“Investing in your Success”

Spring-Green Blog

Hug Your Haters: 3 Ways to Improve Your Customer Interactions

How would you rate your green-industry business’s level of customer service? If you’d give your business a pretty high score, you’re not alone: 80 percent of companies believe they deliver exceptional service, according to a survey of more than 350 businesses by Bain & Company, a global management firm. However, according to that same survey, only 8 percent of those businesses’ customers agree. That means nearly every customer thinks the company has room for improvement. At this year’s Spring-Green National Training Conference, Jay Baer, bestselling author of Hug Your Haters, spoke […]

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5 Checklist Tips to Help Grow and Organize Your Company

Checklists—they can make your business life so much easier. If you want to get control over your company’s spending, evaluate your teams performance on job sites, and organize every department, then you need to incorporate checklists to meet your goals. Checklists to Consider In Your Business As you probably realize, there is a slew of checklist templates available online. But do you know which ones are the best for your green industry company? Your managers or crew leaders benefit the most from checklists. So, empower them to take their leadership roles […]

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The Importance of Weekly Meetings With Your Employees

Over the past few years, you’ve seen your business grow—going from just you to having multiple employees, crew leaders and managers. And you know with more employees, communicating is essential to success. To be efficient, you need to meet with your team at least once a week. Commit to holding weekly staff meetings to keep the team on the same page. Gathering everyone at a weekly meeting is an excellent way to hear, first hand, any frustrations and company wins as well as reminding them of your company’s mission and […]

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8 Business Apps to Help Run Your Company On the Go

Sometimes it feels that you have too many responsibilities to juggle as an independent lawn care, landscape or pest control business owner. And it can be days before you sit at your desk to pay vendors, organize your staff and update your accounts. Fortunately, today’s technology makes working on the road fairly quickly and simple. You can almost run your entire company from your truck with business-oriented apps. Stay on Track With These Business Apps There are many ways to help you stay on top of the paperwork while you’re […]

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Processes and Procedures Your Operations Need Today

As you know, there are a lot of moving parts in a lawn care, landscape or pest control business. You’ll feel more in control of your company’s success when your standards of operation are fully written out for all employees to reference while on the job. If you’re a small green industry company, you may not have a fully staffed office of accounting, administrative and marketing departments. But you do have an operations department—whether you, the owner, run it, or hire a manager to oversee that area. You probably trained […]

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5 Tips to Help Convert More Customer Leads into Sales

Did you know that your customer service is key to converting more leads into sales? Think about it: If a person who answers the phone is curt and responds to potential clients in grunts, you’ll lose out on leads. However, if your staff answers the phone with a greeting and friendly tone of voice, your chances of getting a sale increases. Answering the phone is only the first step of excellent customer service. Whether you answer the phone while you’re out on the road or you have a team member answering, you […]

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Extend Your Season With These 7 Add-On Services

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. If you want to increase your revenue into the late fall and winter months, you can include add-on services to your lawn care, landscape or pest control company. Not only can you keep business rolling throughout the year, but you can transform your company from a seasonal business to a four season business – where you’re adding value to your current customers’ properties. You can start marketing your new services during the growing season. Add door hangers, post on social media and include […]

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How to Grow Your Green Industry Business To Sell

Think about why you started your business. Maybe you were 15 years old, mowing lawns for neighbors during the summer to raise money for your senior trip. Maybe you graduated from college and loved being outside so much you found a way to make it your job. Whatever your reasons were then, chances are you aren’t spending a ton of time mowing lawns or enjoying the outdoors these days. So what’s your “why” now? And do you have an exit strategy planned? These are all important questions to ask yourself […]

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Understanding Your Profit and Loss Statement

I’m betting you didn’t start your business to become a financial expert. You’re not alone. The overlap between financial accounting geeks and green-industry pros is pretty slim. But it pays — literally — to understand the basic finances of your business. Not only should you be able to read your profit and loss statement (otherwise known as a P&L), but you should also understand how to use the data on the statement to run your business smarter and more efficiently. To help you develop that basic understanding, let’s take a […]

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Give Yourself a Break! 5 Tips to Increase Work-Life Balance

According to a 2015 Gallup study, the average full-time employee in the United States works 47 hours a week — now multiply that by the “small business owner factor.” It might be easier to calculate how many hours you spend NOT working. Are you constantly putting out fires? Is your smartphone buzzing nonstop with texts and emails from employees? How much time do you spend working in your business, rather than working on it? When’s the last time you took a vacation? Work-life balance isn’t just a buzzword; it’s the […]

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