Podcast with Jeffrey Scott
Some of the most honest conversations we have with green industry owners do not happen on stage or on social media. They happen behind closed doors.
For a couple of decades now, we have worked with dozens of landscape and lawn care companies. When you build deep relationships with owners over that amount of time, you get the unfiltered version.
They share candidly about the ideas they pick up from peer group members. They talk about what their coaches are pushing them on. They wrestle out loud with whether a suggestion fits their culture, their team, or their market.
Some of our clients have worked with green industry coach Jeffrey Scott. Others are in different peer groups, many of whom you know well. The names change, but the themes repeat.
Peer groups can be powerful.
They can also be frustrating.
And the difference almost always comes down to how the leader uses them. That is why I wanted to sit down with Jeffrey.
Jeff has spent nearly two decades coaching green industry owners, and he has worked with hundreds of companies on everything from getting unstuck and scaling past a plateau to exiting or retiring in place.
Peer groups have been one of the most consistent levers he sees for real change when they are used well.
The #1 Peer Group Truth: You Get Out What You Put In
Jeff said it plainly...You get out of it what you put into it.
The leaders who do not get value often fall into one of two traps:
- They bring the same problem over and over again: They keep retelling the story but do not do the work between meetings to actually solve it.
- They do not lean in: They attend, but do not really engage. They do not build relationships. They do not ask for help in a vulnerable way. And they do not make the group’s feedback actionable.
The leaders who win with peer groups do the opposite.
They come prepared. They engage fully. And they treat feedback like fuel.
Why Smart Owners Still Don’t Take Action
Here is what is frustrating...Peer groups are full of smart people. Good ideas are not the problem.
The gap is what happens after the meeting.
Jeff broke it down into two big issues:
- Clarity (What do I actually do next?)
- Confidence (Do I trust myself enough to execute?)
Confidence matters sometimes, but Jeff emphasized clarity as the bigger issue. And clarity usually breaks down when the question being asked is not clear enough.
His point was simple..."Bad questions create bad feedback."
The “Five Whys” Approach That Changes the Conversation
If someone puts a problem in front of the group, there are three common outcomes:
- Everyone gives the same directional feedback
- The group splits, with half saying go left and half saying go right
- You get a scattershot of ideas
The second and third scenario is where leaders get stuck.
Jeff’s solution is simple but powerful: slow down and ask better questions before you start prescribing solutions. Use the “5 Whys” to get to the underlying issue.
Take your problem. Ask, “Why?” Then do that 4 more times. You’ll find your final answer may be completely different from your original assumption.
He gave a great marketing-flavored example:
- “Sales are down, so I need a new marketing agency.”
- Or, “Sales are down, so my incentives are broken.”
Both might be true, but you cannot know without digging deeper. And without that digging, a peer group can end up solving the wrong problem.
The Marketing Tie-In: More Leads Can Expose Sales Weakness
This part hit close to home for me, because we see it constantly in green industry marketing.
If your marketing starts working, it often does not just help. It stress-tests your entire sales process.
Image Source: James Martin Associates
Jeff said it directly, “When you invest in marketing, it will challenge your back end. Sometimes it breaks it. Sometimes it reveals it was already broken.”
A company might think they have a lead quality problem when the real issue is:
- Slow response time
- No follow-up system
- The wrong person is handling inquiries
- Capacity constraints, like needing another designer
- Or simply too many leads for the current process
That is why peer groups can be such an advantage for marketing-minded leaders, as long as you use the group to diagnose the root cause, not just copy the tactic someone else is using.
Not Every Good Idea Is a Good Fit or the Right Timing
One of the best lines from the episode was Jeff’s reminder:
- Not every idea is a good idea.
- Not every good idea is a good fit.
- Not every good fit is the right priority right now.
That is the part many owners miss.
Peer groups produce a flood of ideas, especially when the room is full of sharp, experienced leaders. But if you walk back into your company and unleash ten new initiatives at once, you create chaos.
Jeff’s answer was a strategic filter.
In his groups, they use OKRs, Objectives and Key Results, and referenced the book “Measure What Matters” as a useful framework.
The point is the discipline. You can only have a few real objectives at a time. Everything else has to wait its turn.
The Comparison Trap and Why Copying Happens
We also talked about something deeper...why owners copy other companies so aggressively.
Jeff shared a real story about a $10M contractor who realized he was constantly beating himself up when he looked at bigger companies, or even peers at the same size doing one thing better.
Comparison is brutal. It kills momentum.
But here is the nuance...Jeff is not anti-copying.
He believes in “rob and duplicate.” Most great businesses borrow ideas.
The difference is this. You have to know who you are. If you have a clear strategic direction, you can take what fits and say no to what does not.
And sometimes “no” is the most strategic move you can make.
[RELATED ARTICLE: How Landscapers are a Lot Like Synchronized Swimmers (and, No, Not in a Good Way)]
What a Good Plan Looks Like After Peer Group Feedback
Jeff gave a practical way to think about turning peer group insights into action.
A bad plan is a goal that is not connected to anything bigger, so it changes every year, and the company becomes reactive.
Image Source: Good's Tree & Lawn Care
A good plan connects:
- A clear 2 to 3-year objective
- Measurable targets
- Specific actions: Who does what by when and who supports them?
And if the action is still too generic, break it down into milestones. Do not walk away with “We should improve training.”
Walk away with a real next step and a real owner.
The Hill Jeff Would Die On: Transparency
Rapid-fire question: What is the hill Jeff would die on when it comes to peer groups?
He didn't hesitate...Better CEOs want to be challenged. They want accountability. They want the truth.
And that requires transparency, especially around financials.
He said full disclosure creates trust faster because it forces real vulnerability early. That vulnerability is where peer groups stop being networking and start being transformational.
Who Peer Groups Are Best For and One Final Thought
Jeff described peer groups as a bullseye:
- Peer groups can fit a wide range of owners, roughly $1M up to $25M+ in revenue
- Coaching tends to make more sense once a company is $2M to $3M+, because complexity and leverage increase
And his final thought was strong.
Peer groups can change your life, not just your business, because they change your relationship to the business.
Many thanks again to Jeffrey for coming on the Landscape Leadership® Podcast.
If you want to learn more about Jeffrey Scott and his work in the green industry, you can find him at jeffreyscott.biz.
And if you want to talk about the marketing side of growth that shows up after those peer group conversations, that is exactly what we do at Landscape Leadership. We help owners translate strong ideas into execution that actually fits their company, their market, and their capacity.
If you love conversations like these, join 5,000+ of your green industry peers and subscribe to our blog. And you’re ready for a comprehensive marketing strategy that stands the test of time, request a consultation.
