate, you’re losing out on
22:20
80% of the sales in your
22:22
market, so you may be thinking
22:23
like hey if I did all this,
22:25
there’s no physical way I could
22:26
double or triple my business
22:28
every year well. imagine if
22:30
you’re missing out an 80% of
22:32
the pie in your local market,
22:33
just because you aren’t
22:34
consistently following up over
22:36
multiple communication
22:37
channels, I was skeptical
22:39
myself, but I tell you we see
22:40
it. We’ve done it and we have a
22:43
ton of clients that are doing
22:44
it as well. So if you want a
22:45
road map to work on it and not
22:48
work in it and if you’re
22:49
working in it right now, folks
22:50
and you want to work on it and
22:50
get off that. Get out of that
22:53
vehicle, This is going to be a
22:54
road map to success so buckle
22:56
up Dylan It is about to take on
22:58
a basically a road map to
23:00
automated success and Dylan
23:01
Wilshire man, but I just wanted
23:02
to kind of highlight some of
23:03
that as well. Yeah, you know
23:05
great points. I hear that all
23:06
the time like are you following
23:08
up on your quotes? No, we don’t
23:09
have time to and you know it’s
23:12
just kind of you slap your head
23:13
thinking Geez you are literally
23:15
wasting a ton of money and even
23:17
if you don’t have the capacity
23:19
to take on 100% more more sales
23:21
well. If I could just be
23:24
closing 80% more sales with the
23:26
flip of a switch, essentially
23:28
you know, look at the other
23:29
things you could potentially do
23:30
you can maybe double your
23:31
prices. It doesn’t mean you’re
23:33
you’re gouging the market but.
23:35
there’s a ton of other stuff
23:37
you can do if you do have
23:37
limited capacity and Dylan, I
23:39
know you’re going to hit on
23:40
this, but the other thing is
23:41
the biggest thing is we’re not
23:43
following up on our estimates
23:44
consistently because we don’t
23:45
have the time we’re too busy
23:48
well. what about all the people
23:49
in your database, your CRM or
23:51
all the estimates that you’ve
23:53
lost so. Like literally, when I
23:56
used to lose an estimate, I
23:56
used to crumple it up and get
23:58
rid of it. They don’t want me,
24:00
but what you’re really doing is
24:02
throwing away a lead that
24:03
you’ve paid for so through this
24:05
automated process, we’re not
24:06
only closing existing customers
24:08
and existing estimates, but
24:09
we’re going to go in and bucket
24:10
all the people who’ve lost that
24:12
estimate. and if you want them
24:14
if they’re not crazy, all the
24:15
people have cancelled your
24:16
services and we’re going to go
24:18
out and work that whole entire
24:20
list and then Dylan’s going to
24:22
to show you the magic of and
24:23
expansion. How to take that
24:24
lesson. Continue to grow and
24:26
double and triple the value of
24:27
that client. but if this sounds
24:30
like. you don’t you don’t you
24:34
don’t do anything with the
24:35
estimates you’ve lost and you
24:37
don’t reactivate your cancelled
24:39
clients because 80% of those
24:40
folks are indifferent. They
24:41
don’t love you. They don’t hate
24:42
you, but they just cancelled.
24:44
maybe they found the low baller
24:45
down the street now the
24:47
customer service sucks, and
24:47
they need somebody else. They
24:49
haven’t forgotten about you,
24:50
but they will if you don’t
24:51
follow up instinct
24:52
communication so kind of a
24:53
preview of what Dylan’s getting
24:54
in there, but I just those
24:55
three pain points. I hear it
24:56
all the time I was victim to
24:58
it. gotta follow up on the
24:59
estimates. You’ve gotta take.
25:02
AA Way to toddle all the people
25:04
that have never converted into
25:05
clients and then all the
25:07
cancelled clients to
25:07
reactivate. and then how do we
25:08
take that whole entire bucket
25:10
of three people you can do to
25:11
expand and double and triple
25:12
that lifetime value. Yes. Yeah.
25:15
so the the foundational part of
25:17
all of this is are these people
25:19
even in your database. So
25:20
that’s why the very left hand
25:22
side of the chart here starts
25:23
with basically a website
25:25
estimate request form now, I’d
25:27
say most of the guys that are
25:29
guys and girls that have been
25:30
using service auto. On it for a
25:31
while probably have this form
25:33
and you might be thinking that
25:35
too. But really, it’s not the
25:37
case a lot of people don’t have
25:40
AAA service Autopilot estimate
25:43
form or any CRM estimate form
25:45
on their website. that is
25:46
funneling leads directly into
25:48
the CRM without no double entry
25:50
and Dylan. I’m glad you
25:51
mentioned that so yes we
25:52
obviously Automate on service
25:53
Autopilot, a certified adviser.
25:55
We also a certified partners
25:57
with Infusionsoft Keep now and
25:59
no. Your CRM or your software
26:02
platform this can be done on
26:04
most platforms by simple growth
26:06
or by yourself if you’re going
26:07
out to buy a platform. but so
26:09
this this is service autopilot.
26:11
This is jabber. This is Zen
26:14
Maid Service Titan, a bunch of
26:14
other platforms as well. So
26:16
this is applicable so no matter
26:18
your software platform. Don’t
26:19
turn this off because work it
26:20
on work on it. Wednesdays is
26:23
going to be software
26:25
independent. It is based
26:26
business. so we’re going to
26:27
show you how to do this in any
26:28
business. And even if you’re
26:30
not using a software platform,
26:32
some of the stuff we’re diving
26:33
into is going to be just
26:34
literally. These are the things
26:35
you need to do you’re working
26:36
on when you’re not working in
26:38
the business. so go ahead.
26:38
Dylan. I just want to make that
26:39
clear ‘cuz a lot of people
26:40
think that this is only for
26:42
people using one platform, but
26:44
really this is platform
26:45
independent folks. We can build
26:46
this and help you build it on
26:47
multiple software platforms.
26:50
Yeah. Great point Mike misspoke
26:53
by saying service Autopilot
26:54
thats the one that I
26:55
specifically use in my
26:56
business, so that’s for myself
26:57
as well. Yes, so I mean
26:58
definitely can be done. Great
27:00
platform, but but we do have
27:02
some that just just aren’t on
27:03
service autopilot so we’ve
27:04
recreated these in a platform
27:06
that runs parallel to your
27:08
existing software as well.
27:10
exactly so we need as many
27:12
people in the database that we
27:14
can get in order to have the
27:16
marketing campaigns and other
27:17
things that we’ll we’ll talk
27:18
about be as effective as
27:20
possible. so even if you
27:22
literally don’t have a CRM
27:24
right now, you’re running
27:25
everything off pen and paper,
27:27
probably the most valuable
27:27
thing you can do. Is start
27:30
collecting names emails and
27:31
addresses in something like a
27:33
Google sheet. the the first
27:35
couple of years at least in my
27:36
business, the amount of missed
27:38
opportunity by we’re even
27:40
sending out postcards. so we
27:42
had actually pretty decent lead
27:44
flow. but we were not capturing
27:46
any of those leads information
27:48
and that’s a common thing. I
27:49
hear with people they’re
27:50
starting to look at a CRM and
27:53
they’re like you know I got
27:54
maybe 3030 clients okay. Well,
27:57
you probably have 100 or 200
27:58
other leads that should be in
28:01
your database that we can start
28:02
marketing right off the bat
28:03
and. They typically don’t have
28:06
those right so scour through
28:08
your Gmail or whatever you’re
28:10
using and look for old
28:12
conversations. take a couple of
28:12
minutes when things are slow
28:14
compile those emails so that we
28:15
can get them in the database,
28:16
but that’s what that form on
28:18
your website is going to do
28:19
anybody who request an estimate
28:21
is going to automatically be
28:22
entered into your database and
28:25
a lot of people don’t have that
28:27
as the kick off point for their
28:28
automations, they think okay.
28:29
Well, I’ll wait to get to them
28:31
and send them an estimate and
28:32
then maybe some some
28:33
automations will. That’s a
28:36
common mistake you you might
28:38
think, okay. I’m on top of my
28:40
leads right now, but if you’re
28:41
running effective upsell
28:43
campaigns where you could
28:45
realistically have a couple
28:46
hundred new requests coming
28:49
overnight. Well, you need need
28:51
to have some that are nurturing
28:52
them up into the point of an
28:54
estimate right, you can’t make
28:55
all of your decisions on your
28:57
systems based off what’s my
28:58
current lead flow kind of need
29:00
to look a little bit to the
29:01
future and say if my lead flow
29:02
does expand do I have the
29:04
systems. Place today to to
29:06
actually be able to handle that
29:08
and that’s where the lead
29:09
letter and the free estimate
29:13
sequence or the the before
29:15
estimate sequence really comes
29:16
into play A lot of people
29:18
neglect this and then they
29:19
wonder why they have low
29:21
conversion rates on their
29:22
quotes right. Not everybody has
29:24
the time to go to every
29:25
property to meet the customers
29:26
like they might have you know
29:27
five or 10 years ago. so more
29:29
and more people are trying to
29:31
just quote off of the software
29:33
and send those quotes out and
29:34
you know follow up on those
29:35
quotes if. Sorry go ahead. No,
29:39
I was going to say, don’t just
29:40
to hit on it, so people may not
29:41
be aware of what this really
29:42
looks like fully dialed in, but
29:44
you’ve got your estimate
29:45
request of the website, so
29:47
folks are going to fill that
29:48
out and you have the underneath
29:50
that you’ve got the office
29:51
literally typing it in whether
29:53
it’s your office or a virtual
29:54
assistant. They’re in the
29:55
software so automatically this
29:57
lead letter is fired off and
29:58
these are the five or six main
29:59
reasons why you’re different so
30:01
off the bat you’ve
30:02
differentiate yourself from all
30:03
the other competitors and and
30:05
your difference. and now we’re
30:06
not selling. On price, but
30:08
based on them filling out a
30:09
colony office that short term
30:12
nurture is going to be a series
30:13
of communications timed out not
30:15
spamming, but it’s education so
30:17
what they’re going to do is
30:18
frame you as the expert in your
30:20
market. so if you’re going in,
30:21
let’s say for lawn mowing,
30:23
we’re going to talk about maybe
30:24
proper mowing height. How to
30:26
sharpen and balance the bleeds
30:28
and maybe proper irrigation to
30:30
go. So what we’re really doing
30:31
is teaching them how to do the
30:33
service themselves as a
30:34
professional, creating a higher
30:35
perceived value. To allow you
30:37
to charge the highest price in
30:38
your market now, in addition,
30:40
let’s face it folks people
30:42
don’t trust contractors and
30:43
they don’t trust themselves to
30:45
hire a contractor. There’s a
30:46
lot of bad conceptions of a
30:48
contractor which we’re all
30:50
professionals here. that
30:50
doesn’t apply to 99% of this.
30:52
so why not address the elephant
30:54
in the room? So if you’ve ever
30:55
read the book, they ask you
30:56
answered by Marcus Sheridan,
30:58
Marcus Sheridan was doing that
30:59
in his company, River pools and
31:01
spas same thing that we’re
31:02
showing here. I was doing a
31:04
Callahan’s lawn care, but what
31:04
we did is we. Questions are the
31:06
things on people’s minds ahead
31:08
of the actual question to be
31:10
answered, so the automation
31:11
does this now and we if you end
31:12
up working on this, this is
31:14
prebuilt with 130 documents or
31:16
more with prebuilt marketing
31:18
content and you’re like Mike.
31:19
There’s no way I could write
31:20
marketing content. I’m I’m I’m
31:22
a service business owner.
31:23
That’s okay. We got you
31:23
covered. We’ve got content
31:25
written for you that you can
31:26
you can manipulate and update,
31:28
but the idea is if I’m hiring a
31:30
lawn care contractor. my
31:31
biggest concern Dylan would be
31:33
is someone going to close the
31:34
fence gate behind them. Leave
31:36
the property because I don’t
31:37
want the pets running out of
31:38
the backyard and I definitely
31:39
don’t want the kids running out
31:40
of the backyard or even worse.
31:42
I don’t want somebody coming
31:43
into the backyard and drowning
31:44
in the pool so in your
31:46
short-term education, we’re
31:47
going to educate them as a
31:48
professional. how to do it
31:49
themselves, You can charge the
31:50
highest price and any of the
31:52
things that slow down that
31:53
sales process so sales and
31:55
price objections we address
31:56
them upfront and instill
31:59
confidence in your future
32:00
consumer to hire you because
32:02
you are now different than
32:03
everybody else and this process
32:04
is. Completely automated and
32:06
personalized based on a
32:07
particular service they’re
32:09
interested in so folks. This
32:10
isn’t just throwing it against
32:11
the wall and hoping it sticks.
32:12
This is a dialed in systematic
32:14
process of talking to them
32:15
where they’re at in the life
32:16
cycle. So Dylan, what happens
32:17
now that we’ve educated them
32:19
differentiated overcome the
32:20
sales of price objections
32:22
before we’ve ever even given an
32:23
estimate we send out that
32:24
estimate How are you following
32:26
up on that? Yeah. so another
32:28
another automated follow up
32:31
here right so once that quote
32:32
is actually sent out. Even if
32:35
you go and drop it off in
32:36
person, you can basically tell
32:38
the system. that we’ve we’ve
32:40
sent the quote and the
32:42
automation is going to actually
32:43
follow up on the estimate for
32:44
you now I alluded to this
32:46
earlier but people often make
32:48
the mistake of having a big
32:50
fancy email with company images
32:52
and logos and stuff like that
32:54
that looks automated right in
32:57
some of these automations you
32:58
need to take the opposite
32:59
approach and you know not
33:01
really being facetious here or
33:03
or kind of you know Shady.
33:05
Yeah, making it feel personal,
33:07
not shady, but exactly you want
33:09
this to literally sound like
33:10
something that you would type
33:13
out right so basically we’re
33:15
you mentioned earlier
33:17
omnichannel communication. you
33:18
can’t just rely on phone calls.
33:19
You can’t just rely on emails.
33:21
You can’t just rely on text
33:22
messages you need to be using a
33:24
combination of the three and a
33:26
proper combination right. we’ve
33:28
literally tested this over many
33:30
many years. I think we’re on
33:31
version twenty-five or
33:32
twenty-six of this where we’ve
33:33
noticed little things work
33:34
better than others and we make
33:35
those. Yeah, you know we just
33:38
keep refining it so that Dylan
33:39
you mentioned that that’s
33:40
perfect but you’re we’re going
33:42
to go through automated email
33:44
obviously automated text
33:45
message and this can be done
33:46
through multiple platforms to
33:48
service autopilot or
33:49
Infusionsoft by keep on the
33:52
other platforms that we’re
33:52
going to do automated email
33:54
automated text messaging and
33:56
we’re going to do phone calls
33:57
and phone calls are with a
33:59
script literally that would be
34:00
assigned to Dylan. Hey, Dylan.
34:01
It’s been 3 days since we
34:02
dropped off the lawn mowing for
34:04
Missus Smith. This is what to
34:04
say. She says the price is too
34:07
high. This is how we overcome
34:08
the sales and price injection
34:10
and by the way if she signs up,
34:11
this is what we do in this in
34:14
the software. if she doesn’t
34:15
sign up this is what we do and
34:16
if she says, I’m not sure if
34:17
I’m going to hire you guys that
34:18
I’m price shopping. This is
34:19
what you do in the software so
34:20
we’ve created a predictable
34:22
system that doesn’t rely on the
34:24
business owner and management
34:25
to babysit the process. Now you
34:26
may say Mike and Dylan Hey, I’m
34:29
I’m still in the truck. I’m
34:30
running the office. I don’t
34:30
have time to make those are
34:33
crazy. It’s okay the ocean. We
34:35
use a thing called a ringless
34:37
voicemail bomb and what that
34:38
does is it hits the cellphone
34:39
and file looks like a missed
34:41
call and leaves a prerecorded
34:42
message so like literally if I
34:44
was calling Dylan 3 days after
34:46
the estimate this ringless
34:47
voicemail by would kick in hit
34:49
a cellphone look like a missed
34:50
call when he checked that
34:51
voicemail would literally be
34:52
like. Hey, it’s Mike from
34:53
Callahan’s locker. so sorry I
34:54
missed you wanted to leave you
34:56
this voicemail. We dropped off
34:57
your estimate 3 days ago If you
34:59
have any questions, call me
35:00
back at this number otherwise
35:01
feel free to accept the online
35:02
estimate, but man if that’s a
35:03
little bit nervous and. Dillon
35:06
That’s no one’s going to
35:07
suspect a lawn care home
35:07
cleaning company to actually do
35:09
a ringless voicemail bomb boom
35:11
You just outworked you’ve
35:13
organized and automated
35:15
everyone in your market, most
35:16
most likely so is the
35:17
systematic way we’re going out
35:18
and closing these sales through
35:20
an automated process, but
35:22
closing the sale isn’t just
35:25
enough. We’ve gotta go in and
35:27
get them acclimated and welcome
35:28
to the business. So I know
35:29
Dylan you’re going to be
35:30
jumping into the welcome and
35:31
wow process. How do we automate
35:33
that process complete with
35:34
getting a credit card on file
35:36
because I know at least even
35:37
it’s simple growth. That’s a
35:38
that’s a pain in the butt like.
35:39
It’s hard to do people are
35:40
busy. Yeah. so if you have some
35:43
receivables right now that
35:44
you’re you know these
35:46
receivables are growing and
35:47
you’re having trouble
35:48
collecting from people well,
35:49
it’s probably because we don’t
35:50
we didn’t ask for a credit card
35:51
right off the bat before we
35:53
even got them scheduled into
35:54
the system. so that is kind of
35:55
what we recommend that before
35:57
you schedule someone in and
35:58
actually move forward with them
35:59
as a client, you get a credit
36:01
card on file and if you’re
36:02
waiting till the next morning
36:03
to contact this person and and
36:05
call them them and get their
36:06
credit card. they’ve almost
36:07
gone cold again and that could
36:08
be. Two or sometimes even a
36:11
three-day process where you
36:11
catch them when they’re driving
36:13
and so on and so forth right,
36:14
so you want this to be an
36:15
automated process that the
36:17
minute that they accept a
36:18
quote. We’re welcoming them to
36:19
the company. Of course, then
36:21
we’re also specifying that we
36:22
need your credit card basically
36:24
right away just to be put on
36:25
file and then we’re going to
36:26
charge you after the service or
36:27
whoever you’re actually perform
36:29
your billing but by asking for
36:30
that almost instantly whenever
36:33
they’re doing they’re browsing
36:34
and actually accepting your
36:34
proposal. so this could be 11
36:36
AM or 11 PM at night whether
36:39
Finally, getting around to this
36:40
and accepting the proposal you
36:41
want to be asking for the
36:42
credit card at 11:01 PM at
36:44
night right that. So that’s a
36:47
common mistake that we see. but
36:49
that’s kind of the welcome
36:50
portion right. We’re welcoming
36:51
them to the company. We’re
36:53
grabbing their payment
36:54
information automatically
36:55
another misstep that people do
36:57
is they’re so focused on the
36:58
sales that the after sales
37:01
support really diminishes right
37:03
if you’re a high growth
37:04
company, the last thing you
37:06
want is to be growing crazy
37:07
only to have a high. And coming
37:09
out the back door right so you
37:12
want to be making sure that
37:13
these customers are basically
37:15
wowed in the first 90 days that
37:17
they’re a new customer of
37:18
yours. that’s kind of the most
37:20
crucial period where if they’re
37:23
having a bad experience, right,
37:25
which which does happen you
37:26
need to rectify that
37:27
essentially immediately so that
37:29
that customer doesn’t just
37:30
phase out at the end of the
37:31
season and doesn’t resign up
37:34
with you. Yeah, a lot of stuff
37:36
you’re my mind is blown. This
37:37
is crazy, so this is is all
37:39
automated and obviously it
37:40
doesn’t happen overnight if
37:41
you’re building yourself and
37:42
this can be turned on very
37:43
quickly if you end up. With
37:45
simple growth but the the idea
37:46
Dylan that I love, I want to
37:48
kind of Retouch on a couple of
37:49
things as soon as that client
37:51
becomes a client that becomes a
37:54
client. now, we’re talking to
37:55
them as a client. so if you
37:56
require a credit card on file
37:57
things that get missed when
37:58
they’re busy, we get the card
37:59
on file that welcome email goes
38:01
out and acclimate them. Let’s
38:02
them know what to expect when
38:04
working with your business and
38:05
welcomes to your service
38:06
business. Dylan hit on it
38:08
thirty ninety-day follow up.
38:09
That’s the biggest cancellation
38:11
or churn area now what happens
38:12
if they sign up for a one-time
38:13
service. Well, we’re not going
38:16
to follow up thirty and 6090
38:17
days. We’re going to have an
38:18
automated but personalized
38:19
almost personalized looking
38:21
email coming from your office
38:22
or you saying. Hey, how is that
38:24
One-time service? But if it’s a
38:26
reoccurring service like lawn
38:27
mowing or home cleaning, we’re
38:28
going to go out and follow up
38:29
multiple times at 3060 and 90
38:31
days because that’s the biggest
38:32
cancellation point so in my
38:34
business, what I would find is
38:35
the response to the
38:38
personalized looking email be
38:39
like. Hey the guys and girls
38:40
are doing a great job mowing
38:41
the lawn, but they’re
38:42
occasionally not blowing off
38:43
the. Patio and that was a big
38:45
pain point for customers, so
38:46
we’re able to go in and fix it
38:48
before they cancelled. Now
38:49
those are some of the the
38:51
biggest things there now, in
38:52
addition, newsletters aren’t
38:54
dead if you’re doing them
38:55
right, We go out monthly and
38:57
educate people through a
38:58
newsletter what they should be
38:58
doing in their yard or or home
39:00
in advance. so we’re going to
39:01
tell them how to do it when
39:02
they should do it maybe a soft
39:04
liner at the bottom by the way
39:05
we’re here to help that’s going
39:06
to go out to everybody in the
39:08
database. It’s going to be your
39:09
leads your clients your
39:09
cancelled clients if you wanted
39:11
to then what I’m going to
39:12
recommend is. Segment your
39:14
database so leads and clients,
39:16
so maybe there’s special
39:17
promotions or information you
39:18
want to send your leads and you
39:19
don’t want to alienate your
39:21
client base. It’s already
39:22
signed up so we’ve got that
39:22
kind of figured out leading
39:23
client mid month communication
39:25
and then Dylan you kind of talk
39:27
about customer satisfaction. so
39:29
if you you wouldn’t mind kind
39:30
talking about our cancellation
39:32
risk automation NPS to social
39:34
review that we also do and
39:37
depending on the platform we do
39:39
do have some financial
39:40
automations not necessarily
39:41
sales, but they’re kind of
39:42
supporting. Sales process to
39:44
make sure that we are indeed
39:46
getting paid on time and if
39:47
we’re not getting paid, we have
39:49
some solutions for that.
39:50
obviously. yeah. so the five
39:52
Star review automation kind of
39:55
works hand in hand with the
39:56
cancellation risk report both
39:58
very very important. You
39:59
mentioned the 3060 and the
40:01
ninety-day onboarding process.
40:03
Well, that’s great right that’s
40:04
going to reduce churn. You
40:05
can’t neglect your clients
40:07
after that, though, right you
40:08
want these clients staying for
40:09
much longer than 90 days, you
40:11
want them staying for you know
40:12
10 years plus right so
40:14
occasionally you need to be
40:15
surveying these customers and I
40:16
know it’s a little bit of a
40:17
scary thought you know you
40:18
probably haven’t. This before
40:20
and you’re wondering am I going
40:21
to get some some negative
40:22
feedback or you might but nine
40:25
times out of ten that feedback
40:26
that you actually receive is
40:28
easily fixable right and and
40:30
people aren’t asking their
40:31
clients these questions and
40:33
then the client goes and signs
40:34
up with someone else and you’re
40:35
like. Wow. I really thought
40:36
Missus Jones was getting pretty
40:37
good service. I drove by her
40:39
house once or twice and
40:40
everything looked great like
40:41
you, said Mike. Maybe they love
40:43
spending time on their back
40:44
patio and the guys would never
40:46
blow that area off or or
40:47
whatever it. You know a
40:48
cleaning example, where the
40:50
main bathroom that these people
40:52
use didn’t didn’t receive the
40:54
final touches that it should
40:56
have whatever that might be.
40:58
You can fix it, but you need to
40:59
know about those issues first
41:01
and what the cancellation of
41:04
risk report does Is it bundles
41:06
up all those responses into
41:07
something that you can actually
41:09
take action on if you’re just
41:10
getting these responses and
41:11
they’re going to your email or
41:13
wherever they’re going stuck in
41:14
your CRM. It’s not super
41:17
actionable you need. Condensed
41:19
into a report where the higher
41:21
levels at your team, maybe
41:22
that’s an office manager the
41:25
owner and maybe the sales team
41:26
and potentially some head crew
41:28
leaders or foreman are looking
41:30
at this report and say how is
41:31
the company actually doing so
41:33
what it’s going to break down
41:35
is your promoters of the
41:36
company so people that are
41:37
rating you favorably and why
41:39
they’re rating you favorably
41:40
and we’re actually going to ask
41:42
those customers for a review on
41:44
either Facebook or Google or
41:45
wherever you’d like so these
41:46
five star reviews. You know
41:48
four plus star reviews we’re
41:50
going to just start to trickle
41:52
in automatically and they’re
41:54
not relying on. you know you
41:55
Mike feeling up to it when a
41:57
customer, says something
41:58
positive about the company and
42:00
then you know you’re reaching
42:01
out at the end of the day,
42:02
saying hey, would you be
42:03
willing to leave us A review on
42:04
Facebook Alright all this needs
42:07
to be automated and not rely on
42:09
someone at the company feeling
42:10
up to it. Yeah and let’s face
42:12
it asking for reviews sometimes
42:14
is awkward we forget but now we
42:16
figured out Dylan in this
42:16
process. We’ve organized the
42:19
process. we know how to get
42:20
that lead through the sales
42:22
process and nurture them and
42:24
close the sale. We figured out
42:25
how to automate it now. How do
42:27
we actually go out and dominate
42:29
so taking that successful
42:31
organized and automated
42:32
business and doubling and
42:34
tripling the client lifetime
42:35
value. I’m guessing by looking
42:38
at the screen. There’s two
42:39
different types of upsells a
42:40
traditional upsell, and then
42:42
maybe we can empower our crews
42:44
on site to actually do property
42:46
specific upsells. Based on the
42:49
deficiencies or opportunities,
42:51
we’re seeing on their property.
42:52
so would you mind speaking to
42:53
what what the next step of it?
42:55
automating this process and
42:57
going out and just basically
42:59
dominating to double and AAA
43:00
client lifetime value through
43:01
upsells and onsite upsells and
43:02
folks, I know Dylan is pretty
43:04
modest, but a lot of these have
43:05
been set up these these
43:06
automated upsells if you’re in
43:09
the different service industry,
43:10
Facebook groups, people are
43:11
talking about these upsells
43:12
seventy to eighty estimate
43:14
request in two to 3 hours five.
43:17
Eight times a year like
43:19
literally we’ve gone out and
43:21
helped so many businesses go
43:22
from that 750 850 mark to a
43:25
million and well beyond just by
43:27
doubling their client lifetime
43:29
value. So like these people are
43:30
here they want to buy more
43:31
services, but they just don’t
43:33
know you’re offering it. so
43:34
you’re doing your customer
43:36
justice and yourself if you
43:38
don’t go out and create an
43:39
upsell process, it’s systematic
43:41
and based on the customer side,
43:43
we’ll get more into how we
43:43
don’t all in it, but the worst
43:45
thing you can do and I get it
43:46
from multiple different
43:48
organizations and franchises is
43:49
they blast out. Hey, it’s time
43:51
to do your fertilization weed
43:52
control. Click here to get an
43:54
estimate if you haven’t already
43:56
signed up what what are you
43:57
telling your client at that
43:58
point? you don’t care about
43:59
them. You’re just literally
44:00
just there to spam them and try
44:02
to make more money off of them.
44:03
You don’t care if they’ve
44:04
actually had the service of
44:05
where they’re at in life like
44:06
so Dylan if you wouldn’t mind
44:07
expanding on what is an upsell?
44:09
How does it work when we
44:10
automate it And then how can we
44:11
actually empower our team in
44:12
the field to upsell as well?
44:14
Yeah, so the the upsell itself
44:17
is bit of a misnomer. Yes,
44:18
we’re upselling and. You know
44:21
increasing the value of some of
44:22
your customers, but also some
44:25
of these are just going to be
44:26
regular kind of email marketing
44:28
campaigns that can go to let’s
44:30
say just your leads when people
44:31
think of an upsell they think
44:33
of a client of mine who maybe
44:35
you just signed up for a lawn
44:36
mowing or a home cleaning we
44:38
want to upsell another thing
44:40
too, which is right for a lot
44:41
of of this, but just want to
44:42
make sure that we’re thinking
44:43
of it in a broader spectrum
44:45
where we can also be promoting
44:47
your services. to like you said
44:48
earlier. People who haven’t
44:51
accepted a quote from you that
44:52
that you know sorry had
44:54
requested a quote but did not
44:55
actually decide to move forward
44:57
with that right if you’re
44:59
throwing that stop throwing
45:00
that trash in the garbage with
45:02
those those estimates, Dillon
45:03
is going to I’m glad you
45:04
mentioned it. so it’s not just
45:05
an upsell to your current
45:06
client base, but it’s in the
45:08
reactivation process for your
45:10
loss, leads and cancelled
45:11
clients. Great great point
45:12
exactly and you mentioned if
45:15
you’re not following up on your
45:16
quotes over five times, you’re
45:18
missing out on 80% of the
45:18
sales. Well, then how about all
45:21
those people in your database
45:22
that you probably haven’t
45:23
talked to in a while that never
45:25
accepted a quote from you.
45:25
maybe you’ve never requested a
45:27
quote from you. how many sales
45:29
opportunities are you missing
45:31
there right these numbers start
45:32
to become very very large. So
45:36
what these these upsell
45:37
campaigns is systematically at
45:40
the proper time to be promoting
45:41
the service. we through the
45:44
automation are essentially pre
45:47
segmenting this list so this
45:47
is. Major hurdle that I see
45:51
with a lot of people is that
45:53
they’re spending hours on the
45:54
weekend when they have a little
45:55
bit of free time and they
45:57
should be probably hanging out
45:57
with the family. They’re trying
45:59
to segment your list and making
46:01
sure that you know these emails
46:02
aren’t going out to the the the
46:05
incorrect people you know
46:06
customers who have already
46:07
signed up for that service. so
46:09
through these upsell
46:11
automations that we’ve
46:11
carefully set up these lists
46:13
are pre segmented so if someone
46:15
has this service, they’re not
46:16
receiving the upsell for it. So
46:18
you’re not kind of catching
46:20
that black eye like you
46:20
mentioned Mike, where you know
46:22
Missus Jones already has the
46:24
service and she receives this
46:25
uncut email and now all of a
46:27
sudden she might not even think
46:28
she signed up with you anymore
46:29
and she might start going and
46:30
shopping your service because
46:32
well she just received an email
46:34
from you saying. Hey, do you
46:35
want to sign up for your
46:36
Midsummer fertilization or
46:38
whatever that might be grub
46:38
control? So having this Pres
46:42
segmented is extremely
46:43
extremely important and this is
46:44
where we’re starting to see
46:45
some of those oversized returns
46:46
that I. Talking about earlier
46:49
right when you start to get a
46:50
couple hundred people up to a
46:52
couple thousand people, we’ll
46:53
show you an example after this
46:54
of of some of the results you
46:55
can get when your database gets
46:56
larger This is where like Mike
46:59
said. You can start to have a
47:01
two. 20400 like I’ll show you
47:03
in just a second here. Quote
47:05
requests come in overnight. so
47:07
these are the kind of results
47:08
that you need to be thinking
47:10
about and making sure that you
47:11
have the systems in place to
47:13
handle these types of influx of
47:16
a business.
47:19
The the other thing kind of in.
47:22
in contrast to the upsell,
47:23
these are going out to your
47:24
database. The crew upsell is a
47:28
different type of upsell and
47:30
I’m glad you you you touched on
47:32
this mic because I actually
47:34
recently saw this in a Facebook
47:35
group where where someone was
47:37
planning on letting their crews
47:39
essentially dictate which what
47:42
was it which nurture campaign
47:46
these leads are these customers
47:48
were getting sent into and.
47:51
Know about you but the way that
47:52
we have it set up now it’s
47:54
simple growth I wouldn’t want
47:55
to trust my guys out in the
47:56
field that much to be able to
47:58
dictate which campaigns these
48:00
customers are getting entered
48:01
into so there can be some major
48:03
missteps if these aren’t set up
48:05
properly so the way that we do
48:07
this think of AA furnace or or
48:10
an AC company that’s coming to
48:12
do a semi annual or an annual
48:14
inspection right when they come
48:16
and they notice some issues
48:18
with the furnace, let’s say,
48:19
and they make some
48:19
recommendation. Nine times out
48:22
of ten, you’re thinking. I’m
48:23
not the expert. These guys have
48:25
a good reputation if it needs
48:26
it just get it done. go ahead
48:28
with it right and that
48:29
essentially is an upsell but
48:31
the those upsells get eighty to
48:34
100% closing rates because they
48:36
are the expert right. So that’s
48:38
the process that we’re
48:39
instituting here with our crew
48:41
upsell where you have all these
48:42
eyes and ears out of the field
48:45
out in homes and looking at
48:47
these issues seeing them every
48:48
day. but do you have a regimen?
48:50
Process where they need to be
48:54
relaying these issues back to
48:55
you or a sales rep so that they
48:57
can call the customer if
48:58
applicable. so, at least on my
49:01
company, I’d say about thirty
49:03
to 40% of the time some of
49:05
these upsell opportunities
49:07
weren’t really valid because
49:08
the guys out in the field don’t
49:11
realize that Missus Jones just
49:12
signed up for our fertilization
49:14
weed control program, so we
49:15
wouldn’t want to enter her into
49:16
a nurture campaign for weed
49:18
control and for. And then you
49:21
have that the black eye right,
49:24
so all this needs to be very
49:25
very carefully crafted and
49:27
those are kind of the the two
49:28
main forms of upsells that are
49:31
really going to move the needle
49:32
when it comes to your sales at
49:34
the end of the year. Huge
49:37
couldn’t have said it better
49:38
myself, so I really appreciate
49:39
breaking that down what a fully
49:40
automated service business can
49:42
look like from Little League
49:43
acquisition to pre estimate
49:45
education, overcoming sales and
49:46
price objections, raising a
49:47
higher perceived value charge
49:48
the highest price in your
49:50
market. follow up and close
49:52
those estimates five or more
49:53
times across different
49:54
channels. We go in. We welcome
49:56
we wow them. We follow up for
49:57
90 days to make sure that
49:59
cancellations been there. we
50:00
continue to nurture your lead
50:01
your clients and cancelled
50:03
clients through mid month and
50:04
beginning of month. We go out
50:07
to make sure if they are happy
50:09
we go out and get into social
50:10
review if they’re not happy, we
50:12
get them back and and figure
50:13
out what’s going wrong with
50:14
them and then we go out and
50:16
continue to double and triple
50:17
that client lifetime value for
50:19
existing clients, but we don’t
50:21
ignore all the people that have
50:22
come into our database that
50:23
have never accepted and that’s
50:25
when they’re cancelled and in
50:26
the crazy people we can get
50:27
them out too because everybody
50:28
has them so you don’t want to
50:29
upsell it crazy like we’ve done
50:30
that made that mistake, so
50:31
built it in the automation. but
50:34
man. And I’m telling you that
50:36
this is huge mind blowing. I
50:37
know I work it work it
50:39
Wednesdays. We’re going to
50:40
we’re going to get into
50:40
automations and bots, but you
50:42
kind of see the bottom of the
50:43
screen there. We’ve got that
50:44
messenger bot from Facebook
50:46
Instagram your website or a QR
50:50
code or texting in and that
50:52
right into the automated
50:53
process. So we’ll dive into
50:54
that and then another working
50:55
on Wednesday, how that bot can
50:56
tie into this whole process and
50:57
Automate it. unbelievable
50:59
Brother. What else you got for
51:01
us here on work on it
51:02
Wednesdays so two quick
51:03
examples. So this is my company
51:07
here. Basically we were very
51:10
very early adopter of these
51:12
automations and I just wanted
51:14
to kind of just outline like
51:15
the percentage of growth that
51:17
you can have. you know you
51:18
don’t need to be you don’t need
51:20
to accept well all I can really
51:23
afford to grow is five or 10%
51:25
per year if there’s substantial
51:28
opportunity in your market, you
51:29
really need to seize that or
51:31
else someone else is going to
51:33
could be an established
51:34
competitor. It could be a
51:35
smaller competitor, but it’s
51:37
not always just there for the
51:38
taking forever. I can’t think
51:41
of a more clear example as to
51:43
these tractors here. at the
51:46
time when we were expanding
51:48
super super rapidly in a
51:49
residential snow removal side
51:50
of the business, there was only
51:52
one other competitor and there
51:54
are certain days where we’re
51:54
making forty or fifty sales in
51:57
a single day Now, I think
51:59
there’s seven or eight
52:00
companies that have these
52:02
tractors. so sometimes you
52:03
actually have a very very small
52:05
window to cement yourself as
52:07
the leader in this area and you
52:08
know there there. Advantages to
52:10
being a first mover, but in
52:12
this case, there was some
52:14
significant advantages to being
52:16
more well known and a lot of
52:18
this model is volume. So you
52:21
know this is kind of just a
52:23
rough example, but from 2017 to
52:25
2019 when we actually had up
52:27
the sales to a pretty
52:28
substantial amount, we still
52:30
didn’t rest on our laurels and
52:32
say well, only five to 10% is
52:34
possible. We actually grew
52:35
basically 200% over the final 2
52:38
years that I had in my business
52:39
before I sold it and that.
52:41
Growth actually is what
52:43
attracted the purchaser.
52:45
another quick example here.
52:48
Sometimes people will say,
52:49
okay, you get some good results
52:50
with your email campaigns. What
52:52
should I be expecting? I may
52:54
have a bigger database and I
52:56
only got a handful of of quotes
52:59
that I only won 25% of them.
53:01
Well we we have some clients
53:03
that have very very sizable
53:05
databases and this in
53:07
particular client had 4500
53:09
clients and leads, and that’s
53:11
really the number you need to
53:13
be looking at. what’s the total
53:14
marketable amount of people in
53:15
the. Database So this example,
53:18
here was a aeration and
53:20
overseed upsell, which in about
53:22
a month a month and a half time
53:24
this is when these promotions
53:26
are going to start to run again
53:27
for this particular client. So
53:30
with this 4500 people that he
53:31
was able to market to with
53:34
through the simple growth
53:35
upsell, he actually almost got
53:38
10% response rate of people
53:41
actually accepting a quote. You
53:44
know this is. not a rarity I
53:46
would say, but this was a great
53:48
example of a very successful
53:50
upsell campaign. where you know
53:52
people would pay ten to twenty
53:53
to $30000 to do a postcard
53:56
campaign to get 430 quote
53:59
requests so tying it back to
54:01
the one of the first things I
54:02
said about finding these ways
54:04
where you can invest $1 and get
54:07
$10 back right. This is kind of
54:09
one of those ways where very
54:11
low cost way to get a an
54:13
enormous return. Wow. Imagine
54:13
what that. Like five to eight
54:16
times a year. exactly right,
54:19
This isn’t the only episode
54:20
that he ran. this was kind of
54:22
just cherry pick to show these
54:24
things work They they work
54:25
great and I guarantee his
54:28
database is not 4500 people
54:31
come come 2021 upsell time.
54:33
Alright. That’s probably five.
54:37
the effect exactly exactly so.
54:42
quick. Second last slide here I
54:44
believe basically. We we talked
54:47
about this right. We tried to
54:48
keep it pretty pretty broad
54:50
scope, but it’s not just lawn
54:52
care or home cleaning that can
54:53
use these types of automations
54:55
right home cleaning landscaping
54:57
You know design build we
54:59
control fertilization window
55:01
cleaning washing snow removal
55:04
You know, pet waste removal.
55:06
There’s so many companies that
55:07
can be using automations to
55:08
their advantage. I probably
55:10
left out a ton there there’s I
55:12
believe last count is 116
55:14
services boat charters. Gopher
55:18
control window cleaning It’s on
55:21
there. I mean there, I mean if
55:22
the list goes on and on and on
55:23
the crazy thing is those 116
55:26
called 100 services we have
55:29
prebuilt industry specific and
55:31
service specific marketing
55:32
content for these things. so
55:34
absolutely take that flow chart
55:35
go out and build it yourself.
55:37
But if you’re like guys, this
55:38
is way too much, I don’t have
55:40
the time or even the skill set
55:41
the right marketing copy emails
55:42
the text messages and call
55:43
scripts. wait till the end here
55:45
in the next. Latitude We got a
55:47
special offer for you, but
55:48
we’ve done the work for you
55:50
tried and tested thousands and
55:51
thousands of emails hundreds of
55:53
clients, Dylan and I both have
55:54
used this in our seven-figure
55:56
businesses and we found the
55:58
biggest pain point is people
55:59
don’t want to re marketing copy
56:00
well. that’s great. I didn’t
56:01
either in the early days, so
56:03
we’ve written every email every
56:04
text message every call script
56:06
everything you need is in here,
56:07
service and industry specific
56:08
and you can go in and customize
56:10
it to your liking and you own
56:11
that document forever. but if
56:13
that’s your biggest hurdle is
56:14
time you don’t have time. Know
56:16
what to say we’ve got that
56:18
covered and like Dylan said. We
56:19
continue to tweak and update
56:21
these things so on version of
56:22
twenty-five or twenty-six of
56:24
just our automated estimate 20
56:25
days to close. follow up so and
56:27
these are refined specifically
56:29
for the service industry. Dylan
56:30
and I and the simple grow team
56:32
are living in the same trenches
56:33
you’re living in still and we
56:35
understand how it needs to
56:37
operate inside your particular
56:39
industry and service business.
56:41
So I’m glad you mentioned that
56:42
Dylan but if you have a service
56:44
business even Been washing you
56:47
name it, We have pretty much
56:48
automated with success. Yes,
56:50
yes. Yes we. We definitely have
56:52
a lot of a lot of different
56:54
industries. We’re working with
56:55
so if you’re ready to Automate
56:57
and actually build the sales
56:59
machine, whether you’re doing
57:00
it yourself or you do think you
57:02
need some help with it. I’m not
57:04
going to go over necessarily
57:06
all the offers, but essentially
57:07
we do have a special offer for
57:08
anybody who’s stuck around
57:11
basically we’re offering $500
57:12
off the the setup fees. For any
57:15
of our automation packages, so
57:19
I welcome you to go. check them
57:20
out simple growth systems.com
57:21
we’ll kind of just quickly go
57:23
over because you might be
57:25
looking at that fully automated
57:26
system and say Geez. That’s a
57:28
lot of stuff. I’m a new
57:29
business. Do I need all that so
57:31
we’ve we’ve kind of structured
57:32
them to be cohesive to the
57:35
different. parts of the
57:37
business life cycle. So we have
57:39
our sales level one package
57:40
very basic. This is actually
57:42
kind of what I started out with
57:43
that simple growth. It’s going
57:46
to handle the the lead intake
57:48
forms You also get our 20 days
57:50
to close estimate. Follow up
57:52
and we give you a little taste
57:54
of the upsells that we know
57:56
you’re going to love. so one is
57:57
a great starting off point
58:00
begin to nurture your database
58:02
with. any questions about that.
58:04
Mike before I go on to the
58:06
sales level. two. No, it’s just
58:07
to clarify that $500 off
58:09
Basically there is no
58:10
conference season up to this
58:12
point with COVID. so what we’re
58:13
kind of doing is is doing a
58:14
virtual conference experience
58:15
today and just like we do at
58:17
the conferences If you pay in
58:18
full, you would receive $500.
58:20
Off any of the packages that
58:22
Dylan’s going after if you’re
58:24
like Mike, we we don’t have the
58:25
cash money upfront. We’re
58:26
reinvesting the business. It’s
58:27
the craziest season cash wise.
58:29
That’s cool. We finance this up
58:31
to five or 6 months interest
58:33
free as well. So if you’ve got
58:34
the cash in the bank, you need
58:35
the tax right off $500 for the
58:37
end of this webinar otherwise
58:39
we’ll extend interest free
58:40
financing for the set of the
58:43
automation and basically you’re
58:44
going out and buying what would
58:46
normally would have cost
58:47
twenty-five or $30000 to build
58:48
out and. A small small small
58:51
fraction of that price, so
58:53
Dylan I think you nailed it,
58:54
but this system is built for
58:56
each size of a business, so you
58:57
can go from level one to level
58:58
two to level three to three
59:00
plus and it hits the specific
59:02
pain points of your business as
59:03
you scale. So Dylan started out
59:05
at level one next thing you
59:06
know he’s at level three or
59:07
three plus and the guy was
59:10
crushing it, but I mean as a
59:11
consumer, Dillon wasn’t quite
59:13
ready to jump up to to sales
59:14
level three when he did it got
59:16
explosive but that that’s very
59:18
common for people to start out.
59:19
I tell you I think about 8586
59:21
percent of our clients to start
59:23
out with level one or two
59:24
within a month or two are on
59:25
level three they they see the
59:27
value they see that. so what do
59:29
we got cooking here for level
59:30
two? Yeah so level two.
59:32
Obviously you get everything
59:34
included in sales level one,
59:35
but then you also get that free
59:37
estimate short term nurture
59:39
that Mike was talking about.
59:40
That’s so important shortening
59:41
the sales cycle answering those
59:43
objections and then cementing
59:45
yourself as the market leader
59:47
very very important. When you
59:49
start to get seventy or eighty
59:51
quote requests overnight, you
59:53
need to be talking to these
59:54
customers in an automated way
59:56
to keep them warmed up so that
59:57
when you do get to their quote,
59:59
they still want you and then
60:01
you get an extra upsell as
60:04
well. So now we’re at two total
60:06
upsell campaigns level Three.
60:09
I’d say this is probably this
60:10
is level three plus are most
60:12
popular just because they they
60:14
start to automate more. I think
60:16
a level one and level two is
60:17
more of like an entry level
60:19
automation package. so great
60:21
great to start on II started
60:21
out on. The level, three and
60:24
three plus are where most
60:26
people are at this. we’re
60:28
getting into almost everything
60:29
that I myself and Mike had
60:31
spoken about is included in
60:32
this package, The only things
60:35
that you’re really missing out
60:36
on are the dispatch
60:37
notification automation the
60:39
five Star review and
60:41
cancellation risk report the
60:42
overdue invoice and the crew
60:44
upsell, and then you don’t get
60:45
the eight upsell campaigns,
60:47
which really really complete
60:48
your email marketing campaigns
60:50
that you need you don’t want to
60:51
you really don’t want to do.
60:52
More than that you get five,
60:54
which is still a great starting
60:56
point. so as we dive in from
60:59
level three to three, plus
61:00
you’re going to pick up the
61:02
cancellation risk report the
61:03
dispatch notification the
61:04
overdue invoice and you’re
61:06
picking up an extra. three
61:09
upsells as well, plus the crew
61:10
upsell correct. exactly and the
61:14
the crew upsell alone in my
61:15
company, we’re able to
61:16
literally sell forty to $50000
61:18
of new work each year just by
61:20
having a regimented process
61:21
that the crew. Reporting the
61:24
issues back to us right so.
61:27
there’s little things like this
61:29
that are really going to move
61:30
the needle and the cost is
61:32
essentially inconsequential. so
61:35
we we still have our kind of
61:37
our our spring late spring
61:39
promo that we are running up so
61:41
if you are interested in
61:42
getting help with any of these
61:44
packages all of this is
61:46
outlined on SG Spring.com and
61:51
if you need a bit more
61:52
clarification on any of these,
61:53
you know you can request a call
61:55
on that website. I believe but
61:57
also just simple growth
61:58
systems.com. Book a call
62:00
that’ll come directly to me and
62:01
we can chat further about this,
62:03
but if you have any questions
62:05
and you’re watching this live
62:06
feel free to text. that’s my
62:08
cell. anytime you can you can
62:11
text or call that number and we
62:13
can chat further about this
62:14
love it. Dylan. I can’t thank
62:16
you enough work on it.
62:16
Wednesday’s not in it if you’re
62:18
going to go out and build this
62:19
yourself you want to organize
62:21
it you want to Automate it and
62:23
then you want to double down
62:23
and dominate it if you don’t
62:25
have the time to do any of that
62:26
you’re looking at a turnkey
62:27
solution hit Dillon up. SG
62:30
Spring.com and what we’ve done
62:32
is literally through the last
62:33
eight or 9 years, we’ve gone
62:34
and figured out how to organize
62:35
your business. How to automate
62:37
your business and how to double
62:38
down and dominate through those
62:40
sales level, three and three
62:41
plus upsells and configurations
62:43
that we have and in domination
62:45
is not just the upsell
62:46
expansion. also reducing that
62:49
cancellation and and and
62:49
increasing that customer
62:51
satisfaction is as we drive
62:53
crazy sales. let’s face it.
62:54
We’re not always going to be
62:56
perfect but the automation goes
62:57
in there. Time it should and
63:00
consistently make sure your
63:01
clients are happy and if
63:02
they’re not it drives a person
63:04
in there for accountability. so
63:07
WWW SG Spring.com Dylan also
63:09
had some specials there for
63:10
$500 off if you’re paying in
63:12
full or we can do 0% financing
63:15
and this stuff is not expensive
63:16
folks. so if you’re looking to
63:18
automate it, it’s as little as
63:19
what about $47 a month. Dylan
63:21
yeah ranges from 47 up to 199.
63:25
as your business grows right.
63:28
As your business grows, we’re
63:29
going to grow with you and if
63:30
you’re not interested, take
63:32
this content take that flow
63:33
chart go back. Watch the
63:34
recorded version of this
63:35
because folks that is the road
63:37
map to service business success
63:39
to go in and organize Automate
63:40
and dominate your market. so
63:42
Dylan appreciate you joining me
63:43
on the first installment of
63:44
work on it. Wednesdays, where
63:46
myself and the simple grow team
63:48
are going to come in here every
63:49
Wednesday varying times, but
63:51
usually between about one and 2
63:53
PM eastern on a weekly basis to
63:55
go in and help you so I want a
63:56
big shout out to. Rudy Roder,
64:00
amongst many other people
64:01
watching live here, but if you
64:03
have questions of the things
64:05
that you should be working on
64:06
in your business to create a
64:09
greater return and create that
64:11
lifestyle business of your
64:12
dreams, why we all got into the
64:14
business. That’s why we’re
64:15
here. We’re going to show you
64:15
how to do it and it
64:17
occasionally like today If you
64:19
stick to the end, we do have a
64:20
little special so hopefully you
64:21
hit SG Spring.com you book a
64:23
call you talk to Dylan and II
64:25
might just give you a. Or text
64:27
you your mobiles on the screen
64:28
and I don’t know, but it’s kind
64:30
of exciting. you don’t see that
64:31
every day, but we’ll see you
64:33
again next Wednesday Workout.
64:36
Wednesdays Simple like Dillon
64:38
from the simple grow team,
64:40
helping you scale and like take
64:41
your life back from your
64:42
service business, you know and
64:43
I’ll see you again next
64:44
Wednesday, probably one or 2 PM
64:45
Eastern sounds good and we
64:48
might be talking about employee
64:49
recruiting and on board
64:51
potential. It’s it’s it’s a hot
64:53
topic right now. so you know
64:54
what I’m going to hold you to
64:54
that. Dylan next Wednesday.
64:56
Recruiting training and
64:58
onboarding how to automate it
64:59
how to create systems and if
65:01
you’ve ever seen the interview
65:02
with myself and Jonathan Patno
65:04
of the lawn care Millionaire.
65:06
we talk about building a team
65:08
building an organizational
65:10
chart and creating a culture
65:12
that scales and let’s face it
65:14
folks the biggest issue right
65:14
now in our service business is
65:16
help help help we need to go
65:18
out and be able to compete with
65:19
the walmarts and all the
65:21
big-box stores right now
65:22
because labor is tight and I
65:24
don’t see any relief coming.
65:26
Next week work on it Wednesday,
65:28
we’ll announce the time but
65:29
somewhere between one and 2 PM
65:30
eastern. We’re going to break
65:31
down the whole employee,
65:33
recruiting training and
65:34
boarding and how to stack your
65:36
virtual bench. Maybe maybe a
65:38
little taste of how to do some
65:39
piece or pay for performance on
65:42
that on the next episode. So
65:42
we’ll see you there. Dylan
65:43
Thanks again. Brother. I’ll
65:45
catch you next Wednesday at
65:46
work on

Work On It Wednesday: CRM AUDIT w/ Dillan Ruthenberg

Video Transcript

00:02
Welcome back to work on it
00:02
Wednesday. Myself and Dylan
00:03
Roth. we’re with a simple
00:05
growth team working and
00:06
breaking out some time every
00:07
Wednesday to help you work on
00:09
your business and not in it is
00:10
Michael Gerber would say. So,
00:12
Dylan has got a action packed
00:14
work on it. Wednesday session
00:16
that we’re going to be diving
00:17
into. Uh so, we’ve got a lot of
00:18
questions of people that have
00:19
been watching work on it
00:21
Wednesdays and they do want to
00:22
work on it but they’re not
00:24
exactly sure what they should
00:25
work on. So, what we’re going
00:26
to be diving into today is a
00:28
CRM. AUDIT. You’re probably
00:29
asking Mike is a CRM. Well, a
00:32
CRM is a customer relationship
00:34
management software. So,
00:36
there’s a lot of service
00:37
industry softwares out there.
00:38
This is going to be nonspecific
00:40
software related. This is going
00:42
to literally go to any service
00:44
software that you’re using and
00:46
we’re going to break down the
00:47
key areas, the five or six
00:49
areas that you should have
00:50
built out in the software using
00:52
for your service business
00:53
Whether it’s lawn care, home
00:54
cleaning, pest control, pool
00:56
service, I don’t care. These
00:58
are the core areas that you
00:58
need in your business. To be
01:00
successful and continue to grow
01:02
with the new buying in
01:04
technology shifts that are
01:04
happening right now. So,
01:05
without any further delay, um I
01:08
am going to pull up the screen
01:09
here once Dylan is ready and uh
01:12
we’re going to dive into the
01:13
actual AUDIT. So, live Facebook
01:15
Live. What what could go wrong?
01:17
We’ll see it. Oh, let’s see.
01:18
You ready to go down? I am
01:20
ready to go. Yes. Alright.
01:21
Wasn’t sure exactly what’s on
01:22
there before me. some family
01:23
portraits or something here. I
01:25
lost my page there for a second
01:27
but everything is back in order
01:28
now. selfies of that cat that
01:30
sometimes jumps on the old
01:32
essay weekly. Alright, perfect.
01:34
There we go. So, we got the
01:35
right screen here uh but Dylan,
01:36
you’re going to be talking
01:37
about what we need to have in
01:38
our software or CRM for
01:40
success. um for this year and
01:45
the I mean again, this is
01:46
software independent. It
01:47
doesn’t doesn’t matter what
01:48
software we’re using or if
01:49
you’re not using any software
01:51
at all. you got the pen and
01:51
paper. Um these are some things
01:53
that you need to start thinking
01:54
about for success in your
01:55
service business. So, dealing
01:56
without any delay brother. Um I
01:58
will give you the floor Okay.
02:00
Awesome. Yeah. so II. Just
02:02
wanted to touch on this quick
02:03
just because the the kind of
02:05
the free analysis and the free
02:06
audit that we do that we offer
02:08
to people was kind of contrived
02:11
around these these couple
02:12
things here that we thought
02:13
were fundamental parts of a CRM
02:15
that you need to have set up
02:17
and you know, know, you kind of
02:19
don’t know what don’t know So
02:20
that’s why we’ve made this
02:21
audits, you know, working with
02:23
so many companies and in these
02:25
different softwares. um we’re
02:28
able to kind of show you blind
02:28
spots that you might not even
02:29
know exist. So it’s really
02:32
based around kind of uh a
02:33
couple main sections here. so
02:34
II can maybe Zoom in a little
02:37
bit more to make it easier but
02:39
we have a sales automation and
02:41
Dylan, why you do that? I just
02:42
put a comment. Okay. As you
02:46
say, before you do that, I just
02:48
put a comment on the Facebook
02:49
Live here. It’s a live
02:50
recorded. If someone is
02:52
interested in actually getting
02:53
a free audit. Um Dylan and
02:55
myself are actually doing these
02:56
free audits while time permits.
02:58
So, um feel free to click that
02:59
link at this looks of interest
03:00
and you want some help doing an
03:01
audit of your software. So,
03:02
sorry about that. I just wanted
03:03
to let people know that that is
03:04
available. Yeah, no, no worries
03:06
and yeah, it doesn’t take like
03:07
hours and AUDIT is sometimes a
03:09
little bit of a scary word You
03:10
think of kind of like the uh
03:11
the IRS uh coming in and
03:13
auditing you well, it’s usually
03:15
like 2030 minutes. Uh very
03:17
conversational but we’re just
03:18
we’re just asking you these
03:20
types of questions that we’ll
03:20
get into in just a second but
03:21
the the main points that we’re
03:23
looking at are uh what what do
03:24
you have set up for for sales
03:27
automations, um and just kind
03:28
of sales systems um employee
03:31
recruiting and and automating
03:33
Um how are you tracking your
03:35
assets? Are you using another
03:37
piece of software or actually
03:38
have you made the software that
03:40
you’ve already invested the
03:40
time and money into work to
03:42
actually manage your assets as
03:43
well repetitive tasks, right?
03:47
This is a major time for you
03:49
and your office. Um how are you
03:51
doing on that front? Are you
03:53
doing anything to actually
03:54
build route density which
03:57
regardless of what industry
03:57
you’re in, that’s um you know,
03:59
extremely important and then
04:01
are you, do you have any way to
04:03
actually automate your quotes
04:05
so it’s not relying on you or
04:06
your sales staff to be kind of
04:08
capped out at a certain amount
04:09
of quotes per day So that
04:11
that’s that’s kind of the
04:12
premise that we use here when
04:13
we’re going through the actual
04:14
AUDIT itself. So let me bring
04:17
that over here and I will pull
04:18
up the AUDIT and we’ll we’ll
04:21
get right into it Like that
04:23
background. Pretty colorful.
04:24
that brother. Yeah. I don’t
04:26
know what it is but uh it’s
04:28
nice. a good thing. You’re not
04:31
not out in the back of my uh my
04:33
screensaver there in the back
04:34
of my setup probably would be
04:36
failing a multiple level that
04:36
is colorful. I like it. So, uh
04:40
once again to Dillon Otto, you
04:42
touched down, you’re probably
04:43
sure you’re going to be touched
04:44
when you do if you sign up for
04:45
the free audit with Dylan and
04:46
myself. Uh you actually do get
04:47
a report um and with the
04:48
analysis, you can actually see
04:51
something can physically take
04:51
away no charge of what you are
04:54
missing in your software. Uh
04:56
once again, it’s software
04:57
independent or if you’re not
04:58
using a software that can kind
04:59
of give you an idea of where
05:00
you should start and uh what
05:01
the end goal is. Yes, for sure.
05:04
I’ll touch on that. Um that
05:05
that’s kind of the second page
05:06
here if you can see it down to
05:07
the bottom of the results but
05:08
I’ll I’ll show you a sneak peek
05:09
now. This is just kind of um
05:11
some some random answers that I
05:13
filled in here just so we can
05:14
kind of see what it is. Um
05:15
these aren’t anybody’s in
05:17
particular but but this is the
05:18
AUDIT right here where we’re
05:20
we’re we’re asking you some
05:21
questions um so we can provide
05:23
you some feedback on how we had
05:24
simple growth kind of think
05:25
you’re doing with regards to
05:27
how effectively you’re
05:29
utilizing your CRM whichever
05:30
CRM that might be. Um so in for
05:33
us to grade you on how you’re
05:34
doing. We kind of need to know
05:35
if you just started your
05:37
business yesterday and and you
05:37
have no sales or you know,
05:39
you’ve been around for 20 years
05:40
and you got a team of thirty
05:42
people, right? So, the first
05:43
thing we ask you is kind of
05:44
what stage of business are you
05:45
actually in and we we’ve kind
05:47
of nickname them here
05:49
solopreneurs, small teams,
05:50
steady operation, or a seven
05:52
figure plus business so that
05:54
kind of sets the stage for the
05:55
entire thing. Yeah and the cool
05:57
thing is um we’ve got five or
05:59
six people on the C team who
06:00
have scaled multi seven figure
06:02
So, the idea is we have been
06:04
through all the stages of these
06:06
businesses. We know the
06:07
pitfalls. We know what the
06:08
biggest pain point is and the
06:10
most desired solution is so is
06:11
Dylan’s going to walk you
06:12
through this year. Um it’s
06:14
really important to go step by
06:15
step because we need to know
06:15
what’s the next growth hurdle
06:17
and what’s the most important
06:18
part in your software to
06:19
actually accomplish that? Yeah
06:21
yeah and to plan for that,
06:23
right? We see some people that
06:24
are stuck at certain sales Um
06:26
you know, marks and they just
06:28
can’t get above it no matter
06:29
what they’re doing so that they
06:30
kind of need someone to come
06:32
help them and look at this type
06:33
of stuff and we also see people
06:35
that are growing incredibly
06:36
quickly and you need to be
06:38
planning for those problems
06:39
that are going to be coming up
06:40
at the A 1000002000000
06:42
$3000005000000 mark. Um so, so
06:44
the first thing that we jump
06:45
into before we can give you any
06:47
like expert advice is we need
06:48
to know have you actually been
06:51
set up properly from the get
06:52
go, right? If it’s kind of like
06:54
building a house, if have a
06:56
really poor, unstable
06:57
foundation, the house might
06:58
look great but it’s kind of
07:00
like a house of cards. So, we
07:02
Look at how you’re actually set
07:03
up. So, some basic questions,
07:05
you know, if you’re even using
07:06
a CRM, do you have some
07:07
fundamental things that we
07:08
think every business should
07:10
have? Um and then we get into
07:11
more of like the the office
07:13
process stuff. So, do you have
07:15
actually a nice estimate
07:16
document? Are you logging the
07:18
the calls and Emails or is what
07:20
a customer maybe tells you a
07:22
couple of months ago and you
07:24
know, you’re doing a quote 3
07:25
months later. Do you even
07:27
remember that information?
07:28
Because it was never logged in
07:30
the first place. So, this is
07:31
kind of what I like they’re
07:32
just a beginner section here.
07:33
Uh ideally, you want to get ten
07:36
out of or I think it’s actually
07:37
1515 out of fifteen on this
07:39
section. Um not everybody does
07:40
but you want to get a really
07:42
high grade on this section here
07:43
because it is fairly basic
07:45
stuff. You know, are your team
07:46
members using a mobile app to
07:48
clock in and out all this stuff
07:49
though. Uh you know, as as we
07:51
get down to to invoicing
07:54
systems and logging equipment
07:55
or property damage, all the
07:56
stuff are fundamental parts of
07:59
using a CRM um but that there
08:02
shouldn’t be any major
08:03
surprises here. Uh we’d like to
08:05
see people at least getting
08:06
twelve uh plus out of fifteen
08:09
on this section here. Um does
08:11
that make sense, Mike? yeah it
08:14
makes complete sense and I know
08:15
you’ve, you’ve done more than a
08:16
few of these. So, I’ve been
08:17
trying to be quiet here just
08:18
because I know that uh you’ve
08:19
seen all different gamut of
08:20
this but this makes complete
08:22
sense to me um and the cool
08:23
thing is that we’re really not
08:25
trying to sell anything here.
08:26
We just ultimately want you to
08:27
make sure you’ve got the
08:28
foundational pieces set up
08:29
because I know at least when I
08:30
set up my software or softwares
08:32
along the road. Um some of
08:34
these things weren’t even in
08:35
the software I was using or I
08:37
just completely missed them. so
08:38
uh makes complete sense. Yeah
08:41
yeah and uh you know one of
08:43
these questions might kind of
08:44
jog your memory or or you know
08:45
expose a little of a pain point
08:47
where you’re you’re saying, oh
08:49
geez. Yeah, we we haven’t
08:50
really got that point set up.
08:52
So, we’ll kind of make some
08:53
notes here on on the side as
08:55
we’re going through this type
08:55
of thing and then we’ll talk
08:57
about it at the end. um but
09:00
some people like to set up of
09:01
their CRM. It’s just not a
09:03
major issue. They’re they’re
09:04
they’re entirely set up. That’s
09:05
not the issue. it’s something
09:06
else. So then we kind of
09:07
transition on to this next part
09:09
here which is of like the
09:11
intermediate section. A lot of
09:12
people will score almost
09:14
perfect on this section too um
09:15
but it’s kind of and difficulty
09:17
as we go along. So, um if if
09:22
you remember the the stages at
09:23
the beginning, you know, uh
09:25
business that just started out
09:26
and that’s a solopreneur.
09:28
They’re probably not going to
09:30
get ten or twelve out of
09:31
fifteen on this section here as
09:32
we’re getting into the more
09:33
intermediate stages but someone
09:35
who’s a seven-figure plus
09:36
business should be getting a
09:37
fairly good score on this. Um
09:39
so this one like I said mainly
09:40
about the sales analysis here
09:42
and we’re asking like how many
09:44
leads have you actually
09:45
generated, right? How many Are
09:47
you actually doing stuff like
09:48
that? Um how are you actually
09:51
performing the quotes? Is it
09:52
relying on the business owner?
09:53
Is it relying on a sales rep?
09:55
Uh have you found any way to
09:58
provide instant pricing for
09:59
your customers Um and then we
10:02
go into some of the more um the
10:04
more advanced features of the
10:06
CRM here. Where are you
10:08
actually uh automating your
10:10
welcoming and you’re on
10:11
boarding your upsell process?
10:13
You know, we hear a lot of
10:14
people that yeah I’m I’m using
10:15
my software to send out a
10:17
couple Emails every now and
10:18
then but then I forget about it
10:19
for three or 4 months and then
10:20
I think geez we should we will
10:22
be selling a little bit more
10:23
work. So, I send out another
10:24
Email. Well, that’s not a very
10:26
methodical and scalable
10:28
process. So, we we start
10:30
getting into stuff like that.
10:32
You know, are your crews
10:33
upselling any work for you,
10:36
right? I know everybody’s uh
10:37
pretty busy all around the
10:38
country right now but uh things
10:40
do tend to slow down in the
10:41
fall and you know, with all
10:43
those eyes and ears that you
10:44
have out in the field, you
10:45
know, why not utilize your
10:46
crews and utilize the software
10:48
that you’re already paying for
10:49
um to to win you more work
10:51
right. And my company, we’re
10:52
able to sell almost $50000 to
10:54
work with. Literally no
10:56
marketing cost except for, you
10:57
know, maybe a couple extra
10:58
seconds of the crews reporting
11:00
these issues. Um so, so all
11:02
this kind of plays into having
11:04
a fully set up CRM, you know,
11:05
do you have a monthly
11:07
newsletter going out? Are you
11:08
automatically wishing your
11:09
clients happy holidays? Um and
11:12
then, hey, it is sales even an
11:14
issue for you. You know, if
11:15
you’re growing at 200% per year
11:17
in sales, um it might not be a
11:18
major issue for you but you you
11:20
might just need some help
11:21
systematize your sales or some
11:22
um some some guidance on that
11:24
which we offer for free during
11:26
these these audits. Um so, so
11:29
that’s kind of the the sales
11:30
portion. Like I I said, a
11:32
little bit more intermediate.
11:33
This next one here is usually
11:36
the trickiest part of the
11:37
entire thing and I think I’ve
11:39
maybe had one person that got
11:40
uh fourteen out of fifteen on
11:42
here but usually it’s it’s a
11:44
pretty low score and sometimes
11:46
it’s pretty eye opening where
11:48
even a very um accomplished
11:50
business that’s been around for
11:52
a while. They either don’t
11:54
realize that a lot of this is
11:55
even possible in their program
11:57
that they’re using and or on
11:59
the other hand, they do realize
12:00
it’s possible but they just
12:02
have not built a system and
12:03
they’re kind of kicking
12:04
themselves for not actually
12:05
doing these things that they
12:06
know they need to be doing,
12:08
Right. So, sometimes, you know,
12:09
you get your report card and
12:10
then it might not be great but
12:11
at least you kind of know where
12:12
you stand and you can make the
12:14
improvements from there. Uh so,
12:15
so this one’s all about the
12:17
operational analysis. You know,
12:19
how are you actually using your
12:20
CRM to help you operationally?
12:23
It should not be a hindrance,
12:24
right? This thing should be
12:26
helping systematize your
12:27
operations um day in day So,
12:29
you know, things like Mike that
12:32
you talk about all the time,
12:33
You know, are you tracking?
12:34
Your teams are hitting their
12:35
budget at times versus actual,
12:37
right? It’s not just a matter
12:38
of selling the work and getting
12:39
the work done and billing for
12:40
it. Uh you need to make sure
12:42
that these jobs are actually
12:43
profitable and you know, we’re
12:45
we’re mid July now but still
12:47
gives you a a lot of time
12:48
regardless of what industry
12:49
you’re in to to fix some of
12:51
these unprofitable issues and
12:53
unprofitable clients that you
12:54
might have. You know, are you
12:57
communicating these results
12:58
with your team for
12:59
accountability? Do you have a
13:00
process? Like I mentioned
13:01
earlier to actually build route
13:04
density. We have some pretty
13:04
nifty automations and and
13:06
there’s some manual ways that
13:07
you can do it and insert
13:09
softwares where you can
13:10
actually be building your route
13:11
density and marketing to just
13:13
the leads around current
13:14
customers that you have, you
13:16
know, yeah, it’s nice to
13:17
automate it but boy is it handy
13:19
to also know the manual way if
13:20
if maybe you’re not quite ready
13:22
for automations yet Um you
13:24
know, are tracking your churn.
13:27
Um this is uh typically a
13:28
pretty big issue especially at
13:29
high growth companies, right?
13:31
They’re growing really quick.
13:32
All the focus is on new sales,
13:33
new sales but then they’re
13:35
lacking on the customer
13:37
on-boarding uh and client
13:39
retention. So, you know, it’s
13:40
there’s no point in growing 50%
13:43
if you’re going to lose 49% of
13:45
your client base the next year,
13:47
right? So, actually using your
13:49
CRM to track that churn and
13:51
track that churn percentage
13:52
from year to year and kind of
13:53
set a benchmark and hopefully
13:55
reduce that uh each quarter in
13:56
each It’s really really
13:59
important and in my opinion, a
14:01
pretty underutilized part of
14:03
the software Um you know, do
14:06
you have a defined interview
14:08
process that is delegated to
14:09
someone other than yourself II?
14:10
Don’t want to hit on every
14:11
single one of these here but
14:12
these are some of the kind of
14:13
more advanced questions that
14:15
you know, we would not expect a
14:17
solopreneur to have a defined
14:19
interview process that is
14:20
delegated to someone other than
14:21
themselves. um but you know
14:23
someone who’s seven figures or
14:25
you know, reaching the 2
14:26
million dollars mark. if you’re
14:27
the one that’s doing all the
14:29
interviewing, you are
14:30
essentially cementing yourself
14:32
as the bottleneck and in that
14:33
scenario, right? So, Um at that
14:36
point, you really need to be
14:37
overseeing all the processes
14:39
maybe but if you’re involved in
14:40
any of them too much, you’re
14:41
actually a hindrance to the
14:43
company. a couple other cool
14:47
things here. You know, have you
14:48
received over 25 five star
14:49
reviews in the last month?
14:51
Ideally through an automation,
14:52
right? You don’t want to just
14:53
have be relying on, you know,
14:56
and and and men’s staff to feel
14:59
up to it to go above and beyond
15:01
and when a customer gives you a
15:02
compliment, reach back out to
15:03
them or give them a call and
15:05
ask for that review, right? You
15:06
want that to be fully
15:08
automated. So, if you’re having
15:09
a down day while the system um
15:11
kind of kind of makes up for
15:13
you there and then really
15:15
advanced ones here. I’ll I’ll
15:17
kind of touch on these these
15:17
last two. These are these are
15:19
kind of my favorite here.
15:20
Thirteen and fourteen. Are you
15:22
as a business owner working
15:23
less than 50 hours a week? Um
15:25
typically, we don’t see that,
15:27
right And you going to need to
15:28
ask yourself, well, why are you
15:31
working over 50 hours? and what
15:33
are those major tasks Probably
15:36
repetitive tasks that you’re
15:37
doing day in and day out that
15:39
are eating up those extra time
15:41
um those extra hours that you
15:43
probably want to be spending
15:44
with your family or or doing
15:45
something just to keep you
15:47
refreshed and and you know,
15:49
cite that to to go back to work
15:51
each day and then, depending on
15:53
the scale of your business,
15:55
have you delegated 100% of the
15:58
scheduling, billing, and sales
16:01
tasks or are you still wearing
16:03
a couple of those hats and if
16:05
you are, it’s totally fine and
16:06
especially depending on what
16:07
stage of business you’re in um
16:09
but a lot of people um you
16:12
know, use use one of our
16:14
systems specifically for for
16:15
this where they are wearing
16:17
multiple hats and we really
16:18
need to have clearly clearly
16:20
defined roles. I don’t want to
16:21
necessarily plug any of our
16:22
products here but um these are
16:23
the type the things that we
16:26
uncover um in this uh in this
16:29
analysis and let’s just take a
16:31
quick peek at the results here.
16:33
I’ll have to zoom out a little
16:35
bit but this is typically what
16:36
we send people as a Pdf So,
16:38
it’s nothing too fancy but it
16:40
gives you like a quick uh
16:41
overview of kind of what stage
16:43
of business you’re in. Uh what
16:45
score did you get up on the uh
16:47
set section? What score did you
16:49
get on the sales section which
16:50
score did you get on the
16:53
operation section That’s kind
16:54
of the beginner intermediate
16:56
and then the expert section
16:57
what’s your overall and then we
17:00
just kind of, you know, show it
17:01
in a in a graph form um but
17:03
this is the type of stuff that
17:05
we run through with you. of
17:07
course, on a screen share just
17:09
like this. Um sometimes we’ll
17:11
we’ll dive into people’s files
17:13
and and look at a couple of
17:14
things specifically if um you
17:15
know, there’s one major thing
17:17
that they really want to
17:18
addressed um but then of course
17:20
we send these results and you
17:21
know, you can review this with
17:22
your team and and see how you
17:24
either internally want to
17:25
handle these types of things or
17:26
if you if it a problem that you
17:29
actually might require a little
17:31
bit of help with. Um so, that’s
17:32
kind of the AUDIT in a
17:33
nutshell. Um you know, we kind
17:35
of zoom through that pretty
17:36
quick but that’s what we do.
17:38
We’ve done probably about 100
17:39
of these now and it’s
17:41
essentially just a free report.
17:42
No obligation. We send this
17:44
over to you and then if you are
17:46
lacking on one section such as
17:48
this, you know, 47% in the
17:50
operations, it’s not really a
17:51
great score especially for a
17:52
stage three business. So at
17:54
that point, we’d actually
17:55
probably take it one step
17:56
further and when we send you
17:57
this report. we’d actually
17:59
provide you a couple actionable
18:01
recommendations as well that
18:03
you can totally implement
18:06
yourself free of charge um or
18:07
you know, you can obviously
18:08
reach back out to us and and we
18:10
we of course help with these
18:12
types of things awesome work.
18:15
Yeah, I appreciate it. So, work
18:16
on it Wednesday. Like, what do
18:17
we work on? This is exactly
18:19
what you should be working on.
18:20
So, we’ve got the setup is
18:21
pretty good sales 80% almost.
18:24
We definitely want to work on
18:25
that but operations, we’re
18:27
going to hit on the weakest
18:28
part to get the biggest impact
18:29
return on investment of time.
18:31
So, work on Wednesday, we
18:32
really want to dial into what
18:33
are the areas in the business
18:35
we need to work on instead of
18:36
being out in the field and
18:37
grinding and not getting a good
18:38
return. So, this is a great
18:40
tool that we’re going to
18:40
provide for free for our
18:41
viewers live and record it. So,
18:43
if you click the link in the
18:45
comments, Dylan and I will get
18:46
get you this free AUDIT. You
18:47
can click on our calendar, grab
18:49
a half hour slot um and we send
18:51
this out usually within
18:52
Twenty-four to 48 hours
18:53
afterwards so you can actually
18:53
have something you can print
18:55
out and stick above your desk
18:57
and when you work on it with us
18:58
and work on it Wednesdays, you
18:59
actually have a road map to
19:01
work on the areas of your
19:02
business. You need the most
19:03
amount of work um doing any
19:05
closing thoughts here. I know
19:06
it’s a little bit different to
19:07
turn on the timer around and
19:08
actually building some things
19:09
out and showing people how to
19:10
do this but I think that a lot
19:11
of times as business owners we
19:12
forget. We’re like, well, now
19:14
I’ve got time. I’m going to
19:16
make time. What do I do? What’s
19:18
going to be the biggest effects
19:19
Uh net effect for improvement
19:21
in the business? Well, I think
19:22
this is a great free tool that
19:24
we’ve been providing. we
19:25
haven’t done in a while but I
19:26
think it’s about time to just
19:27
kind of give back. We’ve got a
19:28
little extra time here in the
19:29
summer months. um to help help
19:31
folks out in the service
19:32
industry. So, any closing
19:34
thoughts here and like I like I
19:35
said, the link is in the
19:36
comments if if you want to sign
19:37
up for this Uh yeah my only
19:39
closing thoughts I guess would
19:40
be it’s only half hour of your
19:42
time. Alright so even if you
19:44
think you got 90% of this set
19:46
up um doesn’t really harm you
19:49
to to spend, you know, 2030
19:50
minutes uh with industry
19:53
experts just kind of confirming
19:54
that you actually do have
19:56
everything set up. You know,
19:57
even in this Ninety-three uh
19:59
93% greed on the the setup
20:01
section of this uh well, it
20:02
might just be one or 2 minutes
20:04
uh of something you gotta enter
20:05
in to get to 100%. So, uh it’s
20:07
definitely worth the time
20:08
investment and yeah hope to
20:10
hear from some people pretty
20:12
soon. Awesome. Really
20:13
appreciate it. I’ll see you
20:14
next Wednesday. Uh make sure to
20:16
watch out SA Weekly Talk show
20:17
coming back at you again this
20:19
Friday. Um we’re here to help
20:21
you work on it. Not in it is
20:22
Michael Gerber would say we’ll
20:22
see you next Wednesday and uh
20:24
drop some comments in the
20:25
library. recorded version. what
20:26
you’re working on in your
20:28
business this week um and any
20:29
other pain points you’d like us
20:31
to help you figure out how to
20:32
work on it and not it. We’ll
20:33
see you again next week. Work
20:34
on it, Wednesdays with Dylan

Callahan’s Corner: 6 Ways To Pivot Your Marketing In These Challenging Times To Win!

Video Transcript

00:00
pivot your marketing in these
00:01
challenging times to win
00:03
um and honestly a lot of companies are
00:05
doing this right a lot of companies are
00:07
doing this
00:08
absolutely wrong so i want to break down
00:10
six simple ways to
00:12
pivot the angle or the hook of your
00:15
marketing especially on facebook
00:17
um to make things right now work for you
00:20
and continue to double down and build
00:22
those sales that we’ve talked about
00:24
um in previous episodes so the idea here
00:26
is
00:27
we really don’t want to go out and
00:31
try to capitalize on this situation of
00:33
people getting sick and all the fear and
00:34
things like that
00:36
but there is a really good way to
00:40
pivot your messaging because right now
00:43
social media engagement is on an
00:45
all-time high and if you have a product
00:48
or service which
00:49
i believe you do which can actually help
00:51
people
00:52
um now is the time to actually double
00:54
down and do that but there is a right
00:56
way and a wrong way of doing this
00:58
so we don’t want to make it fear-based
00:59
and talk about covid
01:01
or all the things that are going on but
01:03
here i’m going to go over six
01:05
really simple ways to
01:08
um pivot your your marketing
01:11
hook or angle to actually drive more
01:15
sales and um not basically
01:18
try to be preying on the bad times that
01:19
are going on but before i do that if you
01:21
have any comments or questions drop
01:22
below
01:23
um in the live recorded version i’m
01:24
happy to answer them live but
01:26
the first one is for your headline or
01:28
topic of your
01:30
facebook ad or organic post is stress
01:33
reduction so obviously right now
01:36
everybody’s at an all-time high stress
01:37
level these are unheard of times
01:40
and a lot of uncertainty so one of the
01:42
things you can do in
01:43
home cleaner lawn care is basically go
01:46
in and stress
01:47
stress reduction so don’t worry about
01:51
having to go out and maintain the lawn
01:53
or disinfect or clean your home
01:56
right now after you’re done working at
01:58
home um and dealing with the stress of
02:00
the family and kids and everything else
02:02
that’s going on in your normal
02:04
um but not normal day right now so if we
02:06
can talk about how
02:08
your product or service reduces stress
02:11
um without mentioning say coven 19 in
02:14
the headline
02:15
this is a really easy way to get in
02:17
there and drive
02:19
an ad that’s going to convert and
02:20
actually offer a solution to the issues
02:22
that are going on right now
02:24
the next one work from home and not deal
02:27
with
02:28
your lawn care responsibilities or your
02:31
cleaning responsibility so everybody
02:33
right now for the most part unless
02:34
they’re
02:35
essential is working from home this is a
02:37
new reality
02:39
so how do we go in and catch their
02:40
attention with that headline
02:42
working from home now but you don’t
02:45
want to deal with or don’t have to deal
02:46
with your lawn care or home cleaning
02:48
responsibilities that you traditionally
02:50
have to do so we can go in
02:51
and relate to where they are and offer a
02:54
solution to the additional things they
02:55
probably don’t want to deal with after
02:57
working from home all day
02:59
next week thing is free delivery so this
03:01
may not be particular to lawn care home
03:03
clean but a lot of lawn care
03:04
companies will go out and deliver mulch
03:07
or
03:08
firewood or if you own a nursery maybe
03:10
free delivery based on the
03:12
plant products or the bulk products so
03:14
offer free delivery because a lot of
03:16
people don’t want to go out of their
03:17
houses
03:18
if you’re in new york like i am there’s
03:19
actually a lot of restrictions around
03:21
non-essential travel the fourth one is
03:25
spend extra time with your family so
03:28
extra family time
03:29
so right now maybe you’re feeling guilty
03:31
that you’re
03:32
cooped up say in the office like this
03:33
and you haven’t been able to spend time
03:35
with your family
03:36
like you normally would you’re
03:37
distracted trying to get your job done
03:38
in this unusual work-at-home environment
03:41
so take the extra time outside of
03:43
working from home and spend that with
03:44
your family by
03:46
basically utilizing our lawn care home
03:49
cleaning
03:50
services so we’re out or addressing
03:52
where they’re at and then we’re
03:54
showing them the ideal uh scenario
03:57
what could be if they use our services
03:59
so
04:01
next one is boredom stop staring out the
04:03
window at your uncapped
04:04
landscape or boredom while you’re at
04:07
home working
04:08
stop staring at your unkept house and
04:10
dirty dishes or the different things
04:12
that you’re doing maybe it’s time for a
04:13
deep clean
04:14
and disinfectant of that house because
04:16
there’s boredom people aren’t
04:17
uh normally doing what they’re doing and
04:19
not getting out of their house they’re
04:20
not getting out of their property so
04:22
their
04:22
boredom is starting them to focus on all
04:25
the things that are wrong in their yard
04:26
or home
04:27
at this time so we can address that and
04:29
hey
04:30
is your board and causing you to look at
04:32
your unkept landscape
04:34
here’s our solution the desired end
04:36
result and then the sixth and final one
04:38
is
04:38
is emphasis on online services or shops
04:42
so once again if you have say a nursery
04:44
or
04:45
more of a brick and mortar business
04:47
around the lawn care industry
04:50
we’re going to have this on the online
04:51
services or shop so one of the things
04:53
you potentially could do
04:54
is tie into a facebook messenger bot or
04:56
an online shopping cart
04:58
and create an online um product
05:02
solution where people can go and buy
05:04
your services online
05:06
um and have product delivery or very
05:08
similar to facebook messenger bots have
05:10
been driving through mobiles
05:11
is people can go in and get property
05:14
specific
05:15
uh pricing based on zillow square
05:17
footage of livable home square footage
05:19
or
05:20
lot square footage and buy and shop
05:22
online
05:23
and then have that product or service
05:25
delivered in real time at their property
05:27
without them ever having to leave the
05:28
comforts of their home
05:29
so six ways to basically pivot your
05:32
marketing these challenging times
05:33
um and headlines and ways to approach
05:35
that without being a sleazy sales person
05:37
addressing
05:38
a fear-based um sale is strip stress
05:40
reduction
05:41
work from home and not deal with your
05:43
lawn care home cleaning needs
05:45
have someone do it for you free delivery
05:48
extra time with your family if you’re
05:49
confined to your home work space office
05:51
for most of the day
05:52
spend the extra time with your family
05:55
boredom stop staring at the issues you
05:57
may be having in your yard or the unkept
05:58
house
05:59
and then an emphasis on the online
06:01
shopping experience
06:02
um and potential different product
06:04
delivery so comments or questions
06:06
drop below but i wanted to address six
06:07
ways to pivot your marketing these
06:08
challenging times to
06:10
win more customers and not put them off
06:13
as a sleazy sales fits based on
06:14
opportunity
06:15
opportunity or opportunistic marketing
06:18
on what’s going on in the current
06:19
environment so
06:20
callahan’s corner we will see you again
06:24
tomorrow