Lawn Care Standards—Are They Slipping?
I often drive past a job and wonder what the lawn guy was thinking. The edges are poorly done, and there are random chunks of grass on the lawn. It looks horrible and is well below what good lawn mowing standards would produce.
It’s more than just a messy yard; it’s a symptom of a wider decline in professional pride. When did “near enough” become the industry benchmark? We are in the business of aesthetics and property care, yet everywhere you look, the “care” part seems to have vanished.
The Reality of the Industry Giants
I often walk my dog past a local business, and I have commented to my wife about the state of the lawns. I figured that it was because the business got a worker (who didn’t know much about lawnmowing) to do the lawns. I was shocked to walk past the other day and see one of the country’s largest landscaping companies doing the lawn. The guy with the mower kept on changing the height, and the guy with the weed eater was going the wrong way with the machine.
It was a sobering sight. If the industry giants—the ones with the big budgets and the branded uniforms—can’t get the basics right, what hope does the industry have? It proves that size doesn’t equate to quality. In fact, often the bigger the company, the thinner the passion is spread.
The Challenge of Scaling Quality
I know it can be hard sometimes to keep employees on track. That was one of the reasons we scaled back from five vehicles to two. We felt that our standards were dropping, and it was really hard to find people who cared as much about our business as we did. We even had an agreement that if a worker finished his day’s work early, they could go home. However, if a customer complained, then they went back and fixed it up on their own time. That worked ok, but it wasn’t the answer for us.
We realized that you can’t force someone to have an eye for detail if they aren’t looking for it in the first place. Scaling back was a difficult business decision, but it was the right one for our integrity. It allowed us to move from “managing staff” back to “managing quality.”
The Sign of a Professional
The one thing that we can all control is our own standards on the job. If you want a good business, then you need to set high standards and stick to them. If I am in the vehicle and just about to leave a property and I see something that’s not right. I stop, get out the tools, and fix it.
The worst is when you reverse out of a drive and see a pile of grass from the blower where your vehicle was parked. Still, I stop and fix it. That is a real pain, but it’s important. If you are not happy with your job, then how do you expect the customer to feel?
That moment of choosing to get out of the truck is the “litmus test” of a professional. It’s easy to be good when you’re fresh at 8:00 AM; it’s being good at 4:30 PM when you’re tired and it’s starting to rain that actually counts. If we don’t respect the canvas we are working on, we can’t expect the client to respect our invoice.
Why High Standards Drive Results
One of the reasons that our business name actually ranks in the top five Google searches for lawn mowing in our area is that we work hard to keep our standards high. We always trim the edges, we always use the blower, and we always turn up on time. If for any reason we cannot get to a job, then we text the customer to let them know.
Reliability is the rarest commodity in the trades today. Being a “top five” business isn’t just about clever keywords; it’s about a trail of satisfied customers who know that when we say we’ll be there, we mean it. Communication is the grease that keeps the wheels of a service business turning.
The Value of Communication and Trust
It’s the same with quotes. We always turn up. If we cannot do the quote, we pass it on to another company that we know will turn up or tell them we cannot do the quote so they can continue their search. We answer the phone promptly & call people back immediately.
The only time a call will ever go to the answerphone is when I am on the phone or am talking to a customer. A person standing in front of you is much more important than someone ringing. You can call them back when you are finished with the customer. This creates a circle of trust. Even if we don’t take the job, we’ve helped that person solve their problem. That’s how reputations are built—one honest interaction at a time.
Embracing “Good Old-Fashioned Service”
There is a name for the type of business management. It’s called “good old-fashioned service.” The fact that it is becoming less and less common can be the thing that makes your business stand out. It could be a great leap forward for your business if you decide to embrace it. It would be a great thing for the industry if we all had high lawn mowing standards.
In the end, we aren’t just cutting grass; we are providing peace of mind. Let’s bring back the pride in the craft and show the community what a professional lawn is supposed to look like.
