Archive for August 2011

Family Businesses are the Backbone of the Landscape Industry

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

The resent news of a large landscape contractor in Florida closing their doors makes me wonder if the world of business is changing for everyone or just heading into a new cycle period. We lived through the mergers of the nineties and the mega national Landscape Firms and now are we seeing the “Too Big  to Fail” syndrome in the large landscape businesses? This indicates to me that the growth and large revenues don’t insure business success. However, we will not see any government bailouts in the landscape industry. The landscape industry has always been, and in my opinion, will remain a family business industry. The landscape industry is a very difficult business to manage successfully due to all the outside factors that can affect it.

When you think about it, name any other business that faces the same issues that a landscape contractor faces; weather, labor issues, the economy, lack of new technology in the industry. These issues all affect the landscape contractors ability to succeed. I also believe that the landscape industry is a personal service industry, people buying from people they like. In the landscape industry the customer sees you more than any other services provide they hire. You mow their turf 30 to 50 times per year, you remove their snow in the winter, you hang their holiday decorations, you build their outdoor living spaces and most of all you get to know them as if they were you next door neighbor.

Our customers want and desire a long term relationship their landscape contractor. The landscaping business is more than a branch operation, it becomes a family affair. Customers are always going to buy from the family business whenever they can because it makes the customer feel that they are helping the small business in America grow.  Small business in America represents what is good about America. If you provide a quality services and demonstrate that you care about your customer they will stay with you as long as you will have them. The important point is that you must provide a quality service.

For the small landscape contractor growth is always a topic of conversation, but it should be about a quality service, that is most important, not just growth. I believe that is why the small Landscape Contractor will always be a factor in this industry. There will always be large mega contracting firms, but the backbone of the industry is the family business.

 

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Snow Removal Pricing

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Monday, August 29th, 2011

When I started in the landscape contracting business in Wisconsin, we all did snow removal in the winter to provide income for our companies. At that time the pricing was pretty simple.  Charging for time and materials was the norm. Today I see pricing from per inches, to per push to per snow fall and I have even seen pricing by the season. All of these concern me to some extent, because not every contractor is sophisticated enough to price each of these choices.  I have no magic formula for pricing snow, but I believe that pricing to my advantage is the best choice for my company.

Therefore, I will try and sell a client on the concept of time and material rates or I may not bid the project. I always believe that T & M rates covered my people and equipment and allows for the overhead and profit I needed. That’s not to say that T  & M rates are just pulled out of the air, because they are not. In pricing T & M rates you need to determine what is an acceptable rate for your equipment, a labor rate and overhead and profit expenses need to be included in that number. Your overhead factor must include fuel, maintenance, insurance, company overhead and of course profit.

Estimating any other way would leave me concerned about the uncontrollable factors such as type of snow fall, wet heavy snow takes longer to push than light dry snow. Who makes out on that deal? Not the contractor. Seasonal pricing is too much of a gamble for me. I like the consistency of knowing that I am not gambling on how much snow we will get each season. The best of all worlds would be a monthly fee paid whether it snows or not. If you think about snow it is like having an insurance policy. As the contractor you have the investment in people and equipment to provide services that may never be needed. Don’t you think you should be paid for the expense?

Snow removal is part of the life of the landscape contractor in the northern climates, make sure that you don’t gamble with your company.

 

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Employee Orientation for Landscape Contractors

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Monday, August 29th, 2011

Employee orientation is a key component to keeping good employees. I find that too often we have an elaborate hiring process for screening new employees, however once they are on board they become lost in the system. When we are in the hiring cycle and wondering why we have so much employee turnover, it is because we don’t spend the time and energy to get our new employees up to speed in the company. Developing tools that will lay out the particulars of the company is helpful and comforting to the new employee.

Many of the employee we are hiring may not be fluent in English and need to have something that they can understand explaining the company polices and procedures. All to often we forget what it must feel like to be a in a foreign environment and not speaking the same language. Most employees come to work wanting to do the best job they can d., We forget that we have an obligation to give them the information and tools to do their jobs. Many companies now produce their employee handbooks in English and Spanish, but today we hire employee from all over the world. We need to find a way to communicate the company culture to them.

The employee handbook is a great way to lay out the rules and polices of the company: pay days, work hours, uniform requirements, and so on. But this is just the beginning. What are the expectations in the field? Who is their boss on a job site? What if they get sick who do they notify? Developing a one hour program that would define all of the polices and rules and would help integrate them into the company and make them feel more comfortable. The little time and expense you invest would be made up in less employee turn over. Think about the first time you started working and how you felt. Let’s do what every you can to prevent that feeling for your new employees.

Make this orientation a fun experience for the new employees. Offer some type of game or raffle to the program. Let them know that asking questions is not a bad thing, you want them to be comfortable with the company and on job sites. Most of all you want them to be productive and customer oriented. The customer is king and they need to know and understand what that means.

Employee orientation is a simple introduction to you company family, make your new employees feel like part of the family from the start.

 

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Making the Hiring Decision

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Friday, August 26th, 2011

You have asked the questions and now it is time to make the  decision. What separates your candidates from one another? What is the reason you select one over another? How do you determine which candidates fits the company culture best? All are great questions and all these questions must be answered to make the right selection. The hiring process can be a tough challenge when it comes to hiring the right person, but if you are armed with the right information it can be much easier.

First, you asked for references, check them. Call and ask the questions that will help you make a decision. Today many large and medium’s size business will not share much information, however it is my experience that smaller businesses are more willing to share information about past employees, so ask. Secondly, use some of the profiling tools available to you. The DISC profile is one that I have used effectively to determine personality types. Will this person fit your company culture? There are other tools available to help with the hiring decision and you should research these tools before making any determination of which tools works best for you.

Do a background and criminal check on all your employees. Do a Motor Vehicle records check and lastly do a Social Security verification on all new hires. All of these tools are available to you so take advantage of them. After all of the tests and verifications are complete its time to make a decision. Sometimes it will come down to a gut feeling. Don’t discount that feeling. Your intuition sometimes is the best decision maker. If you are unsure, narrow the field to 2 or 3 candidates, hold additional interviews. If no one jumps out at you, you may want to continue looking. That is ok!

During the additional interviews, ask questions that more closely reflect the day to day activities of the position. Get done to the brass tacks. This is the time when one candidate should stand out from the group. If not you may need to keep looking for the ideal candidate.

Making a hiring decision can be very stressful and challenging.  Make sure you give the process all the attention it requires.

 

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Interview questions for the Landscape Contractor

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Thursday, August 25th, 2011

 

When you interview potential employeesfor your company you should have a prepared list of questions for each position you are hiring for. It is obvious that for different positions there are different requirements and level of skill required. Therefore, different questions should be asked of the candidates. The better prepared you are as the interviewer the better the interview will go for both parties.

As an interviewer your job is to get the individual to explain their background and experience. The more  you can create a conversational experience the better you interview will be. Depending on the position, you want the individual to be relaxed and comfortable with you. You want to get to know this person and whether they match the profile of the position you have open. You should not dominate the conversation, but rather ask specific questions and wait for a response. Let them tell you about themselves. Many interviewers spent too much time telling the candidate more than they should. Be patient and if you don’t receive the response that you wanted, ask the question in a different form.  Make sure you get an answer to your question.

Be professional and conduct the interview in a professional setting. This is a business transaction, handle it like one. Make sure you have a job description and information about the company, such as: starting time, pay day schedule, benefits and the employee handbook or manual. They need to see the professional attitude and image of your company, no matter what level of position. Use the list of questions that you developed and at the end of the interview allow the candidate to ask questions of you.

Make sure the the questions you ask are within the scope of the law. There are questions that an employer cannot ask. The following are an example of issues that should not be discussed: race, color, religion, natural origin, birthplace, age, disabilities, and marital status. There are a number of questions that can not be asked in various forms such as, what langauge did you speak growing up?, do you have any children? have you every been arrested? are you a member of the Army Reserves? There are enough question about experience and the character of the candidate that these subjects should not be included in any list of questions. You  may want to include an opportunity to write a paragraph if that is part of the job. For example, if you are interviewing for an Account Manager and the position  requires the person to respond to customers, you may consider a writing sample. If you are hiring a designer you may want a sample of their design work, or if sales you may ask them to sell you a design as part of the interview process.

You need to focus on the questions that help you determine the candidate’s value to your company. How will they fit with the company culture and how will your customers relate to this individual. Be creative, but be sure of you choice.

 

 

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How to find the perfect employee!

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

Every Landscape Contractor these days seems to have one overriding concern: How to find the perfect employee? I know we all have made bad hires and look back on them and say to ourselves, “how could I have hired that person?” So let’s get it on the table right now, we all have done it and most likely will do it again. However, there are ways to improve the odds in our favor by using simple but sound rules for hiring.

When hiring an employee, never offer employment on the first interview, no matter how impressed you are with this individual. Always ask for and check references, even if you know what they are going to say. Checking references can be a important way to get information that the interview will not reveal. I like to sleep on these decisions, because the enthusiasm wears off and I start to think about the questions I didn’t ask. But I will ask in the second interview. Create a list of questions before the interview that will help you get the information you want to help determine if this is the right employee for your position.

Take time to observe the person; how are they dressed?, what is the body language?, what do they say when greeting you?. These are all part of the interview process. This is the same way they will greet your customers. Let’s make sure that it is the way you want them to greet your customers. Ask for a sample of their designs or have them write a paragraph describing a sales call or an event in the life of the person having the position you are hiring for. Use all the tools available to you. Consider asking someone else to sit in on the interview if you are not confident in your interviewing skills. Its not uncommon to have two people conduct an interview.

Lastly, there are tools in the HR world that can be purchased to help determine the profile of a candidate applying for a position. If you think it would helpful to you, investigate the tools that are available. Hiring is not a simple easy task, it requires skill and experience to find the right person. This is a quick overview of the hiring process, by no means is this all that one needs to know. Take time to learn about hiring a person before you start interviewing, it will payoff in the end.

 

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Time to Think Snow.

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011

 For Landscape Contractors in the northern United States it’s time to think about snow. August is fast closing and September is the time to check your equipment and dust off the snow removal agreements. Most Landscape Contractors must think a season ahead of themselves. It seems odd to be talking about snow preparations in 90 degree weather, but if you want to be ready now is the time to start. Most property managers are beginning to build budgets for next year and snow is at the top of the list for budget items because it is so unpredictable and costly if not handled correctly.

Your sales staff should be making contact with your customers now. Most customers will wait until the last possible minute to sign so you need to be prepared for the first snow event. It is always helpful for you and the property owners or management to walk your site to determine were snow is to be piled and where icy conditions may occur.  Secondly, your sales staff needs to be looking for new opportunities to grow this part of the business. I have found that it is easy to over commit yourself in this part of the business. However, for a quality contractor, the opportunities are endless. This requires that you know what your snow capacity is for the equipment and people you have. The snow business also lends itself well to subcontracting work to other contractors, but be careful and check out any potential subcontractor well before the first snow flies.

Subcontracting requires that you check their equipment, insurance coverage and have them sign an agreement with you to insure they clearly understand the responsibilities of the task. It is helpful to meet with your subcontractors and cover the basics of your expectations. I would suggest that you meet them on site as well to insure that you have the understanding of where the snow is to be pushed and what areas will require ice control. 

I have found that it is also helpful to created maps of your snow removal accounts. If for some reason the regular subcontractor is out, someone else can pickup the project without missing a beat. Snow removal is just like your business, you need to plan and be prepared. Make sure that you check out all your equipment to insure that it is in good working order to insure you aren’t struggling with last minute repairs. This includes plows, snow pushers, salters/sanders, snowblowers and ATVs. Don’t get caught at the last minute with equipment issues. Snow removal is about preparation and planning.

 

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A Marketing Plan is a Must for all Landscape Contractors!

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Monday, August 22nd, 2011

A marketing plan is a must for all Landscape Contractors. You can be the best Landscape Contractor in you market, but if you don’t market and market effectively who will know? Knowing how to market your company, yourself and your services are the key to a successful business. You, as the owner need to take the bull by the horns and start marketing your company. This is as important as knowing your financial numbers. Marketing is as important as the type of equipment you use, it is as important as the colors of your uniforms.

What things can you as the owner do to market your company? First, develop a strategy that set you apart from the competition. What is the one thing that makes your company different and how do you tell that story to the customer? No one knows better than you. Secondly, networking in the community. Not just with your peer groups or at monthly contractor meeting. This is part of the marketing strategy, to learn about the competition, but it is not going to build revenues in your business. Join a civic group, look for leads in groups or other organizations where you will find people who purchase your services. Develop that marketing referral program that we discussed earlier in the week. Train your sales staff to ask for those referrals.

Don’t become passive about marketing. As the owner, you are marketing your company constantly. Learn what other industries are doing to market their products and services and how you can use those methods in your business. Educate yourself and then teach these methods to your staff. It may be time to revisit the old customer files and make contact with them, It will have more meaning coming from the owner. I know that you can’t do everything, but you can develop the strategy for a successful marketing plan.

Owning a small business is not easy and requires that you wear many hats. Marketing is one that ranks at the top. Look at the most successful companies that you know and determine what makes them successful. I am willing to bet you that marketing is high on the owners list of priorities. You need to face the fact, large or small that marketing is in your future.

 

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Past Customers are Great Assets for New Sales

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Friday, August 19th, 2011

Your past customers know you and trust you. By maintaining contact, it is easy for them to buy from you again. Keep in mind that it costs your customer  time and money to hire a new contractor each year and it costs you money to find new customers. By using old customer lists it becomes much more cost effective to sign new work with the past customer for all involved.

I find that a personal visit to the customer is the most effective way to maintain the relationship during the off season. Using email and mailings can be effective too. Don’t make the mistake of sending mindless information to your past customers. Make the information meaningful and relevant to there needs.

Make sure you include past customers in specials that you offer during the year.  The holidays are a good time to make contact with the client and in most case it’s a friendly time for everyone. Use this time to reestablish the relationship.

You need to offer new services to that past customer to let them know that you are able to handle all their needs. This the fastest way to grow your business. Get the old customer files and start calling today.

 

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Effective Landscape Contracting Advertising Campaign

By Sitesource · Comments (0)
Thursday, August 18th, 2011

People purchase landscape services because they want and expect a certain result. For example, people purchase lawn mowing services, because they are expecting a manicured turf area. They purchase chemical lawn applications because they are expecting a lush green lawn. It doesn’t matter to most customers what you use or do, they are interested in the benefit that they will receive from your service. Customers think, what’s in it for me? The benefit most purchasers are interested in is what the results are on their property. Does your marketing direct the customers to the benefits your company can provide or talk more about the services your company offers?

When you advertise your company do you appeal to the customers expectation or to your capabilities as a contractor? Most tell a story of what they can provide and never deal with what the customers really wants. Be clear in your message to customers that you provide services that will result in a lush green manicured lawn, that is the envy of the neighbors. Your ads should contain a headline that speaks to the customer: for example “Enjoy a Staycation this year and build that outdoor living space”. Something that appeals to the customer’s situation and current economic circumstance. This is offering the customer and opportunity to improve their property, it allows them to feel good about not taking a vacation this year, and it creates an investment in their home. All benefits to them!

Next time your company develops an ad campaigns, consider using benefits in you head lines, draw the customer into your results. Don’t focus on how great your company performs mowing or builds outdoor living space. What’s in it for the customer? I know this is much different than your normal ad campaign, but think about the reason customers purchase your services. Develop a campaign with several ads using a headline that speaks to the wants and desires of the customer. Make it something that draws customers to a benefit that they desire.

Next time you look at an ad that interest you, look to see if there is a headline and a benefit to you the customer. Thats what makes a great ad.

 

 

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