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Author: Jeffrey Scott

Jeffrey Scott

Jeffrey Scott

Jeffrey Scott, MBA, author, specializes in growth and profit maximization in the Green Industry. His expertise is rooted in personal success, growing his own company into a $10 million enterprise. Now, he facilitates the Leader’s Edge peer group for landscape business owners. To learn more visit GetTheLeadersEdge.com

Profit Power: The best economy in the world

These are the best of times, even though some days it feels like the worst of times. The newspapers are filled with uncertainty in politics, global economy and important green industry-related legislation. Recently this publication shared news of a Michigan company going out of business because they could not get their H-2B labor, but close […]

Let’s Grow: It’s time to say yes

Imagine you could say yes to every single request your clients make, no matter the request! How would it make your clients feel? And how would it make you feel? The attitude of “just say yes” is how we grew our business from a one-product company—just swimming pools, no decks, no landscaping and no service—into […]

Profit Power: Time to be bold

Have you ever lost 20-30 percent of your business in one fell swoop? A new Leader’s Edge peer group member of mine decided to not get upset when more than half-million dollars of his business walked out the door. Instead of chasing growth, he opted to shrink the company (temporarily), pruning it like an overgrown […]

Healthy, wealthy, wise. Photo: ©iStock.com/James Brey

How to build wealth

A wise old man once told me your definition of wealth will change as you accumulate it and grow older. In my work with large and small contracting firms, I’ve discovered four types of wealth that are measurements of success. You might place these in a different order, but I’m sure you’ll think of all […]

Profit Power: Start the year strong

Starting the year strong means getting everyone on the same page, motivated to pull in the same direction as you. Here are eight steps to ensure a successful 2016–and at the end, an invite to a webinar I am holding that explores these strategies in depth. Decide how you want to do business, and then get […]

Video: 3 silver bullets for a successful 2016

It’s time to solve the big three: Better people, proven systems and more profitable sales. Jeffrey Scott discusses how solving these three problems will mean a successful year for you and your business. Landscape Management is the media sponsor of these workshops.

Profit Power: Getting to 20 percent net profit

As I help my clients plan for a successful 2016, I’m reflecting on what separates the average contractor from the real winners (those in the 15 percent and 20 percent profit range). How proactive of a leader are you, on a scale of 0 to 10? Are you lower down on the scale, closer to […]

Pricing for risk

The profit you earn on each of your services is driven by a few factors: The marketplace, how it’s priced and sold, how efficiently it’s produced and how much overheard you must recover. However, the profit you earn should ultimately reflect the risk associated with each service. The higher the risk, the higher the profit you should […]

Profit Power: A letter to your future self

A final thought for 2015: Statistics show you are far more likely to achieve your goals when they are written down. The challenge with goals is not that you won’t hit them, but that you don’t dream big enough and thus you hit your goals too easily, and you then become stagnant and bored. For […]

Profit Power: 15 strategies to drive up profitability with year-end selling

The more production that each crew can bill out each week, the higher your profits will be by year end. Your overhead has already been covered at this point, so every dollar of operational profit you earn goes right to your bottom line! This has a huge multiplying effect.  Here are 15 ways to increase […]

5 Ps of sales management

The tragedy of sales management is that good (sometimes great) salespeople are promoted to sales managers, where they often fail. They’re promoted to their level of incompetence. What makes a good salesperson differs from what makes a good sales manager. Sales management is a role you can’t study in school. It’s learned on the job. […]

Profit Power: What got you here won’t get you there

Are you ready to transition your landscape business to the next generation? If so, heed the following advice. Transitioning your role—from company leader to parent of the leader—requires a significant amount of self awareness (more than you’ve ever had in the past) to make sure you don’t torpedo the transition process and set up your […]

Profit Power: Unlock the value of your business

A few weeks ago I interviewed green industry acquisition expert Ron Edmonds for 60 minutes on the topic of “What is your business worth?” We had a lively debate! Here are nine insights from that conversation—and from my own investigations and experience—that will help you unlock the value of your business. 1. If you plan […]

Profit Power: Quicken your response times

Imagine if you could respond twice as fast as your competitors to a client request or new lead inquiry. What advantage would it give you in the long run? This week I’m leading a peer group meeting in Michigan, and we’re discussing new selling techniques. The underlying theme in our discussions is speeding up response […]

Video: Power of a peer group

“Who’s holding you accountable? Who’s helping you steer your business in the right direction?” Jeffrey Scott asks in his latest video. Here are four benefits to being in a peer group.

Be a sales superstar

The economy is heating up. Have you altered your sales style to take advantage? The following proven approaches will help you become a sales superstar. Build emotional bonds At the heart of it, people make emotional decisions and use facts to rationalize their choices. Your job is to help prospective clients realize—from an emotional point […]

Managing activities to reach goals

https://youtu.be/nnwOgaLZRIk Setting goals is important, says consultant Jeffrey Scott, but in order to hit your goals, you must break them into “activities” you manage day to day and week to week. Here are three examples that apply to sales, company strategy and personal goal setting.

Profit Power: 4 measures of success for any owner

Are your business and life successful in the four ways that matter most? After working with hundreds of entrepreneurs and deeply exploring their objectives, life goals and desires for their businesses and personal lives, I find they are ultimately driven by four measures. Let me start by saying I won’t address their passion for the […]

Video: 5 family business tips

From Jeffrey Scott, here are five straightforward family-business strategies to help you avoid common pitfalls between generations and ensure the success and continued growth of your family enterprise.

Profit Power: What kind of busy are you?

Have you noticed how busy people are these days? People were busy last year, and now they are even busier today. But busy is not always good. There are many different kinds of “busy.” Just like the Eskimos have many different definitions for “snow,” we need to differentiate between the different kinds of busy. Here is […]

Video: Why you should partner with your clients

Your clients have insights and ideas that will power the growth of your business, but only if you stop thinking about them as “contracts, checklists, to-dos and services to be fulfilled,” Jeffrey Scott says in this short video. Partner with your clients and your business will soar.

Moving mountains: A compelling company vision

How a compelling company vision can help you attract the best team and achieve your goals. Attracting, motivating, focusing and retaining great employees starts and ends with a compelling vision. To attract the very best team, you must create a compelling vision for the future, and to retain top talent you must develop a method […]

Moving mountains: Start with a stump speech

If you’re like many leaders, you’re ready to be the visionary for your company, but you may not be sure how to do it. The good news is there are dozens of ways to do this. The simplest and possibly most effective way is by developing and giving a stump speech to the whole company. […]

8 ways to recruit Hispanic workers

With H-2B on hold and the economy picking up steam, you need to proactively build a “steam engine” made up of good, hardworking local employees. Many companies find these folks in the Latino community. But you can’t just post an Internet advertisement and expect success. Try the following proactive recruiting tips to attract more local […]

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