This may sound familiar to you. Well, it is. I don’t usually rerun my great ideas but I think this bears repeating, based on your feedback. And it’s also appropriate with graduations and weddings coming up. Maybe somebody you know could use a nudge in the right direction here.

When I was a little boy and we received a gift for our birthday, Christmas, or other special moment in our lives, my mom would not let us play with the toy, wear the new shirt, or do anything with the gift until we sat down and wrote a thank you note. This is a lesson I have carried on to this day.


In the past year I have tried to help several people with all kinds of items. I have called a commercial realtor I know several times to let him know his signs had fallen down, blown over, or were stolen. After doing this several times with not even a mention of a thank you, I’ve felt like quitting. My feeling is he thinks I’m annoying and sticking my nose in his business. I just wanted to help but since I’ve not been recognized, I was wondering if maybe he doesn’t want my help.

Recently I mowed someone’s lawn for free while they were on vacation. I never got a thank you and I’m wondering if they realize this was a fairly big deal or were they taking me for granted?

I sent a copy of my book to several people I met recently. I got a few e-mails thanking me for doing this but I haven’t heard from most of them.

Sadly, I could share a lot of instances like this. But I have learned something; I don’t do these things to get thank you notes. I try to help people because that’s the right thing to do. If we only do things to get something back, we’re not helping for the right reasons and that leads me to my point. We all need to help others to help ourselves.

Each of us has two bank accounts. There’s the one where we have our money. The place we deposit our paychecks to save for all kinds of things, such as college, a new car, our retirement, or even just a vacation. Then there’s the other bank account—our emotional bank account—and that resides in our heart. If you don’t make deposits in each of them, you will not be happy and never find your calling.

Paul Stoll is my right hand man at Grunder Landscaping Co. I have learned so much from him. He has taught me a lot about leadership, finance, relationships, and landscaping. Frequently I find myself talking to him to try and understand people. Several years ago I was bemoaning the fact that we had just spent a lot of money on bonuses, given our people some paid time off, and fed them well before Christmas and I didn’t get one thank you, except from him and two others. I wondered what the other 40 or so people on my team felt. Didn’t they know I didn’t have to do this? Didn’t they know this cost a lot of money? Wasn’t it enough? Do they appreciate anything? Paul, in a very calm tone, said, “Marty, the fact your team comes back year after year and does their job well is the thank you.” That was hard for me to understand; after all, my mom raised me differently. I wasn’t allowed to take anything or anyone for granted. But I did see what Paul was saying. And while today I still appreciate a thank you, I have come to realize you may not always get one. And just because you don’t get one, it doesn’t mean you aren’t appreciated. And just because you don’t get a thank you doesn’t mean you should stop trying to help.

With today’s economic climate, there are a lot of people who could use some help. Too many of us sit back and wait for others to take care of problems and complain about how bad things are. When we take action and do the right things, regardless of what we’ll get in return, we lift up everyone. And more times than not, the people who are constantly trying to help win at the game of business.

The leading independent businesses in my hometown are the ones who get behind several causes that help our community. They spend thousands of dollars to support causes; they donate their time just to help. I myself have given away hundreds of copies of my book, The 9 Super Simple Steps to Entrepreneurial Success, to students and groups. My landscaping company is behind several initiatives; some others will find out about; others no one will ever hear about. Those who help also end up helping themselves.

The companies that grasp and embrace the concept of helping will win in the long run. You don’t always have to charge a client or a prospect for services rendered. Sometimes doing it for free will come back to you ten-fold. If you’re working at a home that has a bunch of storm damage and the neighbor has one large branch that you can cut up and haul off on the same trip, do it and don’t charge them; just tell them, “Call us if you need help in the future.” If a client has a death in the family, go over and mow their lawn and clean up the house. If you read that a client or someone you’d like to have as a client is involved with some non-profit work that you have a passion for, send in a check. It’s little acts of kindness like this that will help you succeed in the long run.

I am still working on a brand new book. The working title is “Make Friends, Make Sales: The Art of Relationship Selling.” Helping others is one of the best ways you can make a friend. If all of us were more worried about just doing the right thing, I believe you’d find that many good things will happen to you. This week, well, this month, give some thought to ways you can help and then get to work. You’ll feel better and your business will do better too! Your thank you is the feeling you get from helping and that’s a pretty good thank you from the big guy above!

And maybe there is someone you should thank today!

One of my best clients, Jay Nurney from Buck’s County, Pennsylvania, forwarded this “help wanted” ad to me from the Craigslist in his area. If you look at it, you might think that the guy who wrote it is nuts and if you do, then I guess you better consider me nuts too, because I wish I had the guts to write an ad like this one. I agree with most of what the guy said here. No word on whether the ad worked or not and no word on if he consulted his attorney before writing it. Hope you laughed and maybe it makes you think about how important it is to clarify what you are looking for in a new hire before you go and hire anyone. The hiring process should be taken very seriously and the adage—hire slow, fire fast—is some of the best advice I was ever given. Forward this Great Idea on to anyone you know who hires people; you’ll make them laugh and you’ll be helping them think about their hiring process too!

Driveway Sealing Helper/Weekends (Dowingtown/Exton/West Chester)

Date: 2010-04-06

Job Description:

Some of the things that are expected of a helper are loading and unloading 50 lb. buckets of driveway sealer on and off the truck, setting the buckets out on the driveway, weed wacking/trimming grass and shrubs back, mixing buckets of sealer, cleaning/scrubbing driveway dirt spots with a wire brush attached to a pole, sealing driveway, clean-up. If you have a chronically bad back, bad knees or shoulders, aches and pains or some mysterious illness every other week, this job isn’t for you. This is the basic description of the duties, but not necessarily limited to these things. Work typically starts around 6-7 am and ends at 4-5 pm. Sometimes we start a little later or work a little later, depending on the schedule.

Let me start by saying this job is not for the physically weak or out of shape person. It is also not for someone who doesn’t care to go to bed early or get up early. It’s a physical job and requires strength and endurance. While it’s not the hardest job ever, it is physical. If you have any doubts about any of this, you need not apply. Pay is negotiable, hourly and starts when you are scheduled to start in the morning. It is also bi-weekly. Need a loan? Go to a bank. If you’re living hand to mouth, this isn’t the job for you. Below is a list of what I want and what I don’t want in a helper. It is non-negotiable, if you have a problem with ANY of the things listed, again, you need not apply.

What I am looking for:

1) Drug, alcohol, smoke and drama free. As far as the drugs and alcohol, I’ve worked with enough of these people to know that they make crappy, unreliable employees. Staying up late at night or drinking heavily isn’t good for you or me if we’re working together. As far as the smoking goes, I don’t want someone blowing smoke in my face, smoking in my truck or expecting me to pay them to smoke. The way I look at it is when you’re smoking, you’re not working. If you want to smoke on your own time, that’s your business, just not at work and not with me. As far as the drama goes: I don’t need any colorful characters or people who want to bring home into work. I don’t need people with crazy stories or the chronically depressed. We all have problems in life, but they are ours, not others. I can’t stress this enough.

2) Someone who is on time, works hard, and follows directions well. I don’t need late, lazy or difficult people. Also, if you plan on taking vacations or have a lot going on this spring/summer/fall, this job isn’t for you. I also don’t need someone who stops and slows down for a five minute break every time they talk. If I wanted to pay someone to talk, I’d hire my wife. This especially applies to customers. It’s fine to say “hello” to my customers, but they are off limits as far as conversing or answering their questions and all such dialogue is to be directed to me. In other words, I don’t want you answering their questions or shooting the breeze with them. This is a huge no-no in my book. Again, if you’re talking, you’re not working.

3) There is often travel time between jobs. Maybe it’s five minutes, maybe it’s a half an hour. This is unique to these kinds of jobs and you should plan accordingly. This is the time that you can make your phone calls, eat your lunch, sleep, read, text message people, check the internet or anything else that you like that’s within reason. This is the only time you’ll be able to do these things or focus on this kind of stuff. Aside from emergencies, there are no phone calls or personal stuff on my time. You want to fight with your girlfriend/wife all day, do it somewhere else. Catch up with your long lost cousin from Ireland? Do it somewhere else. Again, if you’re doing these things, you’re not working and if you’re not working, you’re not working for me.

4) You gotta have a car to get to work. I can’t come to your house and pick you up. I don’t want to hear it. If you don’t have a car, you don’t have a job. Period.
5) You need to realize that this job is dependent upon good weather, job availability, and holidays to some extent. If it rains on Saturday and Sunday, we can’t work. If everybody is cooking out on Memorial Day or Halloween is on a Saturday, these things factor in as well. The work is also seasonal and is done by the first of November.

6) I’m a friendly guy, but I don’t want to be your best friend. I realize that sounds a little harsh, but I’ve worked with enough people by now to know that it’s best to keep it professional. Hopefully, you have too and understand completely.

Here is a really good column by Patrick Lencioni. It talks about the benefits of admitting to a mistake or admitting your team or company has not performed well. Please read it right now and then come back to here.

When I saw the commercial, I said to myself, “Wow! A company that admits they’ve just been okay, not great.” I hadn’t bought a Domino’s Pizza in years so we tried one. It was okay, still nothing like my favorite pizza which is Dewey’s Pizza, another amazing company in which my buddy’s little brother is part owner. So in a sense I was let down. I’ll try another Domino’s sometime soon but to me even though Lencioni makes a good point, Domino’s was just more “lip service,” another pizza franchise with a claim that really isn’t backed up in the delivery. I still think the Domino’s I had back in the 80s is way better than anything they have right now. What do you think? Am I being too hard on them or am I right on the money?

I think when you market in today’s world you have to make sure you deliver something that is fantastic, not just “okay.”  Okay works but it doesn’t stand out and it doesn’t cause your clients to tell others about your company and that’s what we all need and want, isn’t it? This week, read your own marketing: are you really good or just okay? Is what your marketing says goes on at your company really what goes on?

We all are looking for sales right now. At Grunder Landscaping Company we are very, very busy. When you are busy, it’s easy to not think about the future. I have tons and tons of work for the next 3 to 4 months, but I must not let all this work allow me to forget about August and beyond. So, this week I want to remind you to never become complacent; you should be spending time looking for work and sales for the future. Each week you ought to be reaching out to old clients and seeing if they need anything. You ought to be having lunch and meeting with new folks who could use your products or services or folks who know people who could use your products and services.

I have actually gone back to some of the tactics that made me successful 26 years ago when I got started. I am cold calling; I am handing out cards; I am letting everyone I come in contact with know I would love to help them. I’m making friends. When you Make Friends, you Make Sales; it’s as simple as that. As my friend Calvin Mayne told me his grandfather said, “Make friends or make money. Do both if you can!” Calvin’s grandfather, also named Calvin, was one of the smartest business people ever to come out of my hometown. He was the founder of Dorothy Lane Market, a company that, despite all the economic woes my hometown has had, continues to do well. It’s because they understand the power of taking care of friends and seeking out new ones in the process. This week, go make some friends that might be able to help you when you aren’t so busy!

Talk to you next week.