We’re asking the question - Who knows you? 

We’ve all heard the saying “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”

I recently heard “It’s not what you know, it’s not who you know, it’s who knows you”

Woah, mind blown!  I’ve never heard that one before.  That takes it to a whole new level!

I had to think about this one for a minute.

What does that mean to landscapers….

The first thing that comes to mind is LONG TERM marketing.  

If you’re playing the long game in your business you might have to sacrifice short term PROFITS for long term WEALTH.

The quick, slick, get in, get out, I’ll beat anyone’s price strategy isn’t going to work if you’re in it for the long haul.

So, what does this have to do with “Who knows you?” and what in the world does it have to do with long term marketing?

If you’re truly in it for the long haul, then REFERRALS and REPEAT BUSINESS are going to two ways for you to get easy sales.

If you want to get REFERRALS and REPEAT business two things need to happen:

1. You need to be the expert in your area for something specific.  We talk about “becoming the expert” all the time…

And whatever you are an expert in needs to be apparent In your marketing and in your branding.

Here’s how this will work in your favor:

This very specific branding will make it easier for people's brains to connect the dots.

For example, 2 people are having a conversation.  One person starts talking about a problem they are having or some work they want to have done.  The other person in the conversation immediately starts thinking of a way to help them.  Their brain goes “Oh, you want, XYZ done, you need to call so and so.”

You want to be so and so!

You want your company to be on the receiving end of that magical seamless, effortless referral.

Here’s a real-life example of this:

My sister and brother-in-law were remodeling their 1875 farmhouse.  They needed their hardwood floors stained….

But the contractor that they hired was horrible, they weren’t happy with the work, bla bla bla.  

While they are having all this work on their house done they are living at my parent's house.  

My mom was at church and was talking to I don't know who about the situation and they knew someone who knew someone who knew someone whose brother and nephew did flooring.  

Boom! Referral because someone knew who they were.  My sister got their number.  They were there within a week.  Floors got done, they look great.

This brings me to the second thing you’re going to need in order to get referrals and repeat business

     2. Trust.

You need to build trust with your customers.  The more trust you create with your customers, the more likely they will recommend you.  And do repeat business with you.

Focus on the customer.  Deliver the goods.  Do what you say you can do.

In this day in age, there are plenty of meh contractors out there.  

Literally, all you have to do is return calls, show up when you said you will, do good work, care about your work and your customers and you’ll build the trust.

It really isn’t that hard.  I’m sure you have customers that love you.  Whatever you’re doing with them, repeat it!

To tie this all together I’ll go back to the example of my sister's floors.

Guess what, Scott and I need the floors done on the entire first level of our house.  Guess who I’m going to call.  Yep.  The guy my sister used.  

He showed up, did the work, did the work ON TIME, and her floors look great.  He built trust with her.

And I trust my sister.  So I'm going to call this guy.  I’m not going to google him, I'm not asking for other referrals, I’m not going to grill him on his techniques.  I’m really not going to ask too many questions other than when can you be here, how long it will take and what it is going to cost.  

He showed up in his business and built trust with my sister. I trust her, boom! he wins!  I’m an easy sell. All he has to do is put the estimate together and I’m ready to throw money at him. So easy and didn’t cost him a dime in marketing.

And guess what?? My other sister needs her floors done too. Entire first level of her house...guess who she’s going to call….

If you want referrals and repeat customers, Get specific, build trust.  

By getting specific it’s going to help peoples brains connect those dots and do the referring for you

And by building trust you’re going to get those referrals and that repeat business!  

The lucky flooring guy is working his way through my entire family!