When teaching a group or coaching landscape contractors, I often put DWYSYWD up on the board or screen and ask my students to tell me what it means.
People often know it stands for “do what you said you would do” or “do what you say you will do.” It sounds trite, but I’m telling you if you DWYSYWD, your business will improve by leaps and bounds. There are three areas of your business impacted when you commit to DWYSYWD:
Your team
Some of the most significant business problems I see are created by owners and managers who just plain don’t do what they say they will do when it comes to their teams. They tell a new hire they’ll offer training and it’s the opportunity of a lifetime, and then nothing happens. They say they’ll do regular reviews, which team members interpret as when they get a pay raise. When those things don’t happen, relationships go sideways fast.
The bottom line is, how in the world can you expect your team members to take care of your clients when you aren’t doing what you said you would do for them? Your external customer service will never exceed your internal customer service. If you want your team to take care of your clients, you must take care of them!
To do better by your team, you must:
- Be realistic about what you commit to.
- Be organized and document your commitments, so you deliver on them.
Your clients
The companies that win in the green industry are the ones with happy clients. You create happy clients when you DWYSYWD. If we promise a client that we will be at their property at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, we better be there. If we told them we could fix an issue, we better do it. This year at Grunder Landscaping Co., we picked up new snow removal accounts simply because we could communicate when our crews would show up better than our competitors could.
A key area to focus on is the communication between the sales professional and the client. Often, in the desire to make a sale, a salesperson overstates what the company can execute. I used to do it myself, but it puts a strain on your production teams when they need to execute on your overpromises. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that I don’t need to overpromise to close the sale. Clients usually understand if we’re just honest with them about any constraints ahead of time.
People do business with people they know, like and trust, and those things come from simply DWYSYWD. Expectations are everything. Be careful about what you say, and you’ll win.
Your vendors and subcontractors
Supplier relationships have always been important, but with the labor and supply chain issues we’ve all faced lately, vendors and subcontractors are as vital as ever. It should go without saying, but if you have net 30 payment terms, cut your checks on time. Respond to calls and messages promptly and treat your partners like an extension of your team. Plus, make sure you give them all the information they need to succeed, give them detailed notes and plans so that it’s easier to work together.
Be a good partner to your vendors and subcontractors and treat them how you’d like to be treated. Ultimately, their loyalty will help you DWYSYWD for your team members and clients.
Doing what you said you would do is one of the simplest ways to get ahead in 2022. Remember this simple phrase as the busy season begins again. I’ll talk to you again next month!
