Environmental Leadership Awards 1999: Mark Schlossberg

Imagine this scenario: a customer – frustrated with his clover problem – calls and leaves a message over a long, holiday weekend. When the call is returned, the customer isn’t home. Even though the client in unreachable, a technician is sent out to the property that same day to take care of the problem. By the time the customer returns home, the problem has been resolved. The result? An extremely satisfied client.

This is exactly how Mark Schlossberg, president of Pro-Lawn-Plus, Baltimore, Md., does business. "I don’t look for ways to get out of taking care problems," he asserted. "I look for ways to take care of problems."

That same philosophy of taking responsibility extends to Mark’s view on taking care of the environment.

"We have to educate the public and promote the benefits of a healthy lawn," he stressed.

From Sky to Turf. "Ever since I was 4 years old, I was fascinated with plants," Mark remarked. "I was always amazed that a seed could turn into a beautiful plant."

Because no one in Mark’s family was in the lawn care business, he was never pushed towards a career in the industry.

While in college, Schlossberg was unsure of where to focus his major and he even considered meteorology. His love of plants finally drew him away from the stars, however, and when he found the agronomy department, he found his career.

"Most of the programs there focused on golf course maintenance so I thought that was the direction I would head," Schlossberg mentioned. "But because one of my professors knew someone at Hydro Lawn, I got my first job there making $12,000 a year in 1978."

After graduating in May 1977, Schlossberg headed to this first job as a lawn care technician.

Schlossberg moved up the ladder at Hydro Lawn until 1985 when he met Frank Stevens, who owned and founded Pro-Lawn-Plus. Once Schlos-sberg discovered that Stevens didn’t have anyone to leave the business to upon retiring, he made an offer for the company that Stevens accepted.

"I started working with Frank right away," Schlossberg stated. "Then, when he retired in 1991, I took over everything."

Responsibility to the Earth. Once at Pro-Lawn-Plus, Schlossberg became more involved in environmental issues, which therefore influenced his lawn care program.

He offers a standard five-visit program. "First, we inspect the lawn and apply a combination of fertilizer and crabgrass treatment," Mark noted. "Then we spot treat any weeds that need an application."

The technicians will only recommend the minimal amount of pesticides that a customer needs in order to have a satisfactory lawn. When selling the basic program, Schlossberg explains to customers that he wants to limit the pesticides applied to a lawn.

"We don’t blanket the lawns, and we use the least amount of pesticides to keep customers happy," he added.

In keeping with the philosophy of environmental leadership, Schlossberg also provides a pesticide-free treatment. This is an organic-based product that approximately 5 percent of his customers purchase.

"This is ideal for those clients who want a green lawn but don’t want the pesticides," Schlossberg explained.

"I think that being an environmental steward is a matter of survival in this industry," he pointed out. "We have to get this message out. We have to educate the public and promote the benefits of a healthy lawn."

Schlossberg definitely works at getting the message out. As president of the Maryland Association of Green Industries, he monitors legislation that could ultimately affect lawn care professionals. The association is responsible for setting up meetings to educate legislators and the group also hired a lobbyist to represent it on lawn care issues in legislation.

"I started dealing with legislation as soon as I came to Pro-Lawn-Plus," Schlossberg said. "It all started with the posting laws that took effect in the mid-1980s. These laws required lawn care companies to post signs in lawns right after treatments. Then, legislators wanted pre-posting as well, but, so far, this has not passed. As an industry, we were successful in stopping that bill from passing."

Constant Customer Concern. At Pro-Lawn-Plus, Schlossberg not only protects the environment but also stresses the importance of customer service in everything the company does.

"Our goal is to give customers more than they expect. I train my employees not to argue over the small stuff," he commented. "Even just a follow-up phone call to ask how their service was makes people happy. I try to work with the customers as much as possible."

Customer service doesn’t stop there – it even extends to the way the company presents itself to the public. "I try to have the technicians in clean uniforms," Schlossberg added. "We keep our trucks in top working condition. Also important is hiring employees who can communicate well with the customers. And the office workers have to be professional."

Mark credits customer service as the key to his company’s success. He stressed that a service provider has to take care of customers the same way he or she would want to be treated.

"The worst thing is when a company doesn’t care that someone is spending a great deal of money with them," he said, adding that his most loyal customers are the ones who have had problems that the company resolved.

The author is Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine.