Jack Jostes [00:00:01]:
I've used AccuWeather just as a consumer for pretty much my whole life to find out local weather. But did you know that they have a Professional Version? Check out this interview with AccuWeather's Business Development Director to learn how their professional commercial service can help you prevent snow and weather related issues from impacting your business.
Lou Seidel [00:00:22]:
Weather impacts businesses very uniquely. So we get an understanding of what a snow removal company and landscape company is doing.
Jack Jostes [00:00:30]:
Do you think that the customer is aware that there's a professional commercial service available?
Lou Seidel [00:00:37]:
Because people say: why would I pay for weather? Well, you have safety and security constraints, shipping distribution constraints. And weather does have a direct impact on business.
Jack Jostes [00:00:52]:
All right, folks, we're here at the Ramblin Jackson booth at the SIMA Symposium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And I'm here with Lou Seidel, the Director of Business Development at AccuWeather. Lou, thanks for coming on the show.
Lou Seidel [00:01:01]:
Oh, you're welcome. Pleasure to be here to chat with you a little bit.
01:04 - Custom Weather Solutions for Snow and Landscape Businesses
Jack Jostes [00:01:04]:
So, Lou, tell us a little bit. How do you work with snow and landscape companies? Does AccuWeather… I've used AccuWeather for years. I have the app on my phone. Just as a consumer, how do you work with businesses?
Lou Seidel [00:01:18]:
Well, really what we do is we get an understanding of what a snow removal company and landscape company is doing, what their footprint looks like from a geography standpoint, and then we work with them to provide weather intelligence, proactive warnings and forecast services so they know how to plan and prepare, and they work with manpower, equipment, materials. We want to help them maximize that efficiency.
Jack Jostes [00:01:42]:
That's awesome. And so is there, like, a different tier of service? Is there, like, a professional service that people can hire you for?
Lou Seidel [00:01:50]:
Yeah. Our commercial services by our AccuWeather for Business division customizes extremely detailed services for these end user customers. And we kind of grow up with them because they may start out just with a winter service, but grow to a year round service as well because they find it valuable from the savings of that time, over time, the equipment, and again, all those materials that they're involved with.
Jack Jostes [00:02:14]:
How different is the information from what the average consumer gets for free from the free app?
Lou Seidel [00:02:19]:
Well, again, on the commercial side, I like to explain it very simply. We monitor locations like an air traffic controller monitoring airplanes in the sky. We will monitor bricks and mortar locations, highway infrastructure, bridges and the like. And by doing that, we're able to provide precise, accurate, detailed warnings and forecasts. So that's the differentiator of AccuWeather.
02:45 - Precision and Data Accuracy in Weather Forecasting
Jack Jostes [00:02:45]:
Love it. And so where do you get the data from?
Lou Seidel [00:02:47]:
Well, if you think about the global atmospheric data. We funnel all that into our corporate headquarters in state College, Pennsylvania. It's funneled and channeled in in all various levels, and our staff meteorologists interact with that data, along with our engineers. And so when you see an AccuWeather warning and AccuWeather forecast, it's the best in the world.
Jack Jostes [00:03:10]:
Cool. Well, so while we. While we were here, I was just the other night, I was looking at Google Maps on my iPhone, and I was looking for a place to get dinner. I'd been working my booth all day, and I finally go back to my hotel room. I'm like, you know what? I'm hungry. I open up Google Maps, and I've actually never seen this in there, but there was a tornado warning, right? So do you know where does Google Maps get that tornado warning information?
Lou Seidel [00:03:38]:
Well, that's an interesting dynamic, because the National Weather Service, the government, puts out all official tornado warnings. However, AccuWeather customers receive the AccuWeather tornado warning, which is point based. So when the government puts out that wide area warning, it's really hard to react to that because you don't have the specificity of where that's going when you're an AccuWeather customer. We're going to provide the specificity of that point, saying it's going to hit here or it's not going to be within three to 5 miles, and you don't have to worry about the tornado impact.
04:11 - Lou Seidel’s Role at AccuWeather
Jack Jostes [00:04:11]:
Cool. So, as the director of business development, tell us a little bit, what's that like? How long have you worked at AccuWeather?
Lou Seidel [00:04:18]:
Well, I'm in my 30th year. I've been with the firm for a long time. And business development side is we take every customer on a one off basis and develop a plan of services for them, with them. So it's not what Accuweather wants to sell. It's a solution based on needs that we generate by our collaboration together.
Jack Jostes [00:04:40]:
That's cool. So do you manage a team of salespeople, or are you doing sales or a hybrid? I'm just curious, what's your job?
Lou Seidel [00:04:48]:
Hybrid because I've been there so long, I do a lot of training for the new colleagues that come in, and it's a hybrid. I work with an excellent management team, and really, our focus is that customer service and developing and growing our market share.
Jack Jostes [00:05:03]:
And I'm curious, as a sales professional, how do you find clients? What are you doing to generate leads for yourself, to open new accounts?
Lou Seidel [00:05:12]:
Well, in the business, and B2B environment, weather impacts businesses very uniquely. So once we're able to establish that, we can help you understand the impact of weather on your business and do it at a cost effective, you know, aspect, because people say, why would I pay for weather? Well, you have safety and security constraints, shipping distribution constraints. And weather does have a direct impact on business. And that's where we're able to bring that wall down and really have a one on one discussion about how we can help them proactively understand those weather threats and the dynamics of that weather impact.
05:52 Identifying ‘Hell Yes Customers’ in the Snow and Landscape Industry
Jack Jostes [00:05:52]:
I like it. So in your book of business, like what percentage roughly is snow and landscape companies?
Lou Seidel [00:06:00]:
We've been in the snow warning business since our founding in 1962, and we've grown that out into the retail aspect, into the distribution aspect, logistics and so on. So, I mean, the dynamics are there, but this part of the business is one of our core founding entities, and we've grown on that. So it's a substantial part of our business.
Jack Jostes [00:06:20]:
Of actual contractors?
Lou Seidel [00:06:22]:
Absolutely.
Jack Jostes [00:06:23]:
And then who else would be a customer?
Lou Seidel [00:06:25]:
Well, anything from, again here, the landscape entities, the snow warning entities on a year round basis, government entities, highway departments, corporate entities managing multiple facilities across, you know, the globe. So when you look at what we do, anybody in the business world could be an AccuWeather commercial customer.
Jack Jostes [00:06:47]:
Well, that's. That's pretty broad, right? So that, that, I think, in sales and marketing makes things difficult. I like to help people to figure out what I call as a ‘Hell Yes Customer’, which is like, this is absolutely our bread and butter customer. We can serve them. We like them. Who is that for you?
Lou Seidel [00:07:02]:
Well, again, it's a broad brush approach, but it's, here's the solution. And it's that customer solution. It's not what we want to sell because we have a whole series of forecasts, consulting, and warnings. So that Hell Yes solution is I can take your weather pain away and I can save you money by lost merchandise, and we can save on a safety and an environmental situation being able to plan ahead. So that's the Hell Yes Customer you asked for.
Jack Jostes [00:07:33]:
So do businesses know that a service like yours is even available? Because I'm probably aware that if I run a factory or a shipping yard, that when, if my snow contractor doesn't deliver or I'm aware of how the weather impacts me. But do you think that the customer is aware that there's a professional commercial service available?
Lou Seidel [00:07:56]:
I would say that they are, and they aren't. We’ve done a great job on the consumer app, as we talked about previously, but that lends itself to understand. When you look at AccuWeather, anytime you hear us, see us, we're in your radio, we're on your television, we're in your newsprint. That's all part of AccuWeather and our division, AccuWeather for Business division, specializes in customer focused weather. For all the dynamics we spoke of.
Jack Jostes [00:08:23]:
When I'm thinking of all the different ways I can get weather, if I open my iPhone and go to the app store and type in weather, I don't know. There's probably dozens of other weather apps. And you've shared. I like how proactive you are. I'm hearing that you work one on one and really develop a plan for people. What else would you say makes AccuWeather specific for, like, snow and landscape companies? Why should people come and talk to Lou, how are you going to help me versus another?
Lou Seidel [00:08:52]:
Yeah. The key aspect here is we are available 24 by seven for on demand briefings and consultation. I've sent you a forecast. I've sent you a warning. You're ready to put your plan of action into play. We can generate that phone call incoming and again provide that additional guidance to help you understand the timing of that dynamic and help you manage that whole aspect of getting that particular job completed.
09:10 - Billing Solutions with Authenticated Snowfall Totals
Jack Jostes [00:09:19]:
So, Lou, can you give me an example of one of your solutions that helps people with billing, with billing clients?
Lou Seidel [00:09:25]:
Yeah. One of the features that we're showing here at the trade show is our authenticated snowfall totals. And what this does is it generates a report for the landscapers and snowplow entities by 07:00 a.m. eastern time for the prior 24 hours, and it's authenticated. And this is the amount of snow that fell at this particular location. What that does then, in turn, it can generate quickly for our end user customers and invoice out from a cash flow perspective. So we're doing a warning and a forecast on the front end and on the back end of that snow event, we have the authenticated snow total service that helps with the financial aspect for generating quick return on service work that was done in the field.
Jack Jostes [00:10:10]:
I love it.
Lou Seidel [00:10:11]:
And again, it's a feature here. We've been very excited. It's been very well received in our discussions here, and we think that it is a real benefit to this field force.
Jack Jostes [00:10:22]:
So, Lou, I've got this AccuWeather book here, Invisible Iceberg: When Climate and Weather Shaped History by Dr. Joel N. Myers, Founder and Chairman of AccuWeather. I haven't read the book yet. But it looks cool. What do you know about this book?
Lou Seidel [00:10:39]:
Well, Doctor Myers put this book together based on his passion for weather and weather history and having founded AccuWeather in 1962 and making Accuweather a household name, that explains directly the passion that he has as an entrepreneur, but also as a visionary in bringing his company, Accuweather, to a household name in a global weather presence. So the book has some fascinating statistics, facts, and it's a great read at this point. So that's why we wanted to mention it today. And it's recently published and been released.
11:15 - Getting Started with AccuWeather for Snow and Landscape Services
Jack Jostes [00:11:15]:
Cool. Well, yeah, I look forward to checking it out, too. So for Lou, for people who are listening, who are like, you know what, this sounds kind of cool. Maybe I'm not in love with my current weather service provider, or I want to see what AccuWeather could do for me. How can people connect with you?
Lou Seidel [00:11:30]:
Well, the easiest way is go to our website, AccuWeather.com, and click on AccuWeather for Business. Under the tab of AccuWeather for Business, there's a drop down menu, and it gets into some descriptions of our products and services. And the real key to this is, as I said previously, understanding that customer need and driving a customized solution to take that weather pain away. And that's why we are specialists in location based weather.
Jack Jostes [00:11:59]:
Love it. So, Lou, let's pretend that I went there. I filled out the form. What would the process be like? What would I experience as a potential customer? Would I meet with you? Would I meet with Bob? Like, tell me, like, in what kind of. How would you kind of help me create that personalized plan?
Lou Seidel [00:12:14]:
What we want to do is we want to schedule an initial interview. We want to meet with you. We want to understand the dynamics of your business, and we want to understand some of your weather pain. What have you gone through, you know, prior? So we get an idea of where you are, geospatially and physically, and what your goals are in a maintenance environment, and what's the timeline that you need to get things done in. So once we understand that, that's usually a 15 to 20 minutes interview where we're very detailed in our understanding, and we're going to develop a customer solution based on that customer interaction. Again, it's not what we want to sell. It's a solution that we derive by understanding the breadth and depth of our customer on a one on one basis.
Jack Jostes [00:13:00]:
And do you have clients all over the country, or is there a particular region that you're better suited for?
Lou Seidel [00:13:05]:
Accuweather is known all over the world. We've got customers all over the world for snow, ice, wind and our severe weather services.
13:10 - Final Thoughts and Contact Information for AccuWeather
Jack Jostes [00:13:13]:
So, you know, I was just. I rode the Pittsburgh Incline. Have you ever done this?
Lou Seidel [00:13:19]:
Absolutely.
Jack Jostes [00:13:20]:
So I was riding it with a buddy of mine and he's an avid skier and he told me that I can't remember. There's a northern island of Japan that has the most snowfall and it gets something like 1,500ft. per year and he's going to go skiing there. Have you heard of this?
Lou Seidel [00:13:37]:
I've not heard of that. Not the weather history that Dr. Myers has. But it's a very interesting fact because everybody wants to know about the weather. But we're the guys and gals that can help you understand that impact.
Jack Jostes [00:13:51]:
Cool, man. Well, Lou, thanks for coming on The Landscaper's Guide. I appreciate it.
Lou Seidel [00:13:55]:
Oh, you're welcome. It's been fun. Look forward to talking to you again sometime.
Jack Jostes [00:13:59]:
Thank you.
Jack Jostes [00:14:00]:
Hey, it's Jack Jostes and thanks for listening to The Landscaper’s Guide podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you give us a five star rating wherever you're listening and send this to a friend. Take a screenshot and text it to them. Click the share link and share this episode with a snow and landscape person that you know who should be checking out this podcast. And make sure you subscribe Landscapersguide.com/podcast and I'll send you my, my top three episodes right away, plus exclusive invites to our upcoming live and virtual events. My name is Jack Jostes and I look forward to talking with you next week on The Landscaper’s Guide.
Show Notes:
Watch the full episode + see the transcript at: landscapersguide.com/podcast
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🌐 Explore AccuWeather's Services: afb.accuweather.com
📲 Connect with Lou Seidel: linkedin.com/in/louissseidel