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 …
Signs Your Pricing Strategy Has Gone Wrong
Pricing right is the fastest and most effective way for contractors to increase profits. For the typical landscape contractor a price increase of 1 percent would generate nearly an 8 percent increase in operating profits, assuming stable volume. (And we would guess no customers would leave for a 1% increase!) Whether your company is facing increased material costs, increased wage …
Work Less to Achieve More
There’s nothing wrong with hard work. For many, hard work has led to great success. But sometimes, hard work is doing work that doesn’t need to be done. The key is to work smarter: work more effectively so that effort generates the best return. Here are some things to look for: Do things in the correct order. Experiment to see …
Outdoor Audio: Profitable & Fast to Install
Take advantage of the popularity of outdoor spaces by offering a full range of products for the ultimate backyard living experience. Central makes it easy for you to offer outdoor sound systems as part of your service offering. They’re a natural complement to landscape projects and are often installed together with landscape lighting. We offer the TruAudio system which is …
Central’s Organic Total Insect Control = Your Path to Profits
Mosquitoes, ticks and fleas thrive in warm humid weather, reproducing and multiplying rapidly. They’re not only a nuisance, but also they transmit dangerous diseases. They’re at their peak in mid-summer, which creates a great business opportunity for you! While you’re on the property performing other services, it’s a logical upsell to also offer insect control. Understanding The Opportunity Contractors typically …
Make Smart Irrigation Month Work For You
By the time July rolls around, your irrigation service department starts to experience a slowdown. If you want to stay busy, you will need to work harder to find the customers who need you. Smart Irrigation Month comes at a great time. You can promote intelligent new irrigation products and practices that make their aging systems better. Customers’ water bills are …