Total Landscape Care Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/356210
Total Landscape Care is a proud supporter of... totallandscapecare.com /TotalLandscapeCare @TLCmagazine Editorial Editor-At-Large: Lauren Heartsill Dowdle Editorial Director: Marcia Gruver Doyle Online Managing Editor: Patty Vaughan editorial@totallandscapecare.com Design & Production Art Director: Richard Street Graphic Designer: Timothy Smith Advertising Production Manager: Linda Hapner production@totallandscapecare.com Construction Media Senior VP, Market Development, Construction Media: Dan Tidwell VP of Sales, Construction Media: Joe Donald sales@randallreillyconstruction.com Corporate Chairman/CEO: Mike Reilly President: Brent Reilly Chief Process Offi cer: Shane Elmore Chief Administration Offi cer: David Wright Senior Vice President, Sales: Scott Miller Senior Vice President, Editorial and Research: Linda Longton Vice President, Audience Development: Stacy McCants Vice President, Digital Services: Nick Reid Director of Marketing: Julie Arsenault 3200 Rice Mine Rd NE Tuscaloosa, AL 35406 800-633-5953 randallreilly.com For subscription information/inquiries, please email: totalland- scapecare@halldata.com. Total Landscape Care (ISSN # 1932-8303) is published monthly by Randall-Reilly Publishing Co. LLC, 3200 Rice Mine Road NE, Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. Single copy price: US $6, Canada/Mexico $9, Foreign $12. For subscriptions, call (800) 517-4979 in the U.S. or (847) 763-9610 outside the U.S. U.S. Periodicals Postage Paid at Tuscaloosa, AL and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 707.4.12.5); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Total Landscape Care, PO Box 2196, Skokie, IL 60076-9852. All contributions in the form of unsolicited letters, manuscripts, stories, materials, photographs or art are welcome, addressed to the editor. These submissions cannot be returned except where the sender provides a postage-paid, addressed, stamped envelope. Randall- Reilly Publishing Company, LLC cannot assume responsibility for unintentional loss or damage to submitted materials. All advertisements for Total Landscape Care magazine are accepted and published by Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC on the representation that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/ or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC harmless from and against any loss, expenses or other liability resulting from any claims or suits for libel violations of right of privacy or publicity, plagiarisms, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or suits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Copyright ©2014 Randall- Reilly Publishing Company, LLC All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Total Landscape Care is a trademark of Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC neither endorses nor makes any representation or guarantee regarding the quality of goods and services advertised herein. For change of address and other subscription inquiries, please contact: totallandscapecare@halldata.com Put on your school colors, grab some tailgating food and turn on the big screen: Football season is fi nally here. If your team is going to win this year, they'll need conditioned players, a dedicated coach and a good playbook. And a land- scape business is no different. Here are three ways to prepare your team to beat the competition. Practice. For the most part, you're on the sidelines while your employees are out on jobsites. So, it's important to teach them the fundamentals, including safety training and how to interact with clients. Just like a football team wouldn't practice once a season, you also need to hold regular meetings with employees. (Download free safety materials at totallandscapecare.com/safetywatch.) Watch fi lm. Unlike a coach, you probably won't watch recordings of your employees working each day. But, you can look back and learn from your past experiences – good and bad. Did you under bid a project, miss a deadline, make a bad hire or have an unhappy client (read tips on dealing with upset clients on page 21)? Analyze what went wrong and how to prevent that loss in the future. On the fl ip side, did you send a mailer that brought in a lot of leads or gain community recognition from winning an award? Figure out what worked and how you can recre- ate that success. Play at a high level. Don't just do enough to beat your competitors. Instead, challenge yourself, and look for ways to continually improve. Want tips on how other landscap- ers are winning with their businesses? Read the Landscaper of the Year Final- ist article on page 37. Lauren Heartsill Dowdle Editor-At-Large breaking ground A U G U S T 2 014 To t a l L a n d s c a p e C a r e . c o m 5 Kicking It Off Right 3 ways to create a winning business playbook