BENCHMARKING YOUR BUSINESS REPORT: Introduction

At John Deere, we fully understand the many economical and life-enrichment benefits that the Green industry provides for all of us.  

We appreciate what you do every day to beautify the land we live, work and play on. That’s why we are proud, once again, to be the sponsor of your 2007 Benchmarking Your Business Report. It is our expectation that each business owner reading this material will be able to utilize some of the research findings to strengthen his/her business operations.
 

2007 BENCHMARKING YOUR BUSINESS REPORT

Click here to view a PDF of the Benchmarking Your Business Report as it appeared in the magazine, complete with charts.

When we consider the tough economic and weather conditions under which you had to run your business in 2007, we realize that this past cycle has not been an easy one to get through. At John Deere Company, we continue to search for ways to help you become more successful even in the tough times. This is why, for the second year in a row, we were the Green Industry Conference (GIC) Platinum Sponsor for PLANET and the Gold Sponsor for PGMS. The classes offered at the GIC helped you with industry certification as well as helped you find solutions to a multitude of business operation challenges. This year we also signed a National Account Contract with PLANET. The contract will allow PLANET members easy access to competitively set prices on commercial equipment ranging from Z-Trak mowers to tractors, to utility vehicles and much more.
 
You will be glad to know after John Deere Company acquired LESCO, we spoke to a variety of landscape contractors over a variety of major markets and asked them what their expectations were of a full-service supplier to the landscape contractor market. These customers identified areas for us to work on that are critical to their success. We have begun to work on an extensive project list to integrate LESCO under the existing John Deere Landscapes organization. We hope the work we do in 2008 and beyond will move us closer toward becoming your preferred destination in your search for total solutions to help you succeed in your business.
 
Even after 170 years, our business is not much different from yours. We are continuously changing, adapting and implementing new processes in order to build a better business for all of our customers. We look forward to seeing you soon, whether at an industry event, or even at one of our facilities. Have a great 2008!

J Gilbert Peña
Strategy Manager, B2B Segment
John Deere