Time for a change

When your company’s main source of revenue comes from large commercial construction, it’s time to mix things up.

That was the situation facing Donnie Garritano and his Las Vegas-based company, D&K Landscape.
 
“Our main bloodline has been severed to some degree very significantly,” says  Garritano, the president and CEO.
In 2010, Garritano wanted to focus more on residential and consumer-based landscape and maintenance services, bur still maintain a commercial maintenance presence. While it would be a challenge to communicate the changes to the market, Garritano would also have to drive the change internally.

But with 15 years in the industry, D&K’s workers could use disciplines they developed doing commercial construction and transfer them to the residential side with no problem, right?
Wrong.

A shift to residential services buoyed D&K this year, but it took some retraining for employees used to dealing with commercial clients. Photo: D&K Landscape Find the resisters
Even with the basic disciplines in place, the change wasn’t going through without some complications. Proactively sitting down with people and explaining why things are changing and what their role will be is a good first step, Garritano says.

“It should take you 30 days to get your arms around it, at least that I can see that you have gotten through it and gotten your head around it,” he says. “Then you kind of watch the process evolve and if they get better, then you let it go.”

If someone continues to make the same mistakes and continues to refer to how they did things in their old role, it might be time to part ways, Garritano says.

“They just can’t get it out of their mind that they aren’t doing that job anymore,” he says. “So, when you start seeing that there is going to be a long road or a very difficult task getting someone to do that, then you just have to identify that to them and sometimes that change is as good for them as it is for us.”

Keep in touch
One of the first actions Garritano took after making the announcement in January was holding operations and business development meetings weekly instead of monthly. Garritano facilitates all the meetings and uses them to make sure the employees are sticking with the plan.

“Otherwise, people sometimes tend to want to just fall back to their old roles,” he says. “We have to keep emphasizing the strategy and keep identifying what we’re doing, and keep that direction moving forward.”

Garritano also recently began holding one-on-one meetings with supervisors and above on the organization chart. He tries to do four per week, and asks employees to come prepared with ideas or problems. But he also asks that they come with suggestions on how to solve the problems they present.

“They need to be open to exploration – so willing to discuss it and put all their cards on the table and look at all different angles,” he says.

Scheduling a weekly time makes it easier on the employee because it creates a more relaxed setting. It can help remove the employees’ feeling that they are walking to the principal’s office.

“It gives an open invitation and it’s more of a proactive strategy for getting employees to come in and talk about their issues,” he says.

It’s worked so well that Garritano plans on continuing the meetings.

Though the company had to make adjustments, it was worth it. In the first five months of offering the new services, the company generated between $75,000 and $100,000 in additional revenue that the company never had before, Garritano says. 

“It’s evolved nicely because everybody here is doing something different than they were 12 months ago,” he says. “And they are doing it well.”

Branding
When D&K Landscape rolled out its new services, Donnie Garritano, president and CEO, wanted to do something more than simply announce the company was now offering residential landscape and maintenance services.

He wanted consumers to differentiate between his established company and some of the smaller competitors who don’t have the track record D&K does in the green industry.

“It’s a lot of mom and pops and it’s a lot of owner/operators – a lot of guys with pick-up trucks and trailers that do residential work,” he says. “So as a homeowner here, it’s really a coin toss as to when you pick up the phonebook or get a flyer on your door or however you may acquire the name of a landscape company, that you are going to get somebody that is reputable, that has a long track record of good business practices and all the things you’d come to expect in any other major industry.”

Though the company has established its brand in the commercial marketplace, Marisa Finetti, director of marketing and public relations, says the company would still have to make a mark in the residential market. The company branded its new services with short names, which will help attract customers’ attention.

“The benefit of branding each signature service allows us to create marketing messages that are targeted and concise,” she says. “We can distribute marketing messages with an easy-to-identify brand that consists of two words explaining the service in its simplest form.”

Finetti says the challenge in developing a series of brands is clearly getting the name out there to consumers that have the potential to make a connection with it. But remember, your message isn’t going to be accepted in one day.

“This takes time, but we’re patient and diligent with our marketing messages,” she says. “We’re excited about our company’s progress, and this fuels our drive to get the word out through all means, from conventional marketing to social media tactics.”

Be patient
Even though Donnie Garritano and D&K Landscape had years of commercial landscaping experience, rolling out new services geared toward residential customers would still be a challenge. Providing services to residential customers wasn’t the same as dealing with a property manager who didn’t need everything explained. Homeowners are more particular and don’t understand that the process from turning the property from bad to good is an evolution, Garritano says. So, when working with residential customers, you need to be more patient and explain what you are doing.

Here is a list of D&K’s services:

SeasonalGardener – Professional, quarterly residential garden manicure services

PropertyGuard – Commercial property landscape maintenance with emphasis on irrigation management and high-end detail services that promotes curbside appeal

AquaSense – Water conservation program that features real-time, weather-based management and irrigation analysis to ultimately cut water usage and cost

StoneWorks – Crafted stone veneer, pavers and masonry to enhance all living spaces

GardenMedic – Plant health care nurtures plants and trees to encourage beauty and longevity

ArborMaster – Tree care by licensed arborists ensures proper growth and protection of trees

Parks & Playgrounds–Along with its sister company, Creative Play, D&K can supply playground equipment and landscape services

KidScape – Integration of nature into the design of recreational and playground environments that promote curiosity, imagination and healthy activity

PlaySAFE – Maintenance and safety management of public facilities, commercial playgrounds and outdoor environments
 

The author is associate editor of Lawn & Landscape. Send him an e-mail at bhorn@gie.net.