YA WHAD-DA-YA-WANT? Ep. #544

0:00A quick disclaimer before we get started. Some of the customer service techniques you're about to hear are absolutely not recommended. We're taking a few liberties and exaggerating things for a comedic effect, so make a larger point about running a business. So please use common sense. If you decide to answer your business phone with, yeah, what do you want? And it all goes horribly wrong. That's on you. Adopt this behavior at your own folly. All right, let's roll the tape. You're going to answer this? Quick bit of jobs than this. Ghostbusters, what do you want? I think that's going to be the way I was going to start answering the phone at my business, my lawn care business in 2027. No more good afternoon. This is ABC lawn care. Give this a John. How can I help you? That's too many words. We're going to streamline things. We're going to, you know, the phone's going to ring. Yeah, what do you want? That's it. Straight to the point. We want fertilization. We control great.

1:00What's your address? How big is the lawn? You don't know? Well, great. We'll measure it. All right, it's 9,000 square feet. All right, that's going to be $700 for this season. Oh, that's more than what you want to spend. Okay. It's also free if you don't want to do it. So you got two options. It's $700 to do it or $0 is not to do it. Oh, another company said that they can do it for $500? Well, perfect. Sounds like you found your own lawn care company. Congratulations. Next call, click. Obviously, I'm joking. At least I think I'm joking because the longer I'm in business, the more I understand that old guy who's been running the same plumbing company for 37 years and answers the phone, what do you want? No company name, no customer service voice. No, how may we provide an exceptional customer experience today? None of that. Just what do you need? You know, 10 years ago, I would have thought, man, that guy has terrible customer service. But today, I don't know, I just have a wild hair.

2:00They were crawled up there. And I think, you know, that that guy's got might have something figured out. Today's episode is brought to you by Yardbook. The all-in-one CRM for your lawn care business. And as an exclusive partner of this podcast, you can get started today and begin simplifying your business and maximizing your profits. Sign up now at yardbook.com. The link is in the show notes. Time now for profits with Pagiac. Any central podcast for you in the green industry who are looking to unlock the whole potential of your business. Posted by John Pagiac, your sort of mind financial catch. The show features in-depth discussions with successful entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and industry experts providing practical advice and proven strategies on financial planning, operations, marketing, and sales. Profits with Pagiac has valuable insights and action steps that you can implement today for creating long-term success. Now, here's John Pagiac.

3:07Welcome to Profits with Pagiac, the podcast redive into business strategies and financial insights for the green industry. I'm your host, Pagiac. And today we're going to talk about my brand new customer service philosophy. Hi, what do you want? Now, before somebody clips that and puts it on Facebook, it says, you know, Pagiac hates customers. That's not what I'm saying. You know, this episode is supposed to be funny. But, you know, buried in the humor, there is also some truth buried behind it. Because, you know, after you've been in business long enough, you start to realize something. Not every phone call deserves 30 minutes of your life. Not every prospect needs a sales presentation. And not every person needs to be convinced that you're the right fit for them. And saying no doesn't necessarily mean you're bad at customer service. So let's talk about this. Now, if you ever called one of those businesses that have been around forever, you know, usually it's some local trade company, you know, a plumber or electrician HVACI or maybe an excavation company, you know, some little family business that's been there

4:13since the Civil War. And they got like 300 Google reviews, even though nobody at the company knows what Google reviews are. And their website looks like it was built in 1994. Maybe it was, and they never updated it. You know, the trucks weren't wrapped. You know, they've got the company name painted on the door. And when they, you call them, it's like, yeah. And then you're sitting there like, um, is this Johnson's plumbing? Yep. Um, and you wait. And it's like, okay, do you guys replace water heaters? Yep. Can you give me an idea of what that costs? 1800 bucks. Oh, okay. Um, what's your availability? When can you do it Thursday? That's it. There's no sales funnel. There's no nurturing

5:14sequence, no automated text telling you how excited they are to serve you. And somehow these guys have been in business for 42 years. You know, maybe there is something to this, you know, I wouldn't feel, you know, comfortable being so abrupt. But, you know, just think about what this guy accomplished. You know, what do you need? How can we do what you want? Here's what it costs. And here's when we can do it. You know, would you like us to do it? You know, that those, those prime questions are answered all that short interaction. And that's basically the entire interaction. You know, meanwhile, there's some of us who've turned a simple sales call into a TED talk. You know, we explain our process. We explain our equipment and our overhead and explain why our price is different from the guy down the street. We explain our insurance and our employees in the, we talk about the fertilizer and analysis that we have and how we get a custom blended. You know, we're explaining the life cycles of crabgrass. And like 25 minutes later,

6:17the customer is like, okay, well, I'm going to get a couple more quotes. Great. You know, I'm glad I just taught a free long hair seminar. And I think this is where business owners need to understand the value of their time. Now, someone calls about a relatively small service. And somehow, we allow the conversation to turn into a 30 minute conversation. You know, why is my grass brown? Well, it could be a lot of things. Do you think it scrubs? Maybe. My neighbor says it's a fungus. Well, it could be. Here, I'm going to text you, pitcher. Can you tell from the pitcher? Maybe. Can you stop by and take a look? Okay. Well, now we're getting somewhere. You know, because what started as a phone call is now suddenly become, you know, a drive to the property. You know, we're going to walk the property. We're going to diagnose the lawn. We're going to talk to the homeowner. We're going to prepare a proposal and follow up. And maybe they hire you. Maybe they don't. And we're doing all this because we're terrified that if we don't, we're providing

7:20bad customer service. No, you're running a business. And there needs to be a reasonable relationship between the opportunity and the resources you're putting into pursuing it. And that doesn't mean you become rude. It just means you got to become more efficient. Now, I'm not telling you to move forward and adopt a whole new phone system, like being like, hey, phone rings. Yeah, what do you look for? But block hair. Oh, what do you want? Blah blah blah. You know, I'm not telling you to be a brub like that. You know, still, still use tact. Of course, you know, I always want to make people feel comfortable with me. But at the same time, you know, streamline this stuff. You know, basically, hi, how could we help you? I'm looking for a lawn care. Okay, what do you need? My lawn has weeds. Okay, most lawns do. I'd like to have somebody come and look at it. Okay, what's your address? You know, they give the address. Okay, you're in our service area.

8:24Do you know how big your lawn is approximately? I don't know. Okay, that's okay. We'll measure it. Boom. Now we're moving. Now imagine the other version. Well, let me tell you what's going on. About three years ago, we had this guy who mowed the lawn and he said that he thought there was something wrong with the soil. And then my brother-in-law came over. Nope. I'm stopping you right there respectfully, lovingly. And with all the compassion in my heart, I do not need to know this lawns with autobiography. You know, what do you want? You want us to fertilize it and kill the weeds, seed it, you know, aerate it. Great. Now I know the problem. I'm trying to solve. I could come out and take a look and diagnose the lawn. And I will know what it needs instead of trying to guess based on what kind of crazy stuff you're telling me. Now, when you do this, there's another place where business owners

9:25burn enormous amounts of time. You know, you give somebody a price and they say, well, that's too expensive. And immediately we go into defense mode. Well, you know, you have to understand that we use premium products and our technicians are very well trained and we're licensed and insured and our equipment costs the butt load of money and fuel has gone up and labor has gone up and just just stop. Why are we defending ourselves? You know, they didn't accuse you of murder. They said that the price is more than they wanted to spend. And that's okay. They're allowed to think it's too expensive. And you're allowed to charge that when those things can exist simultaneously. So maybe the conversation is that's more than I wanted to spend. All right, I understand that. And that's it. You don't have to go into a 14-minute presentation defending your honor. Or maybe, you know, they'll say, like, you know, ABC lawn care said they'll do it for 150 less.

10:28Okay, well, that might be a better fit. Leave it there. That's not arrogance. That's not disrespectful. That's business because here's something we sometimes forget. The customer does not have to hire you and you do not have to convince them to hire you. Now, you get always say, you know, I see these Instagram posts and things like that and I always laugh. It's, you know, it's a guy, you know, on the phone is like, it's this much to do it and it's this much not to do it. And that might become my like favorite new pricing strategy. You know, how much does it cost? 700 dollars. Wow. Okay. Can you do it cheaper? Absolutely. We can do it for zero. Really? How? We don't come. It's free. That's our economy package. No fertilizer, no weed control, no technician, no truck, no service. It's zero dollars. It's fantastic value. Now, obviously,

11:32I'm being ridiculous, but there is a business lesson here. Your price represents what it costs for your company to provide the service and generate the profit necessary for your business to continue operating. That's the price. And if the customer doesn't see enough value to justify that price, that's okay. You don't necessarily have a pricing problem. You might have, you might simply just have a customer who is not a good fit. And the sooner you determine that, the better it is for everybody. Now, this is where the joke actually started making me think, you know, maybe that old business owner isn't grumpy. Maybe he's efficient. Maybe after 35 years, he's learned something, you know, he knows exactly what information he needs. What do you need? Where are you located? Can we do it? When do you need it done? Here's the price. Do you want it? That's it. Maybe he doesn't need a 17 step sales process because he's already figured out who his customer is.

12:34And maybe he doesn't spend 30 minutes trying to convince someone because he learned a long time ago that people who want what he does will hire him. You know, just think about how much mental energy we spend trying to save, you know, we try to save every single sale. You know, somebody says, well, I need to think about it. And we're immediately thinking like, okay, what would I do wrong? Should I follow up with them tomorrow? Should I send them another email? Should I discount it? Should I explain it differently? Maybe you should just say, yeah, absolutely. Let me know if you'd like to move forward and then go do something productive. So here's where we're going to take a real quick break. And when I come back, I want to tell you a little bit, you know, I want to get a little bit more serious about this because I don't actually think the lesson here is that we should become miserable bastards answering the phone and saying, yeah, yeah, what do you want? You know, the lesson is learning the difference between being helpful and allowing people to consume your time without boundaries. And we'll get right into that right after this. Back when I was getting my

13:37long-care business off the ground, I was juggling routes, invoices, and customer notes with paper and prayers. It was chaos until I found the art book. The art book gave me the structure. It helped me track chemicals route efficiently, invoice faster, and most importantly, it helped me grow a profitable business. If you're tired of duct taping your systems together, go to yardbook.com and sign up for free. And if you're ready to go premium, use promo code paycheck to get your first 30 days on me. Long-care and landscaping pros. Listen up. If you're tired of guessing your way through pricing, marketing, hiring, and sales, this is your wake up call. The LCR Summit hits downtown Louisville, October 19th and 20th at the Galt House. The same week is equipped and it's going to change the way you run your business forever. This is not another Sid and Listen event. It's two full days of hands-on workshops from leaders who've actually built what you're trying to build. Naylor Talley of Arrow shows you how to generate better leads through smarter marketing. Paul

14:38Jamison teaches content that converts John Payjack breaks down your numbers so you'll stop working for cheap. Eric Triplet, the Pondigger, reveals how he built a multi-million dollar business making more money with less work. Plus, you'll have a surprise guest speaker. Add in live Q&A panels, powerful networking, and an exclusive VIP dinner with all the speakers when you purchase at the platinum level. Grab tickets and info at lcrsummit.com or just tap the link in the podcast description. That's lcrsummit.com. Stop guessing. Start growing. Build the business you've always imagined at the lcr summit. Hey buddy, it's Payjack. Quick reminder, equipped Expo is coming to Louisville this October 20th through the 23rd bringing together the lawn and landscape industry for equipment demos, education, and networking. Tickets are now $60 but your buddy Payjack has recovered. Use promo code Payjack and save 50% which is going to bring your ticket down to just 30 bucks.

15:39But don't wait. Tickets are going to full price at $120 soon. So click the link in the show notes or go to equipexposition.com and use promo code Payjack. That's PAJAK. Get your tickets now and I'll see you in Louisville. All right. Right before we jump back in, you know, equip Expos coming up. Those tickets are currently $60 but you could still save 50% by using promo code Payjack. That takes your $60 ticket down to $30 but really don't wait because once the standard rate kicks in, the tickets are going to jump up to $120. So if you're going to go to equipexp, well come and find me. I'll be at Padro and there's going to be a ton going on throughout the week. We're also, I'll also be speaking. I'll be a guest at the morning show Thursday morning at 8 a.m. in room B 103, I believe. So anyway, click the link in the show notes or go to equipexposition.com and use promo code Payjack to save 50%. All right. Let's get back to being rude to customers. So honestly, like

16:46goods, let me just say this, good customer service doesn't mean unlimited access. Okay. And here's the serious part. You know, I still believe in good customer service. I believe you should answer the phone professionally. You know, I believe you should return messages as quickly as possible. I truly believe you should show up when you say you're going to show up, you should communicate and you should treat people with respect. And if your company screws something up, own it and fix it. None of that changes. Okay. I, you know, I'm not saying be rude when you're on the phone or anything. But somewhere along the way, I think business owners started confusing customer service with servitude. And they're different because good customer service doesn't mean that the customer controls your calendar. It doesn't mean every phone conversation can last indefinitely. And it doesn't mean you have to provide free counseling and counseling. It doesn't mean that you have to negotiate every single price. And it doesn't mean that every

17:47customer who calls you needs to become your customer. And that last one's important because not everyone is your customer. Now, one of the things I'm thinking more about is how quickly we can determine whether somebody is actually a potential customer. You know, for my long-care business, there are some very basic questions. You know, we ask, you know, what service are they looking for? You know, what is our proper, what is their property address? What is the, what is the address of the property that you're looking to service? That's how I phrase it. And when I do that, I'm looking to see if they're in our service area. So it's not only like, hey, we get their home address, but we're also finding out if we could help them from that because if they're not in our service area, I will cut it right there. You know, what's the approximate size of the lawn? Most of the time, I don't ask that outright. It's when I get the property address, I go into Yardbook, there's a measurement tool in there. So while I'm talking to them on the phone, I could start plotting the

18:50coordinates and basically get a good estimate of like how big the lawn is. And then what problem are you trying to solve? You know, and that's enough to get started. That's like, okay, you know, what is it about your lawn that you're trying to change? Very simple. You know, if they say, well, we're looking for mowing, well, that's not part of our, what we do. But if it's, you know, we got a lot of weeds and this and that and the other, and then I continue to talk with them and move along with their, the problem that they have. You know, I don't need to know that your cousin Ronnie had triggering in 2018 and he didn't like the technician, right? I don't know, I don't need to know that the previous homeowner planted Kentucky bluegrass in 1997. I don't need to know that your neighbor Steve thinks everybody in the neighborhood has grubs. We'll get there if it's relevant. You know, first, you know, what do you want? You know, I mean, I know that's a joke with the episode, but it's actually a pretty good question. What do you want? Because if I understand what you're

19:52trying to accomplish, I could very quickly tell you whether we can help. If we can, great. If we can't, also great because now neither of us has wasted an hour trying to figure that out. And from this, you know, we could stop selling to people who do not want to buy. And this might be one of the biggest lessons I've ever learned. There's a difference between helping someone make a decision and trying to drag someone across the finish line. You know, if someone has a legitimate questions, you answer them. If they don't understand the difference between your programs, you just explain them. But if, you know, if they're trying to decide which service fits their property, you help them. That's selling. But when somebody clearly doesn't value the service and doesn't like the price and wants to negotiate everything, and it is already telling you how another company is cheaper, maybe you don't need another closing technique. Maybe you just need to say, well, it sounds like they might be a better fit for you. And that's okay. There are customers you want,

20:57there are customers you can serve, and there are customers who should probably hire someone else. And learning the difference could save you an unbelievable amount of time. Now, you got to remember this, the business owner's time is value too. And we talk constantly about providing value to our customers. And we should. But your time has value too. You know, if you're spending an extra 15 minutes on 10 unnecessary conversations every week, that's two and a half hours. You know, over 40 weeks, that's 100 hours. 100 hours. What else could you do with 100 hours? You know, train employees, improve your routes, work on your pricing, sell profitable add-on services, spend time with your family. Hell, you could take an app. At least then you're getting something out of that time. And I'm not saying that the point is to rush people off the phone. But the point is to recognize

22:02when a productive conversation has stopped being productive. And there's a difference. So, am I really going to answer the phone next year? You're like, yeah, what do you want? Probably not. Although, I'm not completely rolling it out. But I do want to be more concise. You know, I want to qualify faster. I want to ask better questions. You know, I really want to stop feeling like I need to justify every price. And I want to become more comfortable allowing someone to say no. Because sometimes the most efficient customer interaction is, here's what I offer. Here's what it costs. Here's when we can do it. Would you like us to move forward? Yeah. Oh, fantastic. Let's get you scheduled. No, no problem. Have a great day. Now, that's not bad customer service. That's professional customer service with boundaries. And maybe that's, you know, what those old business owners figured out 30 years before the rest of us

23:05did. So let's bring this thing home. You know, number one, get to the point. What does the customer need and can you provide it? Number two, qualify quickly. Not every person who calls your business is your customer. Number three, stop defending your price. You know, you should understand your numbers well enough to know why you charge what you charge. And the customer can accept it or decline it. Number four, don't confuse good customer service with unlimited access to your time. Be respectful, be helpful, be professional, but have boundaries. Number five, don't be afraid to let somebody walk away. Sometimes the best outcome for both parties is realizing we're not a fit. No hard feelings. Have a great day. Next, maybe that's why the 70-year-old plumber answers the phone. Yeah, he's not angry. He's not miserable. He's not bad at customer service. He's got four jobs today

24:09and the phones were on 17 times and he's been doing this since 1984 and he just wants to know one thing. What do you want? And you know what? I'm starting to respect the hell out of that. So here's what I want you to take away from today's episode. Your goal isn't to become rude, okay? I brought that up just to make a funny point and just break down the barriers here. Your goal is to become clear. Clear about what you offer. Clear about what it costs. Clear about who you serve. And clear about your boundaries. And clear about the fact that you don't need everybody to say yes. You need the right customers to say yes. Because when you know your numbers, you understand your value and know exactly who you're trying to serve. You don't have to chase every customer who calls. Sometimes you could simply say, this is what we do. This is what it costs. Would you like us to do it? And if they say no, that's okay. Remember, it's always free if

25:10we don't do it. So again, thank you for spending some time with me today. I hope you enjoy the show. We'll catch you on the next one. Thanks for spending some time with me today. If something in this episode made you think differently about your business, don't just leave it here. Take that idea, put it to work, and see what it can do for you. And a special thank you to our friends at Yardbook for their continued support of Profits with PayJack. If you're looking for tools to help manage your long-care business, check them out at Yardbook.com. You could try a paid Yardbook subscription free for 30 days by using promo code PayJack. You'll find additional resources from today's episode in the show notes. Until next time, keep pushing through and God bless.