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All right, today's Thursday. It's part four of a five part series, this little mini series we got going in here designed to help you have your best season ever. So up to this point, we've talked about pricing, increasing your average ticket and using referrals to grow your business. But there's one piece that most business owners completely overlook and it's quietly costing them money every single year. So what if your business didn't slow down for part of the year? What if it actually made more money during that time?
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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@yardbook.com the link is in. The show notes Time now for Profits with Paycheck, an essential podcast for you in the green industry who are looking to unlock the full potential of your business. Hosted by John Pajac, your certified financial coach, 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 Paycheck has valuable insights and action steps that you can implement today for creating long term success. Now here's John Pajak.
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Welcome back to Profits with Paycheck, the podcast where we talk about business strategies and financial insights for the green industry. I'm your host, John Pajak, and if you've been following this series, you're starting to see how all of this connects. Day one was pricing. Day two was average ticket. Day three is referrals. And today we're going to be talking about frequency. And this is one of those topics that most people don't think about strategically, but when you can understand it, it can completely change how your business operates throughout the year. Now, here's what happens with a lot of lawn care businesses. You have your core services, you show up, you do the work, you leave. And then you don't get to see that customer until the next scheduled visit or worse, the next season. There are gaps, weeks, sometimes months, where there's no interaction. And during that time, a few things happen. You're not generating revenue from that customer, you're not reinforcing that relationship, and you're just not staying on top of their mind. And that's a problem. Now, I want to be very clear here because this could sound similar to what we just talked about in part two. Average ticket is about making more money per visit. Frequency is about increasing the number of times you show up, they work together, but they're not the same, you know, and if you ignore frequency, you're leaving a massive opportunity on the table. And the add ons that we talked about in part two are powerful because they increase your revenue while you're already on site. And that's efficiency. But now let's zoom out a little bit. You know, what about the times when you're not there at all? You know, here in northwest Indiana, that's where I'm from, we have a very real off season. You know, the grass stops growing, the applications are non existent in the wintertime, routes disappear, you know, same thing with mowing. Mowing just doesn't happen. We're not in a location where we could work year round. Matter of fact, we're lucky if we get eight months out of the year to work. So for a lot of businesses, you know, the revenue drops significantly during this time. You're, you know, just imagine that you only have eight months to make all the money you're going to make in a year, right, instead of 12 months. That's, you know, kind of what most guys do up here. And a lot of them just accept it. They just go, that's just how it is. Or that's the off season, you know, but what if it didn't have to be, you know, what if instead of viewing the off season as downtime, you viewed it as an opportunity to extend your relationship with your customers? Because your customers don't stop needing services, you just stopped offering them. You know, just think about what you could offer. You know, maybe winter services, property checks, snow related services, depending on your market, even simple touch points that just keep you connected. And really the goal is simple. It's just to stay present, stay relevant and stay valuable. Because when you think about this, the more often you serve your customers, the more valuable you become to them and then it's harder for them to replace you. I think that's why most of our clients tend to stay with us even through price changes. And you know, somebody comes in and has a amazing offer, but they're, they're strangers, they don't trust them because normally they see us or they hear from us quite frequently. Now for those of you that are fortunate enough to live in a area where it is, you know, the, the work doesn't slow down and you don't have to change. You know, like up north, if we want, we kind of have to switch over to say snow removal, snow and ice management, right? That's a gamble Because a lot of times that doesn't happen, you know, unless you have very good contracts to where you basically get paid, even if it doesn't snow. And that's, that's a real thing here. But, you know, the same thing applies. What if you can just have more frequency with your clients? You know, I understand. You know, the grass doesn't always grow, you know, in the transition zone or even in the warmest part of the year, maybe things slow down. Instead of weekly services, you know, you might have to move to bi weekly, maybe in those bi weeks if you have to do that. I personally don't like doing bi weekly services, but let's just say you had to. Maybe you could alter and say, okay, we're going to be here to service your property, to mow it here, but you know, we're going to do some trimming or some type of cleanup in the offs, in the off weeks. You know, just keep that frequency up there. Because the thing is, a lot of times those properties still need some sort of maintenance to them, even though we dialed it back a little bit. So just, you know, it doesn't really matter what it is, but try to find reasons that are going to help your client. It's. This is not a selfish thing. Okay? Always keep in mind the very first thing is so we could service our clients better. Keep that in mind and you'll find a service or a duty that you could provide for your client and be there more often. Back when I was getting my lawn care business off the ground, I was juggling routes, invoices and customer notes with paper and prayers. It was chaos. Until I found Yardbook. Yardbook 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.
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Are you mowing lawns, running crews, and still wondering where all the money went? You're not alone. Naylor Taliaferro of LCR Media has been there. And that's exactly why he created Profit Accelerator Live. Join Naylor and expert speakers John Pajak and Eric Triplett for two powerful days of hands on workshops designed specifically for lawn care and landscaping business owners in Richmond, Virginia, June 26th and 27th. This isn't a conference where you'll sit in the back and take notes. You'll leave with an actual business plan in hand, knowing exactly what to charge, how to manage your time, and how to attract better customers. Tickets are just $299, but right now you can bring a partner or a fellow business owner free with our two for one special. Tickets are just $299, but right now you can bring a partner or fellow business owner free with our 2 for 1 special. Only 75 spots are available and they will fill up fast. Use the link in the show description or go to profitacceleratorlive.com to secure your spot today. Put more money in the bank and more time in your schedule with Profit Accelerator Live.
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I hope you heard the news there. You know, Naylor Taliaferro is going to be having his Profit Accelerator Live in Richmond, Virginia. I'm excited to be part of it. It's gonna be this June and, you know, get your tickets while you can. That's limited to 75 attendees. And right now that 2 for 1 sale's going on. So, yeah, that definitely is gonna fill up quick. Because if you think about it, not everybody's gonna bring a two for one, but if they did, that's, That's. That doesn't leave much room. Very seats will be limited. So anyway, just go check that out. It's in the show notes. The links in the show notes make it real easy for you. Just click on it and get right there. Buy your tickets, do it quick. But let's get back to the topic of the day here. You know, there is another layer to this. You know, when you increase your frequency, you don't just increase your revenue, you're increasing the stability. Because instead of having peaks and valleys, you start smoothing out how your income comes in across the year. Because I'll just tell you flat out, if I just did applications and, you know, basically, let's just say April all the way through, like October. Those are very stable. They're on the high end. You know, we have just like a. Just think, like, there's going to be some dips and valleys, but not big ones. You know, it's going to be like a kiddie coaster. It's like, oh, this is fun. It's just up and down, up and down. It's nothing too big, you know, but then, like, November hits and it's just like straight down, you know, it's like, oh, my God, I thought this was a kitty ride. No, it's like straight down to the bottom. There's very little income coming in. But then, you know, you're down in There. And it's. You're way down for a low, and it's like. Actually, it's like, this is a boring ride now because now we dropped. And what happens? Nothing's. Nothing's happening. You know, we kind of flatlined. But then, you know, let's just say, you know, March comes around, and now we start to incline again, and it's a long, long, you know, click, click, click, click. It's carrying you up, and you're like, whoa, what's gonna happen now? And then we hit April, and bam. You know, it's just. We're way at the top and you're looking around. This is awesome. I love it. You know, little kitty ride again. Kitty, kitty coaster. And then, you know, again, it's just like the death drop comes again in, like, say, November. The thing is, we don't have to do that. You know, we could actually just make the whole thing safe for the kiddos all year round. It's not like maybe. Maybe the. The roller coaster analogy wasn't so good, but, you know, maybe you're like, yeah, I want the thrill ride, but, you know, let's. Let's keep. Let's keep this, you know, let's keep it rolling here. You know, I could. I could do some things to where in November, instead of our having such a big death drop that goes down to nearly zero, we can, you know, find another reason to be on their property. And it could just be service checks thing, you know, something similar, something small. For me, you know, we offer. We do. We don't do snow and ice removal, but we do provide a winter service that does bring in some income. It's not nearly as impressive as, you know, a lot of people, but it's pretty consistent, it's stable, and it kind of levels things out for us. And to top it all off, people enjoy seeing us. They're like, you know, we basically would see them every three, four weeks and just kind of like how our normal schedule is when we do our application. You know, they generally see us once a month, but now we're still seeing them during the wintertime, and they enjoy it. And we're at the top of their mind. They see us and they're like, I'm not going to forget about you. Right? A lot of times, that's what happens. You know, you're gone for four months, and people just forget about you. We want to make sure that we have that presence there because, you know, when you can. When you could. When you could level out those peaks and valleys and you start smoothing out your income throughout the year. You're going to have less stress, you're going to be have better planning, and you're going to have more control. So now let's zoom out and just take a look at what we've built so far this week in the past 4 days. You know, day one, we fixed the pricing. Day two, we increased the value per visit. Day three, we created a system to get new customers from our customers. And now on day four, we're increasing how often we serve those customers. And you can probably feel it at this point. This is not random. This is a system. I want you to stop thinking of your service as a one time or an occasional interaction. And I want you to start thinking of it as an ongoing relationship because that's where real business growth happens. So here's your action step for today. I want you to look at your calendar. I'm talking the whole year. Okay? If you got a digital one or you got one on the wall, I just want you to take a look at it. Okay? Where are the gaps? Where are the weeks or the months where you're not generating revenue from your existing customers? It doesn't have to be winter. It could be summertime. It could be just like, oh, this is the slow time of year because of the heat or whatever. But then just ask yourself, what could I offer during that time that actually helps my customers? And it still fits my business. And there's your opportunity. So tomorrow we're going to bring all of this together. Everything we talked about all week. Pricing, the average ticket, the referrals, the frequency. I'm going to show you how this all fits into one simple system that's going to control your profit. And once you see it, you will not be able to unsee it, I guarantee you. So I will see you tomorrow in part five, the conclusion to our epic saga, our mini saga, our little jaunt down profitable lane. Okay, you will and I hope that you're enjoying this. So we'll, we'll catch you tomorrow. God bless. Keep pushing through and I'll see you tomorrow. Thank you once again for listening. If you've enjoyed the show, please leave a review and share it with fellow business owners. Your support means the world to me and helps keep the show going strong. I want to give a special shout out to our friends at Yardbook. Their continued support has been instrumental in bringing this podcast to you week after week. If you haven't checked them out yet, visit yardbook.com and see how they can give you the tools to streamline and manage your lawn care business. Also, don't forget to explore the resources and upcoming events that I've collected just for you in the Show Notes. These are curated to help you stay ahead in your business with the latest tips, tools and networking opportunities. Whether it's a new tool, an insightful article, or an event you don't want to miss, I've got you covered. Until next time, keep pushing through and God bless.