Welcome back to the lawn hustle podcast, where
we talk about real work behind building a legitimate
lawn care business. Today we're talking about
something that every lawn care operator faces
and that is competition. But before we get started,
I want to read to you a message I received this
morning early. It says, Hi Andy. I have started
listening to your podcast and have listened to
quite a few, finding it terrific. Thank you so
much for your generosity in doing this. I'm in
Melbourne, Australia, come across via Gary's
podcast. I run a pretty small operation, just
me. And a few dozen clients, maybe 65. I do lawns
and gardens. I hope to stay in contact. I have
quite a few contractors, friends in my area.
And when I get a chance, we'll leave you a review.
Even though different countries, your podcast
material still is very helpful. For now, best
wishes, Simon. When I got that podcast note,
it encouraged me. you have many options, but
I want to thank you for listening to the lawn
hustle podcast. It really does mean a lot to
me that you would take some time out of your
busy day and listen to my podcast. If you've
not left us a review yet, leave us a five star
review and a nice worded review. I appreciate
that. It means the world to me. But we're going
to talk about competition today. Every neighborhood
has multiple companies mowing grass. So the question
becomes, How do you take over the neighborhood?
How do you stand out so that customers choose
you instead of the guy down the street? What
way you can stand out from your competitors?
is making sure you are branded. Now in my last
episode, I talked about your brand. It's not
your logo. It's not your truck wrap. It's not
your equipment. Your brand is you. Your logo,
your wrap, your uniforms. These things are tools
that will attract potential clients to you and
Though it is very important Your brand is you
as an individual And it's very important for
you to be branded I encourage you Wrap your trucks
at least put a sign on your truck Where's your
uniforms have a nice logo But I've said it before
and I will say it again People buy into you before
they buy into your business Because when a client
thinks about their property and how beautiful
it looks, they don't think about your logo. They
don't think about your wrapped truck or what
mower you used. When they think about their property,
they think about you as an individual and your
team. What a good job you did. Because your brand,
your logo, your rap, it doesn't do the work.
It just attracts attention. And I said it before,
and it's worth repeating, if you want to attract
new clients, you have to be attractive. If you
want to attract new clients, you have to be attractive.
It has nothing to do with your looks. It has
everything to do with your character, with your
personality, with how you respond when things
go wrong. is your brand. When you're not in the
room, you're not at the table. What do they say
when they talk about your business? Do they say,
he is so reliable, dependable, trustworthy, or
they rush jobs? They're not dependable. You never
know when they're going to show up. That, my
friends, is your brand. The logos, the wraps,
the uniforms, the hats, the business cards, the
door hangers, all of those things are just tools
that you use to draw attention to you. So let
me repeat. You are your brand. The service quality
will help you stand out from your competitors.
Oh, Chuck and the truck gets a lot of talking
about. But we want to we don't want to be that
We don't want to be in a race to the bottom.
We want to climb to the top. Someone in your
area has to be the best. It might as well be
you. Someone has to rank number one on Google.
It might as well be you. So, your service quality.
No sloppy work. No sloppy work. Your customers
experience. What does your client experience
from your service? Very important. feel like
they're being well taken care of. If they feel
like they have gotten the best job that money
can buy, if they feel like you have taken advantage
of them or that you have not performed like you
said you would makes a huge difference. whether
they retain you year after year after year. So
your overall operational professionalism always
be a professional and always do what is right.
The reality of competition It's real. We all
face it. But I want to encourage you to let competition
be an unsolicited motivation. Your competitors
are not your enemies. As a matter of fact, I
like to get together with some of my competitors.
And we talk about business growth. We talk about
what you are doing now to grow your business,
to scale, to get new clients. So don't let your
competitors be a negative thing. Let it be an
unsolicited motivation. If they mow better than
you, let that motivate you. When I started out,
I couldn't tell you how many miles I put on my
vehicle, driving and looking at other businesses
work, watching how they performed. And when I
would come up on the properties that had the
beautiful stripes, had the crisp edge, the hedges
always looked nice. I thought, that's the guy
I want to emulate. That's the guy I want to mow
like. I want to be like him. So I started asking
them questions. How do you do this? How do you
get that stripe? How do you mow so straight?
Motivation moved me to want to be better. So
don't let competition ruin your day. competition
motivates you to be better, to work harder. It
just helps. So let me ask you this, how competitive
is the lawn care business in your area? And why
do so many lawn care companies look the same
from the outside. You don't want to blend. You
want to stand out. You don't want to blend. You
want to separate yourself by the quality of your
service. You see, if you want to be the best,
Start surrounding yourself with the best. I don't
want to hang out with old Chuck or Dan in a van.
I want to hang out with people that's going to
help me grow, help me further my business, help
me expand, help me to improve. my services so
that my clients get the best possible job for
the money. Businesses don't fail because of mowing.
They fail because the owner refuses to grow.
He sets no systems of operation. He has no SOP.
He has no goal. No growth plan. No vision. And
that's why businesses fail. Do not compete on
price. Do not compete on price alone. Because
some people never build anything that separates
themselves. So don't compete on price. Learn
your value. Charge according to your value. and
charge according to the perceived outcome that
the client has. If a client wants the beautiful
stripes, the crisp edge, the beautiful shrubbery,
the beautiful flower beds, then they're going
to pay for that. price on competition. It doesn't
matter what my competitor would charge. They
should know their numbers. They should know what
they need to do the job. But what matters is
what's my price? What do I need to charge to
do this job base your price again on your value
and the customer's perceived outcome if they
don't care and all they want is the yard mode
they're probably not my ideal customer But if
they want their property cut and manicured and
looking the best it can, that's my customer.
Let's take a short break and now hear a word
from our show sponsor, Earth a Pro. And these
folks and the program that they offer can help
your business run more efficient. You will spend
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field. When you sign up, use the Lawn Hustle
11 discount code. You'll receive a $50 Amazon
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Tired of chasing payments and losing track of
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earthapro .com with promo code TheLawnHustle11
for a $50 Amazon gift card, 10 % off, and personalized
onboarding. Eartha Pro, you run the outside work,
we run the office. So what are some ways that
lawn care businesses stand out? Number one, have
a clean truck. Clean on the inside. There's not
garbage laying all over the floorboard. There's
no garbage on the dashboard. But your truck is
clean. It shows your clients that you care about
your appearance. Make sure you wear uniforms.
Have your logo and phone number on your shirts,
on your hats, on your trucks, on your equipment.
I have a little sticker on my equipment, professional
lawn maintenance. Do professional estimates.
I had a customer tell me, man, your estimate
looks so nice. We want you to do the job. You
look professional. And that's the goal. We want
to look and be. perform as professionals. How
much does the first impression affect whether
someone hires you or not? If you fail on that
first impression, chances are you might not ever
get another opportunity. First impressions are
lasting impressions. Number two on the five ways
businesses can stand out is the customer experience.
Do you answer the phone? Do you communicate?
Are you reliable? Are you responsive to their
request? Do you show up when you promise that
you will show up? Give the customer a good experience.
Don't give them a reason to fire you. Don't give
them a reason to drop you like a hot potato and
move on to the next guy But give them a reason
to maintain you and or retain you I'm sorry and
Keep your services year after year after year
for that is the goal retaining customers You
don't want to have to build your customer base
every spring. Those year after year after year
customers is what you desire. Let's talk about
some common mistakes that laundry businesses
make. We touched it earlier. Let me say it again.
Number one, competing only on price, lack of
communication, inconsistent services, poor branding.
What would be one thing that you can do that
instantly makes your long hair company look unprofessional?
Show up sloppy. Don't show up professional. And
you've heard me say it before. When you show
up, show out. When you show up, show out. Let's
take a break and hear a word from a show sponsor,
green frog web design. Does your website look
like it was built in 2008? Does this sound familiar?
Blurry photos? Clunky button? Buried phone numbers?
That's costing you leaps. At Green Frog Web Design,
we build sharp, modern websites built to bring
your business, not chase it away. Stop hiding
behind that updated website. Visit greenfrogwebdesign
.com and let's fix that website today. So let
me ask you, what is one thing in your lawn care
business that you could change this week to make
you stand out? That is my call to action. Look
at your business this week. The season is starting.
We're getting busy. We're coming out of the slower
winter months. We're getting into the rush and
it is hands -on. It's game time. What are you
doing? And what is one thing you can change to
help your business grow, help your business be
successful, help your business separate themselves?
From the competition and I challenge you work
on that one thing a Little improvement today
can make a whole lot of difference in the future
Five years from now What will separate the lawn
care businesses that thrive from the ones that
disappear. It's what they do right now. It's
how they respond to their review of their business.
So I challenge you, don't let competition get
in your way. Let competition be that unsolicited
motivation. Again, I want to thank everyone for
listening to the show. Send me some reviews on
Messenger, email. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook.
We'll give you a shout out on the show. I do
appreciate everyone who listens. And I hope you
find value in what we are trying to do. My goal
for this podcast is to be a encouragement. to
be a blessing and to help someone along the way.
So thank you for listening to the Lawn Hustle
podcast. I hope that you all have an amazing
day today. And until we talk again, God bless
you and keep making.