[00:00:00] What is something that homeowners
[00:00:01] believe about lawn care that just isn't
[00:00:03] true?
[00:00:03] >> I think the biggest mistake that we see
[00:00:05] homeowners make is overwatering their
[00:00:07] lawn. When they see their lawn turning
[00:00:09] brown in Florida, they think it needs
[00:00:10] more water. And in most situations, it
[00:00:13] probably needs less water.
[00:00:15] >> Oh, really? The brown color is not an
[00:00:17] indicator of that.
[00:00:18] >> It's not an indicator.
[00:00:20] Your vibe, let it collide.
[00:00:25] Find your tribe where truth can't hide.
[00:00:32] So today's guest is Scott Spitz. He's
[00:00:34] the owner and operator of One Doctor of
[00:00:36] West Palm Beach. He's built a local
[00:00:38] reputation by doing what actually
[00:00:40] matters in the service business. Showing
[00:00:41] up consistently, earning trust, taking
[00:00:43] care of customers so well that neighbors
[00:00:45] become referrals. Today we're talking
[00:00:47] about what it actually takes to grow a
[00:00:48] local service business, marketing,
[00:00:50] reputation, referrals, leadership, and
[00:00:52] building something that lasts. And I'm
[00:00:53] Kirk Francis, and this is Vibe Your
[00:00:55] Vibe. So, just a real quick uh teaser,
[00:00:58] quick thank you for today's sponsor,
[00:01:00] Maya Soap. I didn't get a soap for you,
[00:01:02] but you will get one. I'll send you one
[00:01:04] in the mail.
[00:01:04] >> Thank you.
[00:01:05] >> I'll make sure I get your address to do
[00:01:06] that. Later in the episode, I'll explain
[00:01:08] how you can mail the show a postcard or
[00:01:10] a letter and receive a bar of my soap.
[00:01:13] Quantities are limited. So, let's just
[00:01:15] jump in. So, I wanted to know uh kind of
[00:01:17] get to your origins. Are you a local
[00:01:19] Florida person or are you also from
[00:01:22] somewhere else?
[00:01:23] >> I'm a transplant like most of us. I grew
[00:01:25] up in Illinois. Uh, you know, school and
[00:01:28] work brought me all over the country at
[00:01:30] different times in my life. I ended up
[00:01:31] going to FAU for graduate school years
[00:01:34] ago, not knowing that I would come back
[00:01:37] and live here, you know, full-time uh,
[00:01:39] in my future. So, we moved here 12 years
[00:01:41] ago. Uh, I've been monitoring my own
[00:01:44] lawn for that time. Been here for 12
[00:01:46] years now and happy to be here where I
[00:01:48] get to wear comfortable clothes every
[00:01:50] day.
[00:01:51] >> So, what happened coming to Florida?
[00:01:54] What gave you the idea? Were you in lawn
[00:01:56] care when you're not in Florida or was
[00:01:57] that something new when you moved here?
[00:01:59] >> So, I was not. I I worked in, you know,
[00:02:01] corporate businesses for most of my
[00:02:03] career and one of those brought me to
[00:02:05] Florida uh as a sales and marketing or a
[00:02:08] sales and operations consultant. Uh and
[00:02:11] we got here and you at that point the
[00:02:13] kids were starting to get into school.
[00:02:15] So, we decided that regardless of where
[00:02:17] career opportunities could lead us, we
[00:02:19] were going to stay in this area. So, was
[00:02:22] this lawn care was that something you
[00:02:24] because you said you're in like a sales
[00:02:25] and marketing corporate kind of role
[00:02:27] >> and then lawn care those are kind of
[00:02:30] different sort of things or are they?
[00:02:32] >> They are. Uh, yes and no. I mean, I have
[00:02:34] a biology background. So, you know, lawn
[00:02:37] care isn't too much of a stretch from my
[00:02:39] initial life passion, I guess. But um
[00:02:42] you know being in business whether
[00:02:43] you're working for a Fortune 500 company
[00:02:45] or you're operating your own business
[00:02:47] the basics tend to be fairly similar at
[00:02:50] least relatable. Basically realized as I
[00:02:52] got further in my career that it was
[00:02:54] harder and harder to find a company
[00:02:55] where my values aligned with a company's
[00:02:58] values to the point where I could be
[00:03:00] comfortable going to work every day and
[00:03:02] be excited about what I was doing at the
[00:03:04] same time. It is uh and as you get older
[00:03:08] I think it becomes more important. At
[00:03:09] least for me, it did. So, I reached a
[00:03:11] point where I knew that I needed to do
[00:03:14] something completely different to
[00:03:16] challenge myself for the last chapter of
[00:03:18] my professional life, give myself
[00:03:20] opportunities to learn and grow, but
[00:03:22] also being in an environment where I
[00:03:24] would always feel good about what I was
[00:03:27] doing.
[00:03:27] >> London Doctor, are are is this a
[00:03:29] franchise is my understanding?
[00:03:31] >> It is. Yeah. So, so four years ago when
[00:03:34] I had that realization, I partnered with
[00:03:37] a franchise broker who presented to me
[00:03:40] numerous opportunities in our local
[00:03:41] area. After doing a lot of research, a
[00:03:44] lot of interviews, uh, talking to a lot
[00:03:46] of franchises at different businesses, I
[00:03:49] settled on Lawn Doctor as the
[00:03:50] opportunity that was right for me. And I
[00:03:52] was able to purchase an existing
[00:03:54] business uh, that had been around for
[00:03:56] about 10 years when I bought it and
[00:03:58] stepped into something that was mature
[00:04:00] but still had a lot of opportunity for
[00:04:01] growth. So when you bought it, was it
[00:04:03] just a straightup purchase or was there
[00:04:06] like an earnout or what what kind of
[00:04:08] protections did you have buying an
[00:04:10] existing business like that to ensure
[00:04:12] that you're in it and then 6 months
[00:04:14] later you don't have any customers cuz
[00:04:15] now they're working for Lawn Care RS
[00:04:18] because they moved over with the prior
[00:04:20] owners.
[00:04:21] >> Yeah. Um well the lawn doctor system is
[00:04:24] geographically based. So we we own
[00:04:26] geographic areas, right? So, so I own
[00:04:28] three territories which comprise
[00:04:30] northern Palm Beach County. The people I
[00:04:32] purchased from are still in business.
[00:04:34] They own the southern part of Palm Beach
[00:04:36] County. So,
[00:04:36] >> Oh, so they're still they're the lawn
[00:04:38] doctor in the southern part.
[00:04:40] >> They are. Oh, I see. And so, it was
[00:04:41] great for me because we've stayed
[00:04:44] collaborators through all the years.
[00:04:46] They mentored me during my first, you
[00:04:48] know, year or two to help me get off to
[00:04:50] a good start, avoid any major issues as
[00:04:53] I learned and became more familiar with
[00:04:54] the business and kind of kept things
[00:04:56] moving. So thanks to them for their
[00:04:59] generous support and guidance as I kind
[00:05:01] of got my feet wet in the business and
[00:05:03] was able to keep things moving without
[00:05:05] any big issues.
[00:05:06] >> That that's really that's kind of cool.
[00:05:08] I think that's one of the benefits of
[00:05:10] some franchise systems is you step into
[00:05:13] a proven business model where you have
[00:05:15] the entrepreneurial ability to do what
[00:05:17] you want to do with the business but you
[00:05:19] also have the support of the franchiseor
[00:05:22] and hopefully some other franchises that
[00:05:25] are going to be there for you and mentor
[00:05:27] you and help you be successful. Now do
[00:05:29] they does like a lawn doctor do they
[00:05:31] have like a annual conference or
[00:05:33] anything like that where you guys all
[00:05:34] get together and
[00:05:35] >> we do we have uh typically have an
[00:05:37] annual conference. We also have regional
[00:05:39] meetings that were uh able to attend.
[00:05:42] We're owners, so nothing is required of
[00:05:44] us. But the franchise presents
[00:05:47] opportunities for us to get together and
[00:05:49] spend time together and learn from each
[00:05:50] other to meet with vendors, learn about
[00:05:52] new services that we can utilize to
[00:05:54] benefit our own businesses, learn best
[00:05:56] practices from each other, and really
[00:05:58] just advance our own business acumen and
[00:06:02] understanding of what we might be able
[00:06:04] to incorporate to help our customers and
[00:06:05] help our businesses grow. So, lot of
[00:06:08] opportunities to meet with other people
[00:06:09] in the industry. gives you a little bit
[00:06:11] of stability so that you can make good
[00:06:13] decisions.
[00:06:14] >> So, you came in with a sales and
[00:06:16] marketing background into Lawn Doctor.
[00:06:19] I'm curious like they probably already
[00:06:22] had kind of, okay, this playbook worked
[00:06:24] pretty good for us. This is how we were
[00:06:25] able to build all of these different
[00:06:27] territories.
[00:06:28] >> Now, you're taking over three. Did you
[00:06:30] follow that playbook 100% or did you
[00:06:32] maybe bring some of your corporate sales
[00:06:34] and marketing in, put a couple twists
[00:06:36] and turns into that? Yeah. So, Lawn
[00:06:38] Doctor is a very entrepreneurial
[00:06:40] organization. They really give us all
[00:06:42] the freedom we want and they really
[00:06:44] provide resources for us to utilize. We
[00:06:47] can choose to follow path A, B or C. We
[00:06:50] can set our own service structure, set
[00:06:52] our own pricing. We develop our own
[00:06:54] communication patterns with our
[00:06:56] customers. There's a few things uh
[00:06:59] there's a lot of marketing support
[00:07:00] through Lawn Doctor that they've
[00:07:01] developed over the years that is very
[00:07:03] effective for digital marketing. Uh they
[00:07:05] also have you know systems that we use
[00:07:07] that are part of the lawn doctor kind of
[00:07:10] program but for the most part we get to
[00:07:12] operate an independent business and just
[00:07:14] benefit from what the franchiseor has to
[00:07:17] offer. I tried not to change a lot in
[00:07:19] the beginning. You know, getting a new
[00:07:20] owner for these customers who some of
[00:07:22] them had been with on doctor for, you
[00:07:24] know, five, six, seven, eight, ten
[00:07:25] years, you know, they don't want a lot
[00:07:27] of change. They just want consistency at
[00:07:28] that point, right? So, I made a few
[00:07:30] small changes in the beginning, uh, but
[00:07:32] tried not to do too much because I
[00:07:34] didn't want to upset the customers
[00:07:36] anymore than they already were from
[00:07:38] leaving an owner they had known for a
[00:07:40] decade to somebody who was brand new.
[00:07:41] >> When you took over, did you also get the
[00:07:43] staff, too, or did did you have to build
[00:07:45] your own team? Yeah, a little bit of
[00:07:47] both. I inherited uh two two trucks,
[00:07:50] small business, two trucks. I inherited
[00:07:52] one technician who had been with the
[00:07:54] company for a while and then I hired one
[00:07:55] on my own. It's my understanding cuz I I
[00:07:57] worked with a company in the past that
[00:07:59] did um lawn care for uh AT&T Wireless.
[00:08:03] So, they managed the lawn care for the
[00:08:05] all the cellular tower sites. And one of
[00:08:07] the things I learned working in that
[00:08:09] business is that you had to have
[00:08:11] somebody there had to have a license.
[00:08:13] >> Mhm. So, I'm curious, are you the guy
[00:08:14] that has a license or do you have a
[00:08:16] license now or is that the workers that
[00:08:19] work for you? Or how how did that how
[00:08:21] did you manage that whole scenario
[00:08:24] getting into this business brand new?
[00:08:25] Cuz
[00:08:26] >> um Christian and I was interested in a
[00:08:28] business. It wasn't lawn, but it was
[00:08:30] another business that required a
[00:08:31] licensing. And before we bought, you
[00:08:34] know, got too far into it, we figured
[00:08:35] out, oh, this isn't going to work.
[00:08:37] >> Mhm. Yeah. Uh
[00:08:39] >> cuz we weren't going to be able to get a
[00:08:40] license.
[00:08:41] >> Yeah. So that certainly is a challenge
[00:08:43] in this industry um because there you're
[00:08:45] using pesticides
[00:08:47] >> uh and fertilizers that all have
[00:08:49] regulations associated with them. So you
[00:08:52] do have to have a license to apply
[00:08:55] pesticides commercially and then you
[00:08:56] also have to have a different license or
[00:08:59] a certification for the fertilization
[00:09:01] part of it. So there are two different
[00:09:03] pieces. So the technicians get the
[00:09:05] certifications for the fertilization on
[00:09:07] their own. I facilitate it because they
[00:09:09] need to have it. the pesticide license I
[00:09:11] get as a business. And you're only
[00:09:13] allowed to get a pesticide license in
[00:09:15] the state of Florida after you've been
[00:09:17] doing that work for at least 3 years. So
[00:09:20] since I was relatively new to the
[00:09:21] industry, I had to employ somebody who
[00:09:24] had a license that my business could use
[00:09:26] for the first 3 years. After 3 years of
[00:09:29] experience for myself, I was able to,
[00:09:31] you know, go through the coursework and
[00:09:32] do the certification and get my own
[00:09:34] license. I remember the owner of that
[00:09:36] business, he had multiple state
[00:09:37] licenses, but he also had like four or
[00:09:40] five guys that he was like you were was
[00:09:43] facilitating like, "Oh, go go go study
[00:09:45] and get state of Texas."
[00:09:47] >> Okay.
[00:09:48] >> You know, and oh, go get state of
[00:09:50] Arizona and Yeah, cuz they serviced a
[00:09:52] very large area for AT&T. I think I
[00:09:54] think they called it FSA 5. It was like
[00:09:56] I think it was might it might have been
[00:09:58] I'm not sure if it went as far as
[00:09:59] Arizona. I might be exaggerating there,
[00:10:00] but I know for sure it was Texas,
[00:10:01] Louisiana, and then it went all the way
[00:10:03] north. Mhm.
[00:10:04] >> Like up to up to Minnesota. So these
[00:10:06] guys had to be l Somebody in the
[00:10:08] organization had to be licensed and
[00:10:10] supervise all those guys out there
[00:10:13] servicing those properties.
[00:10:15] >> Yeah. There are some federal, you know,
[00:10:17] laws that apply to our business, but for
[00:10:19] the most part, it's regulated by the
[00:10:22] state level.
[00:10:22] >> At the state level. Yeah. Interesting.
[00:10:24] From your experience, so now you've had
[00:10:26] this business now for did you say 12?
[00:10:29] >> Three and a half years. I
[00:10:30] >> Three and a half years you've had it.
[00:10:31] Oh, so you just recently got your
[00:10:33] license.
[00:10:34] >> Yeah, just
[00:10:35] >> just happened. Wow. Interesting. Cool.
[00:10:38] >> Congratulations. That's a big
[00:10:39] accomplishment.
[00:10:40] >> It It actually felt really good.
[00:10:42] >> Yeah. I understand those those are I
[00:10:44] mean, I'm not going to say they're like
[00:10:47] super hard, but they're not super easy
[00:10:48] either. You got to know your stuff. You
[00:10:50] got to study.
[00:10:51] >> Study. You're not going to wing it.
[00:10:53] You're not going to wing it.
[00:10:54] >> You're not going to wing it. No.
[00:10:56] Definitely not.
[00:10:56] >> That's the one thing I do know.
[00:10:58] >> Yeah.
[00:10:58] >> So, you've been in this three and a half
[00:11:00] years. What what do you think from your
[00:11:02] experience now? Where do you think your
[00:11:04] customers are coming from?
[00:11:05] >> So we we get our customers really from
[00:11:07] three different buckets probably a
[00:11:10] little under half of our customers come
[00:11:12] from searching Google and finding us
[00:11:15] online. So maintaining almost half you
[00:11:19] know our searches online and then a
[00:11:22] quarter of the customers come from leads
[00:11:24] that come from lawn doctor. They go to
[00:11:26] the Lawn Doctor national website or call
[00:11:28] the Lawn Doctor 800 number and then they
[00:11:30] get funneled to us.
[00:11:32] >> And then the other quarter come from
[00:11:33] referrals from existing customers who
[00:11:36] have a neighbor or a friend that they
[00:11:37] send our way.
[00:11:38] >> So referrals is a big a big number.
[00:11:40] >> Yeah, it is. It's important.
[00:11:41] >> Yeah. And those little signs in the
[00:11:43] yard, they probably help too a little
[00:11:44] bit.
[00:11:44] >> Yeah. People drive through the
[00:11:46] neighborhood, they see our signs, they
[00:11:47] see the truck, and they
[00:11:49] see the yard, they give us call. Hey,
[00:11:51] your neighbor's yard looks good. I
[00:11:52] thought I'd call you guys. because it's
[00:11:54] like it's advertis
[00:11:58] >> the yard looks good and then they see a
[00:12:00] little sign and they're like maybe I
[00:12:02] need to call those guys.
[00:12:03] >> Yeah, we we do get a lot of that. Um a
[00:12:05] lot of folks will, you know, know that
[00:12:08] they want to do something and that they
[00:12:09] might see a yard or not. They might see
[00:12:10] the truck, they'll do a Google search,
[00:12:12] they'll look us up, and then when they
[00:12:13] see the Google reviews and the nice
[00:12:16] things that our customers say about us,
[00:12:18] then they, you know, give us a shot. So,
[00:12:20] it's really important to make make sure
[00:12:22] that you
[00:12:22] >> So, what I found interesting is I have a
[00:12:24] neighbor and I don't know I haven't had
[00:12:26] a chance to talk to him yet, but I'm
[00:12:28] sure as big as your business is, you've
[00:12:30] probably ran across this. It like he
[00:12:32] rotates his service providers for his
[00:12:34] lawn cutting and his I guess what would
[00:12:37] you call cuz it's pesticides and
[00:12:38] herbicides I guess, right? Or
[00:12:40] >> Yeah. It's really confusing
[00:12:41] unfortunately what you call us because a
[00:12:43] lot of people we're not we're just I
[00:12:44] just say lawn care I guess.
[00:12:45] >> Lawn care. So, because because you don't
[00:12:47] do cutting or any of that. Mhm.
[00:12:49] >> But it just seems like he never stays
[00:12:51] consistent. He's always bouncing around.
[00:12:53] He's going to use this guy to cut the
[00:12:55] grass and he's using this company to do
[00:12:56] the applications and then he's going to
[00:12:59] then switch and there's no consistency.
[00:13:01] And and I just want to touch base with
[00:13:03] you because what I have found through my
[00:13:06] life experience, I was using um and you
[00:13:09] might even heard of this company in St.
[00:13:11] Louis. It's called Kimlon.
[00:13:12] >> Heard of them? Yeah.
[00:13:13] >> Yeah. Because I was I'm a St. Louis. So
[00:13:15] we're both Midwest. I used them probably
[00:13:18] I don't know two three years I'm like ah
[00:13:20] what are they doing? Cancel the service
[00:13:23] and then like in three months your
[00:13:24] yard's just a mess.
[00:13:26] >> Yeah.
[00:13:26] >> And I've what I found over time is that
[00:13:28] that method doesn't work really well any
[00:13:30] better if your yard's looking good. Just
[00:13:32] leave it alone and let those guys do
[00:13:34] what they need to do. And and the part
[00:13:35] for me that I really like with a company
[00:13:37] like you and what you're doing is you're
[00:13:39] keeping me on a schedule. And you're,
[00:13:41] you know, there's a schedule to this.
[00:13:44] And when I try to do it myself, I'm
[00:13:45] always like, um, two weeks early, two
[00:13:48] weeks late, I'm never hitting the right
[00:13:49] time, a year, cuz I mean, I guess you
[00:13:51] got a little bit of a window, but it's
[00:13:53] not super big. It's not like two months,
[00:13:56] is it? I mean, so you've got to be
[00:13:58] pretty consistent in your applications
[00:13:59] and stuff.
[00:14:00] >> Yeah. We visit our customers eight times
[00:14:01] a year. So we're getting out to their
[00:14:03] property about every 6 and 1/2 weeks on
[00:14:05] average. And everything we do is
[00:14:06] seasonally based. So when we come out
[00:14:09] and visit a customer in January, it's
[00:14:10] different from March, which is different
[00:14:12] from May, which is different from, you
[00:14:13] know, the summer and the fall and the
[00:14:15] winter. So it is important to kind of
[00:14:17] hit some key critical times throughout
[00:14:18] the year. But just the consistent
[00:14:21] attention is what delivers consistent
[00:14:23] results. As soon as you try to back that
[00:14:26] off and you have less treatments or if
[00:14:28] you're doing it yourself and you don't
[00:14:29] give it the attention it deserves,
[00:14:30] you're just not going to have the
[00:14:31] results that you're
[00:14:32] >> So, literally every 6 weeks you're doing
[00:14:34] something.
[00:14:35] >> We are. Yeah. It's always a mix.
[00:14:36] >> That's a pretty big commitment if you're
[00:14:38] wanting to do it yourself. Do you do
[00:14:39] your yard?
[00:14:40] >> I do. I do my yard. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:14:43] >> Are you on the schedule?
[00:14:44] >> I'm not. I schedule I have to admit I
[00:14:47] use my lawn as a little bit of a guinea
[00:14:49] pig.
[00:14:49] >> Oh, okay. I test things out, right? I
[00:14:52] test different fertilizer rates. I test
[00:14:54] different pesticides. I test different
[00:14:55] timing on different things to see how it
[00:14:57] affects my lawn and my shrubs. And
[00:15:00] sometimes it works great and sometimes
[00:15:02] it doesn't. So, if you drove by my house
[00:15:04] today, there are areas that maybe don't
[00:15:07] look as good as you would think from a
[00:15:08] lawn doctor, but it's because I'm
[00:15:10] testing things all the time and trying
[00:15:12] to see how far I can push it and change
[00:15:15] my watering schedule, change my weed
[00:15:17] control, change my fertilization, and
[00:15:19] what does that do? Mhm.
[00:15:21] >> Uh so what I learned from myself, I can
[00:15:23] apply, you know, to our customers and to
[00:15:25] our business.
[00:15:26] >> So So for someone that's going to come
[00:15:27] hire you fresh, you know, you're coming
[00:15:29] into your lawn, maybe they've got a gap
[00:15:32] in their applications and in lawn care
[00:15:35] and maybe they don't.
[00:15:37] >> What's a reasonable expectation on how
[00:15:39] long it's going to take to turn a turn
[00:15:42] something around for them?
[00:15:43] >> Yeah, it it depends on where we're
[00:15:45] starting and what time of year it is.
[00:15:47] So, right now we're in the spring and
[00:15:49] we're we're recording this in the early
[00:15:50] spring. So, we're going to see progress
[00:15:52] quickly, right? The growing season is
[00:15:54] starting. We get the weeds under
[00:15:56] control. We apply fertilizer
[00:15:58] aggressively. You're going to see a lot
[00:16:00] of growth and greening and improvement
[00:16:01] over the next couple of months. When we
[00:16:03] start customers in the fall or in the
[00:16:04] winter, we can get the weeds under
[00:16:06] control right away, but you're not going
[00:16:08] to get a lot of growth because the grass
[00:16:09] is semi- dormant. So, it's a different
[00:16:11] timeline. really important thing that we
[00:16:13] do is we go and visit every potential
[00:16:15] customer before we ever take them on as
[00:16:17] a new customer. We want to see their
[00:16:19] lawn, see what issues they're dealing
[00:16:21] with because we want to make sure that
[00:16:22] if we're going to start in this
[00:16:23] together, we're going to have the same
[00:16:25] expectations with the same timelines so
[00:16:28] that we can deliver what you're
[00:16:30] expecting us to deliver.
[00:16:31] >> I'm trying to remember why I even called
[00:16:33] you. I think I just got tired of trying
[00:16:35] to manage it myself and I kept missing
[00:16:36] my times.
[00:16:37] >> Yeah. And so it was just, you know, it
[00:16:40] was just frustrating for me to to hit
[00:16:42] those regular application times. And now
[00:16:45] you're telling me, I didn't even realize
[00:16:46] it every I can tell you right now when I
[00:16:48] was doing it, it was not every six
[00:16:50] weeks.
[00:16:50] >> And not everybody does that. You know,
[00:16:51] it depends on the type of fertilizer
[00:16:53] you're using and and the type of
[00:16:54] products you're using. You could stretch
[00:16:56] it out a little bit, but we customize
[00:16:57] every treatment. So when we come to a
[00:16:59] customer's house, the fertilizer types
[00:17:02] we're using, the concentrations we're
[00:17:03] using are specifically developed by us
[00:17:06] to maximize results for that exact time
[00:17:09] of year. So we get to to do a targeted
[00:17:12] treatment eight times a year, right? So
[00:17:14] we're going to be far more precise than
[00:17:16] what a homeowner can do buying a product
[00:17:18] off the shelf.
[00:17:19] >> My personal experience is that it just
[00:17:23] isn't that much more money. And I guess,
[00:17:25] you know, with your ability, I guess
[00:17:27] you're buying bulk
[00:17:29] >> and handling it that way. I just I don't
[00:17:32] know for me from a price perspective, it
[00:17:34] just wasn't. And then the time to go out
[00:17:36] and do it. I'd rather we do cut our own
[00:17:37] grass. I'd rather cut I'd rather spend
[00:17:39] that time cutting my grass. That's
[00:17:40] something easier
[00:17:42] >> or I have Christian cut the grass
[00:17:45] or chase them down to do it. I want to
[00:17:47] get back into marketing a little bit.
[00:17:49] Um, so if a if a local business owner is
[00:17:52] struggling to get customers, what is the
[00:17:54] most important marketing lessons you've
[00:17:56] learned so far in the last 3 years
[00:17:58] running your own business?
[00:17:59] >> I'll give you two. One is it's easier to
[00:18:01] keep a customer than to find a customer.
[00:18:04] So, we do everything we can genuinely to
[00:18:08] do a great job for our customers. Yeah,
[00:18:09] we lose customers. You know, people
[00:18:11] move. Some people don't have the results
[00:18:13] they're looking for. They're impatient.
[00:18:15] Something happens. They're not happy
[00:18:16] about it. So we certainly lose customers
[00:18:19] but we really really try to stay ahead
[00:18:22] of it and do a great job because we want
[00:18:24] the customers to be happy and we don't
[00:18:26] want to lose them. We want to keep them.
[00:18:28] >> So the best way to grow our business is
[00:18:30] to keep our customers number one. Uh the
[00:18:32] second thing is you know when when you
[00:18:34] do a great job you want to make sure
[00:18:35] that your Google reviews reflect those
[00:18:37] results because people go online and
[00:18:39] they search and they look at the review
[00:18:42] score and they read those reviews. I
[00:18:44] can't tell you how many times I step
[00:18:45] onto a potential new customer's lawn and
[00:18:48] one of the first things they say is,
[00:18:49] "Hey, I read your Google reviews.
[00:18:51] They're really good, so I called you."
[00:18:52] So, you got to have a great online
[00:18:54] presence to win these days with any kind
[00:18:58] of a a marketing effort.
[00:18:59] >> Happy customers turn into more customers
[00:19:02] and the Google review is it? So, this is
[00:19:07] a question for the audience, for the the
[00:19:09] folks out there that hire people. When
[00:19:11] you try a new local business, where do
[00:19:12] you usually find them? Is it from a
[00:19:14] friend? Is it a Google search with a
[00:19:16] Google review? Are you driving past a
[00:19:18] truck or a sign? So, put that down in
[00:19:21] the comments. I'd be interested to find
[00:19:22] out. So, for you,
[00:19:24] >> you're like kicking it, man. You've got
[00:19:27] uh 312. I checked this morning.
[00:19:30] >> Yeah.
[00:19:30] >> Sounds about right.
[00:19:31] >> Sounds about right. Yeah.
[00:19:32] >> Um and I guess I was going to say that
[00:19:34] didn't happen by accident, did it?
[00:19:35] >> No, did not happen by accident. For my
[00:19:38] first two and a half years, we just did
[00:19:41] things kind of old school, right? We
[00:19:43] tried to do a great job. We would
[00:19:45] occasionally ask customers if they
[00:19:46] wouldn't mind doing a review for us, but
[00:19:48] we didn't do anything special, you know,
[00:19:50] and we got about 60 reviews a year on
[00:19:53] average.
[00:19:53] >> Yeah. Just from customers who
[00:19:55] >> So, you've been in three years. Spread
[00:19:57] the word.
[00:19:57] >> Let's do the math here. In three years,
[00:19:59] that would have been about 120. And now
[00:20:02] you're more than double.
[00:20:03] >> Yeah. Some of those reviews from from
[00:20:04] before I bought the business. Okay.
[00:20:06] Right. So, there there were I think were
[00:20:08] under a hundred when I bought the
[00:20:09] business. Right. And so then we we added
[00:20:13] to that quite a bit, but not like we
[00:20:15] have right now.
[00:20:15] >> Possibly close to double. And now you're
[00:20:17] actually accelerating it.
[00:20:18] >> Now we're going like crazy. Again, you
[00:20:21] got to deliver for the customer first,
[00:20:23] right?
[00:20:23] >> Oh, yeah. That's number one.
[00:20:24] >> But but once you deliver for the
[00:20:26] customer, inviting them to do a Google
[00:20:29] review is important. We use a texting
[00:20:31] service now so that when we complete a
[00:20:33] service for a customer, they're going to
[00:20:35] get a a text from us. And sometimes, not
[00:20:38] all the time, but sometimes that text
[00:20:40] will ask them if they would like to do a
[00:20:42] Google review. Uh, and just that simple
[00:20:44] invitation after the service is complete
[00:20:47] has really helped us get a lot more
[00:20:48] feedback from our customers. Texting is
[00:20:51] the best way to communicate these days
[00:20:52] as a small business. So,
[00:20:54] >> you didn't have a lot of resistance and
[00:20:56] people wanting to share their phone
[00:20:57] number with you.
[00:20:59] >> Oh, no, no, no, not at all. No, our
[00:21:00] customers happily share their phone
[00:21:02] number and almost everybody shares an
[00:21:04] email address and we communicate through
[00:21:06] primarily through email, but also now
[00:21:08] through more texting and and phone calls
[00:21:10] is less frequent, but we do that also.
[00:21:12] Yeah,
[00:21:12] >> I'm horrible customer in that sense. I
[00:21:15] think I've literally probably been asked
[00:21:17] I'm not going to lie, I would say a
[00:21:19] minimum of three dozen times.
[00:21:22] >> Okay. I think you said I've been a
[00:21:25] customer for I I actually read my KOG
[00:21:26] Google review and you replied to it and
[00:21:28] you said I've been a customer for two
[00:21:30] and a half years.
[00:21:31] >> Yeah.
[00:21:31] >> So literally I've probably been asked
[00:21:33] like every time every time I've had some
[00:21:37] sort of service done.
[00:21:38] >> Okay.
[00:21:39] >> I've been asked for sure by the
[00:21:41] technician
[00:21:41] >> and not just from Lawn Doctor but from
[00:21:43] every other vendor who you work with
[00:21:44] too. Right.
[00:21:45] >> Right. And I guess that's where the
[00:21:47] noise comes in is everybody's after
[00:21:49] these reviews. And then um I saw Jose
[00:21:52] and he he reminded me we just had an
[00:21:55] application a couple of weeks ago and
[00:21:56] that's when I left every like I promised
[00:21:58] him I was going to do that like a year
[00:22:00] ago.
[00:22:03] I finally got it done.
[00:22:05] >> Yeah.
[00:22:05] >> So it's just what do you think motivates
[00:22:07] somebody to leave a review? I mean what
[00:22:09] I mean for myself again I'll go back to
[00:22:12] you have to earn it. You have to do a
[00:22:13] great job, right? Uh, and then after
[00:22:15] that ask
[00:22:16] >> and and you have to ask. You have to
[00:22:18] make it easy.
[00:22:19] >> So what what we used to do was we made
[00:22:21] up these little business cards that had
[00:22:22] a QR code on it and it would basically
[00:22:24] say, "Would you mind giving us a Google
[00:22:26] review?" And customers could use their
[00:22:27] phone, scan the QR code and it would
[00:22:29] take you to the Google review page. The
[00:22:32] texting solution that we use now is
[00:22:33] better because they get a text on their
[00:22:35] phone. Would you mind doing a review?
[00:22:36] They click the link and immediately on
[00:22:38] their phone, they don't even have to
[00:22:40] think about it. They just click the link
[00:22:41] and now they can, you know, give us the
[00:22:43] rating, type in a comment.
[00:22:44] >> You know what? I think that might have
[00:22:46] been how I actually got to it.
[00:22:47] >> Yeah. So, making it easy is a big part
[00:22:49] of it because people want to do it,
[00:22:51] right? But when they want to do it, they
[00:22:53] still
[00:22:53] >> if you're if you're if you're receiving
[00:22:55] good service, you you're not no
[00:22:57] different than if you go to a
[00:22:58] restaurant, you want to leave a tip.
[00:22:59] >> You do.
[00:23:00] >> It's no different in that sense.
[00:23:02] >> Yeah. And so you just got to make it
[00:23:03] easy enough for them to act on that
[00:23:06] immediate impulse because as soon as
[00:23:08] they move on to the next thing, they're
[00:23:10] thinking about their kids or their job.
[00:23:12] >> They got 20 other things hitting for
[00:23:13] their attention
[00:23:14] >> and and we're out of their thought
[00:23:15] process. So any small business has got
[00:23:17] to make it easy for their customers to
[00:23:19] share feedback or you're just
[00:23:20] >> sharing the system that you're using
[00:23:21] because you just shared it with me.
[00:23:23] >> Yeah, we use a system called Applause.
[00:23:25] It's a a vendor, right? And so we we pay
[00:23:27] them a monthly fee to send these text
[00:23:30] messages to our customers to compile the
[00:23:32] results.
[00:23:33] >> And it ties in with your CRM kind of
[00:23:36] system so that you don't have to even
[00:23:37] think about it. It just happens.
[00:23:39] >> Fully automated. We have apps on our
[00:23:40] phones. The technicians can see the
[00:23:42] results come in. The main reason I
[00:23:44] signed up for it is because I wanted to
[00:23:45] improve our customer service. I wanted
[00:23:47] to be able to uh reward our technicians
[00:23:50] for doing a great job. And uh it's hard
[00:23:53] to do that when you don't have a pulse
[00:23:56] on what's really happening in the field,
[00:23:58] right? So what better way to reward them
[00:24:01] for doing a great job than for allowing
[00:24:03] our customers to give us more frequent
[00:24:05] and more accurate feedback. So this
[00:24:07] applause system allows us to communicate
[00:24:09] with our customers to get great feedback
[00:24:12] and I can then use that to reward the
[00:24:14] team for doing a great job. So I I know
[00:24:17] when customers appreciate them because
[00:24:19] the customers are telling us as opposed
[00:24:21] to guessing and not knowing. So
[00:24:23] >> right, there's a and there's e even as
[00:24:26] easy as you're making it, there's still
[00:24:27] a little bit of friction there. They
[00:24:28] actually have to go out there and do it.
[00:24:30] So if a customer goes in, you know which
[00:24:32] technicians are hitting those yards.
[00:24:34] >> Yeah. They're doing a good job. They're
[00:24:36] earning it. And so so I get to thank the
[00:24:38] technicians. I get to, you know, share
[00:24:40] the results with them. Uh and they take
[00:24:43] pride in doing a great job. They
[00:24:44] appreciate the feedback and I get to
[00:24:46] reward them for doing a great job for
[00:24:48] our customers. So, it's a win for
[00:24:50] everybody. It it fosters a positive
[00:24:52] customer service culture in our
[00:24:54] business. Positive feelings from the
[00:24:56] technicians. When they do a great job,
[00:24:57] they're going to get recognized for it
[00:24:59] and it's easy for our customers to share
[00:25:01] feedback with us so we can use that
[00:25:03] feedback to get better. Here's another
[00:25:04] question I asked the audience. When
[00:25:06] choosing a business, which matters more?
[00:25:07] Google reviews are recommendations from
[00:25:09] friends. So, put that answer down in the
[00:25:12] comments. So I wanted to dive in. So
[00:25:14] you've mentioned Google reviews
[00:25:16] specifically. Have you have you played
[00:25:18] around with any other online review
[00:25:20] platforms?
[00:25:20] >> Not directly. No. I mean we we have
[00:25:22] >> You probably have something out there. I
[00:25:24] mean
[00:25:24] >> Yeah. We don't really tie into anything
[00:25:26] else. Google is just so dominant.
[00:25:29] >> Mhm.
[00:25:30] >> We put our effort into I guess the the
[00:25:32] biggest part of the market and that's
[00:25:35] Google. For better or for worse, that's
[00:25:36] where everybody goes and so that's where
[00:25:38] we concentrate our efforts. I mean, so
[00:25:40] right now you're really liking the
[00:25:42] Google reviews.
[00:25:42] >> Helps us out a lot.
[00:25:44] >> Negative reviews. So, I'm sure you
[00:25:46] probably have one out there. I mean, I
[00:25:48] don't think anybody's immune to a
[00:25:50] negative review.
[00:25:51] >> We We got a couple. Yeah.
[00:25:52] >> How How do you handle those when you get
[00:25:54] them?
[00:25:55] >> First thing I do is I I contact the
[00:25:56] customer. I want to find out what's
[00:25:58] going on. I want to talk to them, learn
[00:26:00] from their experience. I want to fix it.
[00:26:03] If I can fix it, if they'll communicate
[00:26:05] with me, I'm going to do everything I
[00:26:06] can to make it right. If they're not
[00:26:08] going to communicate with me, I'm gonna
[00:26:10] move on.
[00:26:11] >> Does Does Google allow you Does like if
[00:26:12] I leave you a one-star review, does
[00:26:14] Google allow me you go and fix it and I
[00:26:16] go like, "Oh, well, you know, I feel
[00:26:17] kind of bad about that cuz you did come
[00:26:19] out and you fixed everything. Maybe I
[00:26:21] need to raise them up to a fourstar."
[00:26:22] Did Does Google allow me to go in there
[00:26:24] and change my uh rating?
[00:26:26] >> I think so, but I've never
[00:26:28] >> Have you had any of that happen? No.
[00:26:30] >> With your low How many of these have you
[00:26:32] had? Cuz I looked out there and I I
[00:26:34] couldn't tell. Was there just like one?
[00:26:35] There's only like maybe one or two,
[00:26:36] right? three years. I think we've had
[00:26:38] three bad reviews.
[00:26:39] >> Three. Three total. Yeah.
[00:26:41] >> And they're still out there,
[00:26:42] >> as far as I know.
[00:26:43] >> Yeah. Wasn't anything you could do. Have
[00:26:45] you Have you had So, one of the things
[00:26:47] that I found talking with actual another
[00:26:49] lawn care company up in St. Louis, he
[00:26:52] had he had several reviews out there
[00:26:55] that were just fake.
[00:26:56] >> Mhm.
[00:26:57] >> Have you ever had to deal with that yet?
[00:26:59] >> Haven't had fake, but I've had them that
[00:27:01] were not truthful.
[00:27:02] >> Okay. You know, he's had to deal with
[00:27:04] that one, too.
[00:27:04] >> Yeah. So, so when you when you look at,
[00:27:06] you know, the statements that are made
[00:27:07] and you go back to the customer's record
[00:27:09] and you, you know, I talked to the
[00:27:11] technicians who were servicing the
[00:27:12] customer, maybe I've interacted with a
[00:27:15] customer, there's a there's a text
[00:27:16] chain, there's an email chain, you know,
[00:27:18] I can go back and I can validate what
[00:27:20] part of that statement is reality and
[00:27:23] what part of it is not. And so,
[00:27:24] sometimes it's embellished. Sometimes
[00:27:26] it's just not accurate. Maybe the person
[00:27:29] doesn't remember it correctly. you know,
[00:27:31] they certainly have their perception,
[00:27:32] their thoughts on what happened and I
[00:27:34] don't want to discredit that cuz it's
[00:27:36] it's still valuable feedback for us. Um,
[00:27:39] but when it just
[00:27:40] >> there's a breakdown to the community
[00:27:42] could be that you got one person paying
[00:27:43] a bill and another one that's actually
[00:27:45] meeting up with the technician and so
[00:27:47] there's a
[00:27:48] >> breakdown in
[00:27:49] >> Yeah.
[00:27:50] >> You know,
[00:27:50] >> sometimes the household communication is
[00:27:53] >> communication may not be 100%. Like why
[00:27:55] am I paying this bill every month? you
[00:27:57] know, I never see this guy, but they
[00:27:59] never actually talk to the person that's
[00:28:01] there at the house. When the guy comes,
[00:28:02] they're like, "Oh, yeah, he comes every
[00:28:04] six weeks. He's here." You know,
[00:28:06] >> so, so when I see a bad review, and
[00:28:08] again, it hasn't been very often,
[00:28:09] fortunately. Um, but I want to fix it.
[00:28:12] And so, I'm going to reach out to the
[00:28:13] customer and let's have a conversation.
[00:28:14] Let's let's figure out what's going on.
[00:28:16] And
[00:28:16] >> are there any specific lessons that
[00:28:18] you've learned from these negative
[00:28:19] reviews that you could share that would
[00:28:21] be something maybe you'd be willing to
[00:28:23] share?
[00:28:23] >> You know, they they've been so
[00:28:24] infrequent. I wouldn't say there's like
[00:28:25] a pattern or something that I can learn
[00:28:27] from, you know, but just again do a
[00:28:29] great job. Do a good job. And I think
[00:28:31] that the two things that my team and I
[00:28:33] really focus on is is number one, we
[00:28:35] have to do a good job. But you also have
[00:28:38] to communicate with a customer because
[00:28:40] if you do A, B, and C, the customer
[00:28:42] doesn't know you did A, B, and C. In
[00:28:45] their mind, you didn't do it. So the
[00:28:47] results matter, but the actions you're
[00:28:49] taking are also really important. So
[00:28:51] communicating with the customers in a
[00:28:53] proactive manner about what you're
[00:28:54] doing, what's going on with their lawn
[00:28:56] or their shrubs or their trees and what
[00:28:59] you're doing to address it or what they
[00:29:01] can do to help you address it. Those are
[00:29:03] things that really are kind of back to
[00:29:05] back to what you actually were saying is
[00:29:06] that you know the reality of the
[00:29:08] situation was is that they weren't maybe
[00:29:10] truly understanding the situation where
[00:29:12] there could be a breakdown in that all
[00:29:13] that communication like you were like
[00:29:15] you just said you did A, B, and C. you
[00:29:18] didn't actually somehow maybe there's a
[00:29:20] breakdown in the communication the
[00:29:21] customer didn't realize that you did AB
[00:29:23] and C
[00:29:24] >> and so that's where things kind of can
[00:29:26] get off the rails
[00:29:27] >> right
[00:29:27] >> is that just so I'm going to take it I'm
[00:29:30] going to take the lesson right from you
[00:29:31] and just say like the the lesson is is
[00:29:34] communication maybe
[00:29:36] >> it's one of our
[00:29:37] >> it's a big it's a big deal
[00:29:38] >> it's one of our four core principles
[00:29:41] really oh absolutely we've got to
[00:29:43] communicate with our customers
[00:29:44] >> and you mentioned earlier when you go
[00:29:46] out and meet them for the first time.
[00:29:48] You're actually going to go and look at
[00:29:49] the lawn
[00:29:51] >> and walk the lawn with them and then set
[00:29:53] expectations, which again is part of
[00:29:54] that communication, right?
[00:29:56] >> You know, if your lawn's a mess, you're
[00:29:58] looking at maybe, you know, 6 months, 8
[00:30:01] months based on the type of the season
[00:30:03] of the year and this and that, it could
[00:30:04] take that long, maybe.
[00:30:05] >> Yeah.
[00:30:06] >> Am I right or am I wrong in that?
[00:30:07] >> You're absolutely right. And it takes a
[00:30:09] lot of effort to go to every customer
[00:30:11] before you take them on as a customer,
[00:30:13] right? So, there's a lot that goes into
[00:30:14] that. It's a big commitment from us to
[00:30:17] make sure that we're starting on the
[00:30:18] same page and that we have good
[00:30:20] expectations for the next 3 6 12 months,
[00:30:23] but it avoids the situation where
[00:30:25] someone wants to write a bad review
[00:30:27] bringing it back to Google. Right. So,
[00:30:29] you get there up front. You get on the
[00:30:31] same
[00:30:32] >> My yard's not my yard's not green after
[00:30:34] after one week and you first apply
[00:30:37] something.
[00:30:37] >> Yeah. But that's part of that initial
[00:30:40] conversation is here's what
[00:30:41] >> it's not going to become this beautiful
[00:30:42] lawn in one week.
[00:30:44] >> Absolutely. So, we set the right
[00:30:46] expectation. We want to exceed that
[00:30:48] expectation. I make sure when I'm doing
[00:30:50] an evaluation for a customer that we're
[00:30:52] having that necessary conversation. So,
[00:30:54] I'm setting us up for success. I'm
[00:30:56] setting them up for happiness with the
[00:30:59] results they're going to get. And we get
[00:31:01] the time we need to deliver because they
[00:31:04] understand what it's going to take after
[00:31:05] we talk.
[00:31:06] >> That probably lowers your whole stress
[00:31:07] level, too, right?
[00:31:08] >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean,
[00:31:10] >> it's a lot easier just to be just
[00:31:12] straight with them. like we're not going
[00:31:13] to be able to turn this around in 2
[00:31:15] weeks or 3 months or whatever whatever
[00:31:17] it is.
[00:31:17] >> And there are times when I'll evaluate a
[00:31:20] customer's lawn and I'll just say, "I'm
[00:31:21] sorry, I can't help you."
[00:31:22] >> Oh, really? Oh, yeah. It happens every
[00:31:25] week. We'll go out and do an evaluation
[00:31:26] and unfortunately it's it's it's it's
[00:31:28] all weeds or it's crap grass or the
[00:31:30] damage is so severe there's not enough
[00:31:32] St. Augustine left to honestly recover
[00:31:34] back to a healthy lawn and they need to
[00:31:36] sod. And so, I'll tell them that
[00:31:38] upfront. I I'm not going to be able to
[00:31:40] help you. I don't want to take your
[00:31:41] money.
[00:31:41] >> I can kill it all. like we and we do
[00:31:44] that too, right? If they're preparing
[00:31:45] for sad, we'll kill all the weeds and
[00:31:47] make sure they don't damage the new sod.
[00:31:48] But, you know,
[00:31:50] >> there's no grass there. There's not a
[00:31:51] lot that you can do.
[00:31:52] >> And there are a lot of companies that
[00:31:54] just do estimates over the phone, right?
[00:31:56] You'll call a company and say, "Hey, I
[00:31:58] want to get a quote for service."
[00:31:59] They'll tell you, "Oh, yeah. We can
[00:32:00] start next week. It's going to be $85 a
[00:32:03] treatment." They have no idea what
[00:32:04] they're walking into.
[00:32:06] >> Could be a whole yard of weeds with no
[00:32:08] St. Augustine.
[00:32:08] >> May be completely unreoverable, but to
[00:32:10] be honest, they don't care. They just
[00:32:12] want to get the new customer and start
[00:32:14] getting those checks,
[00:32:15] >> right?
[00:32:16] >> You know, I don't want to do that
[00:32:17] because I want to deliver every single
[00:32:19] time for the customer and I can't do
[00:32:21] that if I'm taking on a lawn that can't
[00:32:23] be recovered.
[00:32:24] >> Interesting. So, you go out and look at
[00:32:26] every single new prospect and find out
[00:32:30] if is this something that we can take on
[00:32:32] and get good results.
[00:32:33] >> And another reason I think that's so
[00:32:35] important is because it immediately
[00:32:36] opens the lines of communication
[00:32:38] >> and that feeds back to your Google
[00:32:39] review being so good. They immediately
[00:32:41] know if I have a problem, I can call
[00:32:43] Scott. He was here. We looked at my lawn
[00:32:46] together. We've talked. I've got his
[00:32:48] card. I know his phone number. I can
[00:32:50] text him. I can email him and I'll
[00:32:52] respond to everything same business day
[00:32:54] or the next day at the very latest.
[00:32:57] >> So, getting those communication channels
[00:32:59] open helps us and it helps the customer
[00:33:02] cuz if there is a question or a concern,
[00:33:05] they know they can reach out to me and
[00:33:07] I'm going to address their issue. They
[00:33:09] don't have to get frustrated, right?
[00:33:11] Just give me a call. Let me know what's
[00:33:12] going on and we'll take care of it.
[00:33:13] >> Yeah. I have to say over the last two
[00:33:15] and a half years, there's always been
[00:33:17] very quick communication
[00:33:19] >> on on your part.
[00:33:20] >> Thank you. Good to hear.
[00:33:22] >> We've been talking about the reviews. Do
[00:33:24] you do you uh which ones do you read?
[00:33:26] >> I read almost all of them.
[00:33:28] >> Almost all of them
[00:33:29] >> and respond to all of them. I hired an
[00:33:30] admin late last year. Until then, I did
[00:33:33] it all myself, but finally I had to hire
[00:33:35] an admin. So,
[00:33:36] >> that's actually good news, right?
[00:33:37] >> She It is. So, she she reads the reviews
[00:33:40] and she responds to them and I'll go
[00:33:42] online every week a couple of times and
[00:33:44] I'll look at what's going on with the
[00:33:45] reviews. So, I read almost all of them
[00:33:48] and I used to respond personally to all
[00:33:50] of them, but now she does most of the
[00:33:52] responding, but I still review them.
[00:33:54] >> Interesting. Do you have a system that
[00:33:55] you use for that or just using the
[00:33:57] Google system?
[00:33:58] >> I just go online and look at look at the
[00:33:59] reviews. Yeah. I mean, we we get reports
[00:34:01] into our email every time somebody does
[00:34:03] a review
[00:34:04] >> through our marketing company that we
[00:34:06] use, but I I go online and check them
[00:34:08] out.
[00:34:08] >> Speaking of marketing, um I'm just
[00:34:10] curious, what kind of content and social
[00:34:13] media marketing do you actually do for
[00:34:15] for your business?
[00:34:16] >> Again, with the addition of the admin to
[00:34:18] our team, she's taken that on and she
[00:34:20] does a great job. So, she uh you know,
[00:34:23] monitors our Facebook page. She handles
[00:34:25] our Google page as well. She updates
[00:34:27] postings, photos, uh, on Facebook.
[00:34:30] She'll join various community clubs and
[00:34:34] groups, and she'll post little things on
[00:34:37] there about our business and, uh,
[00:34:39] respond to things if people contact us.
[00:34:41] So, she monitors that, and she updates
[00:34:43] it a couple of times a week with some
[00:34:45] new content, new information, and the
[00:34:47] technicians gather photos and send them
[00:34:49] to her every week so that she has new
[00:34:50] stuff to share. But, it's a thing that
[00:34:52] we're still developing. We're getting
[00:34:53] better at it. Um, and I think it'll
[00:34:54] become more important as we invest more
[00:34:57] time and and energy and expertise into
[00:34:59] it. But
[00:34:59] >> I'm not a big fan of Meta, but um
[00:35:02] >> curious if you have looked at other
[00:35:05] platforms like Next Door.
[00:35:07] >> Not as much. No. Um, our target customer
[00:35:10] I think is is a Facebook user.
[00:35:13] >> Is it?
[00:35:13] >> Yeah.
[00:35:14] >> Yeah.
[00:35:14] >> Um, so we we focus primarily there. Um,
[00:35:17] I'd like to get a little more into
[00:35:18] Instagram. Uh, but at this point we're
[00:35:20] focused more on on Facebook to get that
[00:35:23] one going. And
[00:35:23] >> and how often do you think you need to
[00:35:25] post on there?
[00:35:26] >> She posts on there a couple times a
[00:35:27] week.
[00:35:27] >> You think that's sufficient?
[00:35:29] >> I think so. Again, we're we're we're new
[00:35:31] at it. So,
[00:35:32] >> you're new at it. Yeah. So, you don't
[00:35:33] really have much. So, my view is I'll
[00:35:35] just share my view. I think social media
[00:35:37] is kind of like where the yellow pages
[00:35:39] used to be. I mean, they're going to
[00:35:41] check it. Make sure you guys have a
[00:35:42] pulse.
[00:35:44] >> Yeah.
[00:35:45] >> Couple times a week, I think, is more
[00:35:46] than adequate.
[00:35:47] >> Yeah. I mean, I don't think there's any
[00:35:49] need for you to be posting three times a
[00:35:51] day.
[00:35:51] >> No, no, no, no. We don't do anything
[00:35:52] like that. It's we we try to post kind
[00:35:55] of just photos of things we do, you
[00:35:57] know, good-looking lawn, good-looking
[00:36:00] shre,
[00:36:01] >> but we also try to post photographs of
[00:36:03] things that are happening, issues that
[00:36:05] are happening, brown patch fungus or an
[00:36:07] insect issue with a plant or a fungal
[00:36:10] issue with a plant, just to help
[00:36:11] educate, you know, folks who are
[00:36:13] checking it out. They can see what we
[00:36:14] do. They can see what they might be
[00:36:16] experiencing in their own lawn. And if
[00:36:17] they learn what it is, maybe they'll
[00:36:18] give us a call and give us a shot to fix
[00:36:20] it for them.
[00:36:21] >> I think that education approach is
[00:36:23] probably going to you're going to find a
[00:36:25] lot of success there.
[00:36:26] >> I hope so.
[00:36:27] >> Yeah, I think so. I think that I think
[00:36:28] that's that would be really good. Have
[00:36:31] you do you know that you've actually
[00:36:32] have you generated any customers from
[00:36:34] your social media efforts?
[00:36:36] >> We know we've gotten a few.
[00:36:38] >> I think we've probably gotten more, but
[00:36:40] I know of at least a few who have said
[00:36:42] that that's where they found us.
[00:36:43] >> That's where they found you or social
[00:36:45] media. So, they actually mentioned that
[00:36:46] to you.
[00:36:47] >> Yeah.
[00:36:47] >> All right.
[00:36:48] >> They mentioned it to me or when they
[00:36:49] contacted Jesse, our our our admin,
[00:36:51] they, you know, they told her that,
[00:36:53] "Hey, this is how I found you."
[00:36:55] >> Right. Um, what about direct mail? Have
[00:36:57] you Have you ever played around with
[00:36:59] that?
[00:37:00] >> I did I did a a very strategic direct
[00:37:03] mail effort last fall. We picked
[00:37:06] neighborhoods throughout our territory
[00:37:08] that were really high quality
[00:37:09] neighborhoods for us, really in the
[00:37:12] heart of our target demographic. Uh, and
[00:37:14] we sent out about 6,600 direct mail
[00:37:17] cards to those customers. Did not have
[00:37:20] any success at all, unfortunately.
[00:37:21] >> Didn't have any success. That's
[00:37:23] interesting. Was that a EDDDM or was it
[00:37:25] direct mail?
[00:37:26] >> It was every door delivery, but it was
[00:37:28] in targeted mail routes to the
[00:37:31] neighborhoods that we wanted to hit.
[00:37:33] >> Yeah. Were you guys already servicing
[00:37:35] those routes?
[00:37:36] >> Yes. and you know you didn't get any
[00:37:38] results because you were monitoring
[00:37:40] those routes and saw that those routes
[00:37:42] additional customers on those routes
[00:37:43] didn't really have a bump.
[00:37:45] >> Yeah. Well, that and we put a promotion
[00:37:47] on the flyer that the direct mailer
[00:37:49] >> and they would had to call you and say,
[00:37:50] "Hey, I want this promotion." Yeah.
[00:37:52] >> So, you never got any phone calls for
[00:37:53] the promotion.
[00:37:54] >> We very small number. Yeah.
[00:37:56] >> And then how big of a piece was that?
[00:37:58] >> It was pretty big. It was
[00:38:00] >> like a six and a half by nine probably.
[00:38:02] >> Yeah. It was pretty good size card.
[00:38:03] Yeah, it was about that size. And then
[00:38:05] how many how many times did you hit
[00:38:06] those guys up?
[00:38:07] >> We just sent it out one time.
[00:38:09] >> Oh, one time.
[00:38:09] >> Oh, the response was so bad. I was not
[00:38:11] about to invest in that avenue again.
[00:38:13] >> You guys did that yourself or you had a
[00:38:16] had somebody do it for you.
[00:38:17] >> We used uh a company that you know
[00:38:21] Oh, a lawn doctor. Got a reference from
[00:38:23] lawn doctor. Yeah. Interesting.
[00:38:25] >> We have preferred vendors through lawn
[00:38:26] doctor that we can reach out to to do
[00:38:28] different types of things and I just
[00:38:29] decided to use a preferred vendor for
[00:38:31] this. Did did um any of your other Lawn
[00:38:33] Doctor franchises ever mention success
[00:38:37] with that?
[00:38:37] >> Some have had some success. Most have
[00:38:40] told me that they have not had a lot of
[00:38:42] success with direct mail efforts.
[00:38:44] >> Interesting.
[00:38:45] >> Yeah. I mean, the only thing that I
[00:38:47] consistently hear from my peers is more
[00:38:51] digital, more digital, more digital,
[00:38:53] >> more digital.
[00:38:54] >> Mhm. Paperclick, Google, paid Google, a
[00:38:57] little bit of social media. You did
[00:38:59] those routes one time or more than one
[00:39:01] time?
[00:39:01] >> Did it one time?
[00:39:02] >> A one time. Yeah. Yeah. That I'm not
[00:39:05] sure about that one time. I think that's
[00:39:07] that's also can throw a wrench into your
[00:39:09] results, too.
[00:39:10] >> Yeah. If I had a little more success, I
[00:39:12] might have tried it again.
[00:39:14] >> Yeah.
[00:39:14] >> But
[00:39:15] >> you definitely sent enough out there.
[00:39:17] >> Yeah.
[00:39:18] >> Did Did you get even one?
[00:39:20] >> I got two new customers.
[00:39:21] >> Two new customers on 6,600 pieces. Yeah.
[00:39:25] That's just those numbers don't work.
[00:39:26] >> Terrible hit rate. Yeah. So, there's a
[00:39:28] question for the audience. I have a
[00:39:29] question. What?
[00:39:30] >> Yeah.
[00:39:31] >> So, when the marketing mail shows up in
[00:39:32] your mailbox, what usually happens?
[00:39:35] Straight to the trash. I glance at it
[00:39:37] for a few seconds. It sits on the
[00:39:39] counter for a while before getting
[00:39:40] tossed. Tell us which one down in the
[00:39:42] comments.
[00:39:43] >> Sounds like yours just went straight to
[00:39:44] the trash.
[00:39:45] >> Seems like it.
[00:39:46] >> I don't know cuz I'm marketing guy and
[00:39:48] and I was I was told that you're you're
[00:39:50] super into the marketing side of things.
[00:39:52] So, that's why I'm kind of focused on
[00:39:54] the marketing side.
[00:39:54] >> All right. Um, how important is the the
[00:39:58] visibility in your neighborhoods? Like
[00:39:59] your trucks and your little yard signs?
[00:40:03] Do you have actual cases where you know,
[00:40:06] oh, I saw your truck in my neighborhood
[00:40:08] or I saw that cuz you mentioned like 25%
[00:40:11] as referral. Would you would you count
[00:40:12] that kind of like the referral business
[00:40:14] side of things?
[00:40:15] >> Yeah, it would it would be included in
[00:40:16] that in that bucket. It's quite a bit.
[00:40:18] Every week I probably talk to a customer
[00:40:20] who says, "I saw your truck or I saw
[00:40:22] your sign or I saw my neighbor's yard
[00:40:23] and I so I called you."
[00:40:25] >> I'm curious because I know my my mom's
[00:40:27] mentioned this. My mother,
[00:40:29] >> this is this is her little thing.
[00:40:31] >> Okay.
[00:40:31] >> Is um I'm just curious. How often do you
[00:40:33] wash your trucks?
[00:40:35] >> Oh. Um we wash our trucks. We do a
[00:40:37] detail clean inside and out at the end
[00:40:40] of every round. So about every six
[00:40:42] weeks.
[00:40:43] >> Okay.
[00:40:43] >> Yeah. They stay pretty clean. I mean
[00:40:45] they they look they look pretty good.
[00:40:47] when you get inside the cabinets and
[00:40:49] stuff, that's where they need
[00:40:50] >> she sees some other vendors. I'm not
[00:40:53] going to mention names because I
[00:40:53] wouldn't even know who they are, but it
[00:40:55] it I'm just letting you know there are
[00:40:57] people out there that notice. My
[00:40:58] mother's being one of them.
[00:41:00] >> Yeah.
[00:41:00] >> It's like, "Oh, his his truck is always
[00:41:02] clean." She says the same thing about
[00:41:03] our lawn care, the the lawn um cutting
[00:41:06] service. It's like, "Oh, I like him cuz
[00:41:08] his truck's always clean."
[00:41:09] >> Yeah.
[00:41:11] >> You know, every everything makes a
[00:41:12] difference to somebody. So, yeah. Right.
[00:41:14] >> Yeah. It's that one little detail. Well,
[00:41:16] if he keeps this truck can, he's going
[00:41:17] to keep my yard looking nice. I guess
[00:41:19] somehow they make that a connection. I
[00:41:21] don't know.
[00:41:21] >> Attention to detail.
[00:41:22] >> Attention to detail business. Yeah,
[00:41:24] makes sense.
[00:41:24] >> I mean, plus I guess just driving around
[00:41:26] the road, you know, just it probably
[00:41:29] gives you more business driving around
[00:41:31] the neighborhood and having it parked
[00:41:32] out front of the house and just going
[00:41:34] down the highway, I would think.
[00:41:35] >> Yeah, the highway I don't think helps us
[00:41:36] out, but when they see the neighborhood,
[00:41:38] it it it catches their eye and they they
[00:41:41] take a picture of the truck or put the
[00:41:42] phone number in their phone. Do you like
[00:41:45] on my street I don't I should have
[00:41:47] prompted you for this because you don't
[00:41:49] have your system in front of you but
[00:41:51] >> I do know that you have more houses now
[00:41:53] than you did 2 and a half years ago.
[00:41:55] >> Yeah, I'm sure.
[00:41:56] >> Is that is that the typical trend? Like
[00:41:57] once you land on a particular street,
[00:42:00] how does that work?
[00:42:01] >> Well, hopefully. I mean, you know, we
[00:42:03] certainly want to neighbors to see the
[00:42:05] lawns and get excited and give us a
[00:42:07] call. I mean, in 3 years, we've doubled
[00:42:09] our business. So,
[00:42:10] >> doubled it. Yeah.
[00:42:11] >> Okay, cool. So, you would expect that if
[00:42:13] we had two houses 3 years ago, we would
[00:42:15] have four houses on your block now
[00:42:18] territory, right?
[00:42:18] >> Yeah, I know. It's more than that.
[00:42:20] >> Yeah.
[00:42:21] >> Yeah. You just got to There's We're
[00:42:23] getting it from the Christian or six
[00:42:26] houses.
[00:42:26] >> Six on. Okay.
[00:42:27] >> Six on there.
[00:42:28] >> Was I the first one?
[00:42:29] >> Yeah. Six houses now.
[00:42:31] >> Okay. Yeah.
[00:42:31] >> Yeah. I know you just added my mom's
[00:42:33] neighbor. You've already thanked her for
[00:42:35] that. So, we're we're real happy with
[00:42:38] the service and that's the main thing is
[00:42:40] that we're super happy with it. you
[00:42:41] don't mind sharing?
[00:42:42] >> I appreciate
[00:42:43] >> like why don't you call why don't you
[00:42:44] call lawn doctor and like my yard looked
[00:42:46] well and unfortunately she's got a
[00:42:47] neighbor that doesn't do anything and
[00:42:49] his stuff's all creeping in but your
[00:42:51] technician is pretty nice cuz he
[00:42:52] actually oversprays about four or five
[00:42:54] feet just so we can kind of
[00:42:56] >> keep it over that way.
[00:42:58] >> We're usually able to maintain a pretty
[00:42:59] good property line.
[00:43:00] >> Yeah, it's pretty well maintained. Yeah,
[00:43:02] it's, you know, keeping it on the other
[00:43:04] side. So, you know, you were in
[00:43:05] corporate for a while and now you're
[00:43:08] running your own business. I'm curious
[00:43:09] because you probably get a lot of help
[00:43:10] support from Lawn Doctor. What is the
[00:43:13] leadership lessons that you've learned
[00:43:16] along the way running your own business
[00:43:18] now for three and a half years?
[00:43:19] >> I don't know that I've learned anything
[00:43:22] running my own business that I hadn't
[00:43:23] already learned in my career in various
[00:43:25] leadership positions. Right. Every
[00:43:27] accomplishment I've had in my career of
[00:43:29] of any significance has been working
[00:43:32] with other people. The people I work
[00:43:33] with are critical to the success of my
[00:43:36] business and the s the happiness of our
[00:43:38] customers. So hiring the right people is
[00:43:41] as true in my business now as it ever
[00:43:43] was before. Right. And I have a small
[00:43:45] team, you know, four technicians. We're
[00:43:46] a small company.
[00:43:47] >> So you got four trucks,
[00:43:49] >> four trucks, four techs, and they've all
[00:43:50] got to be superstars. You can't afford
[00:43:52] to have somebody who's not great. So
[00:43:54] >> Right. You can't. No,
[00:43:54] >> it's really important to hire the right
[00:43:56] people. Get
[00:43:57] >> I guess five trucks technically. You got
[00:43:59] Scott's truck. He's out.
[00:44:00] >> I got my pickup truck. So yeah, right.
[00:44:03] Yeah. So, so yeah, four spray trucks and
[00:44:05] my pickup truck, but uh yeah, you can't
[00:44:07] afford to have a bad person. Um it's too
[00:44:10] important to the customer service to
[00:44:12] have everybody aligned, everybody
[00:44:14] working together as a team with good
[00:44:16] communication, integrity, executing the
[00:44:20] program, and really doing what it takes
[00:44:22] to to make the customer happy. So,
[00:44:24] everybody has to be committed to that in
[00:44:26] a small business like this. And it was
[00:44:27] true in my other organizations, too. But
[00:44:30] it's just I think it's amplified when
[00:44:31] you when you're dealing with just one.
[00:44:33] >> You don't have a lot of room for having
[00:44:35] someone they can't be hitting on all
[00:44:37] cylinders, right?
[00:44:37] >> You know, and one person owns 25% of
[00:44:39] your customers. So if you have a bad
[00:44:41] technician, that's 25% of your customers
[00:44:43] who probably aren't happy. That's not a
[00:44:44] good recipe for success. So um you know,
[00:44:47] hire the right people, take care of
[00:44:49] them, treat them right, communicate,
[00:44:51] have a good culture on your team, make
[00:44:53] sure everybody's aligned with your
[00:44:55] company values and priorities, and then,
[00:44:57] you know, go take care of people. So,
[00:44:59] what are some of the what are some of
[00:45:01] your strategies for making sure you get
[00:45:02] the right people hired?
[00:45:03] >> I try to hire people that we already
[00:45:05] know. Everybody on my team did not
[00:45:07] really come to me cold. They were
[00:45:09] referred by other technicians
[00:45:11] essentially, right? Or they were
[00:45:12] referred by other lawn doctors. I did,
[00:45:15] you know, I have hired a couple of
[00:45:16] people cold over my tenure and they
[00:45:19] didn't work out. So I think the key is
[00:45:21] develop a good team and develop an
[00:45:24] organization where you're going to
[00:45:25] attract good talent because your team
[00:45:27] wants their people they know to come and
[00:45:30] be a part of the good team.
[00:45:31] >> So if you develop a good work
[00:45:33] environment then the people that are
[00:45:35] already working for like oh they hear
[00:45:38] somebody's like I'm looking for a job
[00:45:40] you should come come over here to our
[00:45:42] what we got going on. It's it's pretty
[00:45:44] nice.
[00:45:44] >> And it even goes beyond that. You know
[00:45:46] it's a small community these
[00:45:47] technicians. They've they've worked for
[00:45:49] different companies in the past and
[00:45:50] they've worked with different people.
[00:45:51] >> So they all talk.
[00:45:52] >> They stay in touch. They talk and you
[00:45:54] know someone gets a new job and they
[00:45:56] hear what it's like working over there
[00:45:58] and so you know you want your
[00:46:00] technicians to be saying good things
[00:46:02] about their experience at the company.
[00:46:04] And when they do then other people hear
[00:46:05] that and they think oh that's a place
[00:46:07] I'd like to work someday. So it becomes
[00:46:10] easier to attract top talent when you
[00:46:12] have
[00:46:12] >> as a technician you got to have this
[00:46:14] license right? Mhm.
[00:46:16] >> So, how do you you know chicken or the
[00:46:18] egg? It's like how do you how do you get
[00:46:21] there?
[00:46:21] >> Well, I have the license and so so the
[00:46:24] technicians work under my license,
[00:46:26] >> okay,
[00:46:27] >> for the pesticide, right? And then
[00:46:30] people who are already in the industry,
[00:46:31] experienced technicians will already
[00:46:33] have their fertilizer certificate
[00:46:35] certificate that lasts for 3 years. So,
[00:46:38] but how do you start and get your
[00:46:40] fertilizer certificate? You work for
[00:46:42] somebody that has a pesticide
[00:46:43] certificate and you do the pesticides
[00:46:45] and I guess you kind of get your foot in
[00:46:46] the door or
[00:46:47] >> the fertilizer one is easy.
[00:46:48] >> Oh, it is?
[00:46:50] >> Yeah, that one you just take an online
[00:46:51] test and you get it.
[00:46:52] >> Oh, okay.
[00:46:53] >> Yeah, that one's easy. The the pesticide
[00:46:54] one is the one that's more regulated and
[00:46:56] is it requires a three-year waiting
[00:46:58] period. So, now that I have that, all my
[00:47:00] technicians just work under mine.
[00:47:02] >> So, here's one for you. So, you've had a
[00:47:04] lot of years of experience in corporate
[00:47:05] and everything. What's the leadership
[00:47:07] mistake that taught you a big lesson? I
[00:47:09] think uh the thing that was most painful
[00:47:11] for me in my career was when the
[00:47:14] decisions that were made by leadership
[00:47:16] had a negative effect on the people in
[00:47:18] the organization. You know, if your
[00:47:20] priority is on shareholders or bottom
[00:47:23] line, you got to make sure that the
[00:47:25] decisions you make aren't aren't hurting
[00:47:26] your people because I've been a victim
[00:47:29] of of that. You know, my teams have been
[00:47:31] victims of that. And it's it's hard for
[00:47:33] somebody who cares about your team to
[00:47:35] see them suffer because of decisions
[00:47:38] that are being made by an organization
[00:47:39] that don't prioritize them.
[00:47:42] >> Probably the main reason that I went
[00:47:43] into business for myself was so I
[00:47:45] wouldn't have to make those decisions,
[00:47:47] right? I could make
[00:47:48] >> because it just it just keeps going
[00:47:50] down. You have no control over it.
[00:47:51] >> Well, then your people are unhappy and
[00:47:53] then things everything gets worse,
[00:47:54] right? Your customer service goes down,
[00:47:56] your sales go down, your business
[00:47:58] deteriorates. So,
[00:47:59] >> you got to take care of your people. And
[00:48:01] so, so seeing businesses make other
[00:48:04] decisions for other reasons and hurting
[00:48:07] the people and in the long term hurting
[00:48:09] the business is a lesson I learned
[00:48:11] without having to do it myself.
[00:48:12] >> You got to really watch out and
[00:48:14] understand that if you don't have the
[00:48:15] people there, you don't that's a big
[00:48:17] part of how you're existing as an
[00:48:20] organization.
[00:48:21] >> Unless you're an organization of one
[00:48:23] >> or robots or something.
[00:48:25] >> So, you've got a local service business.
[00:48:28] If somebody wanted to start a local
[00:48:29] service but is tomorrow, what do you
[00:48:31] think they should focus on? What should
[00:48:33] be step number one given that you've
[00:48:35] you're kind of in the right spot to ask
[00:48:37] that question.
[00:48:38] >> I'll tell you what our priority our
[00:48:39] values are and I think that's where you
[00:48:41] start, right? The number one value that
[00:48:43] we have is people and the people
[00:48:45] includes our team and our customers. So
[00:48:47] that's the foundation of our business,
[00:48:48] right? I got to take care of our team
[00:48:50] and we all have to take care of each
[00:48:52] other and take care of our customers. So
[00:48:54] the people is is the foundation of our
[00:48:56] business. The second thing that we value
[00:48:58] is integrity. So, we've got to do the
[00:49:01] right thing whether people are watching
[00:49:03] or not. Our technicians go out and they
[00:49:05] work, you know, a full day on their own.
[00:49:07] They're solo. And some customers have
[00:49:08] cameras, some customers are home, but
[00:49:10] many of them aren't. And it's important
[00:49:12] that we deliver that service with
[00:49:14] integrity every single time and that we
[00:49:17] make decisions for our customers doing
[00:49:19] the right thing. So, integrity is
[00:49:21] critical to us. We have to be open and
[00:49:23] honest with each other and we have to do
[00:49:25] the right thing whether people are
[00:49:26] watching or not. Um the third pillar for
[00:49:29] us is execution. We got to execute the
[00:49:33] program, get the details right, whether
[00:49:35] it be the application to the lawn, the
[00:49:37] shrubs, the trees, uh the route, taking
[00:49:41] care of the equipment, mixing the tank
[00:49:43] to deliver the right treatment for the
[00:49:45] customer, communicating with the
[00:49:46] customer. We got to execute our program
[00:49:49] to make sure we're delivering the right
[00:49:51] results. And then the fourth piece, as I
[00:49:54] mentioned before, is communication. We
[00:49:55] have to communicate with each other,
[00:49:57] communicate with our customers, whether
[00:49:59] that be in writing on the phone or
[00:50:00] through text messages. We have to make
[00:50:02] sure that we're keeping those lines open
[00:50:05] so that customers know what we've done.
[00:50:07] and when they have any kind of a
[00:50:08] question, concern or issue, they're
[00:50:10] going to be happy to reach out to us and
[00:50:12] bring us into the fold and resolve it
[00:50:14] instead of just let it fester into a
[00:50:16] problem that can't be solved. So, I
[00:50:18] would focus on those things. Get the
[00:50:20] right team, act with integrity, deliver
[00:50:22] what you're supposed to deliver, and
[00:50:24] make sure you're communicating really
[00:50:25] well with your customers. So, I was
[00:50:27] going to kind of answer this question
[00:50:28] already. I was going to say if you had
[00:50:29] to go back day one, you had zero
[00:50:32] customers knowing what you know now,
[00:50:34] what would you do? And probably make
[00:50:36] sure you got the right team.
[00:50:37] >> Yeah, I'd keep it simple and if it was
[00:50:40] just me or if I had a team, I' I'd keep
[00:50:41] it simple and make sure we were
[00:50:42] delivering whatever services we were
[00:50:44] offering. Do a great job for the
[00:50:47] customer.
[00:50:47] >> So, here's one to kind of give you a
[00:50:50] chance to rehash it. Three, three and a
[00:50:52] half years ago, you made a decision. If
[00:50:54] you had to start over all again from
[00:50:57] scratch, you're going out and you're
[00:50:58] looking, you haven't made a choice on
[00:51:00] lawn doctor yet. What industry to your
[00:51:02] business would you think you'd be
[00:51:03] interested in?
[00:51:04] >> I would definitely choose this again.
[00:51:06] It's been a great industry.
[00:51:07] >> It's been a really good industry.
[00:51:09] >> So far exceeded my expectations.
[00:51:10] >> Oh, really? Wow.
[00:51:12] >> And I mean, not just professionally, but
[00:51:13] personally, my life is just different
[00:51:15] owning my own business and having a a
[00:51:18] successful business. You know, my
[00:51:19] personal time is more enjoyable. I get
[00:51:21] to make the decisions that I want to
[00:51:23] make to take care of my team and my
[00:51:24] customers without having some corporate
[00:51:26] structure to limit what I can right. So
[00:51:30] the freedom to take care of my team and
[00:51:32] take care of my customers and value them
[00:51:34] the way that I do uh is really important
[00:51:36] to me. So I would definitely do this
[00:51:39] again. But just the industry in general
[00:51:41] and this particular business has been
[00:51:43] great. And I think one thing that you
[00:51:45] know makes it good for us is it's it's a
[00:51:48] residual type of income business, right?
[00:51:51] We have customers who employ us for an
[00:51:54] indefinite period of time and we do
[00:51:56] multiple service per per year, year
[00:51:58] after year and we can kind of count on
[00:52:01] an amount of income to come in. We're
[00:52:03] not always earning the next job, right?
[00:52:06] We build a book of business and it kind
[00:52:08] of just rolls along and then we just try
[00:52:10] to grow that snowball, right? So I think
[00:52:13] the residual aspect of this business
[00:52:16] makes it more stable, more predictable,
[00:52:19] and more appealing.
[00:52:20] >> Yeah. So for those out there that that
[00:52:22] that really is a big deal. It's a really
[00:52:25] big deal cuz you go and you work this
[00:52:27] month to find a I don't as an example,
[00:52:30] how many customers do you probably go
[00:52:32] add in a month's period?
[00:52:34] >> In an average I mean it varies a lot by
[00:52:36] time of year, but on average let's say
[00:52:37] we add 40 new customers.
[00:52:39] >> Really?
[00:52:40] >> Mhm. Now, there was not this recurring
[00:52:43] component over over a year's period. You
[00:52:46] have to go out and get 500 new customers
[00:52:48] every month.
[00:52:48] >> Yeah. It's impossible
[00:52:49] >> to replace one year. You get what I'm
[00:52:52] trying to say?
[00:52:52] >> Yeah.
[00:52:53] >> I mean, like, how could you even do
[00:52:55] that?
[00:52:55] >> Yeah. The residual aspect of a business
[00:52:58] completely changes the game.
[00:52:59] >> Yeah. It's a something I figured out
[00:53:02] like right around just before co I was
[00:53:06] doing some work and we were going after
[00:53:08] one customer at a time.
[00:53:10] And then I got a new customer that was a
[00:53:12] recurring customer and I was like,
[00:53:14] "Wow."
[00:53:15] >> Yeah.
[00:53:16] >> It's just life-changing.
[00:53:17] >> Yeah. Well, I mean, look at huge tech
[00:53:19] companies. The biggest tech companies in
[00:53:21] the world are successful because they've
[00:53:22] converted their business from selling
[00:53:24] computers and monitors and printers once
[00:53:27] a year or every few years to a service
[00:53:30] related residual business where you're
[00:53:32] paying them a monthly fee for cloud
[00:53:35] storage or software or
[00:53:39] streaming, right? So, it it's just a
[00:53:42] much better business model. It's good
[00:53:45] for the customer, too, because it's
[00:53:46] predictable. They know what their fees
[00:53:48] are going to be. They agree to right
[00:53:51] >> deliver, pay this to get this every
[00:53:53] single month. You know,
[00:53:54] >> we don't have a special offer for the
[00:53:55] listeners, but you do have a typical
[00:53:57] offer. And so, I I thought I'd give you
[00:53:59] the opportunity to just mention what
[00:54:01] that is.
[00:54:02] >> Well, thanks. Yeah, we typically don't
[00:54:03] do any offers at all locally. Um, but
[00:54:06] Lawn Doctor does offer 50% off the first
[00:54:08] lawn service through Facebook. So, we
[00:54:10] can offer that to, you know, customers
[00:54:12] who want to give us a call. We service
[00:54:14] northern Palm Beach County. So, from,
[00:54:16] you know, Lantan and Lakeworth up to
[00:54:17] Tquesta and Jupiter area and then out
[00:54:20] west to Wellington, Ardan,
[00:54:21] Lockahhatchee. But, um,
[00:54:23] >> and what's your Facebook page?
[00:54:25] >> It's Lawn Doctor West Palm Beach.
[00:54:26] >> On this podcast, I always like to talk,
[00:54:28] the name of the podcast is Vibe Your
[00:54:30] Vibe. What does Vibing Your Vibe mean as
[00:54:32] a lawn doctor business owner?
[00:54:36] It's a very abstract question.
[00:54:37] Definitely not my wheelhouse. Vibe your
[00:54:39] vibe.
[00:54:40] >> Um, every voice has a frequency. So,
[00:54:42] that's like the little subtext there.
[00:54:44] Okay.
[00:54:44] >> That's actually That's actually a um
[00:54:46] forgot what they call that, but that's
[00:54:48] me saying vibe your vibe.
[00:54:50] >> Okay.
[00:54:50] >> I recorded my voice and that's the
[00:54:53] >> Yeah,
[00:54:53] >> there's a technical name of what that
[00:54:55] is. I Somebody can help me out. Put it
[00:54:57] in the comments.
[00:54:58] >> Yeah, I want to say sonogram, but it's
[00:54:59] not it's not quite a sonogram.
[00:55:01] >> There's some kind of a gram.
[00:55:02] >> Yeah. You know, for me, I think I I
[00:55:04] spent a lot of years, you know, working
[00:55:06] for some great companies and some great
[00:55:08] people and some that were not great. For
[00:55:11] me, professionally, you know, being able
[00:55:12] to have my own business and vibe my own
[00:55:15] vibe has really, like I said,
[00:55:16] transformed my life.
[00:55:18] >> So, it's better for me, better for my
[00:55:19] family, my kids. My time is far more
[00:55:22] enjoyable than it was when someone else
[00:55:24] was trying to dictate what I should be
[00:55:26] doing. So for me, vibing my vibe
[00:55:28] professionally allows me to vibe my vibe
[00:55:30] personally and really just get the most
[00:55:33] out of life with my family, which is
[00:55:35] what really matters.
[00:55:36] >> That's cool. So here's uh before we
[00:55:38] wrap, here's uh the Maya soap challenge.
[00:55:41] I'm challenging you folks. I know it's
[00:55:43] going to be really hard. So if you're a
[00:55:45] real human listening to this podcast,
[00:55:47] here's the deal. And we want to know.
[00:55:49] Send us a postcard or a letter. And I
[00:55:51] know that's got a lot of friction.
[00:55:52] Nobody sends mail very much. You got to
[00:55:54] go out and get a stamp. So, put your
[00:55:56] name, address, where you're listening
[00:55:58] from, your contact info, and I will get
[00:56:02] you a bar of my soap mailed back to you.
[00:56:04] I got the address here. It's Vive Your
[00:56:06] Vibe, 6586 Hypixel Road, number 101,
[00:56:09] Lake Worth, Florida, 33467. It'll be
[00:56:11] down in the description. I do have to
[00:56:13] mention quantities are limited. Follow
[00:56:15] this show. You know, if you like the
[00:56:17] content here, you get a chance to meet
[00:56:18] some of the local business folks out
[00:56:20] there doing great service to the
[00:56:22] community. you leave a comment, maybe uh
[00:56:24] a lesson that you learned here that
[00:56:26] stood out and uh share the episode with
[00:56:28] somebody else you know runs a business.
[00:56:30] And so finally, uh if people want to
[00:56:32] learn more about Lawn Doctor of West
[00:56:33] Palm Beach, where do they go?
[00:56:35] >> Go to just go to lawn.com, type in your
[00:56:37] zip code, and they'll they'll get you to
[00:56:39] us. It's real simple.
[00:56:40] >> Okay, lawn.com. There you go. So, thanks
[00:56:43] for listening to Vibe Vibe. Thanks a
[00:56:45] lot.
[00:56:45] >> Thanks, Kirk. Appreciate it.
[00:56:52] Fire. You're fire.