CUSTOMER SERVICE: Thinking Green

Even for contractors who aren’t thinking green yet,  their customers may push them in that direction faster than they expect.
 
Though some of this can be attributed to the green fads of late, reports show customers are starting to see some immediate results in altering some of their more wasteful practices, and that is driving their decisions to choose greener options – the instant gas savings and boosted miles per gallon with a hybrid vehicle, for instance. Almost half of the millennial generation and one-third of Baby Boomers reported feeling guilty and irresponsible when they don’t take actions they feel are important to the environment, according to an AMP Agency survey. 
 
“There are a lot of incentives for commercial properties to be green,” points out Jason Cupp, chief executive officer, Highland Outdoor, Olathe, Kan., and president of The Professional Landcare Network. “Residential clients are also going to continue to see the value. Once they do, the industry will follow.”

CONSUMER PHILOSOPHIES. Customers have various politically charged and philosophical thoughts when it comes to environmental practices. Contractors say understanding them is half the battle of offering the right mix of sustainable services.
 
Richard Heller, owner of Greener By Design, Pelham, N.Y., puts customers into four categories when it comes to their feelings on green-related issues:

1. “Thirty percent of customers don’t care much about eco-friendly practices.
2. “Twenty-five percent of customers care about global warming and are incredibly confused about what an ecosystem really is, and we educate them.
3. “Twenty-five percent of customers believe in global warming, understand an ecosystem and think what we’re doing is great, but they still drive Hummers.
4. “And 20 percent believe in global warming, use reusable shopping bags, drive a Prius and love what we do.”

“Unless they are in group No. 4 – or the choir as we like to call them – education can be difficult,” Heller says.
 
James Binns, owner of Earthworks Landscape Gardening, Fayetteville, Ark., thinks customers are motivated by their core belief systems. “Some folks recycle and conserve just because they hate waste,” he explains. “Some folks are concerned about the environment because they think God created it and it is the duty of man to take care of it. Some folks hang their laundry on the line and drive small cars because it saves them money.”
 
And these beliefs are increasingly driving buying decisions, in Andrew Blanchford’s opinion. “If all other things are equal, consumers are choosing the more [environmentally] responsible company,” says the principal and general manager, Blanchford Landscape Contracting, Bozeman, Mont.
 
While curiosity in sustainability piques, the industry has a chance to seize some opportunities, like the energy- and water-saving components of proper landscaping.
 
Currently, the average U.S. family spends $1,300 a year on energy bills, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. On average, heating and cooling account for 44 percent of a typical utility bill, and these systems emit more than a half billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year.
 
Landscaping is a way to keep customers’ homes more comfortable and reduce energy bills by up to 25 percent, the Department of Energy says. While some energy-conserving strategies depend on climate type, there are some generalities. Planting deciduous trees on the south and west sides, for instance, can keep homes cool in the summer and allow sun to shine in windows in the winter. Vines growing on trellises can also provide shading and cooling benefits. In the colder months, planting evergreen trees and shrubs on the north and west sides of properties can deflect winter winds.
 
“Consumers expect their service providers to be corporate citizens and lighten their environmental loads,” explains Greg Ina, general manager of The Davey Institute, The Davey Tree Expert Co., Kent, Ohio. “Within tree care, we can quantify the benefits of trees, and proper care only accents those benefits.”
 
And what about the influence on commercial property owners who are already feeling increased pressure to reduce energy consumption and meet LEED standards? (For more information on LEED, see “Need for LEED” on page 106). According to the U.S. Department of Energy, commercial buildings alone account for 18 percent of total energy consumption. In addition to internal changes these customers can make, external changes, like properly placed trees, can also help reduce energy consumption.
 
“The reduced operating expenses in LEED buildings is quite significant,” says Tom Fochtman, co-owner, CoCal Landscape, Denver, Colo., adding that though his commercial customers aren’t requesting green services yet, he thinks they will be within the next two years. “I would imagine the federal government will mandate that all commercial buildings be LEED-certified at some point, then the home building industry will follow.”

COST BECOMES A DETRIMENT. One can’t turn the pages of a newspaper or magazine today without someone reporting consumers will pay more for “greener” products. But is this true?
 
Recent surveys show American consumers are getting turned off by green hype for three reasons: price, skepticism and confusion.
 
In fact, GreenBiz.com’s “State of Green Business” report showed after examining 1,018 consumer products bearing 1,753 environmental statements, all but one made claims that were either “demonstrably false or that risk misleading intended audiences.” Because of such poor results, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced it would begin reviewing its environmental marketing guidelines for the first time in a decade.
 
No wonder the percentage of consumers who believe organic products are good for them is down to 45 percent, while those who believe they’re good for the environment has fallen to 48 percent, according to the latest survey from WSL Strategic Retail. Both measures stood at a 54 percent approval rating two years ago.
 
Higher cost of green products vs. mass market alternatives is a primary deterrent to many consumers, especially during a period when families are already struggling to stretch the household budget. On average, organic products still sell for a hefty premium, as much as 50 to 100 percent more than their non-organic counterparts, according to the Organics Consumer Association.
 
How much will customers pay for greener options? More than 75 percent of consumers said they were not willing to spend more than 10 percent to purchase a green product over a traditional choice, says the AMP survey.
 
Sarah Lampert of Gothic Grounds Management, Valencia, Calif., sees this among her company’s customers. “Often times we find that customers are interested in going green if it saves them money – sometimes it is hard for them to buy into if they cannot see the immediate savings,” she says, pointing to an efficient irrigation system showing instant savings on a customer’s water bill as an example.
 
It’s inevitable that costs will continue to increase for greener landscape services. But contractors can show value by touting the additional savings that a residential or commercial customer may accrue from water or energy savings as a result.
 
Also, on the commercial side, “the cost premium is now seen as outweighed by the net positive impact that sustainable development practices have on the overall project – better selling price per square foot, better rental rates per square foot, lower operating costs, etc.,” points out Kelly Duke, vice president, pre-construction services, ValleyCrest Landscape Development, Calabasas, Calif.

GREEN EDUCATION. With speculation over what services and products are “green,” as well as the rising cost of products touting a sustainability seal, industry professionals say they are relying heavily on education to help build customer understanding.
 
Gothic Grounds Management uses a DVD to explain the benefits of its green services to residential customers. “One thing we found helps our case is when local authority regulations are passed such as water or dust restrictions,” Lampert says. “Then the client is able to see proof of why these practices are so important.”
 
On the commercial side, Fochtman uses LEED standards to his advantage by showing customers how they can get as many LEED certified points as possible with their landscape improvements. “That is easy,” he says. “The harder sell is explaining the ‘green’ concepts that we as a company have embraced and how they have changed our operation, which in turn changes how we service the customer.”
 
For instance, Fochtman explains, “say we missed an area of mowing, can it wait a week when we service that area again or do we need to expend more fuel and emissions to return out of sequence? Can we push a customer to repair and replace sod early in spring so we are not replacing it in hot weather and having to overwater? Routing our work right, including minimizing trips to the irrigation supplier, not making double trips to job sites, not having salespeople rush out to please a customer when they can accomplish the same thing two days later, etc., are almost lifestyle changes that you have to drill down hard in order to get employees to change and customers to understand.”
 
Looking into the future, Heller predicts based on rising customer demand that it won’t be long before eco-friendly landscaping becomes the norm. “They want to do what they feel is right,” he says. “They are afraid about climate change, global warming and oil use and want to change how they live to better address these issues. The need for landscape services won’t increase [as a result of the green movement] – just the quality of service.” LL