The right fit

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.

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