A motivating leader in a landscape company brings out the best in others, creating a work environment that matches the employees’ standards. Good leaders communicate well, stating clearly what they expect and how well their team is doing in achieving it. Sometimes leaders can say the wrong things. They use cliché statements that can be interpreted as uncaring or out-of-touch. …
Stop Your Profits from Being Eaten! Raise Prices Now Ahead of Rising Costs
You’ve been working extra hard all year. It sure would be frustrating to find that you’re making less than you should be! It’s common for successful contractors to be too slow in adjusting their prices to reflect new costs. They don’t want to cause trouble with their loyal clients, even when their clients are willing to pay more. Cost increases …
Plan Ahead. Get Ahead. Discover Central’s Turf Early Order Program
Make planning and purchasing even easier when you participate in Central’s 2019 Turf Early Order Program. This program provides extra discounts on fertilizer, chemicals and grass seed for your spring season needs. Buy Smart Lock in the best pricing and discounts by taking action now. The Finest Turf Products Combine purchases from our wide selection of industry-leading suppliers for fertilizer, …
Using “Big Data” to Drive More Homeowner Sales
Large corporations collect data on their customers to customize and personalize service experiences. Then they use data mining to examine past behavior and purchases to predict future needs. As a professional contractor, why aren’t you making use of the data available to you to grow your sales? Sales Opportunity #1: When you visit job sites, log what else the customer …
Reduce Your Taxes with Smart Equipment Purchases
Now is the time to invest in a compressor, an aerator or other productivity equipment. Under Section 179 of the US tax code , you can deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment purchased or financed during the tax year. This is an incentive from the Federal Government to encourage you to invest in equipment that can grow your …
Conduct “Stay Interviews” to Keep Employees from Leaving
Job turnover in the landscape industry is at all-time highs. Your competitors want to hire your most skilled and talented people. The bottom line for managers: it’s much easier to retain than it is to find and train new people. A valuable tool for employee retention is the “Stay Interview”. Stay interviews ask employees what they like about their jobs …
Don’t Wait for Slow Season to Prepare for Slow Season
Once Labor Day rolls around, consumers start thinking about a different list of landscape improvements. You need to adjust your thinking too. Make a plan for sales growth and profits by offering a full menu of services in the months ahead. Start promoting these services now: Aeration – lawns that are suffering from poor soils or compaction benefit greatly from …
Ice Melt Panic? Plan Ahead with Central
You’ve probably been hearing about the challenges facing the ice melt industry: freight challenges (not enough freight truck drivers) and the potential for shortage of the best products. Whether this is just media hype or not, Central’s helping you plan ahead. We encourage you to place your orders for Ice Melt before October 1 to lock in best pricing, terms …
5 Pump Troubleshooting Tips
Tip #1 – Troubleshooting Tip for the Munro SmartBox Did you know that during a normal “run” cycle, no lights should be lit on the time delay? Should a sensor detect a possible system problem, the “on” light will engage. If the system is shut down during a cycle both the “on” and “up” lights will be lit for the …
What Does That Seed Blend REALLY Contain? Know What You’re Getting Before Falling for a “Great Deal”
Not all turf seed blends are created equal. When purchasing grass seed, it’s good to examine, not just the price per bag or the price per pound quoted, but also the amount of actual Pure Live Seed (PLS) in the bag. Pure Live Seed indicates the amount of seed that is capable of developing into seedlings. To calculate PLS, the …