While many GIE+EXPO attendees were making their way to Louisville, Kentucky, for this year’s convention, a handful of landscapers spent their day in Lexington, participating in a facility tour hosted by the National Association of Landscape Professionals.
The first stop on the tour was Henkel Denmark. “We’re really impressed with who you are,” said Gordon Denmark, co-founder of the company. “It brought to mind a fight I used to fight all the time: thinking I wasn’t good enough.”
He said at the time, he felt like someone was always better, but now he knows that everyone is a little different, but great in their own way.
“Throw away the fear and the doubt and just make friends, learn and grow,” he said.
During the visit, attendees also got to experience a few things that Henkel Denmark does with its crews. First up was stretches, where everyone followed Denmark as he directed what to do. Then, everyone rushed into the center and shouted a cheer to learning. Denmark said the company likes to celebrate somebody or something when everyone cheers.
At the three stations, members of the group had a chance to learn about the company’s operating system, Boss LM. After explaining how they use it, the session was opened to the floor so people could talk about the system they use, as well as ask questions about Boss LM.
The landscape designers also led a session where they explained how in the last year, they switched up their consultation setup. Now, instead of wasting time driving to potential clients’ houses to give a consultation, they ask clients to come to them. This eliminated clients who weren’t serious because they weren’t willing to waste their own time.
The final session covered marketing. Henkel Denmark worked with a marketing company to produce a four-minute video highlighting who they are. The marketing group also helped the company narrow down its target audience.
“We’re no longer shooting with a shotgun,” said Bill Henkel, co-founder. “We’re shooting with a rifle.”
The company also recently hosted a party where they invited vendors, partners, subcontractors and clients. Henkel said it gave everyone a chance to talk and get to know the people they were working with.
Following Henkel Denmark, people on the tour stopped at the Klausing Group, just a short drive down the road.
Founded in 1992, Roscoe Klausing, founder and owner, and his brother - who no longer works with the company - joined NALP in 1999.
That was also the year they switched from fully residential to fully commercial. The company now services 120 sites a week with 70 to 80 customers. There is a construction division in Lexington, and a maintenance division in Lexington and Louisville.
Attendees were given a tour of the company’s 2-acre property, which included a water retention system in the parking lot, as well as a rain garden for overflow. The rain garden is also a certified monarch waste station, which means it has a lot of milkweed plants to help the species that is becoming endangered.
The Klausing Group also focuses on training and employee development. Every third Friday, work shuts down and they train employees for the day. Depending on the topic and the materials, sometimes the trainings can even give their crews CEUs.
They also have a crew of the month board. Each month, the crew leaders’ names are put on the board, and each crew is graded on performance, incidents, issues, and efficiency. The crew with the highest number at the end of the month is recognized and taken out to lunch.
The third stop on the tour was an equine facility, maintained by Henkel Denmark as well as Stephen Hillenmeyer Landscape Services.
The facility features 65 miles of post and board fence, and Henkel says he walked the roads of the facility at least four times prior to creating the design.
“It was visual recon,” he said. “Most tree planting has been done in clusters and groups to denote the road and to screen or enhance views.”