Toolbox for the Trades

Horticulture isn’t the first industry that pops to mind when you think about applying technology to daily processes. However, LMC Landscape Partners IT Director Mike Lowrance has dug into the subject and has definitively shown how digital tools can lead strategy in horticulture and multiple landscape companies. To start, Lowrance notes that employees enter into any kind of tech training with widely varying levels of expertise. He says employers and trainers need to take employee knowledge variances into consideration. “If you want to grow and be successful, you can't afford not to adapt to technology,” Lowrance says. “Start off small, chip away at it, and you'll achieve your goal.” Once people achieve some levels of proficiency, he says the next step is learning how to accurately read and report input. “There are a lot of people that have edited the input to make it look like they're being profitable in jobs,” Lowrance says. “That is muddying the water. You have to put in accurate information because you gotta know what you're doing good and what you're doing poorly at.” He also says it can be easy to get lost in an abundance of data, so to be successful you have to keep a goal in mind. Lowrance points out that numbers can be manipulated to show myriad results. For example, he says a company may have a very low gross margin on a big job, so your percentage is low, but your gross profit is high. “So you kind of wanna know from the business standpoint what it is that you are being asked to build,” Lowrance says. Even the best systems can fail without clear goals, thoughtful training and real buy-in, he says. Mike Lowrance recently joined ServiceTitan’s Amanda Salvatore on the “Toolbox for the Trades” podcast, which included Lowrance’s thoughts on: [7:12] How to build internal tech leadership with super users [10:09] Trying to create super users [12:54] How to create buy-in and deal with tech resistance [14:19] Data leads to profitability [18:43] What sets Aspire apart from other landscaping CRMs To hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to “Toolbox for the Trades” on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Google , or anywhere you get podcasts.

Creating a good business team starts with the basic building block of effectively collecting individuals, Team Engine Co-founder Carlos del Pozo says. That process can be hampered by applicants who ghost you, or when your turnover rate is high. For those reasons and more, del Pozo says recruiters have to think creatively. “If you're good at sales and marketing and following up quickly, you should be applying all those same frameworks to recruiting,” he says. A misconception still exists at some companies, del Pozo says, that somebody who gets hired is just lucky to have a job. That outlook isn’t an incentive for them to stick around for long. Instead, employers need to approach recruiting differently, especially by following up quickly and screening effectively. Rather than leave great recruits dying on the vine, hire the good ones in a timely manner and set them up for success, del Pozo says. Another pitfall to avoid is letting the hiring manager lose faith in the process. Del Pozo knows that when there is a high turnover rate, the recruitment process can become dispiriting. That can lead to putting less effort into hiring, which creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. “They may think about hiring and recruiting as this linear experience,” del Pozo says. “They should be thinking about it as a cycle.” That means two things, he says. Don’t get disappointed about turnover, and put more focus on onboarding, a ramp-up plan and a playbook for new hires. Finally, del Pozo says the whole process can be assisted by technology, especially in the very initial recruiting phase. “Software can actually make that happen the way that you want,” he says. “It can make it effective…and can help you avoid pain and frustration.” Carlos del Pozo recently joined ServiceTitan’s Amanda Salvatore on the “Toolbox for the Trades” podcast, which included del Pozo’s thoughts on: [5:39] The #1 hiring bottleneck of failing to follow up fast [13:01] Why your job description is a marketing tool [19:13] How to enable retention [22:25 How to improve leadership skills [24:33] The future of recruiting and hiring in the age of AI To hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to “Toolbox for the Trades” on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Google , or anywhere you get podcasts.

Steven Harper has worked at some powerhouse brands, like FedEx, Disney and Capital One, during his 25 years in business. Each stop on his journey to President & CEO of Spectrum Building Services of America has taught him two essential lessons: Having a people-first culture is non-negotiable. Cash-flow management is the true lifeline for any service business. Harper sat down to talk about his quarter-century leadership experience with “Toolbox for the Trades” new co-host Amanda Salvatore. “Our number one value is caring about the customer,” he says. “The customer is everything because, without them, you don’t have a business.” And how do you take care of customers? By doing everything you can as a leadership team to make sure employees are in the position to do the best for customers, Harper believes. “Employees have real lives,” he says. “They have a life outside of this company. The things that I can do as a CEO to help make their lives better and make their lives work is time well spent for me.” On the fiduciary side of management, Harper says most managers know about profit-and-loss and the balance sheet. But forecasting cash is a major responsibility, one that keeps employee paychecks going out. “The number one thing I had to learn as an entrepreneur and small-business owner [is] that without cash, you die,” he says. “You've got to make sure that you're managing cash with the same diligence that you manage profitability.” Steven Harper recently joined ServiceTitan’s Amanda Salvatore on the “Toolbox for the Trades” podcast, which included Harper’s thoughts on: [3:25] How 25-plus years of experience have influenced Harper’s customer service philosophy [10:53] Cash management strategies for struggling business owners [15:50] Culture building and scaling within the commercial cleaning industry [26:18] Scaling within the cleaning industry [30:27] Why leaders need clarity to succeed To hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Google , or anywhere you get podcasts.

When Tiffany Martin Peters entered into the family business in 2014, the company was running well but was stagnant. At the time the general feeling was “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” Today, Martin Peters is president of North by Northwest Lawns in Austin, Texas. She proudly notes that everything she originally learned about the family landscaping company came from her dad. While business was steady, it was also in need of upgrades. “If you're not improving your processes with the times, you’ll stay stagnant,” Martin Peters says. “Even just with technology, you're gonna be left behind in the dust because everybody else is keeping up with the times.” Making changes, especially in a tight-knit family business, is not for the faint of heart, she says. There was give and take. “My dad once said that being offended is a choice,” Martin Peters says. “It’s about [acknowledging] my lack of knowledge and not taking [criticism] personally.” The company went all in with Aspire Software, a sister software solution to ServiceTitan. There was a learning curve, but she says North by Northwest is now out of the weeds and has tech processes working smoothly. Martin Peters was hands on during the onboarding so she could gain full knowledge of the software. “It was very important for me to be a part of the implementation,” she says. “So that I could fully understand and wrap my head around it so that I could delegate it to other people.” Tiffany Martin Peters recently joined ServiceTitan’s Amanda Salvatore on the “Toolbox for the Trades” podcast, which included Martin Peters’s thoughts on: [5:33] Transitioning the office from old-school paper to modern processes [8:26] Navigating family dynamics while implementing new procedures [13:56] Adopting new software during the peak seasonal months [16:01] Creating project timelines 26:48] How instant data helped project job costing To hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Google , or anywhere you get podcasts.

Site Landscape Development CFO Andrew Craft has proved that process improvement is a growth engine for companies in the landscaping and commercial cleaning trade industry. Craft is the second guest of “Toolbox for the Trades” new co-host Amanda Salvatore. Powering Site Landscape Development’s tremendous growth is Aspire Software, a sister software solution to ServiceTitan. Dallas-Fort Worth-based Site Landscape Development adopted Aspire and, by investing in an efficient system, doubled revenue. “ We needed a platform to give us the ability to grow, and for us, that was Aspire,” Craft says. “We were at $20 million in revenue. Now, we're just over $40 million this year.” Craft demonstrated that tech-forward thinking and financial discipline can lead to more than just time savings. But it did lead to a quandary during hiring. Some applicants wondered if the human element was still needed. “We would get the question, ‘If you're gonna automate the AP process, why are you hiring -- is this a temporary position?’” he says. “No way. [automation] leaves time for the higher-value stuff.” With automation, data and scalable tools in place, Craft has even bigger plans, like $100 million in annual revenue within the next five years. Serious growth, for sure. “ The big advantage of Aspire is having everything in one place,” he says. “[Having] a CRM, just for starters, is super important as you grow to have all your data in one place.” Andrew Craft recently joined ServiceTitan’s Amanda Salvatore on the “Toolbox for the Trades” podcast, which included Craft’s thoughts on: [1:49] Why process improvements are critical for scaling your small business [6:21] How a CRM and EOS implementations helped Site double its revenue [15:31] Advice to small-business owners trying to jump their scaling hurdles [32:17] Projecting the future after efficiency improvements. To hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Google , or anywhere you get podcasts.

Aspire Software Director of Client Experiences Jon Gohl raves about the benefit of mentorship in the landscaping and commercial cleaning trades – and he vows to pass along the same benefits to newcomers to the industry. Gohl is the first guest of Toolbox for the Trades new co-host Amanda Salvatore, who’ll be sharing duties with veteran host Jackie Aubel. Aspire Software is a sister software solution to ServiceTitan. Gohl, a bicycling enthusiast, is a big believer in leading effectively through technology. He credits others for helping him navigate the path to being an effective leader. “ You can never walk this alone,” he says. “You have to walk together, so bring people [with you] to accomplish the mission and the dream of the unachievable, and it shall come true.” Gohl’s philosophy in life and in business is to keep moving forward, try new things and not be afraid to take risks by walking out onto skinny branches. “ When I talk about skinny branches, it's about living your life and not clinging to the trunk [of a tree],” he says. “If you’re clinging to the trunk, you're going to miss the whole purpose of why we're all here. You’ve got to get on the skinny branches. That's where the action is.” Out on those branches is where Gohl hopes to recruit teammates who will advance software adoption in the field. “We're going to change this industry,” he says. “We're going to revolutionize it. We're going to bring something that nobody has before, to arm themselves and become better, become greater, and accomplish the ultimate outstanding.” Jon Gohl recently joined ServiceTitan co-host Amanda Salvatore on the “Toolbox for the Trades” podcast, which included Gohl’s thoughts on: [11:21] Leadership lessons Gohl took from some of the industry’s legends [15:12] Creating a vision for yourself [17:46] Bringing technology to schools for the next generation of landscapers [24:30] Framing software platforms as an approachable tool [26:22] How educational outreach will benefit the industry To hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to Toolbox for the Trades on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Google , or anywhere you get podcasts.