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HELLO PROFESSIONAL-LANDSCAPE & IRRIGATION & MAINTENANCE CO & OTHERS I HAVENT MENTIONS AS I KNOW THERE'S ALOT!!!

THIS IS A CONSTANT PROBLEM IN OUR INDUSTRY- WHEN WILL WE BE CONSIDERED
A PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS OWNER AND NOT SOME YARD MAN WHO CLEANS UP
THE CLIENTS YARDS. MOWING A CLIENTS PROPERTY GIVES TAKES ALOT OF WORK AND IS ACTUALLY AN ART FORM AND THE BUSINESS OWNER IS A PROFESSIONAL WHO IS PROVIDING THE SERVICE. WHERES THE RESPECT??

WE ARE NOT GIVEN THE RESPECT WE DESERVE AS WE GO TO SCHOOL AND HAVE OUR STATE LICENSES AND PERMITS SO WHY ARENT WE GETTING THE RECONIZITION WE SO RIGHTLY DESERVE??
WHEN WILL PEOPLE RECONIZE WE ARE PROFESSIONALS WHO HAVE THE EXP AND THE BACKGROUND TO BACK US UP. I ACTUALLY HAD TO GET A GENERAL CONTRACTORS LICENSE RECENTLY.
THIS IS A MAJOR PROBLEM AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN.
ANYONE FEEL THIS WAY???

WE ARE PROSFESSIONAL WHO PROVIDE THE SERVICE PPL NEED BADLY TO GET THERE BANKS TO PAY & C.O. TO MOVE IN. WE ARE CALLED "YARD JANITORS"
WE ARE PROFESSIONAL COMPANYS WHO WORK HARD AS HELL TO MAKE PPL HOMES AND COMMERCIAL JOBS COME TO LIFE WITH TREES,
SHRUBS, SOD, IRRIGATION AND MAINTAINING IT FOR THEM.
IVE HAD SO MANY LANDSCAPE & MAINTENANCE CO TELL ME THE SAME THING
OVER AND OVER AGAIN. WHERES OUR RECONITION???
COMMENTS WELCOMED- JANICE

No one is ever "given respect". You have to become respectable. If you thinkabout it, this is a really good thing. It is much easier to stand out as respectable if others around you are not quite as respectable whether through perception or reality.

"SERVANT MASTERS"


at current I am an arizona certified master gardener, a certified arborist, as certified chem applicator, a licensed contractor with commercial and residential licenses in irrigatioin and landscape and a certified irrigation auditor.

this is considerably more than is required to be an owner-operator of a family landscape maint business. I did this because I wanted to be beter informed, and I had also hoped that by obtaining an outstanding group of credentials I would raise myself beyond the yard butler status......dont count on it.

some folks have recognized and appreciate these achievments, unfortunately there are still those that view what I do as a servants role, and treat me as such.

in twelve years of business I have now come to understand that for many customers the purpose of hiring a landscape maint. crew serves two primary functions. first to maintain their environment effectively, these folks are usually good people to work for and with. they appreciate your work and tend to be happy to see you

The second function we serve, that is not written in any ones contract, is providing the sense of empowerment to the customers ego. these are the frowning, complaining, demanding, ya just cant seem please them no matter what people. they love to critisize and try to add those "couldnt ya Just" jobs to your work without any willingness to pay for it.

the customers who are seeking this second unwritten service are miserable to be around. they tend to have a need for the sense of superiority and control. this is the group that will treat the landscaper like a servant. those that cannot or will not say please or thank you, never seem to be satisfied or happy, have a laundry list of what they dont like and cant muster up one kind word when you go the extra mile for them, dont pay well, or consistantly pay you late. if you've been in landscaping very long you probably know the type....

these folks want you to feel low, so that they can feel high and mighty. It is really disgusting when you think about it. they make every effort to make you and your crewmen feel bad so that they can feel good. the more of a servant you are, the more of a master they perceve themselves to be.

this is not a personality type you want to work for, and it is most often times this personality that will fire you and refuse to make final payment complaining about the quality of your work. the ultimate in master-dom is making someone else do thier dirty work for free...

take a look at your collections report next time and ask yourself what personality type are the dead beats and late payers.... sometimes its good people who forgot, or are having hard times. Most often it is people that hope you will jump through even more of thier hoops, and allow them feel as though they control you. they employ the carrot and the stick approach to getting your payment.

these folks also are generally unreasonable or become enraged when you tell them no, thats not in my contract. they do not accept that they have purchased an agreed upon scope of work identified in a contract but rather believe that they have purchased you, and you are therefore required to do as you are told irregardless of any written agreement.

as you might have guessed I am currently dealing with this type of person. thankfully the service agreement is done. unfortunately the collections issue is just begun. frankly, even if I dont get a penny, Im happy as h*ll to be done with this miserable woman. I jumped through all the hoops and kissed that butt as good as I could but it was never good enough. I feel sorry for the next guy, cause I know what he will be dealing with.....a no win situation

to answer the question posted---

when will they stop treating service persons like servants..

when we quit working for them. when no one will take the job. when they find themselves doing their own work. when the landscape has engulfed the front door and no one will help. when their circumstances FORCE them to play nice with others, and not one minuite, not one second sooner. letting go of the Master status is very diffictult for these people and they will continue this behavior for as long as there is a way, as long as there is a servant beat up on to feed thier ego.

the decision I have now made, and the suggestion I have for others is to eliminate the "servant masters" from your account list. I did not, and I regret it. times are tough and I convinced myself that I needed to suck it up for the money. money that has not been recieved. alotta good that did me....lol

The ultimate in master-dom is to have you do their work and recieve nothing for your effort.... this is god status for these people.... the idea that you live to serve them, and deserve nothing in return is quite an ego booster. like an orgasim of self-importance.

so consider your customers personality type. if they are a servant-master.....loose them. if you need the money...loose them even faster.

John I reread your post today and spent some time on the past due accounts , compared several names to last years and year before. Several of them will recieve letters in the mail and encouragement to move on to a new business.

As for Chuck last summer a very old customer of mine screwed me out of about $3,000.. It took a lot of forgivenness not to burn his house down , or wish bad thoughts on him. And the sad part his has the money. But I didn't follow my own rules on a couple of change orders.

I think you nailed right on the head Andrew. I've never understood the people who whine about people not respecting landscapers. I've never had an issue with it. It's all in how you operate and how your present yourself. If you truly are a professional you will have no respect issues. Plus, some people out there are just snobs and a$$holes to begin with so who cares if you don't feel that they respect you. They probably dont' respect anybody anyhow. There are far more important things to be worried about.

When I became the owner of my company I was 26 years old. I had a broken down fleet of ugly trucks and a pretty slouchy looking rag tag crew. I still managed to gain the respect of the people I was working for and I still managed to sell some pretty substantial maintenance contracts. I did what I said I was going to do, I stood behind my work and I took good care of the people I was working for. And you know what.. it paid off. Sure I didn't win some bids becasue of my age and the assumption that I was not capable. I even lost a contract and was told flat out that they didn't think that I would make it. People can be judgemental a$$holes. But I stuck with it, operated in a professional manner and have watched my company grow substantially over the last 8 years. I now have 40+ employees, a fleet of 20 practically new vehicles and a damn nice facility. I could have very easily whined about the way people percieved me but I didn't. You are the only person who can decide what kind of recognition and respect you will gain.