Want Yard of the Month? Hire Rainstat!

Not really.  We had very little to do with these nice folks getting yard of the month, but it does point out that beautiful landscapes like this don't happen without water.  The right amount at the right place at the right time. 

If your sprinkler system could use some fine tuning, we'd love to help.

Call Drew at 254.829.3800 to schedule a free system check.

The Inertia of "No"

This is a topic that's on my mind even though it has absolutely nothing to do with irrigation. Here goes!

"No" is almost always the right answer if the criteria for judgment of rightness is the provability of wrongness.

What?

Consider this conversation:
"Should we do this?"
"No."
"Right answer."
"How do you know "no" is the right answer?"
"If I say "yes" and you do it and it fails, you know I approved the wrong thing to do. But if I tell you not to do it, you will likely not know anything good or bad so you can't prove that not doing it was wrong." It's the inertia of "No."

Inertia is a noun. According to Apple's dictionary, it means:
1) a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged : the bureaucratic inertia of government.
2) Physics• a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force.

Jesus, from the Bible, told a story about a boss giving three employees some money to manage while he was on an extended trip. Two of the men risked his money in profit-potential projects and doubled their money. One, because he was afraid of losing his boss' money, locked it in a safe place and simply returned the money that was given him. Jesus, through his storied employer, praised the two that risked his money and doubled it and condemned the man that hid it out of fear. The boss said the employee could have at least put the money in the bank and gained the interest.

Have you ever considered an alternative to this story?

The alternative story begins the same but the outcome is changed. When the boss returns, the two that risked the money in profit potential projects, lost it and the one that kept it in a safe place out of fear, returned all that the boss left to his keeping.

Would the boss condemn the two that lost it and praise the one that returned all that was entrusted to him?

Hmm.

Would you take just a minute and tell us what you think? My next post will be my thoughts on it.

Self-Serving Change In Tag Line

"The best way to repair or upgrade your sprinkler system without getting soaked." It's self-serving chest-thumping, I know. But in thinking about how we go about the relatively simple task of replacing a sprinkler head, we do it so you should NEVER have to address that head again!

Does it cost more? That depends on whether your looking at cost from the initial expense to get the job done or the cost over the life of your system. The answer is probably "yes" and "no." Yes, it probably will cost you more to have it done right as apposed to just unscrewing one head and screwing another in its place. No, when you consider that you should never ever have to address that head again.

It's the old "pay me now or pay me later" reply, but if that head has to be repaired again (because your riding lawn mower broke the riser again), you shot yourself in the foot by paying too little.

Here's the new tag line, "The best way to permanently repair or upgrade your sprinkler system without getting soaked."

Okay. I feel better now. What do you think?

Doug Saylor
Rainstat Irrigation
254.829.3800

Realtor Meeting at Keller Williams Waco

I was invited to the Keller Williams Real Estate's office to bring them up to date on the new irrigation rules that go into effect January 1st, 2009. Michael Fanning, a customer and friend, arranged the invite. Kim Galvan, Keller Williams' team leader, presided over the weekly meeting and introduced me. But before she introduced me, she had a few "housekeeping" comments to make. "If any of you need help with your micro-sites or blogs, talk to me . . . ," she said.


Do you realize how much things have changed in just the last decade? Micro-sites? How many years ago was it that the state-of-the-art in MLS listings was a well organized notebook? It struck me that their tool belt had a laptop in it and mine still just had a shovel. They knew they had done a good job when the customer liked what they saw. I knew I had done a good job when the customer liked what they didn't see.

Irrigators and Realtors are polls apart in some aspects.

And not in others.

For instance, you may or may not be a prospect for a Realtor. You may or may not need to purchase or sell real estate. If you have that need, you are a prospect and there was a room full of professionals there that could assist you. But it wasn't because of who you are. It was because of your particular situation at that point in time.

Ditto for me. You don't want to talk to me unless something goes wrong with your sprinkler system or you want to make your system run more efficiently. But at the point of a recognized problem, both industries had better be johnny-on-the-spot with the tools and expertise that you need to solve your problem.

We can all thump our chests and say, "We're better at this than the next person," but it impressed me that Realtors and sprinklers repair folks are in the same business--at its essence. We want to be absolutely trained and have all the necessary tools to serve our friends when they need us. Serve? Friends? Yes. I find that a big part of my job is to build relationships that are based on a mutual like and trust. And I know that's what all of us are looking for. The trouble is, none of us know who our future friends will be. So let's be nice. Let's be friends to everyone.

That's what this room-full of professional Realtors did with me this morning. They were incredibly nice to me and made me feel like they genuinely appreciated my little diatribe about the new rules and how they can affect a home buyer.

Thank you Keller Williams folks. Can I be your friend?