John wasn't getting referrals.

1. The first thing I looked at was whether he was giving referrals.  No. So that's that problem.
2. I asked what other associations he was active in. (None) How he met with his clients. (He didn't) Who he had lunch with, played golf with, had a conversation with, on a daily basis. (I can see you shaking your head!)
3. I considered two options for him, and chose the "belong to three associations" option.
4. We each need to belong to three different associations. Strategically John was missing two: - an association where every member was a potential client, and an association where every member is a potential GateOpener.

John's assignment was to visit 9 associations for each type.
The easiest way to begin to find them was to ask Members of his Team what they were involved in, and if he could go as their guest.
(He should not join an association where Team Members are - it's redundant and costs a specific referral benefit.)

• After each visit his assignment was to have coffee with three people he met.
• When he really enjoyed someone, his assignment was to schedule a second appointment with them, where they would each bring someone to introduce to the other.
  John, of course, would bring a Member of his Team.  This would give them an opportunity, and make him comfortable.

Bob and Ruth Ann came because Ruth Ann was a saver, and Bob was a spender.  Bob made really good money, but his spending was out of control.  Bob was also motivated because Ruth Ann was at the end of her rope and was ready to leave him if things didn't turn around.

After working with them for a little while and asking a lot of questions about their spending plan and the extra expenses that were getting racked up, I realized that Bob's issue was more than just that he liked to buy stuff.  It was compulsive.  He realized he had a problem, but didn't know how to stop.

Two things I recommended for them:

1.  Bob needed to seek a therapist to get control of his compulsive disorder

2.  Put more control of the money in Ruth Ann's hands and much less in Bob's until he started making progress

This gave Ruth Ann much more peace of mind, and Bob was on board because he needed help and knew that his issues were causing financial strife for his marriage.

A recent client came to me because his friend was living in his home after a traumatic brain injury. He wasn’t unsafe. He was completely independent with his daily activities. But he needed structure, routine, and a more sustainable living situation.

The first thing I noticed was that everyone was trying to solve the wrong problem. They were asking, “What kind of care does he need?” So I started asking different questions.

Can he bathe and dress himself? Can he prepare meals? Does he still drive? Is supervision the issue—or is it purpose, routine, and support?

Once those answers became clear, I considered several options, including assisted living and home care. But neither really fit. The real need wasn’t personal care—it was a community that provided meals, housekeeping, social opportunities, and daily structure while allowing him to remain independent.

That’s why we focused on Independent Living.

Sometimes my job isn’t finding the answer. It’s helping families ask the right question first. Once we define the real problem, the right solution usually becomes much clearer.

By listening to my friend as he juggled the phone, a ladder, and a faulty garage door that was now costing him time and money instead of making it - I understood what he needed. I sent him a simple Google Form that allowed me to know the things his clients needed answers to. Questions like what are his most important pieces of client information? Which services can we schedule without his help? What hours did he really want to work in the field each day? I made his phone stop ringing ~ but not new client appointments on his calendar. 

I recently worked with a client seeking a bank-statement loan that required a 660 credit score, but she was sitting at 640.

I reviewed her credit report and asked which debts she could comfortably eliminate without using funds needed for her down payment or closing costs. I considered several options: paying down revolving balances, addressing two small collection accounts, and reducing her monthly obligations.

We first paid down her credit cards to lower her utilization and resolved the collections. Once her credit improved, I noticed her debt-to-income ratio was still too high. She had a car loan with a low remaining balance but an unusually high monthly payment. Paying it off gave us the greatest reduction in monthly debt for the least amount of cash.

By addressing both her credit score and debt-to-income ratio strategically, we positioned her to qualify for the bank-statement loan she needed.

An assisted living facility reached out because a resident’s toilet had overflowed, asking me to clean the carpet. What I noticed immediately was that this wasn’t a typical carpet-cleaning situation. I asked what caused the overflow, what areas were affected, plus what they were hoping to accomplish. I really had three options: clean the carpet, clean it with a liability waiver, or recommend replacement. Could I have cleaned it? Yes. Would it have been cheaper for them? Absolutely. But because this was a Category 3 water loss, contamination in that carpet created a liability for both of us. I chose to decline the cleaning, recommending replacement instead. Sometimes taking care of a client means telling them no, even when saying yes would put money in my pocket.

This is the client from last week's referral trigger:

1) Client got a letter from IRS requiring him to attend an in person interview about a past due tax debt. I noticed that since it got this far it means he has not responded to any of the previous letters sent by the IRS. I noticed he was anxious and not knowing what to do

2) I asked him questions about when he last filed tax returns, income, potential deductions/credits he might be eligible for to reduce any amounts due on unfiled returns. 

3) I considered two options, a) he attend in person b) I attend on his behalf

4) I attended on his behalf since I am a somewhat disinterested party so I can calmly discuss his situation with the IRS revenue officer and I know the tax laws while he does not. 

One commercial project that stands out started with a pretty unusual phone call.

A construction company was lifting pallets of drywall mud to an upper level of a building when a pallet tipped, splattering drywall mud all over the exterior.

When we arrived, the first thing I noticed was that this wasn’t just a cleaning problem, it was a timing problem. This was an active construction site, and delaying other trades could quickly become expensive.

Before we started, I asked questions about what material had spilled, how long it had been on the building, what surfaces were affected, and what work was scheduled around us.

We considered several options, from pressure and chemical cleaning to manually removing the heavier material first and then cleaning the remaining residue.

I chose the process that gave us the best chance of removing the mud without damaging the building and, just as importantly, allowed the construction project to keep moving.

We responded quickly, worked around the other trades, and got the building cleaned with minimal disruption.

That’s something I’m proud of at Peach State Softwash: we don’t just show up and clean. We assess the problem, ask the right questions, and find the solution that makes the most sense for our client.

It started with my sister needing to reclaim some time and to find a better wood pellet. She started buy multiple bags from me and I delivered them to her in FL. That opened a bit of her time to raise her family and gave me another excuse to chat and show some love for everyone in the household. It definitely helped that she used the pellets to make and share tasty snacks.

Could you imagine great customer service again. Asking the right question to you your client bring out the actual problem. Rosanna a first time home buyer purchased a property that was sold by an investor. What does that mean no sellers disclosure. Hazardous wiring through the home dangerous in permitted panel upgrades. She was afraid of home it would cost to make it code compliant. I asked did you get a home inspection? Yes she replied. Well most home inspections come with a warranty. This violation wasn't in the inspection report. In this case is a good thing because her warranty did come with a warranty and she was about 5 days away from being out of the warranty period. She called showed them our $9600 quote to upgrade entire system. They were honest and wrote her a check after notifying them of her burned up electrical panel. 

I noticed it the first time I looked at their website: three years of executive headshots that looked like they came from three different companies. Different backgrounds, different lighting, a couple clearly years older than the rest. I asked their HR director how new executives were getting photographed, and the answer was: however someone had time that week, wherever the light happened to be good.

I considered just shooting one more one-off session and adding it to the pile. Instead I proposed something different: shoot the whole team fresh in a single half day, and build a documented lighting and crop standard so every session after this one would match it exactly. It took more setup up front, but it was the only option that fixed the actual problem instead of adding to it.

Now their HR director keeps a checklist with me on it, and flags every new executive’s photo before their first day, because she already knows what she's going to get. Their team page finally looks like one company, not three.

A client hired me to edit interviews he filmed at an audio convention for Audioholics, a website for audiophiles. I noticed he had less than 24 hours to turn each interview into content Audioholics could post. His day included filming, meeting people, and going to dinner after the convention. He would not have time or energy left to sort through footage or edit it himself.

Before I started, I asked what Audioholics needed from each interview. Did it need a short clip? Did it need a longer video? Did it need both? I also asked when he needed each version back and whether it needed captions. I considered those three formats. Because Audioholics needed content while the convention was happening, I prioritized the files he needed immediately. I asked him to label footage before sending it, kept him updated, and returned each captioned video in under four hours.