A gift that keeps giving

For Craig Spihlman, account manager with Focal Pointe, the “focal point” of his career — and his life — has been guiding others to reach their best.

Not only is Spihlman managing nearly $2 million in work at the St. Louis-based landscape company, but he is also a valued mentor to many inside and out of the green industry.

“Craig is always in a good mood,” says John Munie, founder and president of Focal Pointe. “You never catch Craig having a bad day. Craig just puts people in a good mood.”

Rising through the ranks

Before Spihlman became an account manager, he joined the ranks at the company as a downtown gardener.

“I started here in 2010. We have like 175 employees now, and I was employee No. 38,” Spihlman recalls. “It was a very different place when we began here.”

Munie says he remembers meeting Spihlman around 20 years ago at a previous company they both worked at. Eventually they both left and wouldn’t see each other again until Spihlman walked into Focal Pointe in 2010 looking to apply for a job.

Munie adds that he knew right away Spihlman was a vital part of the team — and a special kind of employee.

“Craig was a gardener and also a lawn care technician for us,” Munie says. “And in both cases, they require physical exertion. Craig never complained. He got the work done and was always passionate and very knowledgeable about landscaping.”

Such a level of physical exertion might be hard for anyone but especially Spihlman, who was born with a mild case of cerebral palsy.

Still, Spihlman doesn’t allow his disability to define him.

“From a very young age, I was wired that success was the only option I was going to have,” he says. “I’m trying to break the mold because I don’t fit under the traditional cookie-cutter that society has put out there.”

Munie says he quickly saw Spihlman make lasting connections with clients when out on jobsites and went on to promote him to account manager about seven years ago.

“We started providing him with some accounts and as long as he was delighting the customers, we’d continue to feed him more work,” Munie says. “Focal Pointe is built on humility, honesty and authenticity. We have a service heart, and we ache for the success of our customers. And if you think in that context and those terms — Craig is the perfect account manager for us because he checks all those boxes.”

Fast forward to today and Spihlman is managing $1.95 million (a 33% increase over last year). He also has a Net Promoter Score of 9.4, which proves customers are quite impressed with his efforts.

Munie notes that the last time Focal Pointe sent out surveys, Spihlman got eight or nine perfect 10s when it came to customer service.

“I’m proud of him,” Munie says. “Like every employee, there are times that Craig needs coaching. The good thing is Craig is receptive to that and comfortable being coached. I think the fact that he knows we believe in him puts a little extra gunpowder in things. He has a little extra motivation because he wants to prove the world wrong and prove us right.”

For Spihlman, there are no excuses or exceptions made because of his cerebral palsy.

“I don’t hide the fact that I’m disabled,” he says. “I’m not successful because I have cerebral palsy or despite that I have cerebral palsy; I’m successful regardless of the fact that I’m impaired.

“We live in a society where it’s very much about appearance and what you physically bring to the table,” Spihlman adds. “There’s a little hitch in my giddy-up and there’s a little screech in my speech. That’s who I am.”

Munie says he and the Focal Pointe team embrace Spihlman for exactly who he is.

“A person could easily take on a victim mindset if they had a disability. Craig never thinks like that,” he says. “We hold Craig accountable to the exact same results we hold everyone else accountable to. It would be a disservice to Craig if we didn’t. And he hits them — he embraces results.”

The keys to success

Spihlman says he credits a lot of his success to his family and those around him growing up as they never gave up on him and pushed him to achieve more.

“Growing up, my father was a pharmacist in a small town, so we understood from an early age the need to work with integrity and honesty with everyone we came in contact with,” he says.

And it’s his honesty and authenticity that makes him such a successful account manager at Focal Pointe.

“Customers know that Craig cares about them on a personal level,” Munie says. “He does not want to disappoint them, and he takes it personal if he does. From that, there is a tremendous amount of trust built. He’ll never operate in a matter that is not in their best interest.”

One person who has come to Spihlman on countless occasions is his client John Trevino, supervisor of vehicle maintenance and landscaping at Principia College.

Trevino says Spihlman is more than a hired hand at this point.

“He’s like a part of the team, because we can’t get done what needs to get done without him and Focal Pointe,” Trevino says. “It seems more like a partnership than your typical contractor. And Craig, to his credit, really instills that.”

Spihlman says he credits not only his experience in the industry but also his general life experience for making him such a great communicator.

“Over the last 45-plus years, I’ve experienced a broad gradient of things,” he says. “I’ve learned because of my life’s experience, how to engage and immerse myself in one conversation and then circle back to it later if I need to.

“I want to give someone, whether it’s my spouse, a co-worker or someone I’ve met for the first time, I want to give them my undivided attention,” Spihlman adds.

Trevino says Spihlman’s knowledge of all things plants and horticulture has helped the college out numerous times.

“The other thing is his knowledge of turf and landscapes,” Trevino says. “If I have an issue or a concern, he knows the answer.”

Industry consultant and Bruce Wilson says he’s also been impressed with Sphilman’s knowledge and quick thinking when it comes to problem-solving.

Wilson, who is a member of Focal Pointe’s advisory board, says this was clearly evident lately when team members were discussing something no one likes talking about — price increases.

“We just had a meeting last month where we were going over strategies on how to request price increases from clients with the account managers… Craig was one of the most outspoken in the group. He had some really good strategies that he was using with his clients to help make it a win/win for everybody,” Wilson says. “He was offering some solutions to lower their costs overall by eliminating some services that weren’t necessary for their property.”

Wilson notes that in today’s industry, the role Spihlman currently holds isn’t easy.

“An account manager, I think, is one of the hardest jobs in the industry,” Wilson says. “You’re managing your own book of business.”

However, he adds that he’s so impressed with Spihlman that he could see him moving up the ladder even further.

“He’s emerging as a leader among the account managers as I see it,” Wilson says. “It wouldn’t surprise me to see him take on a leadership role of some kind.”

Tricks of the trade

Spihlman says the one thing he hopes customers can recognize is his level of personal attention to each of them. That, to him, is being a successful account manager.

And Spihlman says that attention starts before the sun comes up sometimes.

“I am an early riser,” he says. “About 4:30 a.m. or so I’m awake and in front of my computer. If I have proposals or things I have to do for my clients, I’ll do those while I’m mentally sharp — which is first thing in the morning.

“When you send something like that out early morning to a client, they think two things — one is when they open their computer, you’re the first thing they see and secondly, when they see you’re doing proposals for them at 5 a.m. they think ‘Wow. There’s value in our relationship,’” Spihlman adds.

Contact is crucial with clients, Spihlman notes. He adds it’s one thing he stresses with his team so there aren’t a million fires to put out when something goes haywire.

“We try to connect the dots before it becomes a crisis,” he says. “When you teach that and impose that on your people, it really helps you succeed. If I see something, what I’ll do is photograph something that is an issue and I’ll email it to myself with a little description. I have 150 properties, so by the end of the day, my head is like scrambled eggs. I might look back at a picture and wonder why I took the picture. So, the description in the subject line is important. It enables me to circle back and connect the dots.”

Spihlman says he saves time when trying to make contact with all his clients.

“If I’m driving in one part of my region a lot of the time, I’ll be calling clients in another part of my region so in essence — I’m covering two areas at once,” he says.

And the connection doesn’t stop with the customers. Spihlman typically gets into the office by 7 a.m. most mornings and makes it a point to say hello to everyone he can.

“My guys need to see me every day,” he says. “So, I try to be present and whether it’s just a fist bump or a quick reminder for a property — we are always connecting the dots.”

A gift of gratitude

That connection goes a long way as Spihlman is seen as a mentor not only to his fellow Focal Pointe employees but also several members of his community.

“As a young person, many people were very generous with me — including physical therapists, doctors and speech therapists to empower me and give me the ability to be a successful person in life,” he says. “So, when you’re raised with that gift — I can take that gift and I can give it to someone else.

“If you look at people that are successful, they aren’t successful because of their own personal attributes; they’re successful because of the gifts that they share with those around them,” Spihlman adds. “I believe that every room you’ve left should be better than when you entered. And if you can do that, it becomes very habitual with every interaction you have.”

Munie says he truly appreciates that Spihlman takes the time to mentor younger employees and really show them the way at Focal Pointe.

“Craig knows our culture. He wants to do right for the customer, and he wants to be a great teammate,” he says. “Our first core value is we put people first…and Craig enjoys passing that culture on to our new employees and imparting what he’s learned over the years.”

Spihlman says that’s one of his favorite things about being a mentor — it revitalizes his drive and passion whether he’s working with a colleague or a young person with cerebral palsy.

“When I mentor someone, it reaffirms what I already know,” Spihlman says. “To know that your gift is being sustained through another person’s profession — there is nothing more beautiful you can do with your life than make yourself a legacy.”

Since mentoring is such a gift to Spihlman, he says he can still remember the first time he felt that warm, fuzzy feeling of gratitude when someone took a special interest in him. It’s that feeling he’s trying to recapture every time he takes someone under his wing.

“When you close your eyes at night, you feel like you’ve lived your life unselfishly,” he says. “If you can do that, you can rest well and when you give back and do things like that, it’s very easy to be at peace with yourself and the effort you give.” L&L

The author is an associate editor with Lawn & Landscape magazine.