PLANET names new board

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. – As part of its annual Leadership meeting, PLANET installed its new board of directors.

David Snodgrass, PLANET president until his term expires in May, spoke to members as he passed the gavel to the incoming president Jerry Grossi.

He said his father gave him two gifts as a child: optimism and enthusiasm. “Those are the two things over my career I have leveraged my success on. Those are the secrets to my success,” he said. “It is my highest honor to be president of this association.”

Snodgrass also expanded on the association’s decision to keep its annual Green Industry Conference in Louisville, Ky., through 2014. While some members question the value of remaining in the same location year after year, Snodgrass said the fall meeting – when coordinated with the GIE+EXPO – is a financial boon to the association.

“First and foremost, it’s a financial thing,” he said. The GIC brings the association about $1 million a year in revenue – a line item second only to membership dues, and Snodgrass said a conference independent of the GIE+EXPO wouldn’t likely bring in that much cash.

“In this world of tightening budgets, you need to be smart in running your business and smart in running the association,” he said.

The Executive Forum meeting opened with a keynote from author and journalist Carmine Gallo, who spoke on innovation. His book, “The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs,” outlines ideas business owners can steal from Steve Jobs and Apple to improve their customer service and innovate at their own companies. In his keynote presentation, Gallo gave attendees a plan to get started.

Do what you love. “You cannot come up with innovative products unless you are passionate about moving society forward,” Gallo said. “It’s not the product. It’s what the product means to your customers.” 

Kickstart your brain. Expose yourself to diverse experiences and different types of people to keep your ideas creative and fresh. Apple stores are modeled not after other electronics retailers, but after lobbies at the Four Seasons.

Say no to 1,000 things. Gallo said Apple knows what it does well and also what it doesn’t do well. Their goal is to have products that are simple to use; the company has just 30 products but earns $50 billion in revenue.  “It takes courage to be simple,” Gallo said.

And, create good experiences. In a market where your product is hard to differentiate, companies have to stand out on things like customer service.

At the Apple store, you can set up an appointment with a personal shopper (who isn’t on commission) who will walk you through the store and help you shop.

 

The author is editor and associate publisher at Lawn & Landscape. He can be reached at cbowen@gie.net.