January 15, 2012
New opportunities at owners-only workshops
Jeff Mowatt
Monroe Porter
Mark Bradley
Bill Arman
By Kristen McIntyre CHT
Conference and event coordinator
When you own a landscape company, you’re a business-person first and a landscaper second, although it may not always seem that way.
Tasks that require your time the most scream the loudest, leaving you focused on daily problems and operations instead of looking at the big picture.
In the 39th edition of Congress, four Owners-only workshops are offered each day of the trade show, Jan. 10 to Jan. 12, from 9 a.m. to 12-noon.
The first workshop, entitled, ‘Leading a Customer Focused Team,’ is on Jan. 10, presented by Jeff Mowatt from JC Mowatt Seminars in Calgary. An award-winning speaker, he has written best-selling books, Becoming a Service Icon in 90 Minutes a Month and Influence with Ease.
As Mowatt says, “If you try to enhance service and sales behaviour without looking at culture, you are just painting over rust; the underlying problems eventually reoccur.” Get ready to laugh and learn with Mowatt in this rare opportunity.
Day two of the trade show and conference sees Monroe Porter from Proof Management Consultants, Richmond, Va., present ‘How to Succeed and Prosper as a Landscape Contractor.’
A columnist, speaker and consultant, Monroe is renowned for his innovative and practical solutions to problems that businesses face. His entertaining and insightful presentations have earned him an international reputation as a top speaker, while his problem-solving skills have made him an in-demand consultant for businesses hoping to improve operations or open new opportunities for growth and marketing.
Thursday offers two relevant and timely workshops. The first is ‘Do What, When?’ and ‘The Ultimate Business Management Calendar for Landscape Contractors’ by Mark Bradley, Landscape Management Network. Bradley is founder and president of The Beach Gardener, a design-build-maintenance and snow and ice control company in Toronto. He is well-known for management skills that helped him grow his business from start-up to an industry leader in 14 years. He also founded the Landscape Management Network, a collection of tools, systems and education born out of his business.
Bradley’s session breaks down a simple business management calendar for landscape contractors, and details the tasks that provide the best return on investment of your precious time. Attendees take away a month-by-month management calendar for owners of landscape businesses, systems critical for success and growth in the landscape industry, and ideas and frameworks to ensure you spend more time planning, and less time fixing.
The alternate Thursday workshop, ‘Ten Best Practices that All Businesses Need to Know,’ is by Bill Arman from The Harvest Group in California. He started a 30-year career with the Valley Crest Companies (VCC), which today is a $1-billion landscape business known throughout the U.S. During his stay at VCC, he spent two years as VP of human resources, serving as primary architect of its national training program, performance management system and recruiting for this 10,000 employee company. In 2007 he co-founded The Harvest Group.
The session reviews the top ten best practices to help build your company with sound, fundamental, simple-to-implement processes to accelerate your journey to success. Attendees not only learn how to recruit, retain and grow the right employees, but how to attract and retain the right customer.
If you are an owner of a landscape based company, these sessions are not to be missed. Register at www.locongress.com.