A Professional Focus

It’s time to focus on professionalism in the green industry.

That’s what consultant Gary Kinman has been telling fellow lawn care professionals for years. As a popular presenter at industry-related events, Kinman often tackled the topic of professionalism, noting its weak presence in the landscaping world.

“If you look in Webster’s dictionary, the word professionalism refers to training and education in a particular field that is enforced by standards,” Kinman recited. “But in this industry, we seem to be missing those standards.”

The first step to achieving professionalism in any industry is identifying standards, he noted. And since there are no solid standards for the industry, contractors must take the initiative to create and live by them.

“Without standards, there is a lot of chaos because in the consumer’s mind there is no model or expectation to compare anything to,” Kinman pointed out. “By enforcing standards on yourself, you really stand out from the crowd. People can’t put their finger on it, but they know you and your lawn care company are different.”

For the past few years, Kinman has taken his message of professional standards on the road. After two decades of owning and operating Kinman Signature Designs, Powell, Ohio, he jumped into consulting – with the creation of the Kinman Institute and a two-day course titled Focus on Professionalism. So far, more than 290 professionals have participated in the seminar, which kicked off in January 2000.

“We’re empowering people,” Kinman said of Focus on Professionalism. “The goal is to absolutely revolutionize the design/build industry. We want to knock down everyone in world that is doing it wrong down – and then teach them the right way.”

Kinman shares “the right way” by teaching seminar attendees about the business process. “Understanding the business process gives your business stability,” he explained.

In his seminar, Kinman addresses business, psychology and communication. Discussing psychology is important because contractors must understand people in order to succeed in the face-to-face challenges of landscape design and maintenance.

The professionalism seminar also outlines problem patches within the industry, offering possible solutions and urging contractors to make changes where possible.

“The two-day course is a compendium of all of my little skill sets that I’ve developed over the years into a process that helps us do what we do,” Kinman recalled. “It’s always been my belief that our industry is focused on doing more of the wrong things faster and not doing the wrong things.”

The industry is based on selling things to people for no reason, Kinman observed. Contractors don’t know why they sell certain products and services – all they know is that the industry applauds them for it. The sales focus needs to shift from quantity to quality, he urged. And there should be a purpose for everything a landscape contractor or designer does for a client.

Through his seminars, Kinman proposes many keys to professionalism and success in the green industry. Training and education are two of those essentials.

With a business degree in finance and more than 25 years of industry experience, Kinman has a wealth of business smarts to share with others in the industry.

Speaking specifically about landscape design, Kinman urged contractors to listen to their clients. “You have to discover the intent of the property, and to do that you need to let the property owner talk,” he described. “Doing that first step of listening appropriately is the first step to getting any job you want”

Talking with clients about products and services will show them how valuable the offerings really are.

Kinman is also adamant that certification should be taken to a new level – at least in terms of awareness. Certification translates into credibility – but only when that certification is understood.

“For example, no one knows what CLP means,” he pointed out. “We’re certifying people for something we haven’t even defined. So how are clients going to understand and appreciate those certifications?”

So far, the seminar has been greeted with enthusiasm. Kinman took Focus on Professionalism to 30 cities last year, seeing overwhelming results. “These seminars have taken us by surprise,” Kinman confessed. “We’ve got water and everyone’s thirsty.”

The author is Assistant Editor-Internet for Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at aanderson@lawnandlandscape.com.