I was on my way to an appointment early one day last week when I drove by a McDonald’s and saw in their parking lot a whole slew of trucks from other landscaping companies. Now this is not an uncommon sight at 8 in the morning, but it never ceases to surprise me. Why? Because to any owner with an eye on the bottom line, those trucks sitting idle while work crews get their breakfast means lost time and lost revenue.
Years ago we had this same problem at Grunder Landscaping, with crews clocking in, loading up their trucks, and then heading directly to the Speedway around the corner to get their snacks for the day. Then we did the math and realized how much time and money we were wasting.
So we updated our policy and instructed our crews to go directly to our job sites. We knew this change could be unpopular, so we made sure to clearly explain why we were doing it and to install vending machines in our shop stocked with the drinks and snacks our crews liked so they could easily get what they wanted before they clocked in and headed out. And we reminded them that the sooner they get to our job sites in the morning, the sooner they will finish for the day—and no one wants to still be out in the field at 5 or 6 or 7 in the evening.
It’s true that whenever you implement a change like this, it takes some getting used to. But if you roll it out in a way that shows your team you understand where they’re coming from and that they will benefit too, they will almost always get on board. And with repetition soon it becomes just the way you do business.
Have a great week!
We’re holding a special one-day $uper Sales Bootcamp in Cincinnati on Friday, June 7. If you want to meet and exceed your targets this summer and fall, I’ll show you the tricks and tactics that work for us, year after year, at Grunder Landscaping Co. View the full agenda and reserve your spot here.