Growing Sales through Networking with Local Associations

Unlock the secrets to business growth with the power of community involvement in our latest episode, where landscape entrepreneurs Brandon and Dan share their real-world success stories. Discover how stepping beyond competitive bids and forging genuine connections with local businesses and property managers can not only enhance your network but also increase your profitability. Our guests provide an insider's look at the invaluable role of local events, charity initiatives, and strategic partnerships, like those with realtor associations, that can amplify your presence in the market and boost your bottom line.

Prepare to be entertained and informed as we weave through the art of networking within the design, build, and residential service industries. Dan's journey with LaTip shows us the power of a referral-based network, while Brandon's chamber of commerce adventures reveal how small business relationships can blossom into a flourishing ecosystem of mutual support and referrals. We round off the discussion with a collection of laugh-out-loud landscaping tales from our community, proving that sometimes the most valuable business lessons come wrapped in the most unlikely—and amusing—experiences. Join us for an episode that's as enlightening as it is delightful, and may just inspire your next strategic move.

Do you want to grow your business and your profits? Is your business too dependent on you the owner? Improve or implement processes that help you grow. Eliminate stress while improving cash flow. Interested? If so check out LOS. Landscape Operating System with Peer group is for you.

Learn more here https://www.scalingscoresystem.com/los

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Morning everyone. Landscape Talk here live in real. Today we're going to talk a little bit about the importance of getting involved in the community, generating sales leads. You know you can put quotes to give quotes to people, but if you want to improve your conversion rate and you want to actually get more sales, you have to meet people and people buy from people. So I think that's a great thing. So we'll talk a little bit about that.

Speaker 1: 0:33

You know we just came off a couple events that we did locally in our area so we can talk a little bit about those and what we expect to maybe get or why we do them. Those and what we expect to maybe get or why we do them. You know, if you're looking at growing, you know sales and those type of things. You know this is probably a good episode to kind of tune in and get connected in the community. If you are a landscape business owner and you're looking for a proven roadmap landscape operating system to grow your business, improve your people and your profits, check out LOS as a peer group and we'll help you grow your business.

Speaker 1: 1:13

One of the cool features with LOS is we have a la carte services. So if you need things like bookkeeping or some other things to help out. If you're a single owner operator, you just have a couple people, you can actually get a la carte services. So check, check them out, you can scan it, set up a time to talk about it. But grow your business, grow your profits. And so today we have Brandon and Dan in, and why don't we just share a little bit about our you know philosophy with some of the you know getting involved in the community, why it's important, um, and and kind of what we've? You know why we do it and you know so kind of turn to you Brandon first. Uh, by the way, we had, you know I put, I posted out there a little bit about some of the you can't make it up stories and I got some real funny ones, um, so I'm excited about that a little bit later in the show.

Speaker 2: 2:06

So yeah, I'll start. Yeah, we get. We got involved in some community events, just trying to help out in the community, partner up and make a difference in our current community that we like working, live in our businesses and just we like work in, live in our businesses, in just try and make a difference. We joined the chamber which you know does a lot of different events fundraising activities to to the community, and then the the one I'm, the one I'm in, that's what I'm doing, and then I'm also in another association. We just had an event yesterday where we did a fun event for vendors and businesses that we serve and they did a fun charity event where we raised some money for for kids.

Speaker 1: 2:58

So really good stuff. So what's like what's in a somebody is looking for an association stuff. So what's like what's in a somebody that's looking for an association like what? What type of association? Like what are you looking for by, obviously, doing good in the community? But if we're talking about, like sales wise and building partnerships, like, I think people would like to know like where to get plugged in. So like maybe give the specific of like who, who did you target to, who did you target the partner with and why?

Speaker 2: 3:27

Yeah, so we targeted, like um, customers that are important or good for us, like we deemed. So everyone's going to have a different type of customer, um, but for us, you know, in this instance, um, it was like business owners for the one, and then the other one is like apartment complexes, people that run apartment complexes, and they're going to be like senior people, owners, regionals, people in corporate and property managers. So that's who we got involved in, that's the target audience we're trying to talk to and build relationships with.

Speaker 1: 4:07

I think one thing that's key to kind of look at when you're doing a sales marketing plan or getting involved, which is kind of what we're selling commercial maintenance if you're looking for, you know, property managers or HOA, there's not so much HOAs but maybe apartment complexes, things like that. You really have to decide where you want to be active and be strategic, because you can't just go to that group and expect you're going to get something else. So right there, that's a great example, brandon, of a, you know, trying to get in front of property managers doing good in the community. It's a win-win, gets exposure and you know, I think that that's excellent. And I think the other thing you know, challenges.

Speaker 1: 5:00

So when you look at if you're not getting sales and you're just quoting a bunch of work, a lot of times people have relationships and relationships always trump, typically, a quote, right? So the idea is, you know we look to form relationships with partners so that we have it's not a low bid scenario or like a bid scenario because they want to work with somebody that is aligned and around the same thing. So that doesn't mean we work with everybody, but the idea is like you want to have somebody that they're a good company and you like working with them and I think that's important. So, dan, for you, maybe tell us a little bit about the event that you were at last night and why. Know why we target that, who they, who they are, or you know why we're targeting.

Speaker 3: 5:49

you know the group that you went with and some of the benefits yeah, so one of the one of the groups were involved in on on my end is just basically a association of of realtors in our area, um.

Speaker 3: 6:04

So I went to an event last night it was. It was just like a like local minor league baseball game, um, but the realtors association and kind of like you know, had their own area. They had like a meal set up for, you know, all the members and everything. Everyone who came out, um, and we just kind of sponsored you know how to sign out, talk to people, just basically helped with the with the meal side of things, just kind of sponsored you know how to sign out, talk to people, just basically helped with the with the meal side of things, like getting everyone the you know the stuff, the catering and all that um, so you know, everyone came through, talked to them a little bit, you know, and, uh, we target the people in the especially commercial um real estate space because like a lot of good you know contracts can come from that and people have a lot of connections with both commercial and, like industrial you know facilities, both real estate and property management. So it's a great, it's a great circle to be a part of.

Speaker 1: 7:02

Yeah. So I think when you look at that, you know you have, you know you're looking at. I mean we covered two things. We looked at some commercial. You know industrial, like there's a specific place for that. We also looked at, you know, getting aligned with some, you know, apartment complexes, if that's your thing. I also want to just look at maybe some residential. So when you think about residential, so for somebody that's looking for design, build or residential services, I know you know, Dan, you're a part of another group. You know brand new are as well. So maybe just talk about that group, because really what we're trying to paint the picture of is like okay, if you're listening to this and you have these different services just helping give some guidance of like maybe where to look, where businesses. So if you're looking for residential services, I think, dan, you're in a group that is kind of good, good for that. So maybe talk a little bit about that.

Speaker 3: 7:59

Yeah, so I'm also a member of a local chapter of LaTip, which is basically like community business owners and representatives of businesses, so like from a pretty wide variety of different categories, from a pretty wide variety of different categories, and it's it's very like it's specifically tip and referral based. So obviously like you're making a lot of connections, you're going to know people, building relationships with the people in the group, but it's also a very, a very specific like targeted, like there's benchmarks for like the tips that are being passed and the quality of those tips. So definitely more like like project services and like residential projects come through that group for sure.

Speaker 1: 8:52

Yeah, that's, that's great.

Speaker 1: 8:54

So, yeah, again, really important to kind of target specific areas and you can see, just with those three examples, and I think it's the more that you, I think one of the but it's just showing up, it's being there Like they want to use people that they know trust.

Speaker 1: 9:21

Yes, there is a percentage that there is, like advertising, that comes in. But I like to think about it as like different buckets. Like you have an advertising bucket, you have a networking and connecting bucket and you have these different. You know things like maybe a referral bucket, so the idea, or you know things like maybe a referral bucket, so the idea, or you know reviews, things like that, but that bucket of meeting people, if you're only doing one of them, you know maybe you are doing, you're great at going to the networking events, but you haven't advertised. You know and we advertise, you know, so you gotta, you gotta have a balanced approach to some of these things, so you're not just getting one of them. Brandon, you want to talk a little bit about the other group you're in and what you maybe think it's good for.

Speaker 2: 10:04

Yeah, I'm part of the chamber. That's the group you're specifying. So the chamber is really good because it's mostly like small business owners Kind of like you know, like Dan said, with Latip it's a little bit more relaxed of a setting, really focuses on building relationships, and I think the reason that's good is because you really bring together a bunch of people from different walks of life. So, like you know, anyone from insurance to staffing to banking, you know we're a landscaper in it, there's builders that are in it, really just all kinds of different walks of life, a bunch of insurance companies, like I said, just a bunch of stuff. Like that you really just get to build relationships.

Speaker 2: 10:51

Matter of fact, there's a couple of people in it, ironically, which we didn't know before joining, but one of our customers, and then we actually are a customer of people in it, ironically, which we didn't know before joining, but one of our customers, and then we actually are a customer of them as well, some people that we've dealt with in the past for different businesses.

Speaker 2: 11:07

So it's really good just to get to see people talk to them a little bit, build those relationships, and then you always have that kind of in your back pocket like hey, I may not need something from that person right now. They may not need anything from me right now, but it's always good, because in when you're dealing with small businesses, we we all run into people that need stuff, and it might not be stuff that we can help them with, but it's always nice to have someone like hey, I know a guy, um, or a girl or a person that can help you out, right. So I think that's the. That's. The nice thing is like we don't have to be able to provide every service under the sun, um, it's always good to be like hey, I know a person that can help you out there.

Speaker 2: 11:50

They're good, they're good people and, um, here's their number. So I think that's a really good thing from it and you organically get work from it. And it could be directly from that person, but it also could be they could be bringing work to you from someone they know or a family friend or a customer that's looking for something. So I think that's where that stuff comes into play, cause, like, they know they're around you enough, they know you, you talk to them, you know it's a monthly meeting and they know you're like, you're a good person, and I think that's where everything in life kind of streams from Like, if someone's a good person, they're going to try to do right by it.

Speaker 2: 12:27

Right, you know you trust them and you give them the time of day and you give them a chance until they give you a reason not to give you a chance, right. So I give them a chance until they give you a reason not to give you a chance, right. So, um, I think that's. I think that's what's big and just being involved and and knowing people. I know people that are in, uh, other people that are in the service industry of business and I mean I'd say, 95% of the time they get something done, it's always by someone they know some way, somehow somewhere Build a house, need tree work done, concrete plumbing, electrical daycare, you name it. It's because they made some kind of connection with it. It's very rarely a thing where it's like yeah, I don't know, I'm just going to find some random person.

Speaker 1: 13:13

Yeah, I think that's really important to make note. And when you think about sales and you know, when you do do I mean we do a percentage? That's like cold calling or cold reach out. But when you look at the percentage of some of that stuff, that just has to be one avenue of the whole plan Because, like you said, if you have the referrals and you have those things, it really drives and you know people, you're going to get work. So it's really about having a balanced way, you know.

Speaker 1: 13:42

The other thing that I would think about is you know we have, you know, hydro seating capabilities. So you know, just as another you know avenue, you know one of the things that we focus on is trying to. We've been focusing on is trying to make sure we're active in areas that are. You know things that we do. So you know hydro seeding capabilities. Where would you go for that? You know what's a good group to be a part of Builders Association. So people that are building homes, tearing up the ground A lot of times builders can.

Speaker 1: 14:14

You know they have skid loaders and different equipment where they like smooth it out and it could be all prep, but they don't want to deal with the seeding or planting. So you know, if you're around these groups, you build the relationships in those. You're not going to see the sales immediately, right, but you know, even within a 12 month period a one year period, like if you plant these seeds, you're going to be amazed at what grows. It's just initially it's like, why am I going to these events? Why am I meeting these people? But it definitely grows into something big and you got to spend the time. Time's a tough thing. We're all juggling like I can't go to that, but then it robs the revenue that you're looking for later, or the growth. So I think that's really good. Thanks for sharing today. I think it's really important to look and stay balanced with your sales activity or be able to grow it Anything that you have for you just can't make it up.

Speaker 1: 15:09

As just a reminder, the you can't make it up segment is all about the things that we see in the industry, whether it's our crews doing it or it's things that you see out and about. I've actually made a couple posts and just and people are sending some things in for their stories. I want to highlight one today. This was a great one and it was this guy from somebody named matt said he saw another company taking a stick edger with the metal blade and bumping it to get more metal blade out. You can't make it up, are you kidding me? Like a string trimmer you bump to get more string out. He's out there pounding it on the ground because it's wearing down. He thought it might I don't know grow a little bit more metal or something on the ground because it's wearing down and you thought it might I don't know grow a little bit more metal or something on the metal blade. I don't know, you can't make it up.

Speaker 2: 16:00

You have anything uh, I have a thing I I have two things. One I I'll I'll come back to the um. My second thought I just had a thought on the more on the, the, what you said earlier, but I'll come back to that when we're done with this. But the one thing that kind of threw me off a little bit. If it can't make you make it up, I never thought I would see it, um, but I just sometimes watch you know, some other landscapers on the internet and stuff, and the one guy that does does some um content.

Speaker 2: 16:34

Uh, because I watched some of his videos. Uh, one of his videos came up the other day and it was, uh, it was a rap video about landscaping and it really just threw me for a loop, Cause I'd never thought I'd see a rap video about landscaping. So for me I mean, maybe, maybe that's what guys are into, hey, fine, whatever, Um, but it just kind of threw me off because I never thought I would see a rap video about landscaping. It made me laugh. That's my, you can't make it up for today.

Speaker 1: 17:02

I don't know what you're going to see. Dan, you got anything.

Speaker 3: 17:09

The only thing that's coming to mind as far as stuff recently. That's coming to mind as far as like stuff recently. I mean we were just talking about like one of our, one of our crews, like how you know, having a little trouble like keeping up with. I mean some new properties have been added in, so it's like it's a tight schedule, um, but like we're looking at it in terms of like the, the order, like they're going in and it's like it's it's like a little different every week, like it's not for some reason. They're like swapping things out and doing things different days and it's like well, okay there, that's probably the reason, right there.

Speaker 1: 17:45

Yeah, you put together a schedule and it's. It's tested by the system logical order, by by systems that are smarter than us at just plan it all out and somebody's like you know what. I just think I want to drive the far way and I wonder why I'm not getting done. You can't make it up, so thanks for tuning in. Um, you know, like share and subscribe the episode if you like it. Share it with some of your other landscape people. If you have a can't make it up story, please send it in. We enjoy seeing it. I love hearing some of the funny things that that come in and again, like share and subscribe and, if you need anything, check out los. If you want to grow your business, implement processes, improve people and profit, reach out to them. Thanks, talk soon.