With only a few weeks until spring officially starts. I wanted to ask some of the top sales and marketing and operations experts in the green industry, what's your number one tip to get ready for spring in 2023? So in today's episode, I'm going to interview some people about sales, marketing, recruiting for office positions with LinkedIn and personality assessments and a whole lot more.
Hey everyone. Jack Jostes here and welcome to the Landscaper's Guide. Right now I'm in downtown Phoenix. It's a really cool city. I just finished giving my keynote, the Landscaper's Guide to Sales and Marketing in a Recession at LandOpt's annual conference. I've had an amazing time exploring downtown Phoenix, lots of interesting architecture, interesting landscaping. I had phenomenal shrimp tacos at two different restaurants because they were that good here. And I got to talk to a lot of successful people who are in a variety of different positions in the industry. And here's what some of them had to say.
Hey everyone. Right now I'm with Anthony Smith who does business development at American Gardens in Elmhurst, Illinois. And I really wanted to share what we were just talking about, which is if you could get your other sales team, and there's five of you total on the team, right?
Anthony Smith:
Yes.
Effective Communication With The Customer
Jack Jostes:
So if you could get all five people to do the same thing as we head into spring, what would it be?
Anthony Smith:
I would say effective communication with the customer. A lot of times you're working on late season project designs, and it's crucial to, when the winter hits, that people tend to put those on the back burner. So effectively communicating through the winter makes it easier to get that project scheduled for the spring. And you really want to be an advocate for your customers so that you're getting them the best time slot. So that when they come out of the winter, we could get to their project and get it installed and then they can enjoy it for the summer.
Jack Jostes:
Absolutely. And so what are some of the things that you're doing? How often are you communicating with them?
Anthony Smith:
Typically, it would be a once a week email. It can be a text message, but typically it's whatever the salesperson has with their client. So if they typically text, I would say keeping up with that, or if it's typically an email, just keeping the same communication path.
Jack Jostes:
Yeah. I really like that. And one of the things that we do at Ramblin Jackson that our clients love is simply an email on Friday from our Project Manager of, "Hey, here's what we're working on next week, and if we need anything from them, here's what we need from you and here's our next appointment." And they get that email every Friday. And they always know where their project is at. What's being worked on, and if there's anything needed from them. And with landscape projects, a lot of times you might need feedback from a client on, "Hey, we need this plant selection." Or, "We need feedback on this piece of the design."
Anthony Smith:
I think that, I like the Friday aspect of that because then it gives the homeowner, the customer, the weekend to think about that question or series of questions that you've asked them. So I definitely would incorporate that into our fold.
Jack Jostes:
Yeah, we've just standardized it. It's on Friday. And then that way we know it's happening and they know it's happening. Because our projects also sometimes take months to complete as well. And that communication every week over time helps people feel good about where they're at.
Anthony Smith:
That's excellent. That's a great idea. I'd like to incorporate that into our mix. And I think that a Friday is, once you have it scheduled, then you can keep up with it.
Jack Jostes:
Yeah. Well, it sounds like you're already doing it and yeah, maybe just picking a day.
Anthony Smith:
Yeah, I think that'd be it.
Ways For Proactively Hiring People
Jack Jostes:
It’s the way to go. So what day of the week are you emailing your clients an update? Let us know. All right, everyone, I'm in downtown Phoenix right now with Ashley Wojciechowski, who is the HR and recruiting specialist at LandOpt.
Ashley Wojciechowski:
Yes.
Jack Jostes:
And somewhere online it said People Coach.
Ashley Wojciechowski:
Yes.
Jack Jostes:
But that's not your title, but it's kind of related to what you do, right?
Ashley Wojciechowski:
Yes, Yes, yes, it does relate. I'm actively helping our landscape companies. I'm helping them to recruit and find management positions and just give them some different tips that they can utilize in their organization.
Jack Jostes:
So Ashley, we were talking about how you help primarily find management positions at landscape companies.
Ashley Wojciechowski:
Correct.
Jack Jostes:
Not necessarily labor. And the recruiting for those roles is different. And I think this is timely. I have a lot of my clients are trying to expand their office team. They're trying to hire managers or other positions. What's working on LinkedIn? So one of the things we were talking about on the escalator was how you can't just sit around and wait for these people, but you can be proactive.
Ashley Wojciechowski:
Yes.
Jack Jostes:
What are some of the ways that you're finding is working for proactively hiring people?
Ashley Wojciechowski:
So whenever I started this position, it was a lot of trial and error. I was trying to just find different ways that I was able to track down people that were in the industry and that could fill those management positions. And I found that whenever I updated my LinkedIn, I ended up getting the subscription for the, I think it's called Recruiter Lite on LinkedIn. And I'm actually able to just search landscaping companies and I click on profiles, I reach out to them, I direct message them. And I've had a lot of success doing so. People aren't necessarily always looking for a job or different opportunities, but you'd be surprised by the amount of people that are interested to learn more and then in turn, that can ultimately turn into a hire for them. So I've been actively, just being proactive, trying to search for people and not just sitting there on my hands, just waiting for people to actually just apply to the position.
Jack Jostes:
So when you connect with people, what's your strategy like? Do you initially in your initial message say, "Hey, we're hiring for this position, I'm interested in talking to you." Or do you keep it a little more casual and just try and go for the connection first?
Ashley Wojciechowski:
So I think it depends on what their experience looked like in the past. And if I'm actually recruiting in that area. Sometimes I will just find interesting people with interesting backgrounds that are from the industry and I'll just want to connect with them. I think it's good to just build a constant pipeline of people. You never know if in that area maybe a position might become available. So it's good to just keep that conversation casual. Just say, "I'm from the industry looking to just build my connections." And build the relationships basically. If it's somebody that's in that area that I'm actively seeking for a position, I'll reach out to them and just say, "I have this great opportunity." Who I am and just list out some of the responsibilities that are included in that position. And then just see if they're interested in connecting and talking further about the position.
Jack Jostes:
I like it. And what are some of the things that you look for? Do you look for past experience in the landscape industry for these roles? How important is that versus, what do you look for? And I know that it can vary per position.
Ashley Wojciechowski:
Definitely.
Jack Jostes:
But what are some of the things that you might look for?
Ashley Wojciechowski:
I mean, you kind of hit the nail in the head with that. It just really depends on the position that I'm recruiting for. And knowing a little bit about my client and who they're actually, what their culture is like and who they're trying to specifically find. But I find that yes, industry experience can be important depending on the position, but you should really be, and especially heading into this year, and I know people are struggling to try to find good hires, good solid people that genuinely want to show up to work. And actually they're a good hire. And I think that's just, it's very hard to find somebody. So hiring for a personality might be your solution to that. If you find somebody who is a proactive thinker, somebody who is just genuinely a very confident and successful individual that wants to continue to grow, that might be a better hire than somebody who just came from the industry. You can teach them knowledge. You can't teach somebody to just be a solid good worker. A lot of times you can't teach that.
Jack Jostes:
Well, how do you find that out? You probably, can you see that in someone's LinkedIn. Or do you need to vet them and interview them?
Ashley Wojciechowski:
Yeah.
Jack Jostes:
I guess in round numbers, a lot of landscape companies will know how many prospects they need to talk to in order to get to an estimate to close a sale. What's the math to finding a position like this? How many people do you need to connect with, talk to then even get to the job offer standpoint, do you think?
Ashley Wojciechowski:
Yeah. I feel like out of 40 or 50 applications you'll call, you can find that one gem. It's really hard to find people. And the different questions that you ask during an interview that will ultimately be able to tell how that person is going to be. Can they take criticism in their position? How do you handle criticism? How do you give criticism to others? It's just asking those certain questions that you can really tell about their personality. Here at LandOpt too, and we coach this to our landscape companies as well, is to utilize certain types of personality testing. We utilize something that's called the AVA assessment. And I think it helps tremendously. It's not going to be your one all be all where this is going to be exactly how the person's going to be. Those things can sometimes be finicky, take it with a grain of salt, is what I always say.
But you can utilize that and kind of pinpoint certain personality traits that you're seeing that you might question on. So if somebody is somebody who is very assertive and they're also independent, you might want to ask how are they in a team environment? Ask certain questions to see how they're going to be able to work together with people because that can pose a problem. If they're super independent and they're very assertive, they're not going to listen to anybody and they're not going to care for other people's opinions. So you should ask about those certain questions when you're interviewing somebody.
Jack Jostes:
The point is though, we want to give somebody something tactical that they can do this spring, and it would be to be proactive. And if you are hiring for an office position to proactively hire for it on LinkedIn.
Ashley Wojciechowski:
Yes. I mean, whenever I say 40 to 50 applications, I mean, that's just the people that applied to the position. I'm reaching out on LinkedIn to hundreds of people. I mean, my inbox is just constantly full of me just trying to proactively ask people if they're interested in hearing different opportunities. And then also, like I said earlier, is just build up pipeline of individuals because you never know when something might become available. Maybe something happens in their work life or personal life where they're looking for a new opportunity and that's somebody that you connected with two years ago and now they're ready for a position. So it's just constantly building connections and training and developing the people that you have on your team already and just making sure that you're keeping up on retention and just you want to keep those good hires. You want to keep them and you want to make sure that you're communicating with them so that way they remain happy within your organization and they don't get burned out.
Jack Jostes:
And the personality assessment really helps the employees get matched to a role where they're going to thrive. So I think a lot of times people, and I think you got to kind of sell people on that when they're applying because sometimes they're like, "You want me to do a personality assessment? Are you a psychopath?" And it's like, "Well, maybe." But what we're really going to do is help match you for a role that will be perfect for you.
Ashley Wojciechowski:
That will be perfect fit for you. Yeah, and like I said, a lot of people you'd say personality tests and they're like, really? But it's just a tool to use. I mean not, and like I said, it's not going to be something where somebody's going to be exactly like that. Maybe they are. But you never know. So that's why you probe during the interview process. And too, we also utilize it as well, whenever just if you're thinking about a promotion and you're looking at say, two different individuals that you already have in your organization, you can have them retake the assessment and kind of see if they've grown, be able to really tell will this person be able to successfully transform into this management position or whatever it is. So we constantly are utilizing different techniques like that that can really set you apart from your competition.
Dream Big And Dream The Impossible
Jack Jostes:
All right, everyone here I am with Kevin Anthony Prall from Eichenlaub Landscape.
Kevin Anthony Prall:
You got it.
Jack Jostes:
Right outside, or are you in Pittsburgh? Where are you?
Kevin Anthony Prall:
Well, the company itself is actually in Pittsburgh. We have two locations. We have operations just outside of Pittsburgh, and then our design and sales office is near the center of Pittsburgh. And I myself live just outside of Pittsburgh.
Jack Jostes:
And so we were just talking, you entered a contest.
Kevin Anthony Prall:
I did.
Jack Jostes:
And it ended up changing your life. Tell us what was the contest, and what did you do?
Kevin Anthony Prall:
Well, I had a really good friend back in Colorado where I came from. And she said, "Kevin, you've got a great yard and Better Homes and Gardens Magazine is having this contest, America's best front yard, you should enter it." So I did. Over the course of the month of May, you could send a picture in and say why you thought your yard was the best. And then they would pick the 10 best that of all the entries that came in. And then the public would vote on those 10 finalists. That happened. And then I found out in June of that year that I won. And that America voted my yard the best front yard. And I was told to keep that a secret until September until Better Homes and Gardens Magazine could actually reveal that. And it was a hard secret to keep, I tell you. It was really a lot of fun.
So it was life changing because the notoriety I got, the national attention. The county I live in actually designated a special proclamation that my yard was so amazing that it brought so much positive light to the county and to the city I live in, which is a pretty amazing thing. And then just the people I've met and the friends I've made. And honest to God the work that has brought me through the company because people want to work with people that have the best front yard. So yeah, it's just been astounding.
Jack Jostes:
Wow. Well, congratulations again on winning.
Kevin Anthony Prall:
Thank you.
Jack Jostes:
Was this, so this was your personal residence?
Kevin Anthony Prall:
It's my personal house, yeah.
Jack Jostes:
And so did your landscape team?
Kevin Anthony Prall:
Nope. It was all me. Every bit of it. I mean, I got a few plants from the office, but it was all me, I've always been into landscape. It's always been my passion. So that just kind of happened over time at my house, Been there about 12 years, and it took about 12 years to get that to happen. But when you love something, it's just going to naturally kind of occur. Yeah, it turned out really well.
Jack Jostes:
Wow. Well, that's amazing. So as we head into spring, this is coming out on Friday, March 3rd, what would your number one tip be for fellow snow and landscape company owners, designers, people in the industry?
Kevin Anthony Prall:
Dream big and dream the impossible, you'd be amazing what you can get away with. I mean, I've got some things in my yard that really don't belong there. It takes effort to grow things that really shouldn't be in your growing zone, but that's part of the fun I have. So whatever you dream, try it, see if it'll happen. I mean, you'll probably be surprised.
Jack Jostes:
Well, I love it. Dream big.
Kevin Anthony Prall:
Dream big.
Jack Jostes:
I love it. Go for it.
Kevin Anthony Prall:
Do something different. Yeah.
Jack Jostes:
And do something that you want.
Kevin Anthony Prall:
Yeah. Don't let the books tell you you can or cannot do something. Try it. You may be surprised how it might work.
Go Back To The Foundation, Reviews And Net Promoter Score
Robert Felton:
Hey everybody, it's Robert Felton, the Senior Landscape Marketing Strategist at Ramblin Jackson. I'm here in Phoenix with Jack. He recently just spoke at LandOpt's event. We were just talking about, what do you need to do before spring? What is one recommendation for our clients, for landscapers, prospective clients that they should do before the spring season kicks into full swing? My suggestion is going back to the foundation, thinking about reviews and net promoter score. This is an important item and it helps enhance everything else in the foundation. So I recently met with someone and they were spending quite a bit of money on Facebook advertising. In my opinion, thinking about reinvesting that money in your operations, your customer experience is going to be a much better use of that budget going into spring. Your review average has a huge effect, not only on ranking, but just buying experience.
So to help with this, I have two recommendations. My first one is, what is your review process? Are you talking about it? Do your frontline employees know that reviews are important? Are they asking for them? Are they part of your process? If not, sit down, figure that out. The second step would, be proactive. Reach out to 10 of your best customers. If you're getting great word of mouth referrals, these are people who could leave you reviews and you should call them. You should ask for them, and you should script that out and get a few more good reviews before spring kicks into full swing.
Jack Jostes:
I totally agree with what Robert said. Having online reviews is so important because even word of mouth referrals are going to search your name online and find your Google listing, and you don't want your bad reviews to blow the deal. The other thing I would recommend dialing in before springtime is your sales process. A lot of landscape clients tell me that they're having a hard time finding enough office people. And those are the people who are typically answering the phone and dealing with potential customers. And when you have an inefficient sales process, it really stresses out your staff. One of the tools that we recommend using is online scheduling to go to a phone call. So if you have multiple divisions of your company, like a maintenance division, a commercial division, and a design build division, and maybe you have three different people, you can schedule appointments online with each person through online scheduling.
And this way when the phone rings, whoever answers can then book a call for the salesperson from that department. It makes buying from you a lot easier. And also gives you a lot of freedom when those people are out of town, there's no sticky notes for them to have to deal with when they get back from being out of town. They just have an appointment on their calendar at the times that are open. I'm going to be sharing a whole lot more about how to dial in your sales process at Win The Spring on Thursday, March 9th. So join me there, winthespring.com. We're presenting this with LandscapeHub and Team Engine who have great presentations on other timely content for this spring, like employee retention and how to procure your materials more efficiently. So check it out at Win The Spring.
Thanks for checking out this episode. It's been really fun coming to Phoenix. There's some interesting birds as you can hear right now. And right now we're in just a really interesting landscape where there's all kinds of interesting stone. We've got some turf here. Really interesting to come to the Southwest and see how they do landscaping here. So thanks for checking out today's episode. I'm Jack Jostes. Thanks for listening to the Landscaper's Guide. I hope to see you at Win The Spring, winthespring.com. And I'll talk to you next week on the podcast.