Hey, have you ever taken your sales and marketing team to a conference with you? Well, I just did. We went to the Magnetic Marketing SuperConference in Dallas, Texas, and here are some of the key takeaways from our Senior Landscape Marketing Strategist and our Sales and Marketing Manager.
Robert Felton [00:00:16]:
Instead of talking about what you do better or more superior, these are all “ER” words you need to look at finding a new opportunity.
00:24 - Importance of Tailored Automation in Customer Engagement
Jamie DuBose [00:00:24]:
We already know that follow up is important, but when you build in the automation for making sure that that automation is tailored exactly to what that potential customer or potential client needs to hear at that particular time in their customer journey, it will make all the difference in the world.
Robert Felton [00:00:42]:
Do you have some bad apples that are really causing some problems? Because you risk losing your A+ employees if you keep around these C employees.
00:49 - Defining the "Hell Yes Customer"
Jack Jostes [00:00:49]:
One of the most important decisions that we need to make in business is who is your Hell Yes Customer. Once you get clear on who is your customer and then what are their pains and problems, all of the rest of it falls into place.
01:00 - Live from the SuperConference: Rambler Takeaways
Jack Jostes [00:01:00]:
All right, so we are here at the SuperConference. I'm with Robert Felton, our Senior Landscape Marketing Strategist, and Jamie DuBose. It's your debut on the podcast. She is our Sales and Marketing Manager. So really grateful that you guys came on the road to the SuperConference.
Jamie DuBose [00:01:20]:
Yeah, thanks for inviting us. It's been a blast.
Jack Jostes [00:01:23]:
It has been a blast. And we had steak last night.
Jamie DuBose [00:01:26]:
We did, not just a steak, a tomahawk.
Jack Jostes [00:01:29]:
We had a tomahawk steak, which I've only had twice. And they were on trips with Ramblers. So that's how we roll. So we wanted to share some of our key takeaways for landscape clients. And one of them was. Was it Russell Brunson that was talking about this? So the ER test. So, Robert, I know you really like this one. What is the ER test?
01:50 - The ER Test: Focusing on Unique Opportunities to Differentiate Your Landscape Company
Robert Felton [00:01:50]:
So, I love the ER test. It was comparing kind of the ER to a new opportunity. So a lot of times we think about what is our opportunity? What do we bring to customers? What do we do better? What do we do differenter?
Robert Felton [00:02:04]:
So instead of talking about what you do better or more superior, these are all ER words you need to look at finding a new opportunity. What is something that you bring? Are you the unique, the different? Do you build something more unique than your clients? Do you have a better or see, it just sneaks in there? That's what's crazy. I think that was cool about that workshop is he kept making that mistake, too. It's so easy to just be better and you don't want to just be better, you need to be different. And I think that was the main takeaway. But there was something else to it too.
Jack Jostes [00:02:36]:
You know, we help people with three reasons to buy. We help our clients figure out three reasons that your clients should work with you over somebody else. And it's easy to fall into the better. You know, that we're doing it better, faster, cheaper, stronger. Better looking, I don't know, whatever. And that's okay. And it's like, okay.
Jack Jostes [00:02:58]:
But he was talking about the new opportunity entirely, being a differentiator. And I really like that.
03:05 - The Importance of Automated Segmented Follow-Up for Prospects & Customers
Jamie DuBose [00:03:05]:
Yeah, that was one of my favorite things that Russell brought to the table, too.
Jack Jostes [00:03:09]:
So another one, Jamie, you had a takeaway about automated, automated, segmented follow up. So that's kind of marketing speak. What is automated segmented follow up?
Jamie DuBose [00:03:23]:
Yeah, I think it's honestly one of the best kept secrets when it comes to marketing and marketing automation. As you are building your list of prospects and leads, there are going to be buckets that people are going to fall into based on how long they've known you, how long they've been engaged with you, how much they know about you. And we already know that follow up is important. It's a big part of what we do at Ramblin Jackson and how we help clients. But when you build in the automation for making sure that that automation is tailored exactly to what that potential customer or potential client needs to hear at that particular time in their sales process or their customer journey, it will make all the difference in the world.
04:05 - Practical Applications of Automation for Landscape Clients
Jack Jostes [00:04:05]:
Yeah. And so for landscape clients, I think an easy way of thinking this is simply making a list of all the services you offer. So let's say it's design build or construction or installation. And then do you have maintenance and then do you have fertilization and aeration? Do you do gutter cleaning? One of our clients does gutter cleaning and like automating follow up to people of after they got their installation done, having emails that go out, hey, did you know that we can help you maintain your lawn and landscape and when it's mosquito season, did you know that we offer mosquito and tick whatever? So that's, that's to me one of the things. And we interviewed somebody that runs a lawn care company and they use Service Autopilot and they're doing that pretty well with that.
Jamie DuBose [00:04:51]:
Yeah. I also love that it ties into one of the new services that we're offering at Ramblin Jackson with Lead Wrangler.
Jack Jostes [00:04:59]:
Lead Wrangler.
Jamie DuBose [00:05:02]:
I really just wanted to say that to hear you.
Jack Jostes [00:05:04]:
Yeah. Well, good. Yeah. And we're working on a theme song for it, but that's going to be our CRM. And the way that landscapers can keep track of the people that they're talking to and automate appointment confirmations, follow ups, upsells, all these different things. And if you're curious about Lead Wrangler, you can join our waitlist. I'll put a link in the bio because we're rolling it out with a handful of test clients right now, and I'm really excited about that. My third takeaway that I wanted to share with people is from Dan Kennedy, and it's about pulling weeds versus planting seeds.
05:38 - Pulling Weeds vs. Planting Seeds: Strategies for Immediate Impact
Jack Jostes [00:05:38]:
And so as an example, it's really like, so what are the problems in your business that if you fixed them, would. Would stop a lot of problems? What are the weeds in your business? Or Dan also talks about having holes in the bucket and water comes out. And as an example, I'll share a story. You know, we went out to. What was the steakhouse? We went to.
Jamie DuBose [00:06:00]:
Yo, steak.
Jack Jostes [00:06:02]:
Yeah, it was Yo Steakhouse in downtown Dallas. It was fantastic. And we happened to just meet some people, and I'm like, hey, do you want to come to dinner with us? So, I don't know. They were, like, waiting for an Uber, and they're like, hey, man, we liked your talk. And I'm like, hey, do you want to come eat dinner? And I've made a lot of really lasting business friendships by just going out for dinner with people at conferences. But anyways, so we're on. We're in the. The car.
Jack Jostes [00:06:28]:
I'm driving. Robert was doing an amazing job giving us directions, so I didn't need to look at it like I did the other day. And we call the restaurant, and we're like, hey, can we. Can we have a seat? And they're like, no, we don't have anything open until, like, 2 hours from now. And so we ended up parking nearby and deciding to just walk into the steakhouse because we wanted to go there. And there were a couple nearby places, and when we walked in, they said, well, we could fit you in as long as you're done by, like, 7:45. And it was like 630 or something. Like we had, you know, plenty of time.
Robert Felton [00:07:02]:
Yeah.
Jack Jostes [00:07:03]:
And that, to me, is a hole in the bucket. That's a weed. Because if we didn't walk in there and do that, they would have, like, between the five of it was expensive. It was like $500. It was awesome. We had an epic steak right.
Jamie DuBose [00:07:19]:
It was totally worth it. But also, did you notice the restaurant was dead?
Jack Jostes [00:07:23]:
I did. Exactly. So there was hardly anyone there, because their little system didn't have a room, and the person didn't. But what was really different about being there in person versus talking on the phone? I don't really think anything. We just happened to be there. So that, to me, is a. Is a weed, and answering the phone is really important. So basic stuff like, who's answering the phone at your landscape company? And what are they saying? And Dan Kennedy talks about chiropractic offices, and I've heard him tell this story a lot where he coaches chiropractic offices.
Jack Jostes [00:08:01]:
That was one of his niche markets. And one of the first things he would look at is what happens during lunch. And he realized that a lot of times at offices, the entire staff would take a lunch break from noon to one, and that's the time when people, the customers are available to take their lunch break and call. And so he would mandate that there was, like, a rotation for lunch breaks. So someone was always there to answer the phone, and that alone would increase sales for people without increasing their marketing budget or anything. And I see this with clients all the time. In fact, I tell this story about the grouchy greeter is what I call it. And we had a remodeling client who.
Jack Jostes [00:08:43]:
They're like, Jack, we're not getting the results. We're not getting the results. And I'm, like, seeing the leads coming through. And so I just tried to call them one day, and they had the rudest person answer the phone, and I was like, wow, who is this person? And when they replaced her, the sales problem was solved. What were you gonna add about that?
Robert Felton [00:09:03]:
I just thought something I really liked about what Dan Kennedy said was pulling weeds versus planting seeds. And when you plant a seed, it takes a while. It's got to grow. It's got to do all these things. But if you pull weeds, you can see instant results. And I thought that was just so smart, because it's like, you got to make this look good, and you only have a limit at a time. We need some results. Fast pulling weeds will get you a lot further than planting seeds.
Robert Felton [00:09:22]:
And, yes, planting seeds have a long term value, but sometimes to just get that ball moving, get some fast things happening and changing and getting the winds changed is pulling weeds.
Jamie DuBose [00:09:32]:
I also, you know, when I think of pulling weeds versus planting seeds, you're only going to plant seeds one time in the process. But when you continually make an effort to pull the weeds and continue to look at what you can do to refine your processes or, you know, what weeds are we needing to pull this quarter or this year? Again, you just keep the compounding interest just keeps building on itself.
Jack Jostes [00:09:52]:
Well, yeah. And one of the ways that we help people pull weeds is with our Spring Lead Generation Boost. So when clients hire us, often it takes four to six months before we rewrite their whole branding, their processes, launch a new website. But out of the gate, we are pulling weeds currently by, you know, tweaking their photos on their Google listing where if they have a really, if a non existent page title tag, basic SEO. So they're, they're getting results pretty quickly. So we're already doing that with people.
Robert Felton [00:10:24]:
I think one more last example of pulling weeds is important is, is looking at your employees. I mean, Jack talked about a little bit the angry greeter. I mean, do you have some bad apples that are really causing some problems because you risk losing your A+ employees if you keep around these C employees. So you need to be able to pull that weed. And I think that's, I mean, it's kind of an obvious one, but it's important to look at because that can really bring a lot of good change. And that is a really fast example of pulling weeds. I mean, as example about, you know, getting the contact information on the phone so you could follow up and someone's saying, oh, that's impossible. No one wants to do that on the phone.
11:00 - Incentivizing Employees to Reach Sales Goals
Robert Felton [00:11:00]:
And it's like, no. And he made one other good example. That's one of my favorites is, you know, when you want some behavior to happen and people are a little hesitant about it, if you reward that behavior. I'm in sales. So you mean you want incentivize, the behavior you want to see. And that can really help you pull weeds. It's like, this is something we can't do. And then, hey, every time you do it, you get $5.
Robert Felton [00:11:21]:
Every time you get a review, you get free lunch. Oh, what happens? It starts to work.
Jack Jostes [00:11:24]:
Well, yeah. And the story that he told that I think landscape companies could use was about, I think it was a, it was a, some sort of office. Oh, yeah. It was a DUI attorney office.
Robert Felton [00:11:37]:
That was it.
Jack Jostes [00:11:37]:
And, and they, the, the receptionist got paid $20 when they turned in a complete card with your name, email and phone number. Yeah. And they went from not being able to get it to like, getting every time they got it.
11:51: Jack Shares His Experience of Being a Semi-Finalist for Magnetic Marketer of the Year
Jamie DuBose [00:11:51]:
So, Jack, first of all, I wanted to have you share a little bit about the other reason that we came to the SuperConference.
Jack Jostes [00:11:59]:
Yeah. So the other reason we came was I was a semifinalist for Magnetic Marketer of the Year award. And so I'm not sure how many people applied. I think dozens?
Jamie DuBose [00:12:11]:
Yeah. I'd say probably dozens.
Jack Jostes [00:12:14]:
Yeah. So dozens of people applied, and the prize that they had was the reason that I wanted to apply. Like, it's cool to be recognized and things. But the prize was. It was winner's weekend with Dan Kennedy, my favorite author, most influential person that I've read. I've read more books of Dan's than of anyone else. And I love business books. So I was a semi finalist and I got to speak.
Jack Jostes [00:12:38]:
I didn't. I didn't end up being a finalist, so I won't get to go to winner's weekend, but it was a pretty cool experience.
Jamie DuBose [00:12:45]:
So tell me a little bit about your experience with the process. Was it something you enjoyed? Was it fun?
Jack Jostes [00:12:51]:
Yeah. So the process for semifinalists was to, basically, I needed to submit a case study of how I've implemented Magnetic Marketing and the results. And a key part of Magnetic Marketing is that results rule. There is ruthless accountability. And I track everything kind of obsessively at Ramblin Jackson. It was not that hard for me to come up with the data because there are things that I'm tracking anyways. But it was good to look at, you know, what Ramblin Jackson was doing in 2016 before I started implementing Magnetic Marketing, when I almost went out of business and the things that I learned and how they're working for me now and then the experience of speaking here was, honestly, it was surreal. It was surreal because it's this big, beautiful stage.
Jack Jostes [00:13:42]:
There are hundreds of people here. I think it was the biggest audience I've ever spoke for. I don't know. It kind of feels like going back to college, but for a subject that you actually really care about, and then you're with your favorite professors and you're with your favorite students and, like, colleagues. So the other people presenting are doing amazing work. But I got to, like, hang out with Russell Brunson backstage and, like, have a conversation with him. And he's somebody that I watch on social media every day, and I've read a ton of his books, and it was truly surreal.
Jamie DuBose [00:14:15]:
Were you a little starstruck?
Jack Jostes [00:14:17]:
Yes. Yes. But also, Russell is just such a genuine person, and he was super cool. And I asked him some questions and he answered them, and then he even mentioned them in his talk because I think many people have them. So it was humbling in some ways, because, you know, I shared how I've made $5 million of revenue from public speaking, and Russell has literally done $1 billion of revenue. And he did this story, you know, like, at Clickfunnels Live or whatever, or the Ten X conference with Grant Cardone. He did $3 million in sales in 90 minutes. You know, so, like, in one way, I'm like, wow, I've come such a long way.
Jack Jostes [00:14:57]:
And then hanging out with somebody like Russell Brunson, who's like. And it was just interesting to be with people who are doing a billion dollars to the millions that I'm doing. And then also, I ran a roundtable afterwards and coached other people who are just getting started in different things. It was inspiring. I still have so much to learn. That's what's exciting about this.
Jamie DuBose [00:15:22]:
How do you think Magnetic Marketing or, you know, people at the SuperConference are going to use all of the Marketer of the Year content for their own business? Because I know that was something we had chatted about before.
Jack Jostes [00:15:35]:
So, I mean, part of the culture of Magnetic Marketing and Clickfunnels. And so Russell Brunson founded Clickfunnels, and then he bought Magnetic Marketing, which was Dan Kennedy's thing. But. But Dan Kennedy, he has swipe files and templates, and kind of the whole thing is to, like, not reinvent the wheel, but to take what other people are doing and ethically steal it is one of the things. Like, so, I gave freely a lot of ideas, and I took away a lot. I know I shared some. It'll be interesting to see. I mean, I have maybe 50 pages of notes here, and so the next thing I need to do is, like, read through there and be like, all right, what are the one or two things that I'm gonna do first?
Jamie DuBose [00:16:17]:
I know we heard several times from people that saw your presentation on stage that yours was one of the most memorable. And we had, I guess there were six, I think, contestants, all the semifinalists and finalists. You were one of the most prepared speakers. So you had your slide deck. Everything was very well, like, represented, not just with what you were saying, but also what was showing on the screen. And I think there were two things that really made your story stand out. Number one, you had a unique brand switch.
Jamie DuBose [00:16:46]:
So there was a very clear distinction between the timeline of Ramblin Jackson before and after. And the other thing was the niching down. I think that's something I've heard you talk a lot about. With people here. And I'm just curious, like, what use? Like, what made you decide to focus on those two things? You know, I think of, you know, our clients, for example, a logo can, like, make or break or totally change the trajectory of your business. So can you talk a little about that?
Jack Jostes [00:17:14]:
About branding?
Jamie DuBose [00:17:15]:
Yes.
Jack Jostes [00:17:16]:
Well, yeah. So a big change that I made in Ramblin Jackson was, and I shared this story, was going from doing everything for everyone, and we did local businesses and people, like no one understood what that meant to doing sales and marketing for snow and landscape companies. And I think that who is buying is one of the most important decisions that we need to make in business is who is your Hell Yes Customer? And it was my first question for my public speaking mastermind was who is your niche audience? Because I think once you get clear on who is your customer and then what are their pains and problems, all of the rest of it falls into place. So that was the biggest decision, I think, that I've made in Ramblin Jackson was deciding to pursue a Hell Yes Customer at all and eventually arriving at the landscape industry.
Jamie DuBose [00:18:11]:
And infusing that into every aspect of your business as well. So it didn't just stop at the logo or the, you know, it's literally built into our process to our prospecting and everything.
Jack Jostes [00:18:22]:
Well, and then we launched this podcast, the Landscaper's Guide to Modern Sales and Marketing, and that's worked really well.
Jamie DuBose [00:18:31]:
Well, thank you for sharing all of that and congratulations on being a semifinalist. I know it was fun to help you prepare and put everything together and to see it kind of come full circle on the big screen for me too, it was really exciting, so I'm proud.
Jack Jostes [00:18:43]:
Thank you for coming on the road and for helping prepare those things. And let's roll a clip of the talk.
Jamie DuBose [00:18:49]:
Yeah, let's do it.
18:50: Watch Jack’s Presentation at the 2024 Magnetic Marketing SuperConference
Jack Jostes [00:18:50]:
Today I'm going to share with you how to build authority in a niche market with Magnetic Marketing. My name is Jack Jostes. I'm the CEO at Ramblin Jackson. We're the snow and landscape marketing agency, and I run the Landscaper's Guide to Modern Sales and Marketing podcast. I want to share with you how bad things were before I did Magnetic Marketing. These were the debt days. I was doing a lot of ineffective brand awareness advertising, like sponsoring small business events at the chamber. And I didn't have an ideal customer.
Jack Jostes [00:19:21]:
I just targeted, quote unquote, local businesses. I didn't have any offers. I didn't have lead magnets, funnels or very good follow up. Leads and sales were sporadic at best. And I had less than 300 people in my database and most of them were random non buyers that I met networking. I lacked authority in my marketplace. I was a web and video company and I had over $130,000 of business debt.
Jack Jostes [00:19:52]:
I started hiring employees and really didn't have the money math figured out at all. And I almost went out of business with a net loss year in 2015. And at the SuperConference, I deserved Dan's grins when he looked at my booth, it was awful. There were no offers. There was no ideal customer. So in 2016, though, I discovered Dan Kennedy and began a strict diet of direct response marketing. So here are some of the strategies that I've implemented over the years.
Jack Jostes [00:20:24]:
Over time, I cut all brand awareness advertising. I began using offers and tracking. And how many leads did I get from sponsoring this event? None. Right? And I positioned my marketing agency as the authority for sales and marketing in the snow and landscape industry. I wrote two books. The first one was Get Found Online and the next is The Tree of Good Fortune, the Landscaper's Guide to Modern Sales and Marketing. I started a video podcast in my niche that comes out every week and we cut it up on social, it goes out on audio, we transcribe it. We use that to produce a ton of content.
Jack Jostes [00:21:01]:
And one of the biggest things was implementing multimedia multitouch marketing. So here's a photo of some of the print things we're doing, like a toolbox and a field guide and postcards and print sales letters and print books and branded folders. All these different things help build relationship and establish authority quickly. And I want to give a quick shout out to Profit911 for doing an awesome job with our toolbox. We created a value ladder from taking people from social media or public speaking to becoming an email subscriber and a mail subscriber and sending them books and getting them to buy free plus shipping offers and small tickets to then continue up the ladder to becoming $50,000 a year clients. And we implemented strict follow up that I can look at at any time to see where is the customer. Have they had the touch points that we've outlined? And it's all dialed in.
Jack Jostes [00:21:58]:
Wanted to give another shout out to Robert and Jamie who are here with me and the rest of our Ramblers because I couldn't do this without them. Okay, so the results rule, right? So over time our list has grown to over 3,000 people. We have 93% client retention. Our net promoter score is 86% when the industry average is a dismal 58%. And we've become the highest rated marketing agency in the landscape industry and potentially the state of Colorado, with over 130 Google reviews, we’ve done over 30 video testimonials. And this is another piece of leveraged content, just like doing a podcast, because you can transcribe it, you can put that in your book, you can make graphics for social media. And we regularly collect first party reviews. We've developed a repeatable sales and delivery process to help landscape companies grow a tree of good fortune.
Jack Jostes [00:22:58]:
And by niching down in this market and implementing Magnetic Marketing, I've generated over $5 million of revenue from public speaking.
Jack Jostes [00:23:07]:
Yeah.
Jack Jostes [00:23:09]:
So 90% of our revenue is now in our niche market. And I had a lot of fear, but what'll happen to my other clients? The 10% is there. They're still with me. You still get referrals, you still retain the people you want, but niching down offers you a lot of freedom.
23:26: Jack’s Surprise Semi-Finalist Prize!
Jamie DuBose [00:23:26]:
So, Jack, tell me about this award you won.
Jack Jostes [00:23:29]:
Well, I just won. I was, you know, a finalist. I was a semifinalist for Magnetic Marketer of the year, and I was awarded brass balls.
Jamie DuBose [00:23:42]:
Wow.
Jack Jostes [00:23:46]:
Yes.
Jack Jostes [00:23:47]:
And they're very heavy.
Jack Jostes [00:23:49]:
They're real heavy brass balls. And so the story I learned backstage is that Dan Kennedy sold a project, and it was, like, his first project that was over six figures. And the client who approved it said something to the effect of, so, do you have a wheelbarrow to wheel out those brass balls? And so he created a whole course about increasing your price and going for it. And so they gave out the brass balls to the semifinalists and the finalists, and they took our photos with them, and it's kind of ridiculous.
Jamie DuBose [00:24:29]:
Where are they going in the studio?
Jack Jostes [00:24:31]:
I don't know yet. I'm going to have to build a special shelf that will be able to hold these, because, I mean, they're legit probably ten pounds.
Jamie DuBose [00:25:28]:
I think that's where our questions should probably stop for now. But congratulations again, Jack. Seriously, huge honor to be part of the team that helped you get these brass balls.
Jack Jostes [00:24:55]:
All right, everyone, thanks for checking out the Landscaper's Guide to Modern Sales and Marketing podcast. If you'd like even more ideas to help you grow your snow and landscape company, I'd love to send you the landscapers toolbox with a bag of beef jerky. Yes, I'm going to send you beef jerky in the mail. And my Landscaper's Marketing Field Guide. That'll show you exactly what you need to do to get more Hell Yes Customers at your snow and landscape company. And by the way, we're using some other. These are called shock and awe packages that we learned from Magnetic Marketing. We're using those to prop up the camera right now.
Jack Jostes [00:25:29]:
So we'd love to send you one in the mail. So go ahead and grab yours at landscapersguide.com/toolbox. See our show notes for a link. And my name's Jack Jostes. I look forward to talking with you next week on the Landscaper's Guide.
Show Notes:
Watch the full episode + see the transcript at: https://landscapersguide.com/podcast/
Tell us where to send your beef jerky: https://landscapersguide.com/toolbox
Join the waitlist for Lead Wrangler: https://ramblinjackson.com/leadwrangler