Invest for success

Technology’s place in the green industry isn’t slowing down anytime soon — in fact it’s gaining momentum.

In order to stay ahead of the curve and competitors, more landscaping companies are embracing technology and automating their businesses where available.

Three tech experts were on a panel at the recent Bruce Wilson & Company Thought Leaders Retreat in Miami. Panelists included Ben Collinsworth, director of operational technology at Yellowstone Landscape; Michael Mayberry, customer success lead, Scythe Robotics; and Utkarsh Sharma, founder and CEO of SiteRecon.

The panelists shared how to successfully implement new technology, why it’s important and what companies should be investing in next.

WHY — To ensure employee buy-in with any new technology or software, the panelists say that making sure everyone’s clear on the why is key.

“Explain why you are choosing to implement this,” Mayberry says. “And that why should include how it’s making their lives easier. All of this technology should make our lives easier and give more time back to our people.”

Collinsworth agrees, saying that the new implementation has to solve something in order to be adopted.

“It’s got to fix a problem,” he says. “If you’re trying to force change for the sake of change, people don’t always respect that.”

Mayberry adds that other reasons to embrace technology are popping up  every day as this industry and so many others are introduced to more of it.

“Technology moves very fast and it’s moving even faster now within the industry,” Mayberry notes. “Interesting new roles are opening up in the industry that haven’t existed before. That’s exciting because it brings in a whole diverse group of people into the industry.”

WHAT — Knowing what exactly to invest in to improve your company can be difficult as new technology is constantly coming along.

Mayberry says for him, one thing on the horizon will be an absolute gamechanger when it comes to training or introducing a new jobsite to crews — and it all ties in with AI (artificial intelligence).

“I see two exciting things with AI,” he says. “One is training with augmented reality glasses. AI can generate the job mapping and motion mapping to come up with the most efficient way to produce the work.”

Additionally, Mayberry says this AI and advancements being made with autonomous mowers will allow for more profits easily.

“With cameras being everywhere, we are going to be able to automatically generate enhancement proposals,” he explains. “No human has to touch it. And that allows humans to focus on the things they are best at — relationship management.

“The next big thing is augmented reality,” Mayberry adds. “AI, robotics, battery — that’s all here now and just waiting to be mass adopted.”

Sharma says for companies looking to dip their toes into the pool of technology, mapping software may be the best place to start.

“The lowest hanging fruit for the industry right now is mapping.” he says. “It’s so simple.”

Sharma adds that in a few years, all of the routine tasks it takes to run a business successfully will all be handled fully by AI.

“All these mundane tasks that are happening — one by one they will get automated,” he says. “In about a year, if you’re buying a design software that does not have generative AI plugged into it, it’s a bad software. If your proposal software isn’t generating proposals for you six months from now — it’s a bad software.”

All three panelists agree  these major changes are coming fast and it’s a matter of who is going to get onboard and who will be left waiting.

“It’s going to spread like wildfire,” Collinsworth says. “It might sound space-age like but it’s not. It’s coming quick.”

HOW — Why to embrace technology and what to invest money in are both important topics — but nothing is as essential as knowing how to successfully implement new technologies or software.

Mayberry says it all starts with a plan of attack and making sure you stick to it.

“You have to have a plan,” he says. “Dabbling in things with no intention on where it’s going to go won’t result in an ROI. It’s OK to try something and have it not work out, but diving in is difficult unless you have an end goal in mind.”

He adds  the best way to keep things moving along is to have continuous support from a company’s leadership team.

“It’s really important to have top-down pressure,” Mayberry says. 

Collinsworth says it’s almost important to bring the new technology to the people who want it first before making any mass adoption policies. This way, those people testing it can one day be its champion.

“Things work a lot better with someone who’s trying to make it succeed rather than someone who’s trying to make it fail,” he notes.

Sharma’s advice is that any software or technology will always be progressing — so continued training is necessary.

“The biggest challenge for companies is an expectation that when you implement a software it’s going to be complete,” he explains. “With every iteration we do to make the product better, a lot of our users need to be maintained… Software is going to be continuously evolving.”

Sharma suggests that when a new version of software is released everyone takes a few minutes to learn it and then continue to refresh their skills weekly.

“Spend 30 minutes every Friday afternoon just playing around with the software,” he says. “These things are just like toys — if you just start playing with them it’s fun.”