Thanks for this great video! In other words, most companies think about sales and marketing as an activity they have to save up for, whereas we should consider sales and marketing as a percentage of the initial service cost that is immediately recaptured and redeployed (if possible).
Hello Jonathan, thanks for the video ! How do you guys do this at Cititurf ? This seems like a good approach but I wonder how we can implement this practically. And this without deviating too much from our core service. We really want to focus on just window cleaning this year. (Simplify our business)
You're welcome. We don't focus on this at CitiTurf because budget isn't an issue, but it's a strategy I talked about when I used to do coaching. I'm a big believer in it. Now that I'm back involved in CitiTurf and building an in-house marketing team to go faster with sales and marketing, I'm thinking about it. That's where the video came from. If you want to focus on window cleaning as your primary service (not sure if that's what you mean) then I would focus on expanding ticket size and frequency. In other how can you clean more windows within the property, inside and out, screens, etc. They intended to by a $350 service and you sold them $600. And, how can you sell them into a monthly primary window touchup service (example: kitchen, door, window to back yard) with a quarterly or semi-annual deep clean. I'm sure you're already thinking of this/doing it. But are you hard-core focused on it, working on your pitch, presentation, pricing, etc., until you move the needle? If you don't want to sell other services like gutters, roof, stone, etc., cleaning, I would use the expansion strategy. That's our approach at CitiTurf. Heres another example to give you ideas: If at CitiTurf I were marketing our flower installation or bed & bush maintenance service, I would upsell Mulch because it's a high-ticket/high-margin service. Mulch makes the property look really good, so it's advantageous to customer satisfaction, referrals, and testimonials. I've always liked Mulch because it's a winning service on so many levels. Hope that gives you some ideas to think through it for your company.
Thanks for the information ! We have offered quite a few additional services in recent years but this year we really want to focus on just window cleaning. The expansion strategy I really want to go for that.
I love it. I was thinking about this quite a bit about 3 months ago. We now only do fert and pest control. Our plan is to do a soil sample for each new client and sell them top dressing in the spring. Premium service, very few offer it. We have a lot of clay soil here that needs help.
First off, you had me worried not posting for a few days. Secondly, with strictly a fert and weed control business, I am trying to figure out a way to do as you said, come up with a service to complement what we do to sell off the bat. Got any ideas other than a pay in full for the program?
Haha. I was slacking over the holidays; I kept saying I would record but didn't. To confirm, you only do F&W, no shrub apps, aeration, ant treatments - anything else? Pay in full is cool but not pay in full with a discount. I did a video years ago (I think on LCM) showing how much a 5% (or worse 10%) prepay discount really cost. It's way more than 5%. It's a controversial opinion but I don't like prepays with discounts. Also, a ton of owners get in financial trouble because they get all the prepays and don't understand how much money they really have to spend on hiring, marketing, etc.
Haha well I am glad you got some content for us. It’s good stuff. I have thought of this concept for some time about marketing a service that can be done quickly after the sale and recoup the costs. About 2 years now but could not come up with anything. We do core aeration, mosquito, perimeter pest, aeration, seeding, fert, weed control for lawns and commercial snow as a company. That is correct, I am possibly looking for an add on service or another service offering to complement to recover marketing costs. Maybe all new clients you have to get a core aeration pay in full? Thoughts on anything else?
Can’t believe your channel isn’t a 10k subs yet!! Great content and really beneficial to someone who actually wants to build a company Can you talk more about building a sellable company ? you have great advice on this subject
I'm hoping sub growth will pick up -- slow going so far -- but I'm committed. Yes, I can talk more about that. Is there any specific aspect of building a company that can be sold for top dollar that you want to know or are wondering about?
Jonathan - thanks again for offering all this wonderful content. I agree with you and we do much of what you suggested but as a small business ramping up (900k, 900 clients) I find a well orchestrated prepay strategy helps with funding. I price in the discounts into my pricing so I’m not sacrificing margin and I keep a great excel projection tool so I know I’m hitting my avg client value goals. That helps me have more to spend in the beginning of season. You take a risk if you spend too much on the wrong marketing but that’s another story. 😊
You're welcome. You are absolutely in the minority of businesses doing all you described. Good for you. Getting paid in advance or when service is delivered is a game changer.
Excellent video!! Sales and marketing is a key factor to help you stand out in your market!
Great content!
👍
Thanks for this great video! In other words, most companies think about sales and marketing as an activity they have to save up for, whereas we should consider sales and marketing as a percentage of the initial service cost that is immediately recaptured and redeployed (if possible).
Good summary
Hello Jonathan, thanks for the video !
How do you guys do this at Cititurf ?
This seems like a good approach but I wonder how we can implement this practically. And this without deviating too much from our core service.
We really want to focus on just window cleaning this year.
(Simplify our business)
You're welcome.
We don't focus on this at CitiTurf because budget isn't an issue, but it's a strategy I talked about when I used to do coaching. I'm a big believer in it. Now that I'm back involved in CitiTurf and building an in-house marketing team to go faster with sales and marketing, I'm thinking about it. That's where the video came from.
If you want to focus on window cleaning as your primary service (not sure if that's what you mean) then I would focus on expanding ticket size and frequency. In other how can you clean more windows within the property, inside and out, screens, etc. They intended to by a $350 service and you sold them $600. And, how can you sell them into a monthly primary window touchup service (example: kitchen, door, window to back yard) with a quarterly or semi-annual deep clean. I'm sure you're already thinking of this/doing it. But are you hard-core focused on it, working on your pitch, presentation, pricing, etc., until you move the needle?
If you don't want to sell other services like gutters, roof, stone, etc., cleaning, I would use the expansion strategy.
That's our approach at CitiTurf.
Heres another example to give you ideas: If at CitiTurf I were marketing our flower installation or bed & bush maintenance service, I would upsell Mulch because it's a high-ticket/high-margin service. Mulch makes the property look really good, so it's advantageous to customer satisfaction, referrals, and testimonials. I've always liked Mulch because it's a winning service on so many levels.
Hope that gives you some ideas to think through it for your company.
Thanks for the information !
We have offered quite a few additional services in recent years but this year we really want to focus on just window cleaning.
The expansion strategy I really want to go for that.
I love it. I was thinking about this quite a bit about 3 months ago. We now only do fert and pest control.
Our plan is to do a soil sample for each new client and sell them top dressing in the spring. Premium service, very few offer it. We have a lot of clay soil here that needs help.
Great content
First off, you had me worried not posting for a few days. Secondly, with strictly a fert and weed control business, I am trying to figure out a way to do as you said, come up with a service to complement what we do to sell off the bat.
Got any ideas other than a pay in full for the program?
Haha. I was slacking over the holidays; I kept saying I would record but didn't.
To confirm, you only do F&W, no shrub apps, aeration, ant treatments - anything else?
Pay in full is cool but not pay in full with a discount. I did a video years ago (I think on LCM) showing how much a 5% (or worse 10%) prepay discount really cost. It's way more than 5%. It's a controversial opinion but I don't like prepays with discounts. Also, a ton of owners get in financial trouble because they get all the prepays and don't understand how much money they really have to spend on hiring, marketing, etc.
Haha well I am glad you got some content for us. It’s good stuff. I have thought of this concept for some time about marketing a service that can be done quickly after the sale and recoup the costs. About 2 years now but could not come up with anything. We do core aeration, mosquito, perimeter pest, aeration, seeding, fert, weed control for lawns and commercial snow as a company.
That is correct, I am possibly looking for an add on service or another service offering to complement to recover marketing costs.
Maybe all new clients you have to get a core aeration pay in full? Thoughts on anything else?
Can’t believe your channel isn’t a 10k subs yet!! Great content and really beneficial to someone who actually wants to build a company
Can you talk more about building a sellable company ? you have great advice on this subject
I'm hoping sub growth will pick up -- slow going so far -- but I'm committed.
Yes, I can talk more about that. Is there any specific aspect of building a company that can be sold for top dollar that you want to know or are wondering about?
Jonathan - thanks again for offering all this wonderful content.
I agree with you and we do much of what you suggested but as a small business ramping up (900k, 900 clients) I find a well orchestrated prepay strategy helps with funding. I price in the discounts into my pricing so I’m not sacrificing margin and I keep a great excel projection tool so I know I’m hitting my avg client value goals. That helps me have more to spend in the beginning of season. You take a risk if you spend too much on the wrong marketing but that’s another story. 😊
You're welcome.
You are absolutely in the minority of businesses doing all you described. Good for you. Getting paid in advance or when service is delivered is a game changer.
When will the roadmaps start?
Next couple weeks I will start be releasing videos. Recording 3 of them this week.
Great info! Just read $100M Offers and $100M Leads. I’m gonna create an offer email to upsell something to recover this cost.
👊 I bought both books. I should read them. I'm certain they are excellent.