Austin Gray: Welcome back to the OWNR OPS podcast! I'm your host, Austin Gray, and in this episode, I have a special guest named Josh Adkins from the Detroit, Michigan area. Josh is the owner of Odd Jobs Landscaping, and since starting his business, he's sold over $3 million worth of landscaping and hardscaping contracts. You'll want to stay tuned for this episode if you want to increase your sales as a contractor or a service-based business owner.

Before I steal any more of the thunder, let's jump into the episode. Please note that we pick up about midway through our initial conversation. We had some connection issues on the first recording, so Josh was determined to get this episode recorded, and I'm very thankful that he continued. So stay tuned if you want to learn the sales process for how to increase your sales as a contractor or service-based business owner. Let’s jump into it.

Austin Gray: Okay, so for those of you who are listening, I don’t know if we’re going to keep this cut in the episode, but Josh has had some technical difficulties, and he’s so determined to stay on this.

I commend him for that. I was the first one to throw out, “Hey man, we can just do this again,” and he’s like, “No, let’s do it right now.” So, he found a quieter spot, and he also got a better connection.

I feel like it’s just like business; you solve problems as they come up.

So that takes us back into the conversation of you had a problem in the business in the sense that your mentor had come in and said, “Hey, you’re going to need to get a new crew otherwise your quality control—like, you’re gonna have to be at the jobs all the time, just like, you know, coaching these guys, and you’re not gonna be able to scale with this.”

So you go and you make a change. You said your irrigation guy—was he a subcontractor?

Josh Adkins: He was a subcontractor.

So, he was a subcontractor that I used one or two times, and he just had some small level of loyalty to me. So he was a little bit helpful.

He recommended two people who were in California who had recently just moved to Michigan, who were looking for work but had lots of experience with pavers and were far better than what he had visually seen when he came around to do any irrigation work while my guys were simultaneously building pavers.

Just from his line of sight that he saw while working with us, he was able to see that they weren’t the best quality. They didn’t have the most experience, and that there were better options out there that would help me be more effective.

Austin Gray: Okay, that’s awesome. So you take him up on the offer, you go interview the crew, you bring that crew to your next job—you just immediately bring them in on one of your next jobs and test them out?

Josh Adkins: Yeah, exactly! So back to the original story: my first patio with a guy named Mike—I end up finding his father, who ends up recommending us to his father. So his father has a very large job; it’s about 3,000 square feet.

It’s huge—it’s the biggest job I’ve ever seen in my life—but it’s really far as well, so it’s like in a very rural area like back in the woods. He owned like 100 acres, so he wanted a really nice patio.

I had the guys come out, and they worked simultaneously to do like a test interview. I called it like an active interview to see if they were any good, and they worked twice as fast as my guys and laid what would have taken a week in one day.

That was a very interesting day because I remember Max and I were in Florida for a Grant Cardone conference, and they were sending pictures back of progress—of how much they had done in the day. I remember showing Max in one of the conferences, and I was like, “Max, look at this photo, man; they laid almost everything!”

He was like, “Yeah, we’re gonna have to get rid of our old guys.”

What ended up happening is that they actually were working on starting their own thing, so as our new guys were coming in, they were slowly dissolving themselves out. So it worked out perfectly.

But I remember vividly one day, they just didn’t show up, didn’t answer, didn’t respond ever, and that’s when I knew something was up.

So did you sub out the new guys initially as 1099 contractors? Did you bring them in after that first job as W-2 employees?

Josh Adkins: I brought them in on payroll the day they showed me they were quality—100 percent.

Austin Gray: That’s awesome. Okay, so take us— not only did I notice it; the client also mentioned it. He said, “Yeah, the new guys you brought, I don’t know where they came from, but they’re a lot better and very high quality versus your older guys.”

I was like, “Okay, thanks for that!” So where do you go from there after that job?

Josh Adkins: Well, from there, I lean on their experience, and it changed my life. My number one guy, H, I always smiled thinking about him—he and Tino changed my life forever.

It went from—I learned about working on the business to working in the business. That changed the entire game because they gave me a lot of leverage to be able to go out and work.

My problems switched vividly from, “Hey, when are we gonna get this project done?” to, “Hey, slow down; you guys are working so fast. I don’t have a pipeline to match the pace you guys are moving at!”

So my problems inverted themselves, and I was like, “Whoa! I got to go into sales mode, marketing mode,” which is why prior to this conversation, I told you that a lot of my strong suits lie in marketing and sales. Because I had to quickly ramp up my pipeline to match how fast they were moving on an actual day-to-day basis.

Austin Gray: So you ramped up your marketing pipeline, ramped up sales?

Josh Adkins: Yeah, so I ramped up my marketing pipeline. The way that I did that was first by leaning on Facebook.

So at that time—it was around 2021—I used Facebook marketing and Facebook ads to drive a lot of my business. In 2015, I did my first Facebook ads, which was a slideshow of a small leaf cleanup that I did. I kept doing that to gain leads.

I also created some free resources. I just used Instagram Stories, Instagram posts, and Facebook posts. At that time, I was using Nextdoor.com until they brought in their ads platform.

So I was using Facebook marketing to bring in a lot of deals. I wasn’t into SEO at that point, and I was just putting out ads. Then I started to use my Facebook Pixel to retarget these clients.

So I would do everything I could to get the client to watch a video, interact with a post—some level of engagement—so that Facebook would hold them, and then I could retarget them forever.

If you’re ever shopping on Nike, and you don’t check out, then you go to Facebook, and you’re scrolling, and that same shoe pops up—that’s the type of targeting and retargeting I was doing to keep my clients in the pipeline and to continuously be top of mind to sell more deals.

Austin Gray: How’d you learn how to do that?

Josh Adkins: I was stressed! So these guys were moving through my projects in what would have been three to four months' worth of work in a month or two months.

So I learned by YouTube University. I just went on YouTube, watched a ton of videos, figured out how to put my own pixel on my website, how to do Facebook ads, how to run ads, and that worked out really well in my favor.

Austin Gray: So how quick did you start seeing results after you started teaching yourself Facebook ads?

Josh Adkins: On Facebook leads, you’re going to get a lot of leads initially, but you’re not gonna get a lot of clients who are ready to buy.

So it’s a matter of learning the sales process at that point. I’d probably say after initiating some ads, it took about two and a half weeks to three weeks to get my first signed deal.

Then, in addition to that, another fact is that the sales process for projects of this size—like high ticket, per se, what some people would call it—will take at least two and a half weeks for someone to make a buying decision.

In most scenarios, it’s not immediate; it’s not an emergency for plumbing or an emergency for HVAC. They’re gonna wait and delay because it’s not a necessity.

Austin Gray: Were you running those ads back to just your website homepage, or did you create specific landing pages with a specific offer to increase conversions for the retargeting?

Josh Adkins: So whenever I was running the ads, what were people clicking on? I was doing Facebook lead generation where they put in their name and details inside Facebook.

Facebook messages worked really well. I was spending maybe, let’s say, $300 to $400 on an ad to do a Facebook message. I would get tons of clients who would be interested.

I would then respond to all the clients as fast as possible, put together an estimate, come out to visit the property to assess what needed to be done, and then get them a quote in 72 hours or less— as fast as possible—to get the buying process and the sales process started.

Austin Gray: When you say $300 to $400, is that split up over a specific time period, or did you just give Facebook that budget and then it does its thing?

Josh Adkins: I would give them that for like 30 days—roughly like $10 a day or $10 a day—and it would bring in a small amount of leads; just enough for me to have at least three to four meetings a day—to go out and shake some hands and to put some numbers in front of people—which increased my likelihood of actually selling a deal.

Austin Gray: Okay, so talk me through that process. You get them in Facebook Messenger.

Josh Adkins: So I get you in Facebook Messenger. “Hey Austin, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Josh. I appreciate you reaching out. What information can I get you today?”—that’s my first question, always.

“What information can I get you today?” is going to be my first, whether it’s on a lead form or on the phone.

“Hey, I’m looking for a patio. I’m looking for a walkway.” Awesome! Great! Where about are you located?

“Hey, I’m located here.” Awesome. Have you had someone give you a landscape design before? That’s an important question to ask in my field because if someone’s already given them a design, it’s likely that they’ve also given them a price point.

When clients have already gotten a price point from another contractor, sometimes they’re actually higher. There’s more likelihood that they close because if you get a design from someone, you’re pretty invested, so for you not to go forward from the design phase, there had to be some miscommunication.

Let me find where I can fit my way into that scenario.

So, this is like contractor leads and sales 101. This is awesome! Thanks for sharing all of this.

Josh Adkins: Yeah, 100%. So I’ll pick up where I left off. What information can I get you? “Hey, I’m looking to get a walkway done and a patio and a fireplace.”

Love that! Sounds great! We definitely have availability to do so.

When’s the soonest that I could connect with you in person? “Monday at 9:00 AM would be perfect.” Okay, awesome!

So I’ll get there, but between today and Monday, what I would do is— I was always following up with information.

This is where I use my blogs on my website. This is where I use photos or a YouTube video, and I continue to increase their certainty because you’re coming in at a level of 10 about your quality of service and what you can provide to that client.

The client has no idea about who you are, and they may have a zero to five level of certainty. So it’s your job as a contractor to increase their quality or increase their certainty so that they can make a buyer's decision.

So I’d send them this information, and then on Monday, they’re like, “Oh wow! You’re the guy I saw in the video,” or “Oh wow! You’re the guy that took that picture! No way!”

So I go there, make some recommendations, always point out red flags, always give solutions, always show recommendations, and show options.

More options! If you don’t give options, you’re giving ultimatums, and ultimatums are not liked by most people.

Options help people make decisions, so I do that. I get them a quote in 72 hours, and then I would follow up. Typically between five to 12 contacts later, I close.

Austin Gray: Say that again!

Josh Adkins: Typically between the fifth and the 12th contact, you’re gonna close a deal.

And that does not mean that they’ll respond; this just means that you’re following up. I like to do value-added follow-up, meaning that I’m providing you information that’s going to help you be more confident that I’m the one to do it—not just, “Hey, are you ready to roll? Hey, are you ready to roll?”

Like, here’s an article about this. Here’s a link from the paper manufacturer about five tips. Here’s a link from our finance team who can potentially get you funds if you want to finance the project.

So I’m increasing their ability to make a decision.

Austin Gray: Josh, this is incredible! You have nailed the sales process. I can tell you’ve been to a couple of Grant Cardone events or something.

Josh Adkins: 100%! I’ve been to a lot of them.

Austin Gray: Yeah, 100%. But it works really well. The premise of it is that these clients don’t know who you are. If no one knows you, no one’s going to cash flow you.

So you need to get known. You need to build a presence in marketing. After that, once you get clients in the pipeline, your most important thing as a business owner is to build a pipeline of potential deals and create income for the people that are relying on you to create income.

Then your clients, on their end, satisfy them with quality work.

Josh Adkins: Yeah, 100%. It’s definitely important.

Austin Gray: It’s so awesome that you guys have the partnership because it sounds like Max is the one who leads the field operations, correct?

Josh Adkins: 100%.

Austin Gray: And your sole focus is keeping the pipeline full—marketing, sales, and systems. Got it.

That’s such a dynamic duo because what I see out in the field is that contractors are notorious for showing up to a quote and telling customers what all the problems are.

Like, “Well, the problem is…” “The problem is…” “The problem is…”

With that, the problem is this or that. But when someone like you shows up and you’ve already added so much value and you’re providing them with solutions consistently, it is a game-changer for the customer.

I know that you’ve experienced this just like I have. You know whenever you’re going to close a deal because…

Josh Adkins: Oh yeah, you can tell!

Austin Gray: Yeah, you can start to tell for sure because the first symptom is the questions. The questions are the biggest symptom.

Like, “Hey, so just out of curiosity, when would you guys be able to get started?”

Or, “Hey, I was just thinking, you know, is this other color available?”

Or in your case, “Hey, is there a possibility you could clear another half acre for me?”

Josh Adkins: Yeah! Or, “So what day could you guys start if we move forward?”

Austin Gray: Exactly! Those are buyer questions for sure!

100%! Dude, you are putting on a sales clinic right now!

So there’s so much more we could deep dive into this, but I think one thing that I want to hammer on for the listeners is that first question you ask.

You’ve mentioned it two times now. What is that first question you ask?

Josh Adkins: “What information can I get you today?”

Austin Gray: What information can I get you today?

That is whenever you’re replying to them on either a Facebook ad or the phone, and I think that’s so important whenever you’re on the phone.

You are there just to give them the information that they want. They’ve already told you that they want information. I think this is where a lot of people go wrong—they just go into like complete sales mode, telling people what they think they want to hear.

But in all reality, sales is all about listening. So thank you for sharing all the golden nuggets here!

Josh Adkins: Yeah, there’s tons. I mean, the biggest thing is that a lot of contractors skip the fact-finding portion of the sales process.

The fact-finding portion is, “How long have you had this problem? When did it start?”

You know, if you don’t solve it today, when do you guys plan on investing in making a solution?

Other than yourself, who else have you contacted?

Buyer questions help you realize that a lot of times clients don’t know the real source of the issue or they may be tackling the wrong thing in totality.

So if you don’t ask the right questions, you can’t provide the right service, you can’t provide the right solutions, and you’ll never close a deal because you’re not answering the right questions for them.

So it’s critical—if you don’t ask questions, you’re losing.

Austin Gray: What other questions do you ask to qualify customers? Because I’m sure at this point you’re turning down some work.

Josh Adkins: Yeah, 100%! I mean, I ask them if they need a landscape design or if they’re interested in investing in a landscape design that’s non-refundable because it helps me gauge their level of intent.

That’s just in my field.

Some other critical questions that I always use are that a lot of contractors have an issue with closing or going for the close.

So, “Have you seen enough to make a decision, Austin? I’ve shown you the price. I’ve shown you everything, we’ve got the contract. Have you seen enough to make a decision?”

That’s my closing question!

Austin Gray: I love that question! It works every single time!

Josh Adkins: Exactly! So those are great closing questions.

Other fact-finding questions are, “If you’re at the end of the deal, and you haven’t closed yet, on a scale from 1 to 10—1 being you’re not interested at all and 10 being you’re ready to roll today—where do you sit?”

Other than, you know, if everything was right, we’d be doing business—what’s not right?

Awesome! Other than price, what other concerns do you have?

A lot of contractors don’t know about agreement; it’s important to agree to get a deal.

You know, in order to agree, you have to agree along the way to get the close. That doesn’t mean your client’s always right, but it just means, “Hey, Austin, I’m with you. I totally understand the price is a little bit expensive; most of my clients say the same thing. Other than price, what other concerns do you have about doing business with us?”

Man, you know!

Austin Gray: Yeah, you have to get some level of agreement, but most contractors are like, “Oh, we’re that expensive? What do you mean we’re cheap? We’re doing it right! You’re not going to get it done if you don’t choose us!”

Josh Adkins: You’re gonna get it done wrong. Agree, recommend information, continue to ask questions, and continue to go for the solution!

There’s so much I can teach; you’d have to ask me questions because I can’t think of all of it on top of my head!

Austin Gray: I’m just letting you go, man, because you’ve got it all in your head right now.

I love it! You’re putting on a clinic!

It’s important; a lot of contractors just don’t know how to sell.

It’s very simple, and it’s a matter of following up, providing good information, and being the solution-oriented person. And urgency!

You have to have a level of urgency as well! Like, you gotta get to that quote fast. You gotta get prices fast! It shows confidence! It shows you know what you’re doing! All these things factor into getting a sold deal for sure.

Austin Gray: Speaking of which, what tools do you use to manage your sales pipeline?

Josh Adkins: I use an Excel spreadsheet, man. I’m pretty simple, actually. I thought about…

Austin Gray: No, please go ahead.

Josh Adkins: Oh, what do you use?

Austin Gray: We use Jobber.

Josh Adkins: Okay, I’ve seen quite a few people use Jobber. Tell me more about that.

Josh Adkins: Yeah, so we embed a form on our website. I have the app on my phone. I take a similar role in my company that you do: sales, marketing, business development, building systems.

One of my partners right now is going to be managing all the field operations next year.

So, I have the Jobber app on my phone. Are you familiar with Zapier?

Austin Gray: Yeah, I use Zapier actually.

Josh Adkins: So whenever we get that lead form on our phone, I just have it zapped to multiple different places.

So we use Slack for our backend workflow, you know, with communication with our marketing agency and our office operations manager.

So I have the lead information piped over to Slack for notifications there. I also have it texted to my phone immediately, so if I’m out in the field or I’m driving around, the customer’s name, phone number, address gets piped in, and what service they’re interested in.

I’m a firm believer in whoever can call the customer the fastest wins most of the time.

I know there’s data to back that up, but I’ve run multiple small businesses and I’ve implemented this system into every single one, and it just simply works.

If you get an online lead, don’t be the person who just sends an automated email follow-up.

You should send an automated email follow-up in my opinion, but you should also hit them with the phone as fast as you possibly can!

Austin Gray: I love it! I love it when customers say, “Oh my gosh, that was fast!”

Josh Adkins: Yeah, yeah! Like, “Yeah, it was because we take this very seriously!”

Austin Gray: Of course, it was!

I go right into the same thing that you do: “Hey, my name’s Austin; nice to meet you! What information can I get you?”

And you just stop talking. You just let the customer talk, and you will find so much gold in that.

They’re going to tell you all their problems, and then if you have solutions or if you offer services to be a solution, then you know that you’ve got a really good chance to go win that one!

But yeah, we use Jobber, so all the customer info gets in there. I try to meet the people as soon as I possibly can, just like you—in person.

As soon as I meet the people, now that we have our unit pricing dialed in, people always ask: like, whenever I’m doing a sidewalk, they’ll always ask, “So, when how long should I wait to receive an estimate?”

And then I just very confidently look at them and say, “This one’s going to be $5,000 an acre.”

Austin Gray: Quick question before you go any further on that: what’s your two cents on rough pricing? Like, I stray away from giving people rough prices.

“Hey Austin, just curious, to clear these two acres, what are you thinking, brother?” Do you give rough prices?

Josh Adkins: I try to stay away from it. I never give pricing until I walk the complete property.

So that’s always my answer: “Hey, I’d like to walk this complete property before I give you a price.”

So I do all of our sidewalks, and we walk the boundaries. I pull up ONX hunting maps, and I walk the boundaries with people, and we go in and out because every single property is different.

Everybody always wants a per acre price over the phone. I can’t give you a per acre price over the phone because I may come to clear two acres that have 400 trees on it, and then I’ll go right down the road and clear two acres that have like 30 dead trees, and I’m clearing a bunch of sagebrush.

Those are two very different projects!

So over the phone, I never give any rough pricing because every single project is different.

But at this point, when I’ve walked the projects with my customer, I know my business in and out well enough to look the customer in the eye and tell them right on the spot.

And I used to not do that; I used to go back home and say, “Hey, I’ll get you a quote within the next week.” But you know as well as I do, when you do that, you open up the door for them to go back to Google and find another contractor.

I’ll tell you what: my close rate has drastically increased when I tell people, “It’s just like this last one: I closed—that’s going to be $5,000 an acre.”

And I look them in the eye and say it very confidently, and they say, “When can you get started?”

And I say, “I’ll send you the formalized estimate, and I need a signature and 50% deposit up front.”

Austin Gray: Okay, so I can put a check in the mail?

Josh Adkins: Yeah, that’s great! You can also do it right here! I’m going to text you the link to the invoice, and you can pay via credit card if you want to.

Austin Gray: You make a good point; we should talk about this.

Contractors who are listening live in different states; of course, certain states have limits on the amount of money you can pull forward before the project begins.

Do you live in one of those states?

Josh Adkins: No, I don’t.

Austin Gray: Okay, how do you feel about—I take my money in a progress payment system, so I take like 5% up front.

The reason why I do that is because some of my projects may be one and a half to two months out, so for me to ask 50% of a large project may make that client uncertain.

So, I take like a small 5% deposit, then I collect 50% like a week before I begin. Then, when I’m 75% complete with the project, I collect another 35% of 100, and then at the end, I have just 10%, which protects me from a customer ever wanting to screw me over.

Josh Adkins: I like that! I mean, I think it’s all market-dependent, and you’ve got to do whatever works for you and your market.

For us, our supply of contractors is very low, so I’m able to say, “Hey, and our schedule’s so booked out that I just say, ‘Hey, you know, we’re going to be here in three and a half months. I need a 50% deposit.’”

Austin Gray: What’s that? Have you had a client experience like some hesitancy about, “Hey, 50%, and you’re three months out—it's awfully long time?”

Josh Adkins: I haven’t! I mean, I’m dealing with all second homeowners up here. I mean, it’s a unique market; it’s a vacation market.

So like I said, I’m able to do that because I think the people who I’m offering services to have plenty of disposable income, and they just know if they’ve been a part of this market, that getting service providers up here is really tough.

And so securing a spot on the schedule is important to them.

Austin Gray: And for me, our schedule is so booked out at this point that I need to have that deposit up front to make sure that this customer is not going to flake out on me.

What I have done, like, as I was booking projects towards the end of this year and it was going to be next busy season, I only asked for 25% up front.

Josh Adkins: Okay cool!

Yeah, someone may be listening and may say there may be a client in their scenario that’s uncomfortable with giving that amount of money, so maybe a small deposit would work.

Look, I didn’t do this in the beginning when I started my business.

Like, I think what you do—I just didn’t ask for a 50% deposit up front. But once I started filling the pipeline and getting my schedule booked out, I just started implementing that because you had the leverage.

You had the whole pipeline to say, “Hey, I need that. Otherwise, you’re not gonna fit in.”

Austin Gray: That’s right! And I think that comes with time, and you and I are both on the same page with digital marketing—but you’ve got to do the work and put in the time to go get those five-star reviews in the beginning.

Josh Adkins: Yeah! And you’re not qualified when you’re first starting to ask for a 50% deposit. You’ve got to go earn that right!

Austin Gray: Yeah, that’s so true!

The five-star reviews— I mean, we can kind of convert to that topic too, but the five-star reviews are critical. They’re critical for your success as a small business owner, especially a service business.

It’s everything!

Josh Adkins: So what’s your process look like for a five-star review?

Austin Gray: Okay, great question! One thing that anyone listening should do is definitely probe about it throughout the process.

Probe about the client’s satisfaction throughout the process: “Hey, are you satisfied?”

One thing that I do to my company specifically—because a lot of our projects do take longer than 30 days—is that I started to realize that some clients are high touch and some clients are low touch—how long do your projects take, better question?

Josh Adkins: It depends! Like our federal project, we were on it for two and a half months.

Austin Gray: Okay.

Josh Adkins: I like a typical fire mitigation project; we can do like an acre to an acre and a half a day right now at current.

Austin Gray: Oh wow, production, right?

Josh Adkins: So if we’re doing a 5-acre project, that’d be there for a week—maybe seven days.

So here’s something that the listeners could implement: If you do projects that take longer than 30 days, some of your clients are going to be high touch, and some of them are going to be low touch in terms of the level of communication that they want.

And if you can’t figure out which type of client that is, just over-communicate to be safe.

So what I do is that last year I had a client that wanted to know every detail immediately, so I started to have a group chat between myself, Max, and the client for real-time updates.

“Hey, can someone move the driveway? Move their car off the driveway, gravel here? Hey, can someone move this out of the way?”

Electricians are coming in to put in some wiring, but what I do at the end of the week—every Saturday or Sunday—is that I send my clients a weekly update.

So it has what’s been done, what needs to be done, and then suggestions at the bottom of the notes.

So, “Hey, I think lights would look great under the retaining wall cap,” or “I think we should add another small 50 square feet of pavers over here with that small design.”

So that’s one thing that I recommend because then you have it in writing, and everything you’ve done has been written down, and they’ve viewed it visually.

And then, two, along the way, you can track progress and then continue to probe the client about their satisfaction.

At the end, it’s not really a hesitance about them asking for a review.

I typically ask, like, the last one and a half to two weeks if they’re willing to leave a review, and by that time, they’re more than satisfied, so it’s easy for us to acquire the review at that point.

Josh Adkins: Man, I love that! It’s all about the expectations you set, right?

Austin Gray: Yeah, 100%! And if you’re communicating with them along the way—another thing is that just by human nature psychology, people are, you know, “Monkey see, Monkey do.”

If they’ve seen another 100 people give you a review, they’re very highly likely to do the same thing!

Josh Adkins: Yes! 100%! I believe once you have multiple five-star reviews, it’s way easier to get five-star reviews.

But in the beginning, you’ve got to hustle to get that.

A lot of my reviews came on Facebook, and I wish they would have been on Google.

That’s just where I was marketing most, though. But Facebook and Google reviews have the highest SEO ranking, so those two would probably be a really good starting point for anyone who’s new to business.

Austin Gray: Yes! And what recommendation would you tell people? If somebody’s starting a business right now and they are going to do their first job, what do they need to do to make sure that they get that first five-star review?

Josh Adkins: First five-star review?

So everything starts from that! Everything starts honestly before the phone call.

You need to set some level of a stage presence on the internet. You need to have some type of an online presence.

If you have a friend who’s done projects similar, ask if you can use their photos on your website—maybe one or two.

Always be very transparent if a project was too big.

At the early stage of my company, I was very transparent, told the client, “Hey, this is a small stretch project—I’m willing to do it, but I just want to let you know in advance.”

So be very open and honest first. Get some stage presence; get some marketing going—a website, a Facebook page, an Instagram page.

These are all free; well, a website may not be free, but they’re all relatively free to have something for the client to look at to know that you’re real.

The next thing is going to be the first initial contact. This is where you’re really going to have an opportunity to make an impression on the client.

“What information can I get you today?” sounds a lot better than, “Hello, who’s this?”

That’s every contractor out there: “Hey, is this Ruck? Yeah, you do electrical? Yeah, it’s me, man.”

Hey, this is Josh—what information can I get you today? Sounds a lot better!

Austin Gray: Absolutely!

Josh Adkins: So that’s my first thing.

Second, urgency. Get in front of the client as fast as possible.

They’re not calling you because you’re their friend; they’re calling you to solve a problem.

Urgency is key throughout the entire deal—from the start all the way to the finish.

Let the client know and feel that you’re urgent about solving their problem and putting them at a higher status.

The higher status is an improved condition, period.

So, what information can I get you? Let me get in front of you as fast as possible.

Okay, you get to the client. The next thing is to provide options.

Options show that, one, you know your product, and two, that they don’t have to settle for just one option.

Because some people are high-class people who want the nicest stuff, and some people may just want a Honda Accord—it’s okay.

Some people have Rolls-Royce taste, and some people have basic taste—whatever, totally fine.

But you need to show them options because when it comes to the sales process, if you provide them an option above their price point, at their price point, and below their price point, it’s the same way that you and I shop as humans.

You go into the store, you see peanut butter—$3, $4, $5 versus here’s just one $5 option? Well, I’m not spending $5 on JIF peanut butter!

So you need to provide your clients options.

If you’re in the window cleaning business, if you’re in the pressure washing business, if you’re in the land clearing business, if you’re in any trade, find more value-added services that they may not have thought of when it comes time to quote your project in order to provide the client to help them make a better decision.

Next, five to ten, five to twelve touch points of follow-up will help you increase the likelihood that you close your deal.

Do not text these clients all on the same channel!

So use different channels—some text, some email!

I use video follow-up all the time—all the time!

“Hey, this is Josh Jobs. How’s it going? This project—check it! We’d love to put these same pavers in your backyard.”

Send it to a text! No one’s doing that!

And then also, if you have client testimonials, I have all my client testimonials on YouTube. Those videos that may have 20 or 30 views have probably made me so much money.

I just send them to the client: “Hey, here’s a client with the same pavers as you; what do you think?”

Boom! “Oh my God, that looks so great! Oh my God, that looks so sweet!”

So follow-up and then, most importantly, execution, guys!

Getting the sale is an amazing thing, but these people have worked for this money; they worked hard for this money.

So definitely do not squander their funds; give them amazing products, fulfill them, communicate, over-communicate along the way!

And at the end, hey, ask for your five-star review. That is how you’ll get your first five-star review, but it all begins even before they call you!

Austin Gray: Man, I love that! You’re putting on a clinic right now for service-based or trade contractors.

These are just things that I’ve learned too, so it definitely will help someone for sure!

This is awesome! I am so glad that I met you! I am so glad that you came on the podcast here!

You are dropping so many value bombs, and I think so many people are going to get some value from listening to this.

Where you said you did 1.8 million last year, did I see a three million number somewhere or am I making that up?

Josh Adkins: That’s just combined all my sales since starting the company.

Austin Gray: Okay, got it.

So there you have it, though: that process—I mean, this isn’t just a bunch of fluff that Josh has made up.

You can tell he’s been to Grant Cardone. He’s studied up on Grant Cardone and what kind of tactics are used in sales, and that can be applied to a very specific niche or an industry or a service here in the local service-based business.

So Josh has the revenue numbers to back it up as well.

Josh Adkins: Yep, I appreciate that!

Austin Gray: This is someone who is actively—I mean, some people love it, some people hate it—the word hustle, but like, you’re hustling, man, and I love it!

Josh Adkins: Yeah, I’m hustling!

Right now, I’m focused on SEO really heavily; I’m ranking really high in my area, and I’m focused on YouTube.

Because they’re both SEO at the same time!

Austin Gray: Dude, we’ve got four minutes left in this stupid Zoom recording before it kicks me off!

I want to give your listeners some resources that are actually gonna be helpful—resources that other people likely have not mentioned.

First, there’s an individual named Tommy Melo. He owns a garage door company.

He grew up here in Michigan, but it’s a $200 million garage door company now, and he has a podcast called The Home Service Millionaire.

He interviews anyone and everyone: business, $500 million companies, the smallest mom-and-pop shops, marketing companies, SEO companies.

Listen to his podcast; you’ll learn a ton!

Second, there’s a book on the Internet by Ellen Roar; she’s the owner of Zoom Drain.

Someone in your group today mentioned that they worked for or owned Zoom Drain. But she’s the owner of Zoom Drain; her name’s Ellen Rohr, and she has a book called Where Did the Money Go?

It talks about creating a budget to create an accurate price point for selling your product.

That’s critical for any contractor! I just read it last year, and I changed my price points, and they rose 40%!

But a lot better business.

So one, two—those two things. And then third, I do recommend Grant Cardone; Grant Cardone is good stuff!

So watch Young Hustlers on YouTube—it’s free—and he gives a lot of sales tips for sure.

But those first two pieces of advice—I wish somebody gave me that advice!

Austin Gray: That’s incredible, man! Thanks so much for being on!

Where can people find you online?

Josh Adkins: Yeah, you can find me on Twitter at @joshk Adkins. You can find me on YouTube at Odd Jobs Design and Build, and also on Instagram at @adjobs.

So yeah, Austin, it was a pleasure speaking with you, man! I see your tweets all the time; you inspire me, and I think we helped a lot of people today, and I hope many people get a lot of value out of this!

Austin Gray: Likewise, I’m inspired by you. I really love doing this! This is why I wanted to do the podcast—I knew I was going to meet people like you!

I was spending some time on your website before we jumped on this podcast, and it’s odd-jobs.com, correct?

Josh Adkins: Correct!

Austin Gray: Couldn’t get the perfect domain, but anyways, whatever!

If you guys are listening to this, go to Josh’s website, because I think whenever you’re starting your own business, you should model yourself or your website after other successful businesses.

So go check out what they’re doing! They have—you can tell that they’ve used a really good modern design.

What I really liked is that they’re investing time into a YouTube channel!

Whenever you pop on that website, that YouTube video starts up. So there’s SEO value in this!

Everybody knows that stuff is moving to video at this point!

And then, also, just take a look at how they have their website laid out, and then take a look at their Facebook—see how they’re posting and doing all their organic lead generation.

I wanted to end the podcast with that before it stops the recording here!

Josh, thanks so much for being on the OWNR OPS podcast! I appreciate you being here, and we will definitely do another one because I think there’s some more stuff that we can dive deep into!