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Bobcat Introduces TL623 Telehandler
Jessica Schwartz
Preventative Tree Care For Long-Term Health
You never want to leave money on the table—no matter what type of business you operate. But when arborists or tree care professionals leave the job site without talking to the homeowner or property manager about preventative tree care, that’s exactly what happens. Worse, this also means you’re not leveraging your skills and expertise to help keep people, as well as their pets and property, safe. Here are few preventative services all tree care providers should be offering. Recommend regular and routine pruning. Regular pruning will not only help keep your clients’ trees vigorous and looking their best, but it’ll help you spot potential red flags long before they cause problems. For example, your client may not notice that his or her maple tree is starting to display some troubling symptoms of leaf spot. But once you get to the property and set up your gear, it’ll become obvious to you. Alternatively, you may notice an insect issue developing on your client’s ash or citrus trees, which will require immediate action to head off more serious problems. But you can only notice these types of things if you are regularly visiting clients’ properties and getting up close with the trees. Additionally, by getting your clients to sign up for a regular pruning service, you’ll stay front-and-center in your client’s mind. This means he or she is less likely to go surfing on the web for other tree care providers when they do need services. Always monitor mushrooms growing near ...
Remote Strategies To Keep Business Moving
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how we work for the foreseeable future, and the lawn and landscape industry is no exception. Lawn and landscape companies have had to shift gears, moving to a more remote and communicative way of operating. As circumstances related to the pandemic continue to evolve, lawn care businesses are in their busy season, proving that the service industry continues to be a critical part of keeping homes, facilities, and the nation safe and operational. Here are four ways that lawn and landscape business owners and their teams can adapt to the changing business climate and keep business moving for the future. 1. Offer Virtual Consultations Many homeowners are working from home, which has prompted them to focus more on the aesthetics of their homes. They also have more time on their hands to dedicate to their outdoor spaces, to make these more enjoyable for family and friends. Whether your customers are moving into a new home or are in need of a makeover, make sure they know your team is readily available. Luckily, technology is in the palm of nearly every homeowner’s hand (or, facility manager’s hand in the case of commercial customers). And, as people continue to practice social distancing, conducting virtual consultations is the next best thing to a face-to-face meeting. Scheduling time to video chat with a customer via Zoom can be very effective to understand their needs. Using other tools, such as Google Earth, in conjunction with cloud-based field service software, allows ...
Real Green Systems Adds Prospect Smart Feature To CRM Software
Real Green Systems, a software company that began as a lawn care company in 1984, recently announced its Prospect Smart™️ — an integrated marketing solution designed to seamlessly capture those leads and turns them into sales. The new Prospect Smart integrates with Real Green’s flagship CRM software product, Service Assistant 5, to track and analyze customer data for lawn care and landscape companies — starting with the first touchpoint and following their entire journey. Online leads are immediately migrated into SA5, eliminating downtime and making it easy to reach out to every potential customer. It automatically captures quality, accurate information and displays real-time analytics on an easy-to-read dashboard, enabling users to see how many leads convert to sales. Using advanced data and analytics, Prospect Smart provides users with the insights they need to send the right messages to the right customers at the right time. Don Botts, owner of Quality All-Care Lawn Services in Bonner Springs, KS, is excited about the possibilities that Prospect Smart has opened up for his business, saying, “Another cutting-edge method of tracking and monitoring our sales that we have come to expect from Real Green!” With three tiers of service, Prospect Smart offers a value-rich solution for every business and every budget. Each level includes setup, web hooks, tracking phone numbers, landing pages, and additional hours to make edits and changes. Bill Nunan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Real Green Systems, said, “Real Green is dedicated to providing our customers with best-in-class, innovative solutions ...
At Desert Mountain, The Grass Truly Is Greener
With seven golf courses to choose from, the members of Desert Mountain—the exclusive Scottsdale, AZ luxury community and private club—are never at a loss for chances to tee it up. But as of this fall, thanks to some changes in the grasses used and maintenance procedures, those courses are greener, more environmentally friendly, and offer more playing experiences than ever. “All seven of our courses are open and green from November 1 to June 1, which is when the most members are here and the weather is spectacular,” explained Shawn Emerson, Desert Mountain’s Director of Agronomy. “We asked the question, ‘Would our members rather play golf in October or August?’ We decided to switch some of our courses to cool-season grasses so they can play all year-round on the best possible conditions.” To accomplish that, some of the golf courses have been re-grassed while others stayed as they were, with a Bermuda grass base. This creates greater variety while allowing alterations to the maintenance schedule, so more courses are open and green at the best times. It also gives Desert Mountain the distinction of not only having the most golf courses in the Arizona desert, but the greenest courses in the desert, as well. Particularly as the weather gets more comfortable, members return from summer travel, and the golf season gets rolling. “Until two years ago, all our courses had warm season Bermuda grass fairways and tees, which had to be overseeded in the fall,” said Emerson. “They were ...
RYAN Announces “National Aerate Your Lawn Day” Campaign
RYAN® has announced its National Aerate Your Lawn Day campaign for 2020. The “holiday”—falling on September 19—gives lawn care professionals resources and a reminder to educate customers about the importance of aeration. It also helps lawn care professionals grow their businesses with new service offerings. RYAN manufactures turf renovation equipment for rental, golf, sports turf and lawn care professionals. The campaign features a dedicated website which supports lawn and landscape business owners as they seek to sell aeration services. The tools include talking points on the benefits of aeration, product information, and an aeration bid calculator. The bid calculator shows professionals how to bid jobs accurately and competitively. “Aeration, first and foremost, is an essential practice for optimum lawn health, but it also helps business owners grow and diversify their services towards the end of the mowing season,” said Ron Scheffler, Senior Product Manager for Doosan Bobcat, parent company of RYAN. “We’re bringing back some great resources to empower our professional customers to have confidence in their aeration efforts.” Although National Aerate Your Lawn Day is only observed for one day, the aeration season often spans from August through October depending on the area of the country. Industry experts say that the fall season is the best time of year to aerate. The lawn experiences minimal stress during the fall and can easily withstand the aeration process. In the fall, many people seed their lawns, and aeration is a great way to increase the effectiveness of seeding. Additionally, aerating ...
Software For Design Services
Every design/build project is unique, but there are always common denominators. These are the elements that landscape contractors providing this service should have precise workflows set up for. There are software tools designed for the landscape industry to help deliver a great project. These focus on the particular capabilities needed for creating outdoor spaces for clients without compromising collaboration with architects and planners, sub-contractors, and suppliers. Ideally, a software for design should follow the project all the way from the drawing board, through the tendering process and, most important, through the whole build. Specifically designed for the landscape industry is Vectorworks Landmark’s design and BIM software. With this dedicated CAD and BIM software, landscape contractors have access to all the tools from the Vectorworks suite; from management of GIS files and imagery, to full 2D and 3D modeling capabilities, as well as a plant tool, landscape areas, and hardscapes. And, users can make sun illustrations for the whole year to see where a property has deep shade and baking sun. This software can create 3D terrain models to develop and analyze designs, such as water run-off, slope percentage, and cut and fill. And, contractors can calculate irrigation systems for the most demanding site. A major benefit of the Landmark tool is that you can manage all steps of the design process within the same environment. You don’t need to export the 2D plan to a separate program to build a 3D model, and you don’t need to export the ...
Tree Services Feature: Spring Tree Care Checklist
The spring season puts the lawn care business in full swing. As you gear up for this new season, remember that customers will also need a check up on their trees. If this service is in your wheelhouse, here are tips to keep in mind. A Four-Item Checklist For Tree Care On its website, the Arbor Day Foundation shares advice on evaluating the condition of trees after the cold weather season. The information is provided courtesy of Bayer Advanced, a business group of Bayer Crop Science: “Spring is a great time to check mature trees. Leaf canopies have not completely filled in, and you can see the structure of the tree more clearly. Damage from winter storms will be more apparent. By inspecting trees and addressing potential problems, you can safeguard the investment that healthy trees add to a property.” The information features a checklist of four areas to check on trees in order to identify possible hazards in tree growth and development. Check Branches. Look for broken or dangling branches or cracks where branches attach to the trunk. Branches that are missing bark or growing fungus can be signs of decaying wood and potential structural problems. Narrow angles at the point where branches attach to the trunk can be weak and prone to breaking; this is especially common with elm and maple trees. Check Leaves. As spring progresses, the tree should leaf out evenly with healthy looking foliage. Uneven coloring or slow growth in portions of the tree may ...
Finding Your Niche In The Market
How do you stand out from your competitors? Why should a homeowner call you before they call the other lawn and landscape maintenance company down the street? In many cities, there’s increased competition among landscaping and lawn care service companies. So, you need to stand out. Many green industry companies successfully diversify their business models to stay competitive. Majestic Lawn Care & Landscape In New City, NY, Majestic Lawn Care & Landscape, Inc. has been in business for over 26 years. The company’s President, Joe Holland, wears many hats in the company, including one as a certified arborist. Holland describes his business as a lawn and landscape business that provides tree care and removal services. He started a company back in the late 1980s that focused solely on trees. When he left that business, he opened Majestic Lawn Care & Landscape. Later, he included tree care services with the landscape and lawn maintenance services, which was a natural fit. “I started taking classes in tree care, and the next thing you know, I’m taking the arborist test. I learned a lot by going through the educational side ,” explains Holland. And he keeps up his certification by taking continuing education courses in tree care. “I knew the mechanics of trees, not the biology,” he says. Holland found that the tree care education opened his eyes and helped him appreciate trees more. “I’m not as quick to suggest removal anymore,” he states. Plus, Holland doesn’t have to subcontract out tree care ...
Winter Weather: Selling More Than Plowing
We all know that a heavy snowfall can do more than just make roads and sidewalks impassable. For property owners, the weight of the snow, the ice, and the water can cause real damage to roofs, basements, and existing landscape trees and plants. In fact, each cubic foot of drifted, piled or compacted snow contains two to three gallons of water, writes Ken Hellevang, professor at North Dakota State University in “Preventing Snow Melt Water Problems.” That means a 1,000 square foot roof with one foot of snow on top contains about 2,500 gallons of water. A 10-foot high pile of snow, 20-feet in diameter, contains about 2,600 gallons, says Hellevang. This amount of water accumulated in a short period of time (such as during a storm) can begin causing problems immediately and be a real headache for your clients. As a result, this is where your company has an opportunity to upsell a plowing contract. Here are a few recommendations for additional cold weather tasks you can perform for customers to help them and their property survive the winter: In Early Winter Check sump pump discharge hoses. Does your client have a sump pump? Ensure that the discharge line on the property carries the water several feet away to a well-drained spot. Ideally, the line should run down sloped ground to increase drainage and prevent freezing. Check and clean gutters. Clogged gutters mean water isn’t being diverted properly away from the client’s house, a key problem after a storm. ...
