In our last post we discussed setting your landscape service expectations – understanding the role of landscaping at your property, establishing how often you expect to see your landscaper’s staff and what types of services are needed to keep your property looking its best. Now that you know what you expect, it’s time to communicate those expectations to your landscape service provider and develop a process that keeps the communication flowing.
During a recent Client Expectations Interview, one of our clients described his benchmark for evaluating our communication as, “Are you answering my questions before I have a chance to ask them? Are you proactive about solving my property’s problems?”
Proactive communication is vitally important. If you're bringing the issues to your contractor, your property’s landscaping may already be at risk. By the time you see a problem (excessive weed growth, spots or patches of declining turf, fungus or disease in your shrubs or trees) it may already be too late to correct the issue without major effort and expense. Always make sure that your commercial landscape service partner understands your expectation for proactive communication. Ask for a regular updates on any emerging threats to your property, and make sure that you both understand what solution they’ll use to remedy the problem.
Another key to effective communication with your landscape service provider is establishing a standard reporting and inspection procedure. Checklists, service summaries, even a weekly email can help both sides keep track of any outstanding issues and document your property’s successes. Keep the reports in a standard format and make sure they are produced at regular intervals, so you can create a timeline of your property’s landscape service history. Except in cases of emergency, any issues that require work outside of your landscape management agreement should be documented and approved by you, first, before any additional cost is incurred. These standardized reports and regularly spcheduled inspections will be the tool that keeps you and your landscape service provider on the same page from season to season.
Finally, effective communication will require you to put in some time to walk your property alongside your landscaper. Phone calls, meetings, and service reports are important, but nothing will guarantee the results that you expect from your landscaping like seeing your property in person. Walking (or driving) through your property with your landscaper gives you both the opportunity to point out areas that can be improved and discuss what can be done to enhance your property’s appearance. Committing just 1-2 hours per month to a walkthrough is the most important thing you and your contractor can do to see a positive return from your landscape service investment.
Communication is the foundation of all great partnerships. Communicating openly and often with your landscape service partner will help them to deliver the results you expect and keep you informed about what’s being done to maintain your property’s appearance.