Do you want 2024 to be the year you and your team become the most skilled turf professionals in your region? Central’s Turf Category Business Director, Austin Marsteller, helps you understand the importance of utilizing the winter months including 5 of the most useful turf training resources to ensure your team has the up-to-date knowledge you need heading into 2024.
From Austin:
In today’s turf industry, January is among the most critical months of the year. It’s the time of the year to finalize your business strategies and more importantly train your employees for 2024! Not only are you juggling add-on winter services to keep cash flow strong and avoid laying off quality employees, but you also have to plan your upcoming year and finalize your budget. This is a no easy task as material prices fluctuate and you may be uncertain how your customers spending habits will change in the upcoming year.
To succeed in 2024, it is important that you take the time to plan how you will improve your services, and how you will train your employees to become more skilled. Implementing more cost-effective products, coupled with educated employees on the best ways to apply them, will lower your costs all while delivering higher quality services. This leads to satisfied customers, healthier landscapes, and happy employees.
The bottom line is: “Winners Plan.” And it all begins with your Turf Management Plan.
Here are some questions you should be asking yourself this winter:
- How knowledgeable am I about the fertilizers and control products that I apply to my customers lawns every year?
- How can I learn about more efficient fertilizers to use in 2024?
- How can I save money and improve my services at the same time?
- Should I consider changing my current turf program so I can better manage costs?
- Where can I go to get dependable information, support and recommendations?
The answers to these questions, and more, will all be the same. Partnering with Central Turf & Irrigation Supply is the answer! We have multiple turf subject matter experts who have walked in your shoes and understand your pain points. Our entire team is committed to educating our customers about planning, purchasing, and the right product for the job.
Below is a list of five recommended training and certification resources for Turf Professionals in 2024 that are sure to help you grow.
1. The National Association of Landscape Professionals
Want to ensure that you, or your team members, have mastered the basic landscape management knowledge needed to succeed? Then the options at the NALP online certificate program are for you! There are three courses, which can be taken individually or together, covering hardscape and plant installation, landscape maintenance, irrigation, and you get a fundamentals course as well. It’s an easy, flexible, and interactive way for landscape technicians to advance their skills – and earn a certificate. These online certificate courses also satisfy the educational requirements for apprentices who are part of the Landscape Management Apprenticeship Program. Online education earns you CEUs toward Landscape Industry Certified recertification too!
2. Many of Central’s Key Fertilizer Suppliers offer Training Courses- Take for example Lebanon Turf
Lebanon Turf offers online training resources that will guide you through the range of Lebanon Turf fertilizer, herbicide and pesticide solutions, the science behind their effectiveness and their ideal applications, so you have the necessary information to educate your customers. After each training session you will be able to take a brief quiz to receive an official Lebanon Turf certificate of completion. You can take the training sessions in any order and at your chosen pace. In addition they offer a range of articles and videos on topics such as: tree and flower care, soil health, grass seed, fertilizer, pests, weeds, and disease.
3. Many of Central’s Key Chemical Suppliers offer Training Courses- Take for example PBI Gordon
At PBI Gordon they offer product knowledge training modules to simplify the training process through flexible online segments that allow you to select and review specific products. Each of the site’s online training modules are between two and five minutes in length. This lets users quickly review product details and application information and get back to work.
4. University Led Training Seminars and Outlook Programs
Joining your local Turfgrass Universities newsletter and outreach programs provide you with local and consistent updates on what’s going on in the industry and provides valuable resources and training material for your team. Take for example Rutgers Center for Turfgrass Science- https://turf.rutgers.edu/outreach/.
5. Central Turf & Irrigation Supply
Central helps you train your team members to be even more productive with local classes, access to online education classes, counter training events, and onsite support/training from subject matter experts. Connect with your local Central rep to learn more about the training opportunities that are available to you. Be sure to check out a recording of our latest turf webinar designed to help you navigate today’s turf commodity markets. We stay at the leading edge of the industry and we’re ready to help you grow again in 2024!
About Austin Marsteller
Austin has a decade of experience in the Green Industry, a degree in Turfgrass Science from Penn State University and an MBA from Louisiana State University-Shreveport. His career has been heavily focused in turf and ornamental on the manufacturer side, and most recently in agriculture specifically in bio stimulants, adjuvants, and specialty fertilizers. Austin works closely with all the employees and partners of Central to provide superior service and solutions to our turf and ornamental customers.