16 ideas to steal from Coastal Greenery

Johns and his team hosted a tour as part of GROW! 2015, an annual conference organized by L&L columnist Marty Grunder. More than 200 landscapers from across the country converged on southeastern Georgia to learn how to work more on their businesses instead of in them. For pictures of the event, click here.

 

Coastal Greenery employs 47 people and in 2014 posted $3.2 million in revenue. During the tour, the company’s staff opened up to share how it operates everything from when the gates open in the morning to when they close at night. Here are sixteen ideas they shared that you can use to improve your company, too.

 

1. Misty Johns, Jeffery’s wife and head of the marketing team at Coastal Greenery, worked with an outside agency to develop a sharp, eye-catching logo to help the company stand out in the very crowded southeastern Georgia market. That logo is everywhere – on business cards, trucks, trailers, uniforms and leave-behind materials for clients. 

2. The company prints and mails a quarterly newsletter to current, past and prospective clients to build and reinforce relationships and educate them on things like how to protect plant material in the cold and how to choose the best color for their landscape plantings. It’s not a sales pitch from Coastal Greenery. 

3. Any prospective employees are first asked a series of questions to determine if they’re worth even talking to, such as, “Are you currently working?” and, “Do you smoke?” (CGI is an entirely smoke-free company, which gets it a break on its insurance rates.)

4. New employees are asked if they can run equipment, and then, regardless of their answers, are asked to demonstrate their proficiency at the CGI yard, not on a client’s property. 

5. CGI has a standing meeting Tuesday mornings with the leadership team to discuss any problems and keep each division informed of what’s happening (and why it’s happening) in the rest of the company. That team includes Jeffrey as head of sales, Misty as head of marketing, Crystal Price as head of finance and Faulkner Bell, operations manager. 

6. Price plans a quarterly meeting that brings the entire company together for a few hours. Here, the leadership team can publicly celebrate employees who have gone above and beyond in their work, announce birthdays, weddings and births, as well as update the team on financial progress. 

7. The company tracks “kudos” on index cards – compliments from customers and team members. Whoever has the most kudos at each quarterly all-staff meetings wins an MVP award

8. Crews refill gas cans and equipment when they return to the yard every afternoon. Next to the gas pump is a Dumpster, where they empty any trash from their trucks. Green waste is dumped in the back of the property, and removed by a third party to be composted off site. 

9. Crews wash their trucks regularly (at least once a week or more as necessary) at one of several wash sites on the property. 

10. Crew members are on the clock when they clean up their equipment, and are scored by the company’s mechanic according to a punch list. The crew with the cleanest truck for the month wins free lunch. 

11. Gates open at 6 a.m. so crews can punch in and get ready, and reopen at 4 p.m. The yard is locked during the day. The morning huddle, led by Bell and translated for Spanish speaking employees, starts at 6:30 sharp. It is usually finished by 6:36 and the trucks roll. If an employee is late to work, he is sent home without pay. He’s replaced for the day with a floater crewmember. 

12. Bell tracks the daily cost for the huddle. He figures it costs 26 cents per minute per man, so about $55 for six minutes. Each day’s figure is posted in the office near the schedule board. 

13. CGI’s sales team uses Skitch to communicate client requests on job sites to team leaders and crew members. Marked up photos can be emailed to the office and printed out in color and attached to job forms for the crews

14. The CGI team uses Aspire software, which combines the features of Excel and Outlook to allow scheduling, job tracking and communication between sales and production staffs. 

15. Russell Pittman, CGI’s lead mechanic, works five eight-hour days, also maintains the facility (electric, plumbing, etc.). Friday (when crews are off) is truck maintenance day (regular oil changes, tire inspections, etc.).

16. Pittman uses Mower Meter software to track equipment maintenance and hours. When CGI has spent three-quarters of the value of handheld equipment they trade it in and replace it with a new piece.