Each year, Ramblin Jackson recognizes standout leaders in the snow and landscape industry through the Landscape Leader of the Year Awards. These awards celebrate owners who not only grow thriving companies but also build strong teams and scalable systems that stand the test of time.
This year’s winner, Stuart Ward of Buckhead Landscape & Design, has mastered the art of turning chaos into clarity. From humble beginnings in 1996 to leading a 30%-growing Atlanta firm, Stuart’s journey reflects what happens when passion meets process.
“When you start growing and bring in people, they don’t necessarily know how you do business,” Stuart said during his presentation. “Creating a clear and repeatable process takes away the guesswork and builds predictability.”
In his winning talk, Stuart outlined the transformation that happens when a company documents and refines its sales process. By defining roles, training with intention, and holding his team accountable to consistent standards, he built a business capable of scaling profitably — even as leadership transitions to the next generation.
Key Takeaway: Predictable growth doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built through systems, accountability, and clarity — lessons that earned Stuart Ward the title of 2025 Landscape Leader of the Year.
00:31 – From Doing Everything To Building A Scalable Team
When you start off, you’re doing everything. You’re the owner, operator, salesperson, account manager, and in charge of finance. You know how to do it all.
The problem comes when you start growing and bringing new people into your team. They don’t necessarily know how you do business.
The one main thing for us today is to create a clear and repeatable process — something every salesperson can follow, measure, and refine.
01:00 – Meet Stuart Ward And Buckhead Landscape & Design
Good morning, everyone. I’m Stuart Ward with Buckhead Landscape & Design.
Special thanks to Jack and his team for inviting us out — it’s been a great week. Stephanie, my wife, joined me, and we came out early to drive down to Telluride. The leaves are amazing, the weather is cool, and if anyone hasn’t been out here this time of year, I highly suggest it.
Today I’m going to share a practical framework for building an effective sales process. I’ll keep it super simple — I’ll give you one main thing and three points to walk away with. Keep those in mind, and you’ll have a roadmap for how we sell.
First, a little about who we are. Buckhead Landscape & Design is located in the Atlanta area. We focus on the design, installation, and maintenance of premier outdoor living spaces in metro Atlanta.
We spent time defining our mission and focus, and that truly represents who we are. We also came up with our niche: We know Buckhead.
What does that mean? It means we know how to work with high-end, detail-oriented clients who expect excellence — and we meet that expectation well.
02:20 – How Defining Your Company’s Mission And Niche Drives Success
Here’s our team — or some of them, anyway. Since this photo was taken, we’ve grown about 30%.
I should note, I’m not the one standing in the skid steer in the middle. That’s Andrew Ward, our son. We’re in the process of transitioning the company to him. He’s essentially running it now. I’m kind of window dressing at this point — but you’ll see me off to his right.
Next year, the company will officially be in his hands.
A little about our history: we started in 1996. It began as a side hobby for me and grew over the years until I went full-time.
I love what I do. And I always like to say: If you want to be successful, find something you love — and then get someone else to do it.
That’s what I do.
03:50 – Growing Pains: Onboarding, Accountability, And Lack Of Process
Many small business owners struggle with the same challenges we’ve had. When you start off, you’re doing everything yourself. You know how it’s done — the sales, the finance, the client management.
But as your business grows, you hire people — and they don’t know your way of doing things. They don’t know your sales process. They don’t know how to manage clients like you did. They don’t know how to do the financials like you always did.
That’s a problem.
We started creating new positions. We worked with the Bach Business team to define roles: account managers, project managers, estimators. As you build these layers, you must define what each person is responsible for.
For onboarding, I used to joke: “Welcome to the team! Here are the keys. Call me if you need me.”
That was our onboarding.
It caused a lot of problems. People weren’t trained. They didn’t know the company or expectations. No processes. No accountability.
And when employees get frustrated because they don’t know what’s expected — they leave.
05:35 – The One Main Thing: Creating A Clear And Repeatable Process
So the one main thing we focused on was creating a clear and repeatable process — something every salesperson can follow, measure, and refine.
This takes the guesswork out of the job. It creates predictability.
06:40 – Step 1: Define Your Process And Align Your Team
Let’s take a step back. What is a process?
By definition, it’s a repeatable set of steps that your sales professionals follow to guide a prospect from the initial contact to the closed deal and beyond.
It provides clarity, direction, and consistency at each phase of the sales cycle — so everyone knows exactly what to do and say.
I mentioned earlier there are three key steps to building this process:
- Define the process
- Implement it consistently
- Measure and improve it
Defining the process is the most painful part. You need to sit down with your entire team and go step by step through your sales process.
Decide who answers the phone. What do they say? How is the lead assigned? What’s the script?
What makes a qualified lead? Early on, I used to joke that every lead was qualified. But as you grow, you realize not every lead fits. Maybe the budget’s too low, or the location’s too far.
Everyone needs to agree on the definitions, scripts, and goals for each stage of the process.
07:25 – Step 2: Implement Your Process Consistently
Once the process is defined, you have to implement it consistently.
That means using a CRM, having pre-written email templates, and giving your salespeople scripts.
They should know exactly what to say at every stage.
Accountability is key. Now, your salespeople are being held to a process — not just winging it.
08:10 – Step 3: Measure And Refine Over Time
Now that you’ve defined and implemented your process, you have to measure and refine it.
The process is living — it changes over time. You might find bottlenecks. Maybe your estimating process slows things down. Maybe certain scripts don’t convert.
You must review, refine, and improve continuously.
09:00 – The Outcome: Predictable Growth And Team Accountability
Here’s what it looks like when you put all this into action.
We created a document — about 20 pages — outlining every single step and script in our sales process. It’s detailed, but that detail is what creates clarity.
What happens when you do this?
You get predictable, scalable growth.
You can hire new employees and train them faster. When someone leaves, it’s no big deal — the system remains. Everyone follows the same process.
You’ve defined what success looks like and built a structure to get there.
09:55 – The Closing Story: The Unfinished Stairway Analogy
I’ll close with a story.
A sales manager once went on a ride-along with one of his top salespeople. The presentation went perfectly — the client loved it.
Afterward, the manager asked, “Why didn’t you ask for the sale? Why didn’t they sign?”
The salesperson replied, “That step isn’t in our process.”
That’s like building a beautiful stairway — but forgetting to finish the top step.
Everyone follows the process, but they can’t reach the top.
Finish your process. Make it clear. Make it repeatable. Make it work.
Thank you.
Congrats, Stuart!
Congratulations again to Stuart Ward of Buckhead Landscape & Design for earning the 2025 Landscape Leader of the Year Award.
Check out our other upcoming Landscaper’s Guide events: https://landscapersguide.com/events/