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- [00:01]
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I spent 25 minutes on the phone with a woman who wanted to hire us. That sounds like a great lead, right? Well, there was only one problem. She wanted to hire us for something we don't do. And somehow I spent the next 20 minutes trying to explain why. The crazy part isn't that she kept asking. The crazy part is that I kept answering. So today I want to talk about a lesson that hit me after I hung up that phone. Because sometimes empathy can become a liability. And sometimes the hardest thing for a business owner is to say a simple two letter sentence.
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No. 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 PayJack, any Central podcast for you in the green industry who are looking to unlock the full potential of your business. Hosted by John Pajak, 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 Paj.
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Welcome to Profits with Paycheck. The podcast we dive into business strategies and financial insights for the green industry. As always, I want to thank you for taking a little time out of your day to spend it with me. And I just wanted to say that today's episode, it started with what should have been a routine phone call. A homeowner called her office. They were looking for weed control services and she had some questions about specific weeds in her lawn. And I was like, okay, can you text those to me right now? And she said, yeah, sure. So she sent me a few pictures. I was easily able to identify them and explain how we could help. And you know, she was really getting, she's like, this sounds great, I love this. This is going to be. This is going to make me so much happier. I'm just tired of looking at all this. And you know, basically at this point, everything was moving along normally, you know, but then, you know, she asked a question that completely changed the conversation. And she said, you know, I'm also interested in having my lawn mowed too. And I said, you know, unfortunately, that's not a service that we offer anymore. I didn't even say anymore. I just left it at that. It's not a service that we don't. We don't offer that service. And that's when things kind of got interesting, because at that point, I just said, you know, we specialize in fertilization and weed control. We do not offer mowing services, but we could refer you to a company that handles all our mowing. And she seemed really kind of surprised and a little bit taken back, because I guess the listing that she found and called us from was something online from years and years ago when I still had a mowing division. And she pointed it out, and she said, well, you used to mow. I said, well, yes, ma', am, but we discontinued mowing several years ago. Then came the follow up. Well, why can't you mow my lawn? And I explained. I'm like, well, it's a service we don't offer anymore. There was a time when we offered mowing, but we don't do it anymore. And she's like, yeah, but I don't understand why. You could still probably squeeze a mowing lion in, right? And I'm like, no. I explained to her in great detail that several years ago, we sold all of our mowing equipment. You know, we don't own mowers. We don't owe string trimmers. We don't, you know, we don't have any of the maintenance equipment that's required to cut a lawn. And for some reason, I was compelled to explain, like, you know, our equipment that we use today is specialized for fertilization and weed control. You know, we have backpack sprayers, you know, tanks on our backs. We have skid sprayers that are big tanks that are in the back of our trucks and the trailers, and they have hundreds of feet of hose so we can spray the whole lawn. You know, I explained that we had ride on spreader, spreader sprayers. And that's where she's like, oh, oh, well, I know that those machines could cut lawns. I've seen it before. And I'm like, ma', am, trust me. These. These are specialized machines. These are not lawnmowers with tanks attached to them. These are dedicated units. And they don't have blades on them. They don't. There's no mowing function on these at all. Yet even though I persisted, she didn't want to believe me. And we kept circling back to the same discussion. Now she insisted she has seen machines like ours mowing lawns. And I explained again, and she pushed back again, and I explained again, and she pushed back again. And before I knew it, you Know, what was like a 10 minute conversation where I was just about to close a sale turned into like a 25 minute conversation. And I was at the point where, ma', am, I could refer a company to you, or I could refer you to a company that does mowing. And she was like, you know what, Nevermind, I'll find someone else that could take care of all of it. So I'm, you know, like, she ends the call and I'm just sitting there staring at the, at the computer and I'm just thinking. I'm like, what in the world just happened here? And at first, I'll admit it, I was frustrated. You know, I couldn't understand why someone would continue to argue after receiving a clear answer. But the more I thought about it, the more my perspective changed. You know, what if she wasn't difficult? You know, what if she was desperate? Think about the average homeowner experience today. You call a company and nobody answers. You leave a voicemail, there's no callback. You go to their website and fill out a form and nothing. You send a message and you get an automated response. You know, maybe you don't. Maybe, you know, maybe somebody does pick up the phone, but they still can't provide for you. But I was thinking that by the time this woman called me, I may have been the first real human she's spoken to all day. You know, maybe several days. Maybe she's been, you know, looking over the weekend and whatnot. Maybe she wasn't arguing because she didn't understand. Maybe she was just arguing because she finally found someone who would listen. And that realization, you know, kind of changed my perspective. Because suddenly that conversation wasn't about a difficult customer. It was about someone who simply wanted help.
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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 pretty 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 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. Today Put more money in the bank and more time in your schedule with Profit Accelerator Live.
- [08:37]
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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 hey guys, John Pajak here. Equip Expo is the biggest event in the green industry. So let's do some quick math. Today, Equip Expo's registration is $30 with promo code PAYJACK. That gets cut in half, so your ticket's only $15. But if you keep waiting, the price is going to continue to go up until you're looking at $120 for a ticket. So the question isn't whether you're going to Equip Expo. The question is whether you're going to pay $15 or $120. Now, I've attended Equip for years. I've hosted on Pod Row, I've emceed the morning show, and every year I leave with new ideas, new friendships, and new opportunities. So go to equip expo.com, use promo code PAYCHECK and lock in the lowest price before it goes up. Links in the show notes
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before we
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jump back in, I want to remind you that if you're struggling with profitability, pricing, cash flow, or simply just trying to figure out where your money is going in your business, check out my coaching programs and resources@johnpajak.com Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs in business don't come from working harder. They come from seeing things completely different. So today's lesson is a perfect example of that. So let's jump right back into it. The more I reflected on the conversation, the less I blamed her. You know, instead of I what I started doing was I started asking myself a different question. I'm like, why did I stay on the phone so long? You know, that's the Part I could control. You know, I already had a. I had already answered her question. I've already offered a referral. I had already explained our services, and the decision has been made yet. I kept explaining. And then it hit me. I wasn't trying to inform her anymore. I was trying to convince her. I wanted her to understand. I wanted her to agree. And I think I just wanted her to walk away saying, oh, now I get it. But not every conversation ends that way. Sometimes people understand perfectly and they just don't accept the answer. And those are two very different things. So, you know, I look at it this way. You know, as business owners, especially service business owners, you know, we care. We generally want to help people, and that's why many of us get into business in the first place. You know, we solve problems, we create solutions. We serve. But there's a danger hiding inside that mindset, because if we're not careful, we begin treating every problem as our responsibility, even when it isn't. And this customer, you know, she had a couple problems. One I could help her with. The other was a mowing problem. You know, I had the weed problem. Control, solution. Those are not the same thing. Could I empathize with her situation? Absolutely. Could I provide a referral? Yes, absolutely. Could I magically become a mowing company? Again, no. Absolutely not. And that's the lesson. Empathy doesn't mean availability. Empathy doesn't mean saying yes. It doesn't mean changing your business model. Empathy doesn't mean that you have to solve every problem that comes your way. You know, sometimes when being empathetic means listening, it means caring. And sometimes empathy means pointing someone in the right direction. And other times, empathy might. It just really means saying, I understand your situation, but we're not the right fit. And I think this lesson applies far beyond lawn care. You know, it shows up when a customer asks for a discount, when somebody wants you to do work that's outside your scope. It shows up when friends want free advice. It shows up when your employees bring every decision directly to you. And, you know, again, it shows up when people expect immediate access to your time. You know, many business owners struggle because they confuse kindness with availability, and they think that setting a boundary is rude. They think that saying no is bad customer service, and they think every request deserves a negotiation. And honestly, it doesn't. Professional businesses have boundaries. They know what they do, they know what they don't do. And professional businesses aren't afraid to say no. And to kind of wrap this up, that phone call kind of taught me something, you know, that woman wasn't necessarily the problem. Maybe she was frustrated and desperate. Maybe she was simply looking for someone willing to help. And honestly, I respect that. But I also learned that my desire to help can sometimes keep me in conversations longer than I should be. And as a business owner, we should. We should all answer the phone. We should listen. We should. We should care about our people. We should do our best to help people. But we also need to recognize when a problem isn't ours to solve. Because if you try to solve every problem that comes your way, eventually you'll have no time left to solve the problems you're actually in business to solve. Empathy is very important. Compassion is important. Customer service is important. But remember this empathy doesn't mean availability. And sometimes the most professional thing you could do is provide the best answer you can, point someone in the right direction and let the problem belong to somebody else. I want to thank you for listening today. As always, God Bless. Keep pushing through and we'll catch you on the next one. 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. Sam.