Know what makes you great

Marty Grunder

No one said being successful in the green industry is easy or would be easy. There are a lot of things we must do well to have a well-oiled machine that makes money, is fun to participate in and can be sold to someone else one day. Ponder your answers to these 21 questions surrounding your efforts, mark yes or no as appropriate, and add up your score at the bottom to see how you did.
 

1. You have a vision and mission statement that is posted and used, and you have core values that are adhered to and talked about often.

YES         NO
 

2. You have an “ideal client” and an “ideal team member” defined, and you have an illustration of each one showing what they look like that is posted for all to see.

YES         NO
 

3. You have a truck assigned to individuals, all the tools they use are stored on the truck in boxes, and that truck is the responsibility of the team leader. His or her name is on the side of the truck.

YES         NO

4. You have a schedule board that all jobs are organized on.

YES         NO

5. You use work orders. No one works without one and the work orders show how many man-hours are budgeted for the job so the crew knows what they have to do to make the job profitable.

YES         NO

6. On large jobs, you have a pre-meeting with all parties involved before the bid is turned into a quote and, if sold, this is done again before any work is done. Everything is talked about: where you will park, what equipment will be used, what challenges there are, and what all budgets for materials and labor are.

YES         NO

7. If a client calls you, you call them back that day.

YES         NO

8. If a client inquires about your services via your website, you respond to them within 2 hours.

YES         NO

9. You write at least five thank-you notes per week to clients.

YES         NO

10. You survey all clients and share the results with your team.

YES         NO

11. When a client makes a complaint, your responses are impressive, and make the client feel important and want to do business with you again.

YES         NO

12. All of your people get a sit-down review held with their supervisor at least once a year.

YES         NO

13. You have read three books on leadership or business in the last year.

YES         NO

14. You have a coach or mentor in whom you confide your weaknesses and issues and are working with them to get better.

YES         NO

15. You are a member of PLANET.

YES         NO

16. You read Lawn & Landscape magazine cover to cover each month (shameless plug).

YES         NO

17. You have a 401k or retirement plan that you offer your team or are a part of.

YES         NO

18. You know who your top 25 clients are and they know you know that.

YES         NO
 

19. You have a consistent brand – no matter what the public sees – your trucks, equipment, your website and so on all resemble each other.

YES         NO

20. Your website is mobile enabled.

YES         NO

21. If you Google, “landscaping, your town or county (or whatever you call your area),” your company is one of the top five to come up.

YES         NO