In this YouTube video, Austin Maser calls TruGreen’s customer service to cancel his lawn‑care account, citing budget constraints and persistent crabgrass weeds. He records the entire call, then provides a running commentary on the sales rep’s handling of the cancellation. The rep quickly offers a free re‑service within three business days, a reduced price for the final scheduled service (quoted as $56.66, a 25% discount), and explains that the service includes a pre‑emergent treatment that will help prevent weeds in the upcoming spring season (starting mid‑March). Austin critiques the rep’s approach, noting a lack of probing questions, over‑reliance on silence, and a missed opportunity to build a stronger value narrative. He outlines how a more effective sales strategy would involve asking deeper questions, demonstrating empathy, emphasizing the scientific need for pre‑emergent treatment, and framing the discount as a retention tool. Austin also quantifies the financial impact, estimating a $90 saving from the discount. The video ends with Austin acknowledging the rep’s ability to hold the line with silence while reiterating the universal sales principles that apply across door‑to‑door industries.
Chapters
Everybody, I'm about to call into TruGreen to cancel my account because I'm tight on a budget and because I'm seeing too many weeds. So let's see how this sales rep handles it. Let's see if he asks good questions. Let's see if he's able to make it clear that he wants to earn my business again and keep us— keep me around for the next season. A little bit of background here, last year I canceled my TruGreen account because I did want to save money, because I was just scared as hell, because I didn't have any idea what I was doing with my business. And the next year, I had a shiz-ton of weeds in my yard because the science, I said that all the time with my pest control pitch, but the science is you actually have to lay down pre-emergent, post-emergent, and all this stuff. But there's a lot of like, there's a big necessity to continue to use TruGreen or any sort of fertilizing company year-round. So let's see how this guy handles the objection. Does he ask questions? Does he build up the need? Does he talk about value, or does he go straight to price? One of the things I see frequently with these TruGreen reps is they're incredibly good at going silent and not breaking. So let's see how this guy does.
You're still seeing too many weeds in your yard and anything like that after services?
Yeah, and just really just trying to like change, uh, trying to just save on a little bit of money.
Understandable. Hey, do, uh, what kind of, you know, what kind of weeds you're seeing? Is it like crabgrass weeds or like more broadleaf?
I think it's more like the crabgrass weeds, just like the ones that— because I don't know, man, we've had you guys come out, uh, a couple times. We still getting some of that crabgrass weeds popping up. Okay guys, all right, I'm trying to see how they handle a cancellation at TruGreen.
Um, I can also, can I also, uh, issue a reservice, free reservice, completely free. We'll cancel out all your application so you would see the reservice coming in.
He's kind of letting me go too easy.
Um, for free. Um, and if it's possible, you can also, uh, we also lower the prices for your last lawn service that comes up on the 21st. We can lower that to $5,656 for you from $7,555, and that'll be the last one for the season.
So are you saying that you can like do the last one a little bit lower?
Yeah, yeah, I can lower that price for you. I can lower that price for you, that last one, and also get you a free resurface. We'll come down there and come like spray those beads for you and everything like that.
And you said that's the last one of the season?
Yes, sir.
Okay, when do they start back up again?
We usually start it— so we won't be there in the wintertime because obvious reasons, but we can be there for the springtime, usually starts around like the middle of March.
Okay, so you guys will do a free one for me and then lower the price to the last one?
Yeah, so we'll do a free one for you right now, right now, we do in 3 business days, and then the last one, that would be for a lower price.
Yeah, I guess we'll do that.
Okay, no problem. The price for your last service on the 21st will be $56.66.
Okay.
Let me go ahead and issue this reservice in there for you.
Do you guys do anything during the winter to help prevent weeds? Like, what is it called, pre-emergent or something like that?
Yeah, we do do, we do do, uh, that's what that last service is, it's pre-emergent.
Oh, okay, so it's gonna help out for the next season.
Yeah.
Okay, dude. Yeah, if we can get these weeds nuked, that'd be dope. No problem, we'll stick on it for you.
We'll have, uh, we'll have someone come out there within 3 business days, can we handle that for you? Um, and they'll let you know, they'll call you before they show up on their way.
All right, brother. Hey, thank you, man. Yeah, I'm glad we can get it resolved.
No problem.
I was actually impressed about how fast he was willing to let me go at first. Um, like, I don't think he asked enough questions. I don't think that there was enough like, oh well, like, tell me more about that. Oh yeah, that during that time of year those can pop up. We'll tell you what, we really do want to keep you on board, and so here's what we're going to do. To make that happen. Whereas he just kind of just went for the, okay, I can get that canceled. I was like, uh, and we'll do one free very service and we'll close everything out. And I'm like, dude, you're gonna let me go that easy? So I think this goes to show that like with a lot of like lawn service and stuff, this guy is getting paid hourly, so there's really not a big incentive to keep it. Uh, hopefully this guy gets like a some sort of commission for saving the account, but I just saved like $30 on my last service. But I was just really curious to see how they tried to save accounts, and I think it could use some work. So TruGreen, you should hit me up because we could save you guys' cancellation, like, cancellation percentage a ton. This guy's doing a great job. One of the things I noticed with like these lawn services is they resort to just silence. And I don't know if that's always the best way. Like, it works. I think I had another TruGreen rep kind of do the silence approach with me, and they can last a long time. So like, that's insanely good at how long he was able to stop and just go quiet. Not my way of selling, but still really impressive. Let's see what he says at the end here.
For that, so yeah, we actually have reservice there and, uh, they'll go with that price for you.
Okay, and then will it stay low, uh, and then will it stay like low throughout the rest season, the rest of the season too, like when process— when the— when it picks back up?
Uh, yeah, it should. So we'll stay— it will stay low for the beginning, like a little bit the beginning of the next season. It won't stay for the whole entire next season, so you may see a price increase like the more the middle part of the service. But I would just call back and ask for another discount and you should be able to get another one.
Okay, cool. Do you know how many services the discount will stay for? Like March, April?
I'm thinking, so like usually, so you'll get the one for, you'll get the one coming for the next season that you won. And if you stay and get the, if you get like the 7th round, you get it this time. It should stay for like the first— it should stay for March, definitely for March and definitely for April. But after that, I'm not sure.
Cool. What'd that save me, like $90?
Yeah, it'll save you 25%. I put 25% off, so it should save you.
Cool. Hey, thank you, brother.
No problem. But no problem. Anything else I got to break today?
No, I think that's it, dude. Thank you.
No problem, thank you for calling TruGreen, have a wonderful day.
Okay, bye-bye. All right, so I wanted to call in because we're like, oh, we're still getting weeds. And part of the sales process for saving a customer, and this applies to any door-to-door rep who's about to have a cancel, is asking more questions, showing empathy. Because if somebody calls in, they want to cancel right now, you've almost got to bring him down a little bit. Now I didn't call in, you know, raging, you know, crazy upset, so that's why I was a little shocked that there weren't more questions being asked before he just offered to cancel. Now he did, before he did that, before he offered the cancellation and closed it, he said, "Or I can also do the next service for 25% off." And he, but he didn't make it clear like, "Hey, we really want to keep you." And that's the only— that's the biggest difference I would have done with trying to save a customer is ask more questions, build up the problem on why they still need the service, and actually create a need behind the service. Because what this guy could have done is talk about how, hey, if you don't— if you don't keep the service, then tons of weeds are going to pop up everywhere. And What's gonna happen is come springtime, your yard is gonna be very hard to treat because the science behind it, keyword science, you'll see me do this in my pest control pitch all the time, the science behind it is the weeds will start to plant throughout the seed if there's no pre-emergent and then your yard's gonna be covered with weeds throughout the rest of the year. So this next service we do for you is gonna be the pre-emergent, it's gonna prevent the weeds from popping up. That way, come springtime, you're not having to call us back with a ton of weeds, if that makes sense. So here's what we'll do to make sure we can keep your business. Give a price drop and then say, "That work better for you?" Hopefully, if you've built a big enough problem, people stick around, right? These big companies always have room to do price drops, and this was just a perfect example of them not wanting to lose revenue. They're a marketing company, And so they gave me a discount. Great. I saved like, I don't know, 30, I think it's like usually 80, went down to like 50-something. So I saved like $90.
Awesome.
But yeah, props to this guy for being able to last longer than me with silence, which is very, very tough to do typically. So props to this sales rep. And we'll be getting our free reservice for the weeds here shortly. But yeah, just a little bit of sales in a different industry. It's all the same thing.
