SPEAKER_00 0:01

Alright, gang. We are back. Stripes and stories. I'm your host, Jake Meisner.

SPEAKER_02 0:07

Yes, who's back?

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Back again. He's back.

SPEAKER_02 0:11

Katie's back. Tell a friend.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Um aka the striped daddy, owner, operator, Jake's lawn care. And I'm with my wife.

SPEAKER_02 0:21

My wife. Hey guys.

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Your name?

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Katherine.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Okay, cool. Alright. Glad we got that sorted out. Okay. So sweetheart, you wanted to talk about business relationships.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Yes, I think that when we talk about what we potentially would like our episodes to be, I try to think of things that you tell me that are very important in business, how it relates to your business, my business, every everything in general. And something that I think is so important is having business relationships. And you can speak to the importance of that in your industry.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Absolutely. So and it's wild too because I feel like the business relationships can be so like off the beaten path. And you don't even realize how important it is to have this person in your back pocket or this person. So for instance, who do you think right now is like the number one business relationship for me?

SPEAKER_02 1:34

That's a good question. I think last summer it would have been Joe at Earthheart.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

And this year, I'm trying to think of who it would be this year.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

I feel like right now it's been a bood.

SPEAKER_02 1:54

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

100% a bood.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

So for those of you that don't know, Jeffrey a bood. He owns a bood law firm with his brother Andrew. I believe Andrew's in Chicago, right?

SPEAKER_02 2:06

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

I think what his brother's out of Chicago, and then he's out of Birmingham.

SPEAKER_02 2:12

Family of lawyers. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Yep. So Jeff handled my divorce, and then he also has handled a couple other things that we've had a couple weeks ago with our advertising.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

He's also just, I feel like, a good person to, you know, what's the word when you're like going back and forth? Um, bounce things off of.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Consult. Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 2:33

That you have like questions on. Like a lot of the stuff that we're starting to do at the house or you know, any type of contract that you're getting into with somebody, I feel like, you know, he's a great person that you can just be like, hey, does this seem right? Or what would you suggest I do in this case?

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Or I just go and I talk to Liz, who is his right-hand woman, and she handles all the scheduling and all the questions, and then she can direct it to, oh no, like Angela can take care of this. Like, in which Angela drafted that uh motion for the magazine that we were. So it's just like it's just like, and then when Jeff needs things, I send my guys to go take care of Jeff's office or his house. Like it's just that's how the business relationship works.

SPEAKER_02 3:19

Or is that a story for another time?

SPEAKER_00 3:20

No, that's totally fine. Um, so we were in a magazine out of Birmingham targeting an exact neighborhood that we were trying to get in. Sure, do we want lawns? Absolutely, but we're trying to grow the landscape side of things, especially paver patios, walkways. Uh, I'm not opposed to you know plant design and mulch installation and such. But uh, you know, this was a a premium magazine to be in. Now, don't get me wrong, the ads, they were absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous, gorgeous ads. Nobody's reading the magazine. And I think And no one's reading their print on that's on social media either.

SPEAKER_02 4:03

Yeah, I think in this day and age, like magazines are so you see them come in the mail and you just throw them away. Or if anything, you just flip through them real quick.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

And unless like it's something that you're truly interested, like let's say, you know, it's like a gossip, like a people magazine. Yeah, people are not reading it. Yeah, you have the internet at your fingertips.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

So a year ago, I had three meetings with the owner of the magazine. He really wanted to get us in, thought we could have a promising relationship, and I was like, Yeah, like that sounds good.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

So that was at the time when you were really trying to grow.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

Yeah. Yeah. And you have to spend money in order to make money, fully aware of that. Um, between flyers, business cards, that's all I've done. I've never put out a Facebook ad or anything like that. I was like, you know what? Let's take this opportunity. It's a little bit scary to be spending between five to six hundred dollars a month in advertising, but I mean, gosh, with this contract, one landscaping job can pay for half of the year. So, okay, cool, let's give it a go. Twelve months goes by.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

Not one call.

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Zero calls. And guys, when I say like zero, I mean legit.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Nothing. Nothing. So I'm six, seven grand in the hole on this investment that you were promised would get you business. And and don't get me wrong, I know nothing is promised and guaranteed in advertising. Fully aware of that. However, you know, this guy spoke up his magazine, had been to a couple events, Pink Pro was in the magazine. Who else was in the magazine from a directory standpoint that like you recognized? There was someone you saw.

SPEAKER_02 5:53

There was quite a bit of realtors that you're familiar with. I was familiar with and have done deals with that I knew were in the magazine.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

And you kind of were like, Oh, cool, they're in the magazine too. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 6:04

Um, and then when we went to just a couple events that they were hosting, um, you know, you obviously can tell by the price point of the people who are there what type of business you would be getting. So of course it's appealing.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

Yeah. And so I'm reading over my contract, trying to figure out how I can cancel this. Now, obviously, anything is cancelable, but I'm looking and I'm going, hmm, unpaid ads, 25% is due. I'm going, oof, that's rough.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

You know, but 25% of the remainder of your contract. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

And I'm like, you know what? But $3,400 is a lot better than $13,000.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

And so I email Liz, say, hey, looking to get your opinion on this. What do you think Jeff's gonna say? She's like, I'm gonna run it by him. So Jeff's like, yeah, you're not paying a fucking penny more. I said, but Jeff, the contract says he goes, No, no, you're not paying a dime.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

And he goes, He even mentioned that nobody reads magazines anymore. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:10

And he's like, Don't get me wrong, I'm in a couple, but I only do a year contract, and like I'll see how it goes, and blah, blah, blah. He's like, so don't be mad at yourself that you did this. He said, This is you know, I appreciate what you tried to do from an advertising standpoint, but he's like, clearly, this is just a SHIT magazine.

SPEAKER_02 7:28

And I said, I love that you just said the F-word, and then you spell out the case.

SPEAKER_00 7:31

You know, I'm just trying, I'm trying to break it up.

SPEAKER_02 7:33

Yeah. And uh keep it classy.

SPEAKER_00 7:36

So I get a call, and I had sent three emails to the owner who I met with that I'm looking to cancel effective immediately.

SPEAKER_02 7:45

And just to be clear, he's not the owner of the magazine because they have a parent company. He's just like the head of sales for this division.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

But he's the head publisher. Yeah. Yeah. But essentially, this division, he's the owner of it. Fair tomato tomato.

SPEAKER_02 8:00

I guess.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

He's the guy in charge.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

So not getting a response. And I thought that was just very interesting to see three emails go across and you know, nothing. Just crickets. And at this point, I'm pissed because I had had several emails explaining we're not getting anything going after month three of nothing. Okay, let's do something different. Month six, nothing. Let's do something different. And again, beautiful magazine, beautiful ads. They did a great job. Have nothing against the guy who runs this and the magazine itself. Then I'm talking to Jen. She said, Oh, yeah, we pulled out. I said, Okay, cool. I had a kid reach out to me. Remember when that kid called me? He said, Hey, I saw you're in uh said the name. I heard you're in such and such magazine. Got any calls? I said, Brother man, 12 months, nothing. And he goes, crap. He said, I'm three or four months in, and I got nothing too. And I said, Bro, I'm really sorry to hear that. I said, I'm in the process of trying to cancel, I'll let you know how it goes. I really, really, really hope that your ads are more beautiful than mine and you just get gobs of business. But for me, I'm trying to pull out. And so then all of a sudden, I uh Jeff goes, Yeah, we'll we'll send a motion to go ahead and cease and desist, basically. So Angela sends me the thing, I approve it. It gets sent, and I think it was either the same day or midday the next day. I get a call from such and such. Oh, look who wants to chat.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Do I have your attention now?

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

And at this point, I don't know if I should be handling this or Jeff's team should be handling it.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

Yeah, you don't want to say something that could get you in trouble. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

And so let Liz know, hey, you gave me a call, you want me to answer it, you want me to text him? Because I text him back and I said, hey, uh, as of right now, you can just handle all communication through my attorney. And, you know, then he's trying to do the big boy language, oh, well, you know, litigation, this will cost more, and you know, and I know he's scared. And Jeff, I'm telling him what he's saying, and Jeff goes, Oh yeah, this guy's scared out of his mind.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

Well, who wants to be the one? You know, when you're owned by a parent company, who wants to be the one to go and bring bad news and loss of business a legal and then say, you know, what are our options? Legally, they're gonna be like, Why are you even bringing this to me? Yeah, you couldn't do this yourself.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

Correct, you can't be a big boy.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

So Jeff calls and he's like, Oh, yeah. He said, Yeah, play with him. Yeah. Here's here's what I would do. Here's what you know, option two is, but I would stick with this as option one. And I said, Great. So called him back, and I could just tell this guy doesn't want to lose the business. He says, Well, you know, I can run a special story on you.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

I mean, who would with the rate that you're paying?

SPEAKER_00 11:01

Yeah. And I said, No, you were supposed to have already done that, my friend. And no, I'm not interested. What's the number to cancel? And I know the number, it's 3418, 3,418 is what the contract states. And he said, Well, your unpaid ads, it would be this. And I said, No. I said, You're not getting paid this, dude.

SPEAKER_02 11:24

So and he also said that like he can't give you a number right now. And you're like, Yes, you can. What's the number?

SPEAKER_00 11:31

Yeah, I said, You can't give me a number? I said, You know exactly I said you looked over my contract before you called me.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

You know what the number is.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

I said, What's the number? And he said, Oh, well, it's a really a percentage base. I said, Cut the shit. Yep. What's the number? And he kept going in circles and circles. I said, Finally, such and such, give me the number or I'll see you in court. Take your pick. And he said, Okay, I'm at um, I'll do 25%, or did he say half of I don't even remember it was half of that 3,400 mark. And I said, Yeah, that's probably not gonna work, but I'll go ahead and talk to my attorney, I'll give you a call back. And he says, Oh, well, you can't call me back. You can't call me back. I'm going into a zoom meeting, but you can call me in a little bit. And I said, Okay, sounds good. I'll give you a call back. And so I called so communicative he is now. He would be very, very willing to talk. And so I called Jeff and I go, Hey, hey, hey, so here's the situation. He goes, Hey, sorry, sorry, I'm in a I'm in a little um what did he say? It was um mediation. He goes, I'm in mediation. What do you got though? What do you got? And I told him the 50, oh god, that no, that's hilarious. Absolutely not.

SPEAKER_02 12:40

Um he said And just to be clear, just to give a little note about Jake's attorney, um, he is hilarious.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

He's the best.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

He is so like, you know how some attorneys are very like not necessarily by the book, because he is by the book, but he's just more like he's cool, he's trusting.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

And he loves what he does, and he loves what he does.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

So when he's like seeing somebody that he knows, you getting taken advantage of, his ears perk up and he's like, I want to play around with this. He's using it as an opportunity to like show you what he's able to do.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

So he gives me the option, here's the number that you're gonna tell him, and you can say this and that, and then he's giving me option two, and he's chuckling while he's giving me option two. And I said, Okay, great. And he said, But yeah, just push for option one. I think that'll just get this deal done. So then I call back the owner of the magazine, and I said, Hey, so just spoke with my attorney, and based on what he's saying, he doesn't want me to pay a penny more. He's extremely frustrated for me and just how you've conducted business. Um, so he told me not even to give you a penny, but I'm a business owner, you're a business owner, I'm gonna I don't owe you a thing. If anything, you owe me seven grand. But uh here's my number to get out of this contract. Oh, I mean, uh uh and I said, take it or leave it, my man.

SPEAKER_02 14:13

Do you do you wanna if you don't, the attorney will be in touch.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Yeah. I said, Do you want to go ahead and just settle this? We can shake hands, and I got nothing bad to say about you, I got nothing bad to say about the magazine. Let's get this done. He's like, okay, but yeah, I really it needs to be a percentage, so I would need X. And I quickly pull out my calculator and I said, Oh, and it was $103 more than what I offered. And I said, $103? You want to squeeze that out of me too? I said, no, my number's this. Okay, all right, sounds good. And he said, Go ahead and send me an email. I said, Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You're gonna send me the email of everything we just discussed over the phone. And I said, by the way, I've canceled my credit card, so you guys can't charge me. I'll be getting a new card in a couple days, so you can then, once that bill doesn't go through, send me a final invoice, send me a final invoice with the numbers that we discussed, and we'll be good. And he said, Okay, sounds good. And it it truly did end on good terms. And I told him, I said, such and such, I have nothing bad to say about you. I have nothing bad to say about your magazine. It's just unfortunately it's a shit product. I told him this on the phone. I said, Nobody is reading your magazine, and I can tell you, you know it too. Pink Pro jumped. You got a couple other people that I know, they're jumping, and I wish you nothing but success, but you're gonna have to do some type of revamp.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

Because it's not working, such and such. Oh no, people read it. Okay, that's fine. Yeah, you can live in a false reality. That's totally fine, bro. Whatever you want. So that like that business relationship is huge for me. Then you mentioned Joe at EarthArt, former neighbor of mine, does incredible hardscapes. Now, if you guys know Phil's landscaping on Instagram, holy smokes. Phil's about my age, he might be younger, out of Washington, outstanding designs. Joe, you take Phil's landscaping, and I think you double it because Joe has 40 years of experience. Joe's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

Joe's amazing, his work is amazing. The things that he comes up with are just so wild and off the cuff beautiful that you just like stand there like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 16:31

How did you think of that? That's beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

And Joe has so much going on in his personal life right now, especially um with what's going on. But so him and I used to talk like all the time on the phone, but he's busy now. I'm busy, I got a son. It's it's a different season of life for both of us, but when we do get to chat, it's a lot of fun. But I've gotten to learn things under Joe. I got to go to that site in Bloomfield Hills, you know, gosh, probably a $400,000 install.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

And see what a $400,000 install looks like. Yeah. Cool. Another relationship, Pink Pro. Jeremy and Jen, some of the most down-to-earth people you will ever meet, have been in business, I think roughly eight years. They're a seven-figure business. Killing it.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

But it's also like not just these bigger companies that you're working with, you're also like you have realtors who are contacting you, or that you, you know, you send them business of people who you know that are potentially planning on listing a house, and they're sending you business for people who are going to be listing that need to be a good thing. Need a quick little landscape refresh.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

Yep, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 17:41

Or people that have already moved that they know that they're going to need landscaping while or lawn care while they're moving.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

Yep. It's it's a total you scratch my back, I scratch yours.

SPEAKER_02 17:51

And it's like what people say about having a kid, which we've realized is it takes a village. I feel like to run a business, an effective business where you have such a wide scope of referrals. Um, I feel like that's just as important. It takes a village to have absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

For instance, Daydreamers and Greg Leone.

SPEAKER_02 18:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

Leone Outdoor Services owns a huge lot, huge operation, awesome guy. I've learned so much from him. And I haven't even had the opportunity to really sit down with Greg and go get dinner, or it's been just these quick 20, 30-minute chats inside Daydreamers.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

I mean, even your relationship with Top Gun.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

Oh my gosh, Rob.

SPEAKER_02 18:31

Like that completely changed the way that you do your snow removal based on this one person that you know. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

It's just it it and for someone like Rob, who saw the value in a pole plow from short iron fabrication, Grand Rapids, Michigan, or Miskegon, forgive me if I'm getting that miss mixed up. But West side of the state, huge Christian, and he saw what this pole plow did for his business, and he decided to buy short iron, rebrand it to Top Gun. Then shortly after he buys it, Jason, who he bought the business from, unexpectedly passed. And what does this guy do? He runs a huge fundraiser for Jason's family. And it was a uh just all the proceeds were going to Jason's family. And I contributed to that fundraiser, and the random winner was gonna win a plow.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

When you donated, it put you in a raffle to win a plow.

SPEAKER_00 19:36

Yeah, and so then I'm so excited for Rob, like, bro, I can't believe that you're doing this. This is so cool. Keep me updated on you know who's gonna win this. I can't wait to see how it transforms their business. And then so he calls me like randomly.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

Do you remember the day that you found out?

SPEAKER_00 19:50

Yeah, yeah. I was FaceTiming him. I was we're at our old house in Waterford, we're outside on the patio, and he calls me and he goes, Hey, have you checked your phone? I said, Oh, sorry, dude. No, I'm I'm with Catherine, we're hanging out. And he goes, We got the Raffle winner. I said, Oh my gosh, that's so cool. Who won? You, bro. And I said, What? I thought he was messing with me. And he said, No, you. And I'm like, No, bro, you're pulling my he said, no, you're the winner. He said, So you let me know when you want to get this puppy installed, and we're gonna see your snow game transform. And it did.

SPEAKER_02 20:26

It did.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

I mean, I can't wait to get another one.

SPEAKER_02 20:29

You were so much more effective, efficient, too.

SPEAKER_00 20:32

Yeah, yes, yeah, that's what I meant to say. Yeah, it like, and that's just God's hand. You know what I mean? Like this good Christian dude who wants to help people, and he doesn't have to help anyone, he's got five or six businesses, and he's killing it, and but yet he finds this idea, he's like, No, I want to transform people's snow game.

SPEAKER_02 20:55

But what's so interesting about this is that you know, every time somebody will ask you, like for instance, you know, they're saying, Hey, do you have a recommendation for this? You're like, Yep, I got someone. That's huge to have in a business. Oh, absolutely. It's such an underrated um plus to have in your business, knowing you have so many people under your belt. And if the people already trust you and you're recommending another person, they're not gonna question price like they do with you, they're not gonna question quality, they're not gonna question timeline. They're gonna know that based on my research. This is who I call Jake, this is gonna be done the same exact way.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

Yep, exactly. So, for instance, that um the the church family and the teacher that I used to um at our shepherd, they needed you know some landscaping stuff done and they need lighting. Well, I know Joe's great at lighting, but he's got so much going on in his personal life right now. So I'm like, you know what? No, I'm gonna have you use Max Teriers, awesome guy out of Northville who does lighting um from Pink Pro Gen. We have To be Jen and I were talking, and then he rolls up in his badass truck, all lettered up, and she's like, Oh, look at this MF for here he is. And so then we were chatting, got to know Max. I see his work, and bada bing, bada boom. I want him to do the lighting for this job. And so when you have this Rolodex filled with good, good people, I don't want a thing in return. I just want you need your house power wash, your gutters cleaned, your roof cleaned, pink pro. They're they're your people. I don't get a commission.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

Nope.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

They don't get a commission when they refer me. Nope. This is just how big boys and big girls play the game. It's a constant, I got the right person for you. And then once you change this, me, me, me, me, me, I want to do this, I want to do that, and you just go, nah, there's someone better. There's someone better than me who can do this. Here you go.

SPEAKER_02 22:59

I feel like you have to think of it too as like it's so helpful for your business to have all of these people in your back pocket. 100%. It's so helpful to um, I mean, even when we had the issue on our patio where the water was pooling, immediately you called Joe.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

He's got an answer for you on how we could do a temporary fix until we have to fix it.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

Like that's a that's priceless.

SPEAKER_00 23:24

That is a priceless relationship.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

Now, another cool story, our fertilizer company that does our own personal home and does dozens of JLC clients. The salesman reaches out to me and says, Hey, first off, we greatly appreciate you referring us to all these people. And I said, I appreciate the great work you've done at my house, but not only my house, my clients. And he goes, How do you want to set up billing this year? Do you want to just run the fertilizer company through your invoicing? And then you make the percentage you want, and I make what I need. And I said, Hey, really appreciate that. Um, I got so much going on right now that no, I don't need a commission. You know, we could talk about this later on, you know, maybe next year, but no, I want you guys to keep growing and killing it and doing a great job like you're doing. So, no, I'm just gonna keep sending you people. He goes, Here's my personal cell phone. You give them every new client you get, I'll be sure to personally handle it. I said, fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 24:30

So just as a side note, Jake doesn't need to be a good one. You're smirking, what's going on? I was joking, Jake's dad and his stepmom came over yesterday to just help us out around the house and just to visit. And Jake is such a sucker for people who are out there hustling, and there's nothing wrong with that. I said sucker might be the bad word for it, but he has a heart for people who are out there hustling. So I I don't know where if I went to the gym or what I was doing. I get home and Jake is talking to a solicitor that's been walking around the neighborhood.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

And oh, this is weekends ago. This wasn't his past weekend.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

No, I know.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

So we're talking. Um I get home and I said, I said, Oh, you know, Jake's talking to somebody, maybe he's just making small talk. He comes in the house and oh yeah, I just signed us up for a uh uh bug spring um around the house.

SPEAKER_01 25:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

And I said, Oh, okay. And he goes, It's a three-year contract. Clearly, we don't have the best one.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. This isn't three years.

SPEAKER_02 25:38

That's what you told me.

SPEAKER_00 25:39

No, no, no. This is a year contract.

SPEAKER_02 25:41

Okay, a year even.

SPEAKER_00 25:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:43

And I told him, I said, Oh, chemtrails.

SPEAKER_00 25:47

Chemtrails.

SPEAKER_02 25:49

And I told him, I said, uh I'm about to stop working. We've been talking about budgeting. Here he goes, signing us up for a contract.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

Okay, so for bug service.

SPEAKER_02 26:01

Hold on, let me finish.

SPEAKER_00 26:03

All right.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

So I'm sitting there like, okay, um, how much is it? So he tells me the price, and I'm like, oh, like I could go around and spray the house with whatever chemical we need to use.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

But to what we talk about, value and professionalism and the skill.

SPEAKER_02 26:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 26:21

Are you gonna do a good job as this company?

SPEAKER_02 26:24

Maybe.

SPEAKER_00 26:25

Really? You have your certification, your licensing, and bug pest removal?

SPEAKER_02 26:29

The point of my story is that you know, Jake now has another business relationship that he has because of this kid just coming out and hustling.

SPEAKER_00 26:39

And like it was fun. He shows up and he knows because he sees my trucks, and he goes, Oh boy, I got another salesman I'm talking to.

SPEAKER_02 26:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

And I said, Give me the pitch, my man.

SPEAKER_02 26:48

You can tell by talking to him too that Jake was just loving it.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

Oh, I was just he was eating it up.

SPEAKER_02 26:53

Oh, I was like, Gimme, give me our son out there holding him the whole time to him. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:57

Um and he he had a great sales pitch. He had a lot of confidence.

SPEAKER_02 27:01

And hilarious is that I was talking to your stepmom yesterday about how I was like, Jake, you know, he's he's got us into another contract. And she goes, This just speaks to how you and your dad are so similar. Mike did the same thing.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 27:16

And I said, What? And she goes, Oh yeah, I was gone, and all of a sudden I come home and he signed us up for a contract for bug spray service. And she goes, you know, in the end I realized how much of a benefit it was because we truly didn't need it, and it was.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

Oh, so Debbie does see the benefit in it. Have you seen the benefit in it yet or not yet?

SPEAKER_02 27:38

Well, I've only they've only sprayed the outside of the house so far.

SPEAKER_00 27:41

So they're still due for interior.

SPEAKER_02 27:42

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

So and you're like, oh, you gotta cancel it, you gotta cancel it, I take up lands.

SPEAKER_02 27:47

I have such beef with companies like that is because our last experience with a bug sprain company was terrible.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

Yeah, they're like they're like the true green of bug sprain. Yeah. They're a sales machine that just happens to dabble in bug and pest to run.

SPEAKER_02 28:07

No, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 28:08

Service. If you're complaining with that previous company, there was no charge for a service call. There was not.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

No, there was. There was an extra charge on my card.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

Okay, well then that's that's why we get you got screwed. Um, but contractually, no, those were gonna be free charges. Anyways, but this kid, I mean, he just had this confidence. I could tell he knew his product, he knows how the guys are gonna do things. He gave me, you know, the typical, excuse me, he gives the typical, you know, no, it's normally this price. And I said, No, I know it's normally this price, but what's my price? You know, having fun with him. And uh, and he was just hustling, hustling, getting that commission.

SPEAKER_02 28:52

He was to be f to just explain like how much he was hustling. I work from home currently, and he knocked on our door around 10 a.m., let's say, to talk to me. And I just like waved him and I was like, you know, indicating like not a good time. And so he talks to Jake, signs us up. I am leaving to go to the gym at 9 p.m.

SPEAKER_00 29:17

And we saw him at 7 p.m. on our walk. Yes, and I went, hey Brett, what's up, boy?

SPEAKER_02 29:21

At 9 p.m. He was just finally getting in his car.

SPEAKER_00 29:24

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 29:25

So, like, what a hustler.

SPEAKER_00 29:27

Mad respect. Yes, absolutely mad respect. And he lives in Ann Arbor. So not only was he kicking ass on a Saturday, selling work like it's going out of style, he's then got about an hour drive home after that. Absolutely love it. Love, love, love people who grind.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 29:50

Any other business relationships you want to talk about before we wrap up? Because I'm sweating in the sun.

SPEAKER_02 29:55

No, not that I can think of. Just um, I mean, I think even you know, so many people when they have this, when they get hired into a job, they just think, okay, I'm just gonna coast by, I'm just gonna punch in and out, do average work. And in my business, I have learned um to take the people that you've met with you. So, like, for instance, your family selling your grandfather's house. I could give them ten recommendations for a realtor to use. I could give them ten recommendations for a title company to use. Obviously, I'm partial, I want them to use mine, but I could give them ten different title companies.

SPEAKER_00 30:38

And why do you want them to use your title company? Do you make some money on that?

SPEAKER_02 30:41

No.

SPEAKER_00 30:42

Nothing.

SPEAKER_02 30:42

You don't get a penny, just the security of knowing that it's done right, and it's done correctly.

SPEAKER_00 30:47

And you've been in situations personally where you've seen potentially a solo widower or widow that is going through this process and it can be confusing.

SPEAKER_02 30:58

Or just, you know, family dynamics that get in, you know, involved, and then, you know, in our office we deal with a lot of probate in estate. So typically that means either somebody's died and the children are fighting or heirs are fighting.

SPEAKER_01 31:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:13

But all that to say, it's important even then for business relationships. I've referred so many people to you, so many realtors that work in my office saying, Hey, if you ever have a customer who needs lawn maintenance, landscaping, revamp before they list a property when they're sending me pre-title for it, I'm saying, hey, my husband owns a lawn care and landscaping company.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

And if it's not within his scope, he's got somebody else.

SPEAKER_02 31:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 31:39

Yeah. It's just huge. It's just these person, and this is why you never burn a bridge.

SPEAKER_01 31:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 31:46

I I I hated being in the contract with that magazine. But I'm not gonna tell this guy, go after yourself, blah blah blah. You're it's it's not worth it.

SPEAKER_02 31:56

Always hold yourself with professional attention.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

Yeah, just hold it. You can be stern and direct.

SPEAKER_02 32:01

And I think you are even like that with people who decline your services. Like, for instance, today you just had a quote where somebody was saying, you know, uh, I don't know, I might want to go with this other company that's giving me X price.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

Do it.

SPEAKER_02 32:16

And you're like, go for it.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

It's a steal. Yeah. Are you kidding me?

SPEAKER_02 32:20

Like, I can't, or the instance that you were telling the guy a couple days ago, like, I can't run a business on a 2% profit margin. So if this person is giving you this price, do it.

SPEAKER_00 32:29

Yeah, hope they do a great job. Hope they show up. But like, you'd be stupid not to. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 32:35

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 32:35

And then I'll clean it up once it gets done, you know. But no, you just you have to hold yourself at a different level. And I know it sucks losing out.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

But you're always the type of person to be like, God's blessings, or stay blessed, or say something where you're bookending the conversation in such a nice way, where people may look back and say, Yeah, I didn't do his services because X reason, but he was always respectful when I declined, he never got upset or hurt that I wasn't using.

SPEAKER_00 33:06

Didn't just like the text message or whatever. Yes. Yeah, no, ended on good terms because you just never know. Hey, you know, it was out this guy was outside of our budget, but like based on how he carried himself, Steve, you gotta call this guy.

SPEAKER_02 33:19

And it's the same thing when like I'm doing quotes for you and people are responding and saying, you know, oh, whatever the case may be, and you're saying totally understand. Best of luck in your search.

SPEAKER_00 33:30

Absolutely. Yeah, yeah. All right. Episode three done. Do you believe we've done three of these?

SPEAKER_02 33:37

Can't believe that you've suckered me into three of these.

SPEAKER_00 33:39

I know. What when you should I do number four solo?

SPEAKER_02 33:43

Maybe.

SPEAKER_00 33:43

Maybe I should.

SPEAKER_02 33:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

Maybe I should. What are we at time-wise? 33 minutes. This is a quick hitter.

SPEAKER_02 33:49

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

I feel like there's a lot of juice in this for 33 minutes.

SPEAKER_02 33:53

So if there's anything that we can relay, ingest everything that you're learning. Ingest all the people that you're meeting because you never know who you can use as a referral someday.

SPEAKER_00 34:05

Yep. 100%. Mr. Chaz, who took care of our fence.

SPEAKER_02 34:09

Oh, amazing guy.

SPEAKER_00 34:10

Amazing dude. Now he told me what the price was to install my fence. I about fell over. Because I don't know what fencing costs. And I was like, bro, oh man. Okay. I, dude, I'm sure you do great work. I've seen your Google page. I can't do it.

SPEAKER_02 34:24

And he was a hustler just like you because he said, What were you thinking about paying?

SPEAKER_00 34:28

Yep. And we said that's the great question.

SPEAKER_02 34:30

We said, to be honest, we don't even know what fencing currently costs, but from what we've researched online, it should be around X. And he was like, Well, you know, I don't really, you know, that's a bit too low for me, but how about we meet here? And it was pretty much halfway.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

And we weren't even saying it to be like to bring this guy down. It was no your price is that. No idea. I we just can't do that. I'm so sorry. Like I wasted your time. He's like, no, bro. Like, I'm happy to be here.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

We ended up getting you contacted Joe, who has experience in fencing, and he was like, that's about what I would charge. Go for it.

SPEAKER_00 35:02

Yeah. Joe's like, Yeah, I think I'd be just a slightly higher to do it. He said, Does it you trust this guy? I said, Yeah, he's I mean, I've even seen his work. He goes, Oh, then do it. Yeah, yeah, go with Chaz. Yeah. And I said, Great, that sounds good. And I said, Hey, Chaz, really appreciate your flexibility on working with us. Um, let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 35:22

And then we came back for uh the last part of our fence that needed to be done. Immediately he was here within a day doing it.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

Oh, yeah, because we had a different section that was kind of not ours. Yep, it was our neighbors, and he was considering doing it, but he didn't know when he was gonna be able to do it. And I said, Hey.

SPEAKER_02 35:40

And we I was, you know, halfway through my pregnancy at the time. We have three animals, and he has a dog, and there was just coming some some issues between the fence line, and we were like, okay, we just gotta get the same, we need to get it done.

SPEAKER_00 35:55

And so I just contacted Chaz. I said, Hey, this other side, how much? And he said, This. He said, That's your price. I said, Sounds good, yeah. Run it. Yeah, and I let the neighbor know, I said, Hey, um, we're just gonna handle it if you're okay with that.

SPEAKER_02 36:07

Yeah, are you cool with us?

SPEAKER_00 36:10

You know, I know this is technically your fence, but like it's gonna obviously improve your side and my side. Are you cool if we pay? He said, Yeah, that's totally fine. He said, I'll trade, I'll figure out how to pay back. And I said, We do not need payback. This is just it works for both of us.

SPEAKER_02 36:23

But all that to say, we ended that relationship with him when he completed our entire fence, the last part of it, saying, Hey, let's go grab dinner.

SPEAKER_00 36:32

He's like, I want to pick your brain about business. Yeah, and I got some other ideas.

SPEAKER_02 36:39

Like so now, whenever people ask us about fencing, and now when you're in business, you can say, Oh yeah, I know a guy.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 36:46

All about relationships.

SPEAKER_00 36:47

100%. All right, baby per usual. Thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_00 36:52

I know you can't really live anywhere else, but thanks for doing this podcast with me.

SPEAKER_02 36:56

My rate is pretty high, so looking forward to sending you your invoice.

SPEAKER_00 37:00

You have a you have a payment plan?

SPEAKER_02 37:03

No.

SPEAKER_00 37:03

Oh, all right. We'll we'll discuss maybe some other options.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

Payment is due at time of invoice.

SPEAKER_00 37:08

Ooh, due upon receipt. We better get inside. All right, we'll see you on the next one, gang.