This year marks the fourth year in which Chipco Professional Products and Lawn & Landscape magazine have partnered to recognize those professionals in the industry whose personal contributions have contributed to the industry’s development. These individuals will be honored at a reception to be held at this year’s Green Industry Expo in Nashville, Tenn. A new member of the 2002 Leadership Class will be announced at Lawn & Landscape Online every Monday and Thursday between now at then.
A peek into John Buechner’s Palm Pilot would show a day full of phone calls, meetings and special project work. A self-professed “morning person,” Buechner rolls into work at Lawn Doctor’s Holmdel, NJ office at 7 a.m.
In a typical day, Buechner said, he answers anywhere from 10 to 30 technical support calls from Lawn Doctor franchisees, acting as a consultant to their various “frequently asked questions.”
“Helping people is my favorite part of my job,” he stated. “I like it when people call back in and tell me how everything turned out. It confirms that I gave them good advice. There’s a sense of satisfaction in being able to help solve people’s problems and answer their questions.”
In the technical services department, he works with the company’s various departments, giving ideas and checking technical information. From assisting with the development of new programs with a lawn care material company to making marketing materials from a technical standpoint, Buechner has his hand in developing Lawn Doctor’s service.
Even now as he spends more days in meetings than on turf, he still manages to keep up with the industry by constant contact. In addition to spending his daytimes on the phone, he does some periodic traveling between the company’s franchises when he’s needed, which gives him his much-needed field experience. In addition, he credits new forms of communication with making his job easier.
“The electronic media has changed my job somewhat because what I do is based on being able to get information quickly,” Buechner explained. “The Internet keeps me up to date because I can go to different extension sites and see what’s happening.
I think the company has more people in the field that do some of the work I used to do,” he commented. “I rely more on my technical support staff and on our field staff to tell me what’s going on.”
Up until he leaves each day at 4:30, Buechner is inundated with the need for service – and he gives willingly. From business troubleshooting with franchise owners to offering tech support to his company’s committees, he is a man of constant advice made possible only from years of experience.