Keeping clients happy during the busy season takes both good systems and the right company culture and training. Right now with strong consumer confidence, it is hard to stay on top of everything. But now it matters more than ever. As soon as there is a slow down, the...
As I prepare for my Sales Symposium next week, I have been reflecting on the many processes I have helped my clients (owners) put in place to scale their lawn and landscape companies. The ability to implement simple processes is a critical skill for sales managers,...
Running a design/bid-build business or division is a double-edged sword. (Note: I wrote this 2 years ago, and updated the message. It is more relevant today than ever!) There are big pluses and equally big minuses to focusing on design-build or bid-build. The pros...
If you truly want to scale your lawn and landscape business, you must grow an effective sales team. And to do that, you must become quite good at both marketing and sales management. Are you? They don’t teach Sales Management at school or university – almost nowhere,...
Jeffrey Scott shares with you 7 lessons he learned working with landscape professionals from around the US and Canada over the past year. He touched on these in his newsletter and elaborates here, giving extra insight. You will also hear 7 questions to ponder in 2022...
As entrepreneurs and leaders, we all change people’s lives in profound ways, even though we are not always aware. Let me explain... During the holiday season I take time with my coaching clients (landscape business owners) to ask them some deep questions, so they...
This weekend was my last track day of the year. I’m heading to NYC for the holidays to see "To Kill A Mockingbird" on Broadway, and a musical featuring the music of Alanis Morissette. And then I am heading to CT and NH for holiday dinners with family and friends, and...
To achieve a good net profit, how much gross profit should you earn in each of your divisions? That depends… Your profitability is not always driven by your gross profit. Here is what I mean. Some companies can achieve high gross profit but still end up with a low net...
What’s the right amount of overhead you need as you plan for growth? To answer that, let's look at the 3 kinds of companies in the landscape industry: Skinny Company 1, whose overhead is too low: They are running too lean, burning out their leaders, and not taking...
What is the right way to calculate the mark up on your labor cost, to recover the appropriate overhead? It’s not a question that gets deep enough attention. I see many companies with low labor mark ups who are still wondering why their business model is not producing...
