Safety training should be implemented daily, not just in office meetings.
Photo courtesy of Mahoney Associates
Keeping crews safe and job sites accident-free are top priorities for every landscape company, but achieving a safety culture that’s front-of-mind with every employee doesn’t just happen on its own.
Building a safety culture takes intention and requires routine safety meetings, standard safety protocols and management and leadership teams that take safety seriously.
To glean tips for establishing a safety-first mentality, Lawn & Landscape spoke with three firms who have won national awards for their safety records – Clarence Davids & Company, with multiple locations serving the Chicago area; Mahoney Associates, in Southampton, New York; and Snow & Sons Tree & Landscaping in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
1. Standardize Crews’ Safety Equipment.
To ensure crews have the safety equipment they need, Mahoney Associates provides every team member with a standard safety starter kit, which includes a reflective vest,
ear and eye protection, as well as high-visibility jackets for the winter, says Michael Maskiell, Mahoney’s lawn care division manager. Crew members are also asked to sign a document acknowledging receipt of the safety wear – both for insurance purposes but also to signify that they agree to commit to wearing them.
Mahoney has also installed standardized safety equipment on every crew truck, including a first-aid kit, a fire extinguisher and even a card with pertinent safety information. “Taped to the back window of every truck is a safety card with 911 as well as the phone number and address of the local hospital, walk-in clinic, and Chemtrec – if there is a chemical exposure,” says founder Don Mahoney.
2. Prioritize On-the-Job Safety Training.
At Snow & Sons, much of the safety training surrounding equipment use is done on-the-job, with foremen and other leadership personnel modeling best practices to new hires and those less familiar with the tools. It starts with basic training at the office – how to use the equipment safely and to get the desired result and what to watch out for when working on a job site.
Employees then practice using the equipment at the office before working with crews on a job site. “With equipment, we’re going to show employees how to run it, what you need to watch out for and how to do a good job,” says manager Kyle Snow. “When dealing with chainsaws and hedge trimmers in particular, we try to outline possible problem scenarios that could cause injuries.”
Mahoney Associates frequently supplements its internal staff safety trainings with workshops provided through other, outside sources – including industry associations and the company’s own insurance company.
“Our insurance company sent someone in for five-hours of training to get our team certified on forklifts, doing defensive driving, proper lifting, and cold-weather exposure training,” Mahoney says. “Once we reached out, we learned they had this massive catalog of safety programs – some we can implement ourselves, and others where they can send someone in.”
“With equipment, we’re going to show employees how to run it, what you need to watch out for and how to do a good job.” Kyle Snow, manager, Snow & Sons Tree & Landscaping
3. Hold Regular Safety Meetings.
At Clarence Davids & Company, all staff members attend a full-day safety training just before the spring busy season and again before the winter snow removal season.
“Everybody comes in, and we have numerous bullet points that we go over, whether it’s driving (safety) or information on new pieces of equipment, or any new regulations that have gone into effect,” says president Bill Davids. “We’ll do the same for snow, with driving and plowing safety during the winter.”
At Mahoney Associates, safety meetings are held weekly or bi-weekly, depending on the work level of the season. But safety lessons aren’t tabled only until meeting time; management and foremen use every workday as an opportunity for training.
“At these meetings, we’ll discuss issues and concerns focusing on safety, review safety procedures, and discuss equipment (protocols),” Maskiell says. “Also, while we’re out in the field, we’re doing safety inspections with the workers and mentoring them on why safety is important – why it’s important for them to wear their safety equipment and how it benefits them.”
Familiarity with equipment, including chainsaws, starts with basic office training and outlining typical scenarios where injuries occur.
Photo courtesy of Mahoney Associates
4. Document Mistakes and Reward Success.
Along with its spring and winter safety trainings, Clarence Davids also has an annual, company-wide fall safety meeting, during which employees with positive safety records are publicly recognized and awarded with sweatshirts or other company gear. Employees are also eligible for twice-a-year paycheck bonuses based on maintaining a clean safety record.
When incidents do occur, the issue is carefully documented and a crew foreman goes over the mistake with the team member.
“Each accident is written up, and it’s gone over by the supervisor and the employee,” Davids says. “Then when we pay out bonuses, they get a sheet that shows their record, either clean, or the date of the incident and what it was.”
5. Keep Crews Visible.
In addition to providing visibility vests or jackets to team members, it’s also essential to make trucks visible – and to find ways to clearly mark work zones – in order to avoid potential traffic, crew or pedestrian accidents.
“I would say safety cones, work zone signage, and caution tape (are essential), anything to prohibit people from coming into a work area if we’re doing tree trimming or other work,” Davids says.
6. Be Mindful of Common Safety Hazards.
When planning your teams’ safety training, don’t focus solely on large-scale safety hazards – such as chainsaw accidents or equipment rollovers – while excluding smaller, more common ones.
“Truthfully, our biggest issues are bee stings and poison ivy,” Snow says. “Those are our most frequent incident reports.”
As a result, Snow & Sons safety training includes steps to avoid bees and how to identify and avoid poison ivy.
In a similar vein, Davids notes that some of the most common safety incidents his crews face involve rocks or other yard debris being thrown by a trimmer or mower.
To lessen the possibility that crews might slip or fall on the job, Mahoney Associates recently painted their mowing-trailer ramps with non-skid paint.
“If it’s raining or if there’s wet grass or leaves, your chance of having a slip and fall injury that could turn into a worker’s comp case is lowered a lot,” Mahoney says.
The company also installed collapsible ladders on its dump trucks to ease in-and-out access.
“The (truck) bodies are so high in the air, so now (with the ladders) the teams have a step to get in and out,” Mahoney says. “We welded handles [on the trucks] where the ladders were installed, so they have something to grab, minimizing someone jumping off and twisting an ankle or hurting their back trying to climb into the truck.”
While building a safety culture takes commitment, crews with successful safety programs say the effort is worth it.
“It’s a great morale-builder for the team as a whole,” Maskiell says. “It shows the team that we care for them. It’s important for the team, and it’s important for the firm.”
The author is a freelance writer in Kentucky.
Bigger & better
Departments - L&L Insider
Back at Michigan State once again, this year’s NCLC might be the most expansive competition yet.
NCLC is heading to the nation’s oldest horticulture school for 2020.
Photo courtesy of Michigan State University
LANSING, Mich. – It’s hosted at the school with the nation’s oldest horticulture program, but there’s plenty of new things happening at this year’s National Collegiate Landscape Competition.
Whether it’s the trial run of a robotics competition event or the revival of a bus tour to nearby horticulture businesses, National Association of Landscape Professionals’ Jennifer Myers said the continually rising number of attendees will have more than enough things to do at NCLC.
“It’s not just getting more students and having more companies at the career fair,” said Myers, NALP’s director of workforce development. “It’s having new, exciting, relevant offerings for those that are attending. We want students to come potentially every year that they’re in school. There’s a reason for them to go above and beyond the competition.”
Myers said she anticipates one of the largest turnouts for NCLC ever, if not the largest attendance in history. The number of expected student participants for 2020 is hovering around 850, and she also said there will be more career fair booths and workshop sessions than ever before.
“I’m getting a lot of these emails saying, ‘We’re bringing our largest team ever, we have more students interested than ever,’” Myers said. “I think we’ve had a couple really positive (competitions) in the last few years. If you go to an event and have an amazing time with great weather and get five job offers, you’re going to go back to your classmates and share that news. The faculty can talk about it all day long, but it comes down to their peers encouraging them to go.”
Myers said that despite a busier schedule than ever, NCLC was able to add a tour of three Michigan horticulture companies so students and faculty can see some professionals in the industry at work. Myers said tours were previously part of the NCLC schedule, but the surge in the number of workshops meant less time to go on a tour. Now, participants can go on the tour scheduled for Tuesday, March 17 (they’ll see Walter Gardens, Spring Meadow Nursery and Kawasaki Motors) and attend workshops Wednesday, March 18.
The Robotics and Technology in Landscape Design and Maintenance event is new to the mix this year. Up to two students per school who compete in the event must answer questions about sample residential or commercial projects and how robotic mowers can solve those issues. They’ll also likely be tasked with drawing and design calculations in the event.
NCLC was able to add a tour of three Michigan horticulture companies for students and faculty.
Myers said this is listed as a test event on NALP’s website for a reason: They want to iron out all the possible issues with the event before it affects overall team scores. Students who compete in the event will still be ranked for their performances.
Michigan State professor Marcus Duck has seen plenty of new competitive events come and go, and he’s been around the competition long enough to have witnessed its growth firsthand. He competed for Auburn University in 1996 and 1997, and once he joined the MSU staff a few years later, he joined Bradley Rowe as co-coaches for the Spartans’ program.
Duck said he’s been mostly impressed with what NCLC has done to make it about more than just the competition. With the addition of a career fair and workshops, he believes there’s more benefits than ever before at NCLC. The workshops allow students to try things that maybe aren’t offered in their respective horticulture programs, and the career fair is one of the industry’s easiest ways to meet potential employers.
“It’s like a couple day interview process. The industry gets to observe the students, and the students get to observe the industry,” Duck said. “The focus has always been on the competition because that’s how you get the students excited, but when they’ve got all this excitement and energy and preparation for the competition, and you have the career fair before that… it makes for a completely different atmosphere for the career fair.”
Duck and Rowe will host the competition for the second time, their first since 2007. Though many of the same facilities used in 2007 will be used again this year, Duck said there’s plenty of work to still do. He’s helped with setup on a majority of the competitions over the last 13 years, which has kept him up to speed with what planning an ever-growing event like this can be like.
“Now that we’re preparing, there are fewer surprises,” Duck said. “The most difficult (part) is finding the space. If we had the event during our spring break, it’d probably be snowing. When we’re having the competition in March, we still have classes.”
Myers attended the previous competition at MSU and said the reunion at a historic program will be powerful.
“Since we rotate around every year, there’s always something unique about the location. I’m excited to go back to Michigan State,” Myers said. “It’s kind of got this homecoming effect for me and I think the planning team and a lot of others.”
Supervision and sales
Leadership and acquiring customers were two topics on the agenda at Real Green’s annual conference.
Nashville – In January, lawn care operators from across the country descended on Nashville, Tennessee for Real Green’s annual users conference – Solutions 2020. The event is designed to not only educate Real Green customers about the software, but also to help attendees with general business lessons. The 20th anniversary of the event it took place at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. Below are some takeaways from educational sessions.
Find that ‘super’visor.
One problem that plagues a lot of companies is the method in which they promote employees. You take a field worker or salesperson who excelled at that role and then promote them to a supervisor position, but you may later find they don’t have great leadership skills.
“That’s especially easy to do when you are in the middle of peak season and you lose someone,” said Chuck Williams, contact center manager at Senske Services based in Washington. But Williams said leadership skills can be taught. Here are three points to help you create the ideal supervisor.
1. Interpersonal skills – This is the ability to connect to people and then connect them to something productive. One way to do this is by genuinely expressing appreciation for someone’s work with details. Williams uses the Situation, Behavior and Impact Tool – for example, expressing gratitude to an employee who, during a busy time (situation), completed extra tasks efficiently (behavior) and it helped everyone get caught up on the work (impact).
2. Conflict management – Conflict is normal and necessary for growth because that means there are people in the room who want to succeed. Conflict is unhealthy when it’s not managed properly, Williams said. Properly managed conflict is one of the most beneficial things for an organization, and if you don’t want someone to disagree with you, you aren’t a leader, Williams said. When dealing with conflict, do your best to take emotions out of it.
3. Communication – Employees want to know what’s going on, and if you don’t fill in the blanks, they will fill the blanks in with the worst-case scenarios possible, Williams said. Keeping people in the dark will lead to fear, which isn’t productive.
Keep knocking.
With restrictions on telemarketing, like the national “do not call” list, old fashioned door-to-door sales are still a viable way to get new customers, said Ken White, owner of Hometown Pest & Lawn in Michigan.
“It can be fun and it can be frustrating,” White said of going door-to-door.
But before you or your employee start knocking, make sure you know the door-to-door solicitations rules of the area you are canvassing. Not only will it keep you from a meeting with the police, it could save you time.
“Door-to-door isn’t for every city. If it’s difficult to get a permit, that could mean the people in the city don’t want door-to-door sales,” White said.
Before you start canvassing a neighborhood, mail a brochure the week before you knock and place signs in the area a few days before walking. White said you can have salespeople with the company serve as the canvassers, or you can hire hourly employees specifically for the job.
If you go the latter rout, put a supervisor who spends five hours a day focusing on this aspect of your business – recruiting, role playing, organizing pickups and drop-offs, facilitating daily and weekly meetings.
White recommends going door-to-door over a 12-week period with work starting 3-4 weeks before production begins or when the sidewalks are clear of snow. Shoot for 6-7 days a week, with the option of avoiding Sunday. If you are going to door-to-door on a Saturday, have a truck in the neighborhood to service lawns that day if a sale is made. Don’t ask people to go door-to-door for more than a few hours since it can get exhausting.
“It can be grueling work,” Smith said.
You should have three teams of two with one person on each side of the street. Instruct them never to go into the house. The door-knockers could be the ones doing the selling, or they can just serve as the initial point of contact to inquire if the homeowner wants to meet with a salesperson. If so, Thomas said sometimes he can have a salesperson ready to visit the potential client later that day.
Smith buys company shirts for the canvassers to wear as part of a uniform and they are not allowed to wear sunglasses.
“It’s going to be our first impression,” he said.
NALP to separate from GIE+EXPO in 2022
Beginning in 2022, NALP will no longer host LANDSCAPES in conjunction with GIE+EXPO and plans to host its own conference.
FAIRFAX, Va. – The National Association of Landscape Professionals will separate its annual meeting, LANDSCAPES, from GIE+EXPO beginning in 2022 and will host its own stand-alone conference.
For more than a decade, NALP has held its annual meeting in Louisville in conjunction with GIE+EXPO. Before that, the association hosted an annual meeting and exposition (the Green Industry Expo) which traveled to different cities.
“We’ve enjoyed a strong partnership with the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, and we continue to work together on government relations and other important industry issues,” said Britt Wood, NALP CEO. “But the time has come to provide members with a new annual meeting experience, so beginning in 2022, our conference will move to different cities.”
NALP has assembled a planning task force, including industry suppliers and manufacturers, lawn care, maintenance and design-build professionals, to provide guidance and input into the design of the new conference. Member input is also being gathered to ensure that the conference provides the best education and networking opportunities while incorporating local facility tours and the latest innovations.
“We look forward to opening up new opportunities for attendees as we create the future NALP Annual Meeting experience, beginning in 2022,” Wood said. “In the meantime, we are focused on providing innovative and exceptional LANDSCAPES conferences for the next two years in Louisville.”
In 2022, OPEI will move into 100% ownership of the GIE+EXPO, which in 2020 is set for October 21-23. Attendees can expect hands-on drone training, expanded tree care demonstrations, a UTV test track and a continued co-location with Hardscape North America.
“OPEI has signed an extension agreement for the show from 2022-2024 with the Kentucky Exposition Center and area hotels in Louisville for the future. GIE+EXPO has always been the industry’s family reunion, and the place to be if you’re in this business,” OPEI President and CEO Kris Kiser said. “We’re looking forward to continuing to work with our partners to provide the best training, education, and hands-on learning for the entire industry.”
BrightView acquires Top 100 company
The company acquired Signature Coast Holdings based in Napa, California.
BLUE BELL, Pa. – BrightView Holdings acquired Signature Coast Holdings, a commercial landscaping company headquartered in Napa, California. Transaction terms were not disclosed. Signature Coast ranked No. 55 on our 2019 Top 100 list with $33 million in 2018 revenue.
Signature Coast’s operations span nine locations in both California (Concord, Davis, Marin, Napa, Rocklin, Sacramento and Santa Rosa) and Nevada (Carson City and Reno). The company provides landscape maintenance, irrigation, enhancement, installation, arbor care, pest control and snow removal services under its three major brands: Coast Landscape Management, Signature Landscapes and C&R Landscape. The company’s 600 employees serve clients across the corporate, HOA, multi-family and municipal segments.
Andrew Masterman, president and CEO of BrightView, said this move was the second largest acquisition the company has made since the 2017 inception of “our successful ‘strong-on-strong’ acquisition strategy. I look forward to working with the team for many years to come.”
Kelly Solomon, CEO of Signature Coast, and her senior leadership team will remain with BrightView to guide the integration process and beyond. “Our shared values toward our customers and employees convinced me that joining BrightView was the logical next step for Signature Coast. In addition to sharing best practices and leveraging industry-leading resources, I am excited by the opportunities that we will create for our award-winning team members to continue growing while keeping the customer at the center of everything we do,” she said.
In addition to acquiring Signature Coast, BrightView also recently announced its acquisition of Summit Landscape Group in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Established in 2011, Summit serves the Charlotte, Charleston and Hilton Head markets in the Carolinas, as well as its clients in Nashville, Tennessee. Summit Landscape Group founders Mike Knabenshue and Steve Adolph will remain with BrightView to provide leadership continuity.
Loving acquires H&H Sod Farm in Orlando
In addition to the acquisition, Loving has created a strategic partnership with Scotts and Bethel Turf.
GASTONIA, N.C. – The Loving Group recently acquired H&H Sod Farm, which is located in Orlando. The Loving Group ranked No. 70 on Lawn & Landscape's Top 100 list in 2018 with $27 million in revenue.
“Although our company has been built solely through organic growth rather than acquisitions, we found that the shared values and belief in fostering strong communities made this opportunity a natural fit,” said Mike Haynes, founder and CEO of Loving. “We are excited for the continued opportunity to expand as it allows us greater opportunity to capitalize on our mission of creating a positive impact through our outreach efforts in the communities that we serve.”
Founded in 1969 by Danny and Lois Hall, H&H Sod Farm has grown to become one of the largest sod farming operations in the state of Florida.
In addition to the H&H Sod Farm acquisition, Loving has created a strategic partnership with both Scotts and Bethel Turf to join in the production and distribution of ProVista Turf throughout the state of Florida. “Bethel and Scotts are happy to welcome Loving into the ProVista network, we are excited about the numerous distribution opportunities that Loving provides through the strong relationships that they have created,” said Will Nugent, owner of Bethel Turf.
“We believe that this step is a major milestone in our effort to increase public awareness and education of ProVista Turf. We are thrilled of the numerous homebuilders throughout the state that have already committed to transition their new lawns over to ProVista Turf, providing their homebuyers a superior looking turfgrass, that requires a fraction of the maintenance.” Nugent added.
Loving is headquartered in Gastonia, North Carolina and offers landscaping, outdoor living and sod farming services to both local and national homebuilding clients throughout the Southeastern United States.
SiteOne acquires two suppliers to start 2020
ROSWELL, Ga. – SiteOne Landscape Supply recently acquired Wittkopf Landscape Supplies in Spokane, Washington, and Empire Supplies in Newark, New Jersey.
Wittkopf has two locations focused on the distribution of hardscapes and landscape supplies to landscape professionals.
It was SiteOne’s first acquisition of 2020.
“Wittkopf is a great fit with SiteOne as they expand our offerings in a growing market that we entered in 2018 with our acquisition of AutoRain, an irrigation products distributor. This addition aligns with our mission to be the best full-line distributor to landscape professionals in all major U.S. and Canadian markets,” said Doug Black, chairman and CEO of SiteOne Landscape Supply.
Meanwhile, Empire Supplies serves the greater Newark-Union, N.J. metro with three locations focused on the distribution of hardscapes and landscape supplies to landscape professionals.
Black complimented Empire’s company culture and said the move helps them improve their presence “in an attractive market.”
For as helpful as technology can be in different aspects of our lives, it can also cause many problems.
I was reminded of this while speaking with a landscape contractor who had some major issues with software alignment last year. He had been operating on three different software platforms, and it was causing chaos within his company. So much chaos he went through six different people in his two office administration positions in one year.
Brian Horn, editor, Lawn & Landscape
His description of how the software challenges basically crippled his company was eye-opening.
He said, “it robbed my staff of confidence and enthusiasm for their daily tasks.”
Imagine making an investment to improve your company, and that investment has the complete opposite effect. No one would blame the contractor if he threw in the towel and went back to the old school paper-and-pen method.
But he didn’t turn his back on technology. He kept looking for other options and eventually found a new software that fit his company’s needs. He pointed out something to me that it seems a lot of contractors miss: finding the right software takes time and patience.
“It costs money to invest in software, but I cannot put a price on what we gained in efficiency,” he says. “I cannot imagine running a sizable business on paper, but I know many lawn care and pest control companies do. Having reports, invoicing, scheduling and customer account notes all in one place is priceless. As we found through our struggles, the wrong piece of software robs you of your efficiency and can hurt your customers.”
Imagine making an investment to improve your company, and it has the complete opposite effect.
Finding “the right fit” is a common phrase I often hear around hiring. Employers are willing to take the time and money to find the right fits for their organizations. Why shouldn’t that be the case for the software you use or the equipment you buy?
While we are talking about technology, I’ll get one more plug in for the Lawn & Landscape Technology Conference. In case you missed one of the many, many emails (yes, we know we peppered your inbox these past few months), we are hosting an educational conference focused on technology in the green industry from Feb. 19-21 in Orlando. If you are seeing this in the digital edition, there is probably still time to register. Visit bit.ly/lltech20 to learn more.
If you aren’t able to make it this year, we hope to see you in 2021. – Brian Horn
Travels with Jim follows Jim Huston around the country as he visits with landscapers and helps them understand their numbers to make smarter decisions.
The mid-December drive from Logan, Utah, through Lincoln, Nebraska and St. Louis on my way to Indianapolis was going to be a rough one. Early winter snowstorms ripped through the Midwest as I drove across Wyoming and Nebraska on I-80. Fortunately, I carried a shovel and a Bubba Rope (an elastic tow rope that’s great for getting you unstuck) in my trunk.
How it works in the real world.
Bill’s revenue was just under $1 million a year and he enjoyed an unparalleled reputation for installing hardscapes in his market. Going into 2020, he had some big jobs ahead of him and he wanted to ensure that his “numbers” accurately reflected his cost structure.
To price his work, Bill had a day-rate for his three-man crew. He would then add a 20-30% markup to his material costs. If a project required subcontractors, he’d mark up those costs 10-20%. The markups on material and subcontractor costs were fine. However, the day-rate that he was using was too low because it did not include his truck and equipment costs. This happened for the following reasons.
First, Bill thought that his field truck and equipment costs were covered by and included in his crew day-rate and the markups on the materials and subcontractor costs. The assumption was that field truck and equipment costs were below the gross profit margin (GPM) line and included in his general and administrative (G&A) overhead costs. Second, almost all of his field trucks and equipment were paid for and 100% depreciated. As a result, cash flow was fine and the depreciation for these items did not show up on his financial statements in his G&A overhead costs.
Add all of this up and Bill’s pricing was about 10% too low. Interestingly, my benchmark for all of a green industry contractor’s truck and equipment costs total about 12% +/-2%. Two percent of this total accounts for G&A overhead vehicles. The cost breakdown for such items for a typical green industry company is in the chart below.
To begin with, Bill’s costs for field trucks and equipment were understated since they were 100% depreciated in his financials. In addition, because they were in his G&A overhead costs, they weren’t addressed as a line item in his bidding process. Jobs that required a lot of equipment were bid too low. Ones that required just pickup trucks and wheel barrows were bid too high.
Analysis.
Putting a cost in your G&A overhead and adding it to your pricing by means of your direct cost (materials, field labor, labor burden, trucks & equipment, and subcontractors) markups essentially averages these costs in your pricing. Bill averaged his field truck and equipment costs in his pricing. Some jobs he priced too high. Others he either priced correctly or too low.
Many green industry contractors have been taught to include their field truck and equipment costs below the line and in their G&A overhead costs. They then supposedly include them in their pricing by means of their markups on the direct costs in a bid.
Over the years, this caused Bill to underprice his work by about 10%. Due to his excellent reputation, I believe he could have raised his prices 5-10% without losing any work. Multiply his average annual revenue over 30 years by 10% and you get the following:
$700,000 avg. annual revenue x 30 years in business x 10% =
$21,000,000 x .1 = $2,100,000 in lost revenue
If his underpricing was only 5%, he still would have under-priced his work by over $1 million.
Conclusion.
Putting your field truck and equipment costs in your G&A overhead on your P&L statement is bad enough. What’s worse is assuming that when you price your work using direct cost markups, such costs are covered by these markups. The solution is to have specific line items in your bidding process for your field trucks and equipment.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to use my shovel and Bubba Rope to dig myself out of a snowy hole along I-80. Unfortunately, too many green industry contractors dig themselves into a financial hole because they don’t understand how to bid their equipment in their projects. Too often they end up digging a great big hole that shows up on their bottom line.
Words of Wilson features a rotating panel of consultants from Bruce Wilson & Company, a landscape consulting firm.
With the promise of a new decade, plus as content marketing and social media drives strategic value, a great brand story in 2020 will be one of the best ways to drive a deeper connection with your audience.
Seth Godin, the author of “Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable,” has this advice for CEOs thinking about repositioning their brand: “Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make, but about the stories you tell.”
The best story about your company will ultimately connect at an emotional level, or how your brand fits into your customers’ experience. In other words, it’s not about the awesomeness of what you do, but about how what you do has an awesome impact on others.
To find your talking points for a customer-centered storyline, look to what’s going on in their market, their priorities and goals, and how and where they buy.
To illustrate how this works, let’s look at the influence of environmental performance in the property and facility management industries. Generally, this segment’s sustainability drivers center around improved air quality, energy efficiency, water management, ecological impacts and safety and risk management.
If this is your market, and your services support green goals, here are 10 ways to reframe your sustainability story and create content written from your commercial customers’ point of view:
1. Focus on the upside of your organization’s processes, policies and best practices as related to the natural environment and how your path to sustainability improves your customers’ path to stewardship.
2. Discuss how an integrated landscape strategy benefits green building or LEED, supports urban green zone initiatives, improves a healthy public space, decreases annual operating costs and reaffirms the value of landscape as a return on investment.
3. Demonstrate your leadership in managing impacts by showcasing innovation, energy efficiency, smart water technologies, renewable and alternative solutions and all-season conservation and eco-friendly practices that protect groundwater, mitigate erosion, encourage bio-diversity and benefit habitats and watersheds.
4. Build a narrative around four-season value creation; your expertise in managing snow/ice, fire, drought or extreme weather events, and why your unique knowledge in ecologically productive landscapes, rain gardens, habitat restoration, pollinator and bee-friendly programs, for example, translate to mitigating risk and improving the quality of life.
5. Connect your company’s environmentally friendly landscape design, construction and maintenance and winter management practices with improved property resiliency and higher performance.
6. Make sustainability central to the way you do business – why it drives how you train your teams, advances your professional growth, leans up your operations, serves your customers and makes your company a great place to work.
7. Always involve your customers in your story and how your company has positively improved the life of their business.
8. Be true to your company’s authentic self. Make sure your content matches your brand values and voice.
9. Know your customer. Social media can get your message out to millions. Sometimes it’s better to reach a perfect audience of 100.
10. Where you tell your story is as important as how you tell it. Use the right medium. Find out where your customer buys, what platforms they’re on and where they seek information and news. Don’t forget video or the value of panels, presentations, and lunch and learns.
Landscape companies are moving toward making sustainability messaging less ambiguous. What’s good for the planet is generally good for people. Take a closer look at what your company is doing to create value for your employees and customers. Elevate your brand story by demonstrating the long-lasting impact landscapes have to unite people where they live, work and play.
