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Welcome back to the lawn hustle podcast, where

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we talk about real work behind building a legitimate

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lawn care business. Today we're talking about

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something that every lawn care operator faces

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and that is competition. But before we get started,

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I want to read to you a message I received this

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morning early. It says, Hi Andy. I have started

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listening to your podcast and have listened to

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quite a few, finding it terrific. Thank you so

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much for your generosity in doing this. I'm in

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Melbourne, Australia, come across via Gary's

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podcast. I run a pretty small operation, just

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me. And a few dozen clients, maybe 65. I do lawns

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and gardens. I hope to stay in contact. I have

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quite a few contractors, friends in my area.

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And when I get a chance, we'll leave you a review.

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Even though different countries, your podcast

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material still is very helpful. For now, best

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wishes, Simon. When I got that podcast note,

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it encouraged me. you have many options, but

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I want to thank you for listening to the lawn

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hustle podcast. It really does mean a lot to

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me that you would take some time out of your

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busy day and listen to my podcast. If you've

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not left us a review yet, leave us a five star

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review and a nice worded review. I appreciate

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that. It means the world to me. But we're going

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to talk about competition today. Every neighborhood

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has multiple companies mowing grass. So the question

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becomes, How do you take over the neighborhood?

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How do you stand out so that customers choose

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you instead of the guy down the street? What

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way you can stand out from your competitors?

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is making sure you are branded. Now in my last

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episode, I talked about your brand. It's not

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your logo. It's not your truck wrap. It's not

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your equipment. Your brand is you. Your logo,

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your wrap, your uniforms. These things are tools

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that will attract potential clients to you and

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Though it is very important Your brand is you

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as an individual And it's very important for

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you to be branded I encourage you Wrap your trucks

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at least put a sign on your truck Where's your

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uniforms have a nice logo But I've said it before

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and I will say it again People buy into you before

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they buy into your business Because when a client

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thinks about their property and how beautiful

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it looks, they don't think about your logo. They

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don't think about your wrapped truck or what

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mower you used. When they think about their property,

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they think about you as an individual and your

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team. What a good job you did. Because your brand,

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your logo, your rap, it doesn't do the work.

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It just attracts attention. And I said it before,

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and it's worth repeating, if you want to attract

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new clients, you have to be attractive. If you

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want to attract new clients, you have to be attractive.

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It has nothing to do with your looks. It has

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everything to do with your character, with your

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personality, with how you respond when things

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go wrong. is your brand. When you're not in the

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room, you're not at the table. What do they say

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when they talk about your business? Do they say,

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he is so reliable, dependable, trustworthy, or

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they rush jobs? They're not dependable. You never

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know when they're going to show up. That, my

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friends, is your brand. The logos, the wraps,

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the uniforms, the hats, the business cards, the

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door hangers, all of those things are just tools

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that you use to draw attention to you. So let

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me repeat. You are your brand. The service quality

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will help you stand out from your competitors.

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Oh, Chuck and the truck gets a lot of talking

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about. But we want to we don't want to be that

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We don't want to be in a race to the bottom.

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We want to climb to the top. Someone in your

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area has to be the best. It might as well be

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you. Someone has to rank number one on Google.

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It might as well be you. So, your service quality.

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No sloppy work. No sloppy work. Your customers

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experience. What does your client experience

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from your service? Very important. feel like

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they're being well taken care of. If they feel

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like they have gotten the best job that money

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can buy, if they feel like you have taken advantage

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of them or that you have not performed like you

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said you would makes a huge difference. whether

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they retain you year after year after year. So

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your overall operational professionalism always

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be a professional and always do what is right.

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The reality of competition It's real. We all

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face it. But I want to encourage you to let competition

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be an unsolicited motivation. Your competitors

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are not your enemies. As a matter of fact, I

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like to get together with some of my competitors.

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And we talk about business growth. We talk about

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what you are doing now to grow your business,

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to scale, to get new clients. So don't let your

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competitors be a negative thing. Let it be an

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unsolicited motivation. If they mow better than

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you, let that motivate you. When I started out,

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I couldn't tell you how many miles I put on my

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vehicle, driving and looking at other businesses

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work, watching how they performed. And when I

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would come up on the properties that had the

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beautiful stripes, had the crisp edge, the hedges

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always looked nice. I thought, that's the guy

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I want to emulate. That's the guy I want to mow

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like. I want to be like him. So I started asking

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them questions. How do you do this? How do you

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get that stripe? How do you mow so straight?

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Motivation moved me to want to be better. So

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don't let competition ruin your day. competition

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motivates you to be better, to work harder. It

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just helps. So let me ask you this, how competitive

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is the lawn care business in your area? And why

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do so many lawn care companies look the same

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from the outside. You don't want to blend. You

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want to stand out. You don't want to blend. You

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want to separate yourself by the quality of your

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service. You see, if you want to be the best,

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Start surrounding yourself with the best. I don't

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want to hang out with old Chuck or Dan in a van.

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I want to hang out with people that's going to

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help me grow, help me further my business, help

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me expand, help me to improve. my services so

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that my clients get the best possible job for

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the money. Businesses don't fail because of mowing.

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They fail because the owner refuses to grow.

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He sets no systems of operation. He has no SOP.

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He has no goal. No growth plan. No vision. And

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that's why businesses fail. Do not compete on

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price. Do not compete on price alone. Because

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some people never build anything that separates

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themselves. So don't compete on price. Learn

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your value. Charge according to your value. and

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charge according to the perceived outcome that

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the client has. If a client wants the beautiful

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stripes, the crisp edge, the beautiful shrubbery,

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the beautiful flower beds, then they're going

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to pay for that. price on competition. It doesn't

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matter what my competitor would charge. They

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should know their numbers. They should know what

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they need to do the job. But what matters is

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what's my price? What do I need to charge to

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do this job base your price again on your value

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and the customer's perceived outcome if they

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don't care and all they want is the yard mode

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they're probably not my ideal customer But if

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they want their property cut and manicured and

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looking the best it can, that's my customer.

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Let's take a short break and now hear a word

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all in the same place. We also have a mobile

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for a $50 Amazon gift card, 10 % off, and personalized

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onboarding. Eartha Pro, you run the outside work,

00:18:38.259 --> 00:18:44.140
we run the office. So what are some ways that

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lawn care businesses stand out? Number one, have

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a clean truck. Clean on the inside. There's not

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garbage laying all over the floorboard. There's

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no garbage on the dashboard. But your truck is

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clean. It shows your clients that you care about

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your appearance. Make sure you wear uniforms.

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Have your logo and phone number on your shirts,

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on your hats, on your trucks, on your equipment.

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I have a little sticker on my equipment, professional

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lawn maintenance. Do professional estimates.

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I had a customer tell me, man, your estimate

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looks so nice. We want you to do the job. You

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look professional. And that's the goal. We want

00:20:04.380 --> 00:20:15.220
to look and be. perform as professionals. How

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much does the first impression affect whether

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someone hires you or not? If you fail on that

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first impression, chances are you might not ever

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get another opportunity. First impressions are

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lasting impressions. Number two on the five ways

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businesses can stand out is the customer experience.

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Do you answer the phone? Do you communicate?

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Are you reliable? Are you responsive to their

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request? Do you show up when you promise that

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you will show up? Give the customer a good experience.

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Don't give them a reason to fire you. Don't give

00:21:37.990 --> 00:21:42.710
them a reason to drop you like a hot potato and

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move on to the next guy But give them a reason

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to maintain you and or retain you I'm sorry and

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Keep your services year after year after year

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for that is the goal retaining customers You

00:22:05.910 --> 00:22:08.869
don't want to have to build your customer base

00:22:08.869 --> 00:22:16.190
every spring. Those year after year after year

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customers is what you desire. Let's talk about

00:22:25.990 --> 00:22:32.130
some common mistakes that laundry businesses

00:22:32.130 --> 00:22:39.279
make. We touched it earlier. Let me say it again.

00:22:39.779 --> 00:22:48.259
Number one, competing only on price, lack of

00:22:48.259 --> 00:22:57.779
communication, inconsistent services, poor branding.

00:23:04.109 --> 00:23:09.450
What would be one thing that you can do that

00:23:09.450 --> 00:23:14.210
instantly makes your long hair company look unprofessional?

00:23:15.569 --> 00:23:38.119
Show up sloppy. Don't show up professional. And

00:23:38.119 --> 00:23:40.880
you've heard me say it before. When you show

00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:54.099
up, show out. When you show up, show out. Let's

00:23:54.099 --> 00:23:58.519
take a break and hear a word from a show sponsor,

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.com and let's fix that website today. So let

00:24:36.700 --> 00:24:42.819
me ask you, what is one thing in your lawn care

00:24:42.819 --> 00:24:49.440
business that you could change this week to make

00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:58.660
you stand out? That is my call to action. Look

00:24:58.660 --> 00:25:03.599
at your business this week. The season is starting.

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We're getting busy. We're coming out of the slower

00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:14.279
winter months. We're getting into the rush and

00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:20.059
it is hands -on. It's game time. What are you

00:25:20.059 --> 00:25:25.940
doing? And what is one thing you can change to

00:25:25.940 --> 00:25:30.599
help your business grow, help your business be

00:25:30.599 --> 00:25:35.380
successful, help your business separate themselves?

00:25:35.819 --> 00:25:40.720
From the competition and I challenge you work

00:25:40.720 --> 00:25:48.059
on that one thing a Little improvement today

00:25:48.059 --> 00:25:53.220
can make a whole lot of difference in the future

00:25:53.220 --> 00:26:02.740
Five years from now What will separate the lawn

00:26:02.740 --> 00:26:05.799
care businesses that thrive from the ones that

00:26:05.740 --> 00:26:18.940
disappear. It's what they do right now. It's

00:26:18.940 --> 00:26:24.740
how they respond to their review of their business.

00:26:28.819 --> 00:26:33.720
So I challenge you, don't let competition get

00:26:33.720 --> 00:26:41.980
in your way. Let competition be that unsolicited

00:26:41.980 --> 00:26:52.359
motivation. Again, I want to thank everyone for

00:26:52.359 --> 00:27:01.059
listening to the show. Send me some reviews on

00:27:01.059 --> 00:27:08.009
Messenger, email. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook.

00:27:09.349 --> 00:27:14.509
We'll give you a shout out on the show. I do

00:27:14.509 --> 00:27:22.369
appreciate everyone who listens. And I hope you

00:27:22.369 --> 00:27:30.829
find value in what we are trying to do. My goal

00:27:30.829 --> 00:27:36.299
for this podcast is to be a encouragement. to

00:27:36.299 --> 00:27:43.640
be a blessing and to help someone along the way.

00:27:44.700 --> 00:27:47.000
So thank you for listening to the Lawn Hustle

00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:51.339
podcast. I hope that you all have an amazing

00:27:51.339 --> 00:27:57.279
day today. And until we talk again, God bless

00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:00.400
you and keep making.