March 13, 2025 • 31 mins
Are you thinking long-term in landscaping, or are you trapped in short-term wins? Transform your approach with insights from Gene Freeman of Complete Landsculpture, as he sits down with our host Tommy Cole. Explore the pivotal changes that propelled Complete Landsculpture into a thriving business with a focus on maintenance and leadership development. Whether you're looking to elevate your landscape company's recurring revenue or refine your leadership strategies, this episode is your blueprint to success. Tune in and tune up your business strategy.
THE BIG IDEA:
Strong leadership and teamwork fuel expansion
KEY MOMENTS:
[00:00] Maintenance Drives Business Growth
[04:57] Team's Market Diversification Initiative
[08:57] Trust Drives Customer Relationships
[10:51] Developing Talent and Team Growth
[15:42] Monthly Task Prioritization Discussion
[17:51] Wednesday Midweek Meeting Schedule
[19:26] Instant Feedback Fosters Team Growth
[23:07] Profit Sharing Over Bonuses
[27:03] Teamwork Sparks Growth and Improvement
[29:20] Streamlined Crew Task Documentation
QUESTIONS WE ANSWER
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What are the benefits of focusing on maintenance in a landscaping business?
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How can a landscaping company grow its maintenance division?
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What is the impact of a recession on landscape design and maintenance companies?
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How to develop a leadership team in the landscaping industry?
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How does a profit-sharing program benefit landscape company employees?
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What role does client relationship management play in the landscaping business?
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How to transition from a design-build model to a maintenance-focused landscaping business?
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Why is attending industry events beneficial for landscaping companies?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The Roots of Success podcast isfor the landscape professional
who's looking to up their game.
We've got a brain trust of experts tohelp you nurture the roots of a successful
business and grow to the next level.
This is The Roots of Success.
welcome.
This is Tommy with Root SuccessPodcast and I've got an awesome
guest, gene Freeman big Gene.
(00:22):
It's, it's about time that we havefinally got together, but we're in
the same location and so this is justgonna be an awesome sort of episode.
Gene.
Tell us about whereyou're at, what you do.
Dallas, Texas, everything.
Complete land sculpture.
Tell us more about it.
Yeah.
Thanks for having Tommy.
Yeah.
Complete land sculpture.
We're in Dallas, Texasas our headquarters.
(00:44):
We have an office also inOklahoma City and Tulsa.
And this will be our 40th year.
So my business partner, Chris Pec,founder of Complete Land Sculpture, yeah.
Founded it 39 years ago, so we'reentering into our 40th year.
Lots of, lots of things.
Lots of changes, lots of growth.
Unbelievable.
Yeah.
We were forever a design build mm-hmm.
(01:06):
Landscape firm.
Mm-hmm.
You know, for probablythe first 20 plus years.
Yeah.
And the last 20, I would say we reallystarted to focus in on a little more
diversity focusing our number one goal atClean Land Sculpture is grow maintenance.
Maintenance.
All right.
So this is, this isthe, this is the stage.
Yeah.
Construction.
I'm with you.
Like I love construction.
(01:27):
It's the coolest part.
Yep.
It's the most challenging at that time.
But you, back in the day when I wasrunning a landscape company with
all of our, with all our partners.
The thing called recessionhit in oh oh 7, 0 8.
And you're, you experienced that?
We did wholeheartedly.
Right.
But did it change at that point,like more maintenance or was it
further down the road a little bit?
(01:49):
Maintenance
was always the kind of the, theadd on at the end, the back end.
It wasn't the back end of it.
So it wasn't a forward thought,you know, mindset to it.
But once we kinda really.
Saw how good maintenance waswith the recurring revenue and
kind of stabilizing things.
It's nice to go into the year with a,you know, $13 million backlog of annual
(02:09):
maintenance contracts, and then allthe enhancements that come on top of
that, you know, trying to achieve 50%.
Enhancement value and dollars ontop of that maintenance contract.
Yeah.
It really started to set us up and,and start to be able to build and grow.
We can still do the $20 million in designbuild every year, but as long as our
maintenance continues to grow, we're gonnacontinue to grow beyond that as well.
(02:30):
So, Jean, talk about some couple oftactical things for our audience.
If you're looking to grow morein maintenance, which we all
encourage, especially across ourpeer groups and of our network.
The reoccurring nuity, the consistency.
What were some tactical things that youguys had to change within your group to
say, this is how we get more maintenance?
Well, we had to stop treating it likeyou know, the stepchild, you know?
(02:53):
Yeah.
We really had to treat it as, youknow, an awesome division in itself
and, and championing it, you know,because with the maintenance becomes.
All the tree work and all the irrigationrepairs and all the reciprocal and
maybe a phase two renovation outthere on their property and things.
So it was a mind focus, you know, changethe, a mindset of, did the mindset changed
(03:14):
and, and it started with you and Chris?
It was, it was, it wasus, you know, for sure.
And, and once we saw that.
The team, they bought into itand they really understand it.
And if you walk through ouroffice, doesn't matter which,
which team member you ask, they'regonna say, what's the number one
goal at Complete Land sculpture?
And they're gonna say, grow maintenance.
Yeah.
Which, you know hindsight, you know,we should have had that mindset
(03:34):
at the beginning of the businessand, and continue to do that.
But we, might not be fast learners,but we definitely aren't dumb.
So we learn and, and it'sbeen a great, great addition.
Yeah.
So
it's changing the mindset, you know, youand Chris have to say, look, this is what
we're gonna focus on right now, and it'sgonna change the, we gotta change the
mindset of, not us, but it's the team.
It starts with us as the ownershipand it kind of goes throughout the
(03:57):
leadership team everywhere else.
What are some, what aresome tactical things about.
Did someone focus on businessdevelopment or relationships, or did
you, were you able to sort of dropsome low hanging fruit of some install
work that you were already doingthat can transfer into maintenance?
We
did, you know, we really kind of putthat at the forefront when we're talking
to individual clients about the initialmeetings on design and build and you
(04:21):
wanna do this pool and you wanna thisbeautiful backyard and these elaborate
gardens and maybe boxwoods and parters andyeah, you know, sheared hedges and things.
You know, this is, this is alsogonna impact your maintenance costs.
On the backside.
So making sure that you want to dothat, by the way, this is what we
do, and so we'll go ahead and takecare of the maintenance afterwards,
and you should expect that thisis gonna be X dollars per month.
(04:43):
Mm-hmm.
Going forward with this typeof a garden setup, you know?
Yeah.
And so getting the buy-in fromthe people and really kind of
educating 'em on the front side sothat it wasn't a, an afterthought.
It was really kind of soldat the beginning of the deal.
That was, a shift.
And then yeah, we went to,relationships and, and it's
one of our three core values.
Relationships matter at alllevels and for us it was.
(05:04):
Going back to our clients andasking them, you know, letting 'em
know this is a service that we've,we've always had, but we never
really, and they may not even know.
Yeah, right.
We, we didn't market it, we didn'tchampion it, and so they didn't know.
And then we really had to lookat our team and our team's done,
you know, amazing job with it.
They've taken this thing and, and they'redriving the force behind this now from
our maintenance business developmentteam out there in, in the marketplace.
(05:26):
And getting on the RFP lists.
Yeah.
And getting bids and doing all thecommercial and HOA and, shopping centers,
hospitals, those kind of properties.
And then you know what we calla TLC program transitioning from
landscape to the care program.
Of, making that a, a mindset and a focusfor our team to have those conversations.
(05:47):
And, you know, we know we may just donea general cleanup for you or a tree work
for you, but we also do the maintenance.
If we're here, we can see thisstuff, you know, 52 weeks a year.
Yeah.
You hit, you said somereally interesting deal.
We talk about this, the, the enhancementvalue on maintenance properties.
I think back in our days itwas about a one-to-one ratio
(06:07):
when I mean one-to-one ratio.
One, for every dollar of contracted value.
Right.
Right.
That you service as a dollar versusenhancements in the commercial
world, it's different, right?
Yes.
And you mentioned it's 50% of thecontract, but how did you get to learn
that and what, what is that a goal ofcomplete that you have learned and get?
it might be easy for you tounderstand, but like the whole
team has to understand, right.
(06:27):
In order to set those goals to go after.
Right.
So we call 'em the KPIs, you know?
Yeah.
And so.
Different divisions need differentmeasurements, different, you
know, different targets to hit.
And so we know in our commercialestimating, we're gonna bid about
$50 million worth of work to goahead and get about $8 million.
Yeah.
You know, so we're gonna be at that,at that kind of a 18%, you know,
(06:47):
success rate on just bid stuff.
Mm-hmm.
And then our design build stuff, we'regonna be north of 50%, you know, so
we're gonna win about 50% of that work.
And so of that we're going to, we're gonnabid probably around 30 million, so we're
gonna get close to fif 15 million on that.
On the enhancements residentially,it's, it's one to one, you know?
(07:07):
Yeah.
So if they're gonna be a thousandbucks a month account, it's $12,000
a year, they're gonna spend more than12,000 with their sprinkler repairs,
their modifications, the tree work, themulching, the flowers, the additional
shrub replacements and things they do.
Mm-hmm.
Those are great clients.
Yeah.
And then commercially.
It's really about, youknow, focusing on budgeting.
Okay.
(07:27):
You know, we do a great jobwith our leadership team.
We have a gentleman there, Scott Fries.
He and I worked together when I was 19years old, actually at another firm.
And he's on our team and we worktogether and he's really doing a
great job with mentoring and coachingup our account managers and to.
Go ahead and create the budgetfor your clients for what they're
(07:48):
gonna need for the next 12 months.
And we're doing that work in July.
Wow.
Very
proactive.
July and August,
we're doing that.
'cause they're doing their budgets mm-hmm.
September, october typically.
Mm-hmm.
For turning that into their,you know, their corporate
or their budgeting purposes.
And then that is blessed, youknow, by, before January one.
So we can go ahead and let 'emknow, Hey, we had this budgeted you,
(08:09):
you've got it done, you're got it.
Approve.
Everything's good.
But we let you know your mulch is gonna beX your, your three color changes are gonna
happen in these months, in this timeframe.
Yeah.
Your tree work, your irrigation repairs.
You know, you spent xthousands of dollars last year.
If we prorate that out over12 months, you've got $800 a
month in in irrigation repairs.
(08:29):
Yeah.
You know, these are things thatwe can help them with the budget.
It makes it so much easier when theyget it into their budget ahead of time.
I. Versus having to go and tryscramble and try and find the money.
Right.
And just say, well,we're gonna put that off.
We're not gonna do it.
Yeah.
It's a partnership.
It is.
Right?
And, and you're the professionalin this industry, right?
So you suggest these things sothey become more equipped, right.
(08:49):
With their building and their finances.
I mean, they've got 80 otherthings working on, right?
Yeah.
The build, all kindsof other things, right?
If you can align yourself withthe, with a strategic partnership,
say, we're here for you.
Yeah.
This is how you understand it.
Best, best case scenario that isgonna be win you over on everything.
'cause they're gonna trustyou as a partner and then.
Sounds good, gene, sign me up for it.
(09:10):
Boom, boom, boom.
Well, and that's it.
You know, people buy from whothey know, like, and trust.
Yeah.
And if you don't build that relationshipand they don't get to know you,
it's hard for them to like you.
Mm-hmm.
And then if you can perform anddo what you say you're gonna
do, they're gonna trust you.
You know?
And so, you know, a lot of our teammembers, they've got the relationships
to the point now that, you know, theysend out an irrigation inspection
(09:32):
and they send it out and say,Hey, These are your, your needs.
These are, your should dos andthese are coming down the line
that we kind of gotta work on this.
So you need to do this much.
Yeah.
And they're like, okay, youthink I need to do that?
And they're like, yes, let's do,it's, you know, so it's just they're
not going out there looking to seethe valve and see every head that
we're talking about and things.
They built the trust and sothey know that which is great.
Trust is most important.
(09:52):
And, and when they trust, it's notabout a numbers game on a price,
they just get it done right.
But it it, it's gonna take time.
It does whatever you say you'regonna do, you gotta do it right.
Like if you don't perform, thenthere's the breaking the trust
so you couldn't sell anything.
Right.
Yeah.
I love that.
We're gonna switch gears, leadership team.
Yeah, man.
I get this question a lot,especially for young companies or
(10:13):
smaller companies that are like.
What does a leadership team look like?
I mean, that is a whole, wholedifferent scenario, like going
from owner operator things.
You've, you've been through the battlesfor all these years with complete,
but now you've developed this team.
Like, take us back a little bit.
Like how you developed it, it findingpeople, is it more divisional roles
to, and and it's not like managinglandscape now you're managing people.
(10:37):
Tell us about that
process.
Yeah, it's the human capital ofour business, you know, which
is, which as owners, it's reallyone of your most important thing.
If you take care of your team,the team will take care of the,
the work, you know, and do that.
And so for us, it happened.
it was actually 11 years ago when itkind of clicked for us and, and was
from, you know, working with with Jimand, and Jason and, and these guys
(11:00):
coming in and just kind of pointingout that Chris and I can't do it all.
Yeah.
You were involved in everything.
Yeah.
And you can't be, you know, and, and, and,you know, you also wanna, you also wanna.
Develop talent.
Mm-hmm.
And we realized that we have somereally talented people and we
didn't want to bottleneck or, or putconstraints on our, on our operation.
And we also wanted to grow our team.
And so initially it, made sensefor those that were, I. At a level
(11:25):
of participation to add value.
You know, in those conversations,in those meetings, who could move
the di, who could move the needle,who could make a difference?
Mm-hmm.
And how can they take the messageand take it and push it out to
their teams and their, their people?
So.
Yeah, we've got we'vegot 10 on our team now.
10 on the team.
Yep.
So, and,
and, and talk about some oftheir, their job titles and
(11:46):
roles.
Sure.
So we've got everything fromyou know, office positions.
Okay.
We've got director of maintenancedirector of landscape operations.
We've got a general manager in Oklahomathat runs the construction up there.
He is, been up there for 25 years.
Day one hire, first hireup there in that office.
Wow.
So they zoom in into the meeting.
(12:06):
And then we've got anothergentleman up there in Oklahoma.
That he was a foreman, when he cameon with us and then account manager.
Wow.
Now he runs Wow story, now heruns the maintenance business
development and account managersup there and runs, runs that team.
And they're verysuccessful and doing well.
So it's good to have theirinput and it's good to get all
the branches so it's not just.
Hey, this is what we do in Texas, sowe're doing it that way everywhere.
(12:28):
Mm-hmm.
You know, actually even in Texas, we cameup in Oklahoma, we went up there and we
were gonna gonna do the same thing and dodesign build residential and commercial.
And we quickly learned that if we'renot gonna add the support staff that
it takes to support the residentialfactor and hire architects and turn
stuff around and have, more elementsthat it takes to do the residential.
(12:50):
And we shouldn't be doing it.
Mm-hmm.
And so we don't, we just do all commercialin our Oklahoma city and Tulsa branches.
But we're able to dothat with four managers.
Wow.
Four managers manage 50 guysbetween Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
55 guys this year.
And everything else is supportedfrom Dallas on the backside mm-hmm.
(13:11):
For, you know, payroll andfinance and those kind of things.
But they're able to, you know, operatereally lean and mean and, and it
works really well for us up there.
Yeah.
And then in Dallas too, we'vealso got other team members that
are maybe business development.
Yeah.
Maybe sales manager hr, you know,has a big component in there and
then some others in our finance team.
So it's a well-rounded team.
(13:33):
That kind of covers all of ourparts because sometimes you start
talking about, you know, Hey, wewanna make this investment in.
a certain division and this otherdivision, we didn't even think
about how does that impact them?
Yeah.
You know, is that a good thing?
Is that a net positive thing forthe whole company, or is it just too
myopic too, too tunnel vision of thisone thing and we don't realize the
(13:54):
ripple effect it may have over here.
Yeah.
And so getting their inputinto it really helps us a lot.
Yeah.
This is the, this is a good question.
So how do you run a leadership team?
I think that, that's the hard part.
there's one-on-one meetings, right.
With some direct reports.
Sure.
But you gotta get everybody in the room.
You gotta have thisthing called a meeting.
Right.
Right.
And And it could last for hours.
(14:14):
Yeah.
Could have no agenda.
You could get complacent.
You could.
That's a big deal.
So talk about getting people in the room.
What do you review in a leadership team?
Then how does that deployed out?
How often do you meet Sure.
Help our audience understandfrom your background.
Yeah.
So for us, I mean, it it'ssome trial and error initially.
Yeah.
It was clunky.
(14:35):
It was like you said, you know, yeah, we,we, we thought we had this information
and we'd start on this and, you know,so, and we'd, we'd meet and we'd be
in this room and next thing you know,you look up and it's like six hours.
And we hadn't even got to50% of the content yet.
And we're like, oh my gosh, my head spin.
So we gotta do better.
So we did.
So we, we, you know, we created agenda.
We follow that agenda.
We actually send the agenda outprior a day or two ahead of time.
(14:58):
And everyone kind of sees what's on there.
They know that, hey, this is my30 minutes and I'm gonna speak
to everything, maintenance.
And they're just given bullet points.
It's not even a question, period.
We don't even ask 'emquestions during there.
This is what we got.
Here's our numbers.
We were 12% above target.
And these are my issues I havegoing on in my department right now.
(15:19):
These are our wins.
This is.
You know, what we see coming downthe, down the pipe and the next month
we kind of forecast this is wherewe think we're gonna land and be.
And so they share all that.
Yeah.
And then we move on to the nextdivision and then we move on to the
HR and they give us the updates onour staffing, on any injuries or
people outta work or anything thatwe have to deal with, at that time.
(15:42):
And then there's a,there's a section in there.
It's just called IDS.
So it's for, issues that we'vegotta solve or be discussed upon.
Ooh.
So people will send those in ahead oftime the day before, like hot topics,
like we need answers or direction.
So then those are up thereand there might be, yeah.
You know, someone might not send any thatmonth or they might have five, you know?
Mm-hmm.
And so we get 'em up there, we look at'em, and then we all rank 'em together.
(16:05):
So, we'll, we'll tackle 'em, you know,what, what's most important, what
does the group think's most important?
This is one.
we got seasonal color coming up,so we gotta go ahead and make sure
our suppliers ready to go and.
You know, if our H two B, you know,where we at with getting our pro
our, our forms turned in mm-hmm.
And, and getting all that back and,how's that gonna impact us and what
timeline are we gonna shoot for, andhow many do we need next year with
(16:28):
our growth plan and what we're doing?
And so those things will come upand then we'll just, we'll sit
there and we'll tackle those.
And those are typically, someof them are just, you know, as
quick as two to five minutes.
Yeah.
Some of 'em might be 15 minutes,but we have an agenda to that
and that fits in that agenda.
And then we have our rocks, Okay.
So we'll, we'll go ahead andwe'll tackle those projects.
(16:48):
Mm-hmm.
We know they're gonna be bigger.
We know they're gonnatake a little more time.
Yeah.
Improvement projects andthey may be something that's
gonna be over the course of.
The whole second quarterfor us to get it done.
Yeah.
updates, timelines towards thedeadline and where we're at.
If we're doing something with,you know, software innovation
or something like that.
And so it goes well, we meet once a month.
(17:09):
Okay.
It's always the lastWednesday of the month.
We, we start at, what's the reasonthe last Wednesday of the month.
It just works for us becausewe're trying to get our financial
from the previous month.
So the previous month we'regetting that closed out.
We're trying to get that information.
Ideally, we have that financial sentout also two days ahead of time.
Yeah, so everyone can kind of reviewit and poke holes in it and if
(17:30):
they have questions, they can shootthose questions back to maintenance.
Hey, I see here.
You had this large expensein small tools, you know?
Yeah.
And that really kind of threw your budgetoff this common common little bucket.
Yeah.
Right.
So we can go ahead and ask what that isahead of time, and they'll come to that
meeting with that answer versus we'rein the meeting, well, I'm not sure.
Let me get back to you.
They already have the answer.
(17:50):
Yeah.
You know, and so trying to streamlineit and make it make it effective.
It's an expensive meeting.
Obviously.
We got, you know, 10 of our,10 of our our top leaders Yeah.
In the, in the company.
Stopping down, getting together.
For, collectively, you know, once a month.
And so we start at eight and wetypically get done about one 30.
Yeah.
You know we bring inlunch and we kinda, Yeah.
(18:12):
Make that format work and follow for us.
Yeah.
It also go, it also lets us, it putsomething out there on the target that
everyone knows that's where we're going.
People are traveling, on Mondays andFridays or maybe a Thursday or something.
So Wednesday kinda works for us.
Mm-hmm.
It's middle of the week.
Yeah.
You can go if you're gonna, you know,someone says, Hey, can you do this trip?
Or can you do this or do that?
We know, I I, I got, Igot this one meeting.
(18:34):
I really need to be at thisone meeting on this Wednesday.
Yeah.
And so it works well for us.
Yeah.
You, if you didn't develop theleadership team, you wouldn't be here.
Oh, absolutely.
There's, there's no way that youand Chris could have done that.
No.
Also if you don't developthe leadership team.
Then you're potentially gonna lose somereally key players in the organization.
Yeah.
Like they're gonna go elsewhereand go, I'm gonna do my own thing.
(18:55):
I got somewhere else.
To be, as you grow, you have to elevatea hundred percent other team members.
Now that's not everybody, right?
People are comfortable with sometype, but the A ones that really
want to advance their career.
Yeah, you gotta provide a seatand that's the seat to elevate
those teams and empower them to.
Own it and move on.
Yeah.
I mean, we're here at Grow right now.
Yeah.
in Columbus, Ohio.
And we've got six new timers,first timers coming to grow.
(19:17):
Yeah.
And it's, it's amazing to do that and see.
our industry, it's not just theirtask or their desk or their sales,
or they're our production manager.
They manage the maintenanceirrigation department.
They get to see, this biggreen industry mm-hmm.
That we're all part of and developthese relationships that you and I
both have and we cherish and, it'sa great resource and a great tool
for us to lean upon our peer groups.
(19:39):
Yeah.
Those kind of things.
We can pick up the phone and reach outto, you know, one of 12 people and get
an answer back with some honest feedback.
Yeah.
Without having to go through the trialand error and maybe the investment
and the loss of time or Yeah.
How, how did you handle this?
Or do you anyone in our have an experienceshare on this that might be helpful?
An insight for us to take and, andmake that decision, but having some
(20:00):
of those team members here, youknow, we have two of em that were in
the field in production, you know,we're hourly, you know, labor mm-hmm.
Type employees.
Yeah.
You know, just a year ago.
And they're doing amazing in thelast 12 months in their new roles.
And it's funny because.
You know, we have 280 team members atthe busy peak part of the time in three
(20:21):
cities, and we don't know everybody.
Mm-hmm.
You, you, you don't physicallyknow or get to see the whites of
their eyes, every single day like.
Other people, other team members do.
And so if we can push that, thatmessage and that culture down
on what they're looking for, andthen we also show a career path.
Yeah.
Visually, you know, in our offices,in the warehouses and the banners
(20:42):
and things where it has, you know alead man, you make x. Or a labor, you
make XA lead man, a foreman, a yeah.
supervisor, all the different thingsup, to the wall and what the pay is
and how they get there and things.
That was really good.
We picked that up at Grow, youknow, down at Summit, you know?
Yeah.
And, and we championed it and, it's bestform of flattery is is copying somebody
(21:04):
that's doing something really well.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
But they, they find the people.
Mm-hmm.
they say, this person's ready.
And I'm like, really?
That person?
You think that one think Really?
And I'm like.
If they say yes, I mean, they're right.
Nine out 10 times.
Mm-hmm.
You know?
Mm-hmm.
And so, you know, we back 'em andsupport 'em and, and it's great
because they're, they're actuallytraining these team members and
they're, they're mentoring and coachingthem too, so that they don't just.
(21:28):
You know, stay in irrigation tech and youknow, I can make another dollar an hour.
I'm gonna go over to this company andwe lose all the time and training and
knowledge we had on the 65 propertiesthat took three years to learn, Yeah.
And so we keep them on andthey have a chance to move up.
It's great.
Yeah.
This is Grow is an amazingopportunity to bring your team.
Yeah.
I mean, we can sit here and talk aboutit as leaders and take it to our team,
(21:48):
but when you get out of the facility, yougotta that, that four walls in a roof that
you're so accustomed to seeing every day.
Yeah.
And you get to see it.
Something else.
Network with other people inthe same, I'm a project manager.
Oh, you're a project manager.
How do you do things?
it's life changing to go to theseevents for people like that are middle
management, field staff, et cetera.
It's, it's a great place to be.
(22:09):
Another topic I wanna talk aboutis profit sharing programs.
You didn't have this years ago.
Yeah.
And now you do, which is.
Probably a game changer.
It, it, you probably have messedit up and learned some things
of we have what not to do, but
it's a good and bad thing, you know?
Yeah.
Because, you know, with that, you're,you're on the hook for transparency.
Yeah.
You know, but Well, you gotta have the
(22:30):
metrics behind it in a leadershipteam to understand like,
this is what we're gonna do.
Sure.
Mm-hmm.
And, and, you know, sharing thatinformation, good or bad, Ultimately
it's the final scorecard, right?
Yeah.
And so if you have a, if you have agreat, if you have a great, you know,
quarter and, and you make profit andstuff, you can go ahead and pay that out.
So we we actually pay 20, we share 20%of the profits with the entire team.
(22:53):
So you have to be there for 90 daysand then you're eligible for the
next, next quarter that's profitable.
And we do that, you know.
Yeah.
So there's been some periods where we'vehit, you know, three out of four quarters
we're profitable and they've got a check.
Mm-hmm.
You know, each of those quarters andstuff, we kind of did it that way versus.
(23:13):
Waiting for it to all build up at theend of the year and getting one checks.
Well, that's
12 months of waiting and Right.
How you're doing.
But if you've got some littlewins along the way Yeah.
It's nice.
And, you know, those, some of thosethings are, you know, it's another
paycheck for a field level person.
I mean, it's, it's a major deal Yeah.
For them and, and, and trying to,you know, showcase and, and do that.
And then, you know, when we don'thit goals, you know 2024 was not
(23:36):
a record banner year for, for mostpeople in our, in our industry.
Yeah.
You know, construction beingdown, down, and, and so.
Fortunately, another reasonto grow maintenance, right?
Mm-hmm.
To, to, you know, still be able tokeep everybody and do everything you
need to do, but with constructiondown, you know, not having the
profits and sharing that information.
Yeah.
It, it, it comes better than,Hey, it's Christmas time.
(23:59):
I guess I get a Christmas bonus.
Mm-hmm.
We don't do Christmas bonuses.
We do profit sharing bonuses.
Mm-hmm.
And so we report that and, and do.
The other thing I was gonna say toois that, you know, the leadership
team and stuff coming to grow these,these six team members that are here
with me, this at this, this one.
We're going to collaborate and we'llsit down and we'll do everything and
kind of pull it together and whatnuggets and what, which sessions they
went to and what they got from that.
(24:21):
We'll compile all that and I'm notgoing back and sharing it with the team.
Yeah.
They're each gonna go back andshare their part with the team.
Team.
What's their take, what do they learn?
You know, and they're gonnapresent that, you know, so.
While they're here, the team membersare back home, you know, taking care of
the crews and production, doing things.
They anticipating coming back with someand they're, they're, they're picking
up the extra slack and these guysare gonna bring back and help, make
(24:41):
our team stronger and raise the bar.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's your ROI there, I mean.
Yes.
You know, it's a lot ofmoney to go to places.
Sure.
But then you go back, you sort of digress.
You got a few takeaways,let's implement it.
Let's put a timeline.
Right.
Let's put a deadline on it.
Yeah.
Otherwise, if we did nothingwhen we got back, then.
You've done nothing.
Yeah.
What was this for?
Waste.
You know, it's just
(25:01):
a, it's self self-fulfilling,you know, self, and it doesn't
really help the whole team.
And, things that we learn heresometimes will help our Oklahoma branch.
Yeah.
because it's a, it's a secondary branch.
There's better ways to, do inventory orcontrols or things of that nature where
they can do it, streamline easier and getthat information back to Dallas versus.
Maybe hard counting and doingthese kind of things and stuff.
(25:24):
So we learn a lot, youknow, and, and it's great.
Yeah, it's good.
So Gene, we
got a huge announcement here.
We do a very big announcement.
this is sort of hot off thepress, but grow 2026 is coming.
It's we're exactly one year away.
Gene, take it away.
Where are we headed?
Yeah, we're we're, we're super excited.
(25:45):
We're gonna be at home next year.
Yeah.
Are we home?
Yes.
We had never come to to a grow event,but 2026 we'll be at Complete Land
Sculpture in Dallas, Texas, and we'llhave over a thousand landscapers.
Are you sure?
Are you ready for this gene?
We are.
We know you
signed the dotted line.
We are ready.
Yes.
We
we are excited.
Yep.
You know, they say if you wanna get stuffdone, go ahead and schedule a party.
(26:07):
I mean, you know, it's, you're gonna,you're gonna adjust everything.
You're gonna fix everything.
Yeah.
You're gonna do those kind ofthings and really tighten up.
some of your operations and things.
And we actually had never been to grow andwe hosted in 20 16, 10 years ago we were,
so we were 13 and a half million company.
So a 10 year anniversary.
10 year anniversary.
Wow.
And we're super proud of whatwe've done, and that was 10 years.
(26:30):
And, and the team's come a long wayand they'll be very prepared for it.
Yeah, we're excited toshare that with them.
Show what a better way it off.
This is a great thing.
I, you're gonna be the onlyone that's ever hosted twice.
Sweet.
This is gonna be great.
10 years down the road, they'regonna see some progress.
They're gonna see something.
They're also gonna see somethings that we screwed up.
Yeah.
It just did not work.
(26:51):
Yeah.
But tell me what you, whydid you want to do this?
Like, like this is a huge effort.
It's a 12 month.
Sort of get ready, prep,get ready and fall.
But I feel like you just want to improve.
Yeah.
Right.
And you've got new people we dothat haven't been there in 10 years,
(27:12):
that, you know, they don't havean understanding what it's like.
So what are you hoping to get out of this?
You
know, I remember when we did it thefirst time, it was a lot of work
and we didn't know what to expect.
Yeah.
And, and the team really cametogether and galvanized over it.
They set metrics in place forthemselves and for us, and they
(27:33):
had so many great ideas mm-hmm.
For improvement and things.
And then from that, you know, gettingour, our start stop and keeps, you
know, and those kind of things.
We took all those nuggets so.
Basically we get a thousand consultantsinto our office that are doing the same
thing we're doing on various levels andthings to come in and, and look through
our underwear drawers as Marty says.
Yeah.
And you know, make us better.
(27:55):
You know, I think we wanna, wewanna, you know, we wanna get better.
We work hard to do that, but wealso wanna give back, you know?
Yeah.
We wanna share with our communityand we've been so blessed and Yeah.
And you know, the relationshipsthat we have, the vendors,
the subcontractors are, are.
Counterparts all over the country thatare landscaping and doing the things
that we do, we want to give back and helpout, you know, in that arena as well.
(28:17):
So yeah, we're excited.
Yeah,
it's, it's super exciting.
Our, our town Dallas.
Yes.
You know, we do things big in Texas.
Easy to get to.
The weather should be pretty decent,what are some things that name one
thing about the place or somethingthat's different from 10 years ago.
Yeah, so we've maximized all, all ofour office space and we have, we're
(28:40):
really we'd have to build anotherbuilding on property and things to do
it, but, you know, our, our efficiencieshave, have really come a long way
from our PM crew that we operate.
that's something thatwe can definitely share.
Yeah, that's great.
And, and deal with, and, and,and it works great for us.
It minimizes overtime,it keeps our team fresh.
Yeah.
our team overall, the metricsthat they're measuring and what
(29:03):
they're performing against.
Yeah.
I think our product has really developedin terms of our design and what we're
doing, the, the maintenance care teamand, and just the way that they're so
good and so fast about communication.
Yeah.
They're able to go ahead and turn in aninstant service request while they're
on the field taking a picture of, abranch that needs to be trimmed properly.
(29:23):
Mm-hmm.
With a proper hand saw when the crew'sout there, they can take a picture, they
can send that hot service request in.
There's a, there's a systemand a process for it.
It comes in, it's automaticallyprinted off, and it's on that
screw that crew schedule sheetwhen they go out there next time.
And then the crew can take thatsnapshot showing where it was done.
And it goes in, back in and there'sa record of it being completed.
(29:44):
So we can send that on to the prop,the homeowner, the management company,
whoever it is, that these are thethings that we actually achieved on your
property here this week or this month.
Those kind of things.
Great.
Yeah, man.
I'm super stoked.
Yeah.
To host.
I don't have to go very far from Frisco.
Right.
You, you're literally like throwa rock at the, at your place.
(30:04):
So we'll be there one year from now.
Next February, 2026.
Go see Gene Chris and his entire.
Complete land sculpture team.
It's gonna be fascinating.
This is hot off the press.
Like super, super gonna go backto the back to the team and go,
man, guess what we get to do?
The team doesn't even know.
Team doesn't even know.
So today they're gonna
find out when everyoneelse finds out in here.
(30:25):
Yeah, that's gonna be great.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
So yeah, we're looking forwardto the energy and, and stepping
up to the challenge, you know?
Yeah.
Well,
gene, it's a pleasure.
You're just an awesome.
Individual you mean a lot to, to mepersonally in the entire industry.
To see you grow and developand share all your knowledge.
I mean, you don't have to be doingthis, you don't have to be sitting
(30:46):
here, but this is for our audienceto learn more about you and the
team and get a little more nuggets.
Sure.
Like, as you mentioned along the way tomake you guys better at whatever stage you
are in your business, ownership to field.
Come listen to us, put it on in thepickup truck, driving the jobs, and
get a few nuggets and learn and, andwe make this industry better by sitting
(31:08):
here and taking time to do this.
Couldn't say any better.
Chris and I are humbled and we're we're,we're honored to be asked to do it.
Cool.
Thank you for your time, bud.
Thank you man.
Yep.
Appreciate you.
Ready to take the next step?
Download our free Profitability Scorecardto quickly create your own baseline
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Just go to McFarlinStanford.com/scorecardto get yours today To learn more about
(31:33):
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See you next time on the Roots of Success.
The Roots of Success podcast isfor the landscape professional
who's looking to up their game.
We've got a brain trust of experts tohelp you nurture the roots of a successful
business and grow to the next level.
This is The Roots of Success.
welcome.
This is Tommy with Root SuccessPodcast and I've got an awesome
guest, gene Freeman big Gene.
(00:22):
It's, it's about time that we havefinally got together, but we're in
the same location and so this is justgonna be an awesome sort of episode.
Gene.
Tell us about whereyou're at, what you do.
Dallas, Texas, everything.
Complete land sculpture.
Tell us more about it.
Yeah.
Thanks for having Tommy.
Yeah.
Complete land sculpture.
We're in Dallas, Texasas our headquarters.
(00:44):
We have an office also inOklahoma City and Tulsa.
And this will be our 40th year.
So my business partner, Chris Pec,founder of Complete Land Sculpture, yeah.
Founded it 39 years ago, so we'reentering into our 40th year.
Lots of, lots of things.
Lots of changes, lots of growth.
Unbelievable.
Yeah.
We were forever a design build mm-hmm.
(01:06):
Landscape firm.
Mm-hmm.
You know, for probablythe first 20 plus years.
Yeah.
And the last 20, I would say we reallystarted to focus in on a little more
diversity focusing our number one goal atClean Land Sculpture is grow maintenance.
Maintenance.
All right.
So this is, this isthe, this is the stage.
Yeah.
Construction.
I'm with you.
Like I love construction.
(01:27):
It's the coolest part.
Yep.
It's the most challenging at that time.
But you, back in the day when I wasrunning a landscape company with
all of our, with all our partners.
The thing called recessionhit in oh oh 7, 0 8.
And you're, you experienced that?
We did wholeheartedly.
Right.
But did it change at that point,like more maintenance or was it
further down the road a little bit?
(01:49):
Maintenance
was always the kind of the, theadd on at the end, the back end.
It wasn't the back end of it.
So it wasn't a forward thought,you know, mindset to it.
But once we kinda really.
Saw how good maintenance waswith the recurring revenue and
kind of stabilizing things.
It's nice to go into the year with a,you know, $13 million backlog of annual
(02:09):
maintenance contracts, and then allthe enhancements that come on top of
that, you know, trying to achieve 50%.
Enhancement value and dollars ontop of that maintenance contract.
Yeah.
It really started to set us up and,and start to be able to build and grow.
We can still do the $20 million in designbuild every year, but as long as our
maintenance continues to grow, we're gonnacontinue to grow beyond that as well.
(02:30):
So, Jean, talk about some couple oftactical things for our audience.
If you're looking to grow morein maintenance, which we all
encourage, especially across ourpeer groups and of our network.
The reoccurring nuity, the consistency.
What were some tactical things that youguys had to change within your group to
say, this is how we get more maintenance?
Well, we had to stop treating it likeyou know, the stepchild, you know?
(02:53):
Yeah.
We really had to treat it as, youknow, an awesome division in itself
and, and championing it, you know,because with the maintenance becomes.
All the tree work and all the irrigationrepairs and all the reciprocal and
maybe a phase two renovation outthere on their property and things.
So it was a mind focus, you know, changethe, a mindset of, did the mindset changed
(03:14):
and, and it started with you and Chris?
It was, it was, it wasus, you know, for sure.
And, and once we saw that.
The team, they bought into itand they really understand it.
And if you walk through ouroffice, doesn't matter which,
which team member you ask, they'regonna say, what's the number one
goal at Complete Land sculpture?
And they're gonna say, grow maintenance.
Yeah.
Which, you know hindsight, you know,we should have had that mindset
(03:34):
at the beginning of the businessand, and continue to do that.
But we, might not be fast learners,but we definitely aren't dumb.
So we learn and, and it'sbeen a great, great addition.
Yeah.
So
it's changing the mindset, you know, youand Chris have to say, look, this is what
we're gonna focus on right now, and it'sgonna change the, we gotta change the
mindset of, not us, but it's the team.
It starts with us as the ownershipand it kind of goes throughout the
(03:57):
leadership team everywhere else.
What are some, what aresome tactical things about.
Did someone focus on businessdevelopment or relationships, or did
you, were you able to sort of dropsome low hanging fruit of some install
work that you were already doingthat can transfer into maintenance?
We
did, you know, we really kind of putthat at the forefront when we're talking
to individual clients about the initialmeetings on design and build and you
(04:21):
wanna do this pool and you wanna thisbeautiful backyard and these elaborate
gardens and maybe boxwoods and parters andyeah, you know, sheared hedges and things.
You know, this is, this is alsogonna impact your maintenance costs.
On the backside.
So making sure that you want to dothat, by the way, this is what we
do, and so we'll go ahead and takecare of the maintenance afterwards,
and you should expect that thisis gonna be X dollars per month.
(04:43):
Mm-hmm.
Going forward with this typeof a garden setup, you know?
Yeah.
And so getting the buy-in fromthe people and really kind of
educating 'em on the front side sothat it wasn't a, an afterthought.
It was really kind of soldat the beginning of the deal.
That was, a shift.
And then yeah, we went to,relationships and, and it's
one of our three core values.
Relationships matter at alllevels and for us it was.
(05:04):
Going back to our clients andasking them, you know, letting 'em
know this is a service that we've,we've always had, but we never
really, and they may not even know.
Yeah, right.
We, we didn't market it, we didn'tchampion it, and so they didn't know.
And then we really had to lookat our team and our team's done,
you know, amazing job with it.
They've taken this thing and, and they'redriving the force behind this now from
our maintenance business developmentteam out there in, in the marketplace.
(05:26):
And getting on the RFP lists.
Yeah.
And getting bids and doing all thecommercial and HOA and, shopping centers,
hospitals, those kind of properties.
And then you know what we calla TLC program transitioning from
landscape to the care program.
Of, making that a, a mindset and a focusfor our team to have those conversations.
(05:47):
And, you know, we know we may just donea general cleanup for you or a tree work
for you, but we also do the maintenance.
If we're here, we can see thisstuff, you know, 52 weeks a year.
Yeah.
You hit, you said somereally interesting deal.
We talk about this, the, the enhancementvalue on maintenance properties.
I think back in our days itwas about a one-to-one ratio
(06:07):
when I mean one-to-one ratio.
One, for every dollar of contracted value.
Right.
Right.
That you service as a dollar versusenhancements in the commercial
world, it's different, right?
Yes.
And you mentioned it's 50% of thecontract, but how did you get to learn
that and what, what is that a goal ofcomplete that you have learned and get?
it might be easy for you tounderstand, but like the whole
team has to understand, right.
(06:27):
In order to set those goals to go after.
Right.
So we call 'em the KPIs, you know?
Yeah.
And so.
Different divisions need differentmeasurements, different, you
know, different targets to hit.
And so we know in our commercialestimating, we're gonna bid about
$50 million worth of work to goahead and get about $8 million.
Yeah.
You know, so we're gonna be at that,at that kind of a 18%, you know,
(06:47):
success rate on just bid stuff.
Mm-hmm.
And then our design build stuff, we'regonna be north of 50%, you know, so
we're gonna win about 50% of that work.
And so of that we're going to, we're gonnabid probably around 30 million, so we're
gonna get close to fif 15 million on that.
On the enhancements residentially,it's, it's one to one, you know?
(07:07):
Yeah.
So if they're gonna be a thousandbucks a month account, it's $12,000
a year, they're gonna spend more than12,000 with their sprinkler repairs,
their modifications, the tree work, themulching, the flowers, the additional
shrub replacements and things they do.
Mm-hmm.
Those are great clients.
Yeah.
And then commercially.
It's really about, youknow, focusing on budgeting.
Okay.
(07:27):
You know, we do a great jobwith our leadership team.
We have a gentleman there, Scott Fries.
He and I worked together when I was 19years old, actually at another firm.
And he's on our team and we worktogether and he's really doing a
great job with mentoring and coachingup our account managers and to.
Go ahead and create the budgetfor your clients for what they're
(07:48):
gonna need for the next 12 months.
And we're doing that work in July.
Wow.
Very
proactive.
July and August,
we're doing that.
'cause they're doing their budgets mm-hmm.
September, october typically.
Mm-hmm.
For turning that into their,you know, their corporate
or their budgeting purposes.
And then that is blessed, youknow, by, before January one.
So we can go ahead and let 'emknow, Hey, we had this budgeted you,
(08:09):
you've got it done, you're got it.
Approve.
Everything's good.
But we let you know your mulch is gonna beX your, your three color changes are gonna
happen in these months, in this timeframe.
Yeah.
Your tree work, your irrigation repairs.
You know, you spent xthousands of dollars last year.
If we prorate that out over12 months, you've got $800 a
month in in irrigation repairs.
(08:29):
Yeah.
You know, these are things thatwe can help them with the budget.
It makes it so much easier when theyget it into their budget ahead of time.
I. Versus having to go and tryscramble and try and find the money.
Right.
And just say, well,we're gonna put that off.
We're not gonna do it.
Yeah.
It's a partnership.
It is.
Right?
And, and you're the professionalin this industry, right?
So you suggest these things sothey become more equipped, right.
(08:49):
With their building and their finances.
I mean, they've got 80 otherthings working on, right?
Yeah.
The build, all kindsof other things, right?
If you can align yourself withthe, with a strategic partnership,
say, we're here for you.
Yeah.
This is how you understand it.
Best, best case scenario that isgonna be win you over on everything.
'cause they're gonna trustyou as a partner and then.
Sounds good, gene, sign me up for it.
(09:10):
Boom, boom, boom.
Well, and that's it.
You know, people buy from whothey know, like, and trust.
Yeah.
And if you don't build that relationshipand they don't get to know you,
it's hard for them to like you.
Mm-hmm.
And then if you can perform anddo what you say you're gonna
do, they're gonna trust you.
You know?
And so, you know, a lot of our teammembers, they've got the relationships
to the point now that, you know, theysend out an irrigation inspection
(09:32):
and they send it out and say,Hey, These are your, your needs.
These are, your should dos andthese are coming down the line
that we kind of gotta work on this.
So you need to do this much.
Yeah.
And they're like, okay, youthink I need to do that?
And they're like, yes, let's do,it's, you know, so it's just they're
not going out there looking to seethe valve and see every head that
we're talking about and things.
They built the trust and sothey know that which is great.
Trust is most important.
(09:52):
And, and when they trust, it's notabout a numbers game on a price,
they just get it done right.
But it it, it's gonna take time.
It does whatever you say you'regonna do, you gotta do it right.
Like if you don't perform, thenthere's the breaking the trust
so you couldn't sell anything.
Right.
Yeah.
I love that.
We're gonna switch gears, leadership team.
Yeah, man.
I get this question a lot,especially for young companies or
(10:13):
smaller companies that are like.
What does a leadership team look like?
I mean, that is a whole, wholedifferent scenario, like going
from owner operator things.
You've, you've been through the battlesfor all these years with complete,
but now you've developed this team.
Like, take us back a little bit.
Like how you developed it, it findingpeople, is it more divisional roles
to, and and it's not like managinglandscape now you're managing people.
(10:37):
Tell us about that
process.
Yeah, it's the human capital ofour business, you know, which
is, which as owners, it's reallyone of your most important thing.
If you take care of your team,the team will take care of the,
the work, you know, and do that.
And so for us, it happened.
it was actually 11 years ago when itkind of clicked for us and, and was
from, you know, working with with Jimand, and Jason and, and these guys
(11:00):
coming in and just kind of pointingout that Chris and I can't do it all.
Yeah.
You were involved in everything.
Yeah.
And you can't be, you know, and, and, and,you know, you also wanna, you also wanna.
Develop talent.
Mm-hmm.
And we realized that we have somereally talented people and we
didn't want to bottleneck or, or putconstraints on our, on our operation.
And we also wanted to grow our team.
And so initially it, made sensefor those that were, I. At a level
(11:25):
of participation to add value.
You know, in those conversations,in those meetings, who could move
the di, who could move the needle,who could make a difference?
Mm-hmm.
And how can they take the messageand take it and push it out to
their teams and their, their people?
So.
Yeah, we've got we'vegot 10 on our team now.
10 on the team.
Yep.
So, and,
and, and talk about some oftheir, their job titles and
(11:46):
roles.
Sure.
So we've got everything fromyou know, office positions.
Okay.
We've got director of maintenancedirector of landscape operations.
We've got a general manager in Oklahomathat runs the construction up there.
He is, been up there for 25 years.
Day one hire, first hireup there in that office.
Wow.
So they zoom in into the meeting.
(12:06):
And then we've got anothergentleman up there in Oklahoma.
That he was a foreman, when he cameon with us and then account manager.
Wow.
Now he runs Wow story, now heruns the maintenance business
development and account managersup there and runs, runs that team.
And they're verysuccessful and doing well.
So it's good to have theirinput and it's good to get all
the branches so it's not just.
Hey, this is what we do in Texas, sowe're doing it that way everywhere.
(12:28):
Mm-hmm.
You know, actually even in Texas, we cameup in Oklahoma, we went up there and we
were gonna gonna do the same thing and dodesign build residential and commercial.
And we quickly learned that if we'renot gonna add the support staff that
it takes to support the residentialfactor and hire architects and turn
stuff around and have, more elementsthat it takes to do the residential.
(12:50):
And we shouldn't be doing it.
Mm-hmm.
And so we don't, we just do all commercialin our Oklahoma city and Tulsa branches.
But we're able to dothat with four managers.
Wow.
Four managers manage 50 guysbetween Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
55 guys this year.
And everything else is supportedfrom Dallas on the backside mm-hmm.
(13:11):
For, you know, payroll andfinance and those kind of things.
But they're able to, you know, operatereally lean and mean and, and it
works really well for us up there.
Yeah.
And then in Dallas too, we'vealso got other team members that
are maybe business development.
Yeah.
Maybe sales manager hr, you know,has a big component in there and
then some others in our finance team.
So it's a well-rounded team.
(13:33):
That kind of covers all of ourparts because sometimes you start
talking about, you know, Hey, wewanna make this investment in.
a certain division and this otherdivision, we didn't even think
about how does that impact them?
Yeah.
You know, is that a good thing?
Is that a net positive thing forthe whole company, or is it just too
myopic too, too tunnel vision of thisone thing and we don't realize the
(13:54):
ripple effect it may have over here.
Yeah.
And so getting their inputinto it really helps us a lot.
Yeah.
This is the, this is a good question.
So how do you run a leadership team?
I think that, that's the hard part.
there's one-on-one meetings, right.
With some direct reports.
Sure.
But you gotta get everybody in the room.
You gotta have thisthing called a meeting.
Right.
Right.
And And it could last for hours.
(14:14):
Yeah.
Could have no agenda.
You could get complacent.
You could.
That's a big deal.
So talk about getting people in the room.
What do you review in a leadership team?
Then how does that deployed out?
How often do you meet Sure.
Help our audience understandfrom your background.
Yeah.
So for us, I mean, it it'ssome trial and error initially.
Yeah.
It was clunky.
(14:35):
It was like you said, you know, yeah, we,we, we thought we had this information
and we'd start on this and, you know,so, and we'd, we'd meet and we'd be
in this room and next thing you know,you look up and it's like six hours.
And we hadn't even got to50% of the content yet.
And we're like, oh my gosh, my head spin.
So we gotta do better.
So we did.
So we, we, you know, we created agenda.
We follow that agenda.
We actually send the agenda outprior a day or two ahead of time.
(14:58):
And everyone kind of sees what's on there.
They know that, hey, this is my30 minutes and I'm gonna speak
to everything, maintenance.
And they're just given bullet points.
It's not even a question, period.
We don't even ask 'emquestions during there.
This is what we got.
Here's our numbers.
We were 12% above target.
And these are my issues I havegoing on in my department right now.
(15:19):
These are our wins.
This is.
You know, what we see coming downthe, down the pipe and the next month
we kind of forecast this is wherewe think we're gonna land and be.
And so they share all that.
Yeah.
And then we move on to the nextdivision and then we move on to the
HR and they give us the updates onour staffing, on any injuries or
people outta work or anything thatwe have to deal with, at that time.
(15:42):
And then there's a,there's a section in there.
It's just called IDS.
So it's for, issues that we'vegotta solve or be discussed upon.
Ooh.
So people will send those in ahead oftime the day before, like hot topics,
like we need answers or direction.
So then those are up thereand there might be, yeah.
You know, someone might not send any thatmonth or they might have five, you know?
Mm-hmm.
And so we get 'em up there, we look at'em, and then we all rank 'em together.
(16:05):
So, we'll, we'll tackle 'em, you know,what, what's most important, what
does the group think's most important?
This is one.
we got seasonal color coming up,so we gotta go ahead and make sure
our suppliers ready to go and.
You know, if our H two B, you know,where we at with getting our pro
our, our forms turned in mm-hmm.
And, and getting all that back and,how's that gonna impact us and what
timeline are we gonna shoot for, andhow many do we need next year with
(16:28):
our growth plan and what we're doing?
And so those things will come upand then we'll just, we'll sit
there and we'll tackle those.
And those are typically, someof them are just, you know, as
quick as two to five minutes.
Yeah.
Some of 'em might be 15 minutes,but we have an agenda to that
and that fits in that agenda.
And then we have our rocks, Okay.
So we'll, we'll go ahead andwe'll tackle those projects.
(16:48):
Mm-hmm.
We know they're gonna be bigger.
We know they're gonnatake a little more time.
Yeah.
Improvement projects andthey may be something that's
gonna be over the course of.
The whole second quarterfor us to get it done.
Yeah.
updates, timelines towards thedeadline and where we're at.
If we're doing something with,you know, software innovation
or something like that.
And so it goes well, we meet once a month.
(17:09):
Okay.
It's always the lastWednesday of the month.
We, we start at, what's the reasonthe last Wednesday of the month.
It just works for us becausewe're trying to get our financial
from the previous month.
So the previous month we'regetting that closed out.
We're trying to get that information.
Ideally, we have that financial sentout also two days ahead of time.
Yeah, so everyone can kind of reviewit and poke holes in it and if
(17:30):
they have questions, they can shootthose questions back to maintenance.
Hey, I see here.
You had this large expensein small tools, you know?
Yeah.
And that really kind of threw your budgetoff this common common little bucket.
Yeah.
Right.
So we can go ahead and ask what that isahead of time, and they'll come to that
meeting with that answer versus we'rein the meeting, well, I'm not sure.
Let me get back to you.
They already have the answer.
(17:50):
Yeah.
You know, and so trying to streamlineit and make it make it effective.
It's an expensive meeting.
Obviously.
We got, you know, 10 of our,10 of our our top leaders Yeah.
In the, in the company.
Stopping down, getting together.
For, collectively, you know, once a month.
And so we start at eight and wetypically get done about one 30.
Yeah.
You know we bring inlunch and we kinda, Yeah.
(18:12):
Make that format work and follow for us.
Yeah.
It also go, it also lets us, it putsomething out there on the target that
everyone knows that's where we're going.
People are traveling, on Mondays andFridays or maybe a Thursday or something.
So Wednesday kinda works for us.
Mm-hmm.
It's middle of the week.
Yeah.
You can go if you're gonna, you know,someone says, Hey, can you do this trip?
Or can you do this or do that?
We know, I I, I got, Igot this one meeting.
(18:34):
I really need to be at thisone meeting on this Wednesday.
Yeah.
And so it works well for us.
Yeah.
You, if you didn't develop theleadership team, you wouldn't be here.
Oh, absolutely.
There's, there's no way that youand Chris could have done that.
No.
Also if you don't developthe leadership team.
Then you're potentially gonna lose somereally key players in the organization.
Yeah.
Like they're gonna go elsewhereand go, I'm gonna do my own thing.
(18:55):
I got somewhere else.
To be, as you grow, you have to elevatea hundred percent other team members.
Now that's not everybody, right?
People are comfortable with sometype, but the A ones that really
want to advance their career.
Yeah, you gotta provide a seatand that's the seat to elevate
those teams and empower them to.
Own it and move on.
Yeah.
I mean, we're here at Grow right now.
Yeah.
in Columbus, Ohio.
And we've got six new timers,first timers coming to grow.
(19:17):
Yeah.
And it's, it's amazing to do that and see.
our industry, it's not just theirtask or their desk or their sales,
or they're our production manager.
They manage the maintenanceirrigation department.
They get to see, this biggreen industry mm-hmm.
That we're all part of and developthese relationships that you and I
both have and we cherish and, it'sa great resource and a great tool
for us to lean upon our peer groups.
(19:39):
Yeah.
Those kind of things.
We can pick up the phone and reach outto, you know, one of 12 people and get
an answer back with some honest feedback.
Yeah.
Without having to go through the trialand error and maybe the investment
and the loss of time or Yeah.
How, how did you handle this?
Or do you anyone in our have an experienceshare on this that might be helpful?
An insight for us to take and, andmake that decision, but having some
(20:00):
of those team members here, youknow, we have two of em that were in
the field in production, you know,we're hourly, you know, labor mm-hmm.
Type employees.
Yeah.
You know, just a year ago.
And they're doing amazing in thelast 12 months in their new roles.
And it's funny because.
You know, we have 280 team members atthe busy peak part of the time in three
(20:21):
cities, and we don't know everybody.
Mm-hmm.
You, you, you don't physicallyknow or get to see the whites of
their eyes, every single day like.
Other people, other team members do.
And so if we can push that, thatmessage and that culture down
on what they're looking for, andthen we also show a career path.
Yeah.
Visually, you know, in our offices,in the warehouses and the banners
(20:42):
and things where it has, you know alead man, you make x. Or a labor, you
make XA lead man, a foreman, a yeah.
supervisor, all the different thingsup, to the wall and what the pay is
and how they get there and things.
That was really good.
We picked that up at Grow, youknow, down at Summit, you know?
Yeah.
And, and we championed it and, it's bestform of flattery is is copying somebody
(21:04):
that's doing something really well.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
But they, they find the people.
Mm-hmm.
they say, this person's ready.
And I'm like, really?
That person?
You think that one think Really?
And I'm like.
If they say yes, I mean, they're right.
Nine out 10 times.
Mm-hmm.
You know?
Mm-hmm.
And so, you know, we back 'em andsupport 'em and, and it's great
because they're, they're actuallytraining these team members and
they're, they're mentoring and coachingthem too, so that they don't just.
(21:28):
You know, stay in irrigation tech and youknow, I can make another dollar an hour.
I'm gonna go over to this company andwe lose all the time and training and
knowledge we had on the 65 propertiesthat took three years to learn, Yeah.
And so we keep them on andthey have a chance to move up.
It's great.
Yeah.
This is Grow is an amazingopportunity to bring your team.
Yeah.
I mean, we can sit here and talk aboutit as leaders and take it to our team,
(21:48):
but when you get out of the facility, yougotta that, that four walls in a roof that
you're so accustomed to seeing every day.
Yeah.
And you get to see it.
Something else.
Network with other people inthe same, I'm a project manager.
Oh, you're a project manager.
How do you do things?
it's life changing to go to theseevents for people like that are middle
management, field staff, et cetera.
It's, it's a great place to be.
(22:09):
Another topic I wanna talk aboutis profit sharing programs.
You didn't have this years ago.
Yeah.
And now you do, which is.
Probably a game changer.
It, it, you probably have messedit up and learned some things
of we have what not to do, but
it's a good and bad thing, you know?
Yeah.
Because, you know, with that, you're,you're on the hook for transparency.
Yeah.
You know, but Well, you gotta have the
(22:30):
metrics behind it in a leadershipteam to understand like,
this is what we're gonna do.
Sure.
Mm-hmm.
And, and, you know, sharing thatinformation, good or bad, Ultimately
it's the final scorecard, right?
Yeah.
And so if you have a, if you have agreat, if you have a great, you know,
quarter and, and you make profit andstuff, you can go ahead and pay that out.
So we we actually pay 20, we share 20%of the profits with the entire team.
(22:53):
So you have to be there for 90 daysand then you're eligible for the
next, next quarter that's profitable.
And we do that, you know.
Yeah.
So there's been some periods where we'vehit, you know, three out of four quarters
we're profitable and they've got a check.
Mm-hmm.
You know, each of those quarters andstuff, we kind of did it that way versus.
(23:13):
Waiting for it to all build up at theend of the year and getting one checks.
Well, that's
12 months of waiting and Right.
How you're doing.
But if you've got some littlewins along the way Yeah.
It's nice.
And, you know, those, some of thosethings are, you know, it's another
paycheck for a field level person.
I mean, it's, it's a major deal Yeah.
For them and, and, and trying to,you know, showcase and, and do that.
And then, you know, when we don'thit goals, you know 2024 was not
(23:36):
a record banner year for, for mostpeople in our, in our industry.
Yeah.
You know, construction beingdown, down, and, and so.
Fortunately, another reasonto grow maintenance, right?
Mm-hmm.
To, to, you know, still be able tokeep everybody and do everything you
need to do, but with constructiondown, you know, not having the
profits and sharing that information.
Yeah.
It, it, it comes better than,Hey, it's Christmas time.
(23:59):
I guess I get a Christmas bonus.
Mm-hmm.
We don't do Christmas bonuses.
We do profit sharing bonuses.
Mm-hmm.
And so we report that and, and do.
The other thing I was gonna say toois that, you know, the leadership
team and stuff coming to grow these,these six team members that are here
with me, this at this, this one.
We're going to collaborate and we'llsit down and we'll do everything and
kind of pull it together and whatnuggets and what, which sessions they
went to and what they got from that.
(24:21):
We'll compile all that and I'm notgoing back and sharing it with the team.
Yeah.
They're each gonna go back andshare their part with the team.
Team.
What's their take, what do they learn?
You know, and they're gonnapresent that, you know, so.
While they're here, the team membersare back home, you know, taking care of
the crews and production, doing things.
They anticipating coming back with someand they're, they're, they're picking
up the extra slack and these guysare gonna bring back and help, make
(24:41):
our team stronger and raise the bar.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's your ROI there, I mean.
Yes.
You know, it's a lot ofmoney to go to places.
Sure.
But then you go back, you sort of digress.
You got a few takeaways,let's implement it.
Let's put a timeline.
Right.
Let's put a deadline on it.
Yeah.
Otherwise, if we did nothingwhen we got back, then.
You've done nothing.
Yeah.
What was this for?
Waste.
You know, it's just
(25:01):
a, it's self self-fulfilling,you know, self, and it doesn't
really help the whole team.
And, things that we learn heresometimes will help our Oklahoma branch.
Yeah.
because it's a, it's a secondary branch.
There's better ways to, do inventory orcontrols or things of that nature where
they can do it, streamline easier and getthat information back to Dallas versus.
Maybe hard counting and doingthese kind of things and stuff.
(25:24):
So we learn a lot, youknow, and, and it's great.
Yeah, it's good.
So Gene, we
got a huge announcement here.
We do a very big announcement.
this is sort of hot off thepress, but grow 2026 is coming.
It's we're exactly one year away.
Gene, take it away.
Where are we headed?
Yeah, we're we're, we're super excited.
(25:45):
We're gonna be at home next year.
Yeah.
Are we home?
Yes.
We had never come to to a grow event,but 2026 we'll be at Complete Land
Sculpture in Dallas, Texas, and we'llhave over a thousand landscapers.
Are you sure?
Are you ready for this gene?
We are.
We know you
signed the dotted line.
We are ready.
Yes.
We
we are excited.
Yep.
You know, they say if you wanna get stuffdone, go ahead and schedule a party.
(26:07):
I mean, you know, it's, you're gonna,you're gonna adjust everything.
You're gonna fix everything.
Yeah.
You're gonna do those kind ofthings and really tighten up.
some of your operations and things.
And we actually had never been to grow andwe hosted in 20 16, 10 years ago we were,
so we were 13 and a half million company.
So a 10 year anniversary.
10 year anniversary.
Wow.
And we're super proud of whatwe've done, and that was 10 years.
(26:30):
And, and the team's come a long wayand they'll be very prepared for it.
Yeah, we're excited toshare that with them.
Show what a better way it off.
This is a great thing.
I, you're gonna be the onlyone that's ever hosted twice.
Sweet.
This is gonna be great.
10 years down the road, they'regonna see some progress.
They're gonna see something.
They're also gonna see somethings that we screwed up.
Yeah.
It just did not work.
(26:51):
Yeah.
But tell me what you, whydid you want to do this?
Like, like this is a huge effort.
It's a 12 month.
Sort of get ready, prep,get ready and fall.
But I feel like you just want to improve.
Yeah.
Right.
And you've got new people we dothat haven't been there in 10 years,
(27:12):
that, you know, they don't havean understanding what it's like.
So what are you hoping to get out of this?
You
know, I remember when we did it thefirst time, it was a lot of work
and we didn't know what to expect.
Yeah.
And, and the team really cametogether and galvanized over it.
They set metrics in place forthemselves and for us, and they
(27:33):
had so many great ideas mm-hmm.
For improvement and things.
And then from that, you know, gettingour, our start stop and keeps, you
know, and those kind of things.
We took all those nuggets so.
Basically we get a thousand consultantsinto our office that are doing the same
thing we're doing on various levels andthings to come in and, and look through
our underwear drawers as Marty says.
Yeah.
And you know, make us better.
(27:55):
You know, I think we wanna, wewanna, you know, we wanna get better.
We work hard to do that, but wealso wanna give back, you know?
Yeah.
We wanna share with our communityand we've been so blessed and Yeah.
And you know, the relationshipsthat we have, the vendors,
the subcontractors are, are.
Counterparts all over the country thatare landscaping and doing the things
that we do, we want to give back and helpout, you know, in that arena as well.
(28:17):
So yeah, we're excited.
Yeah,
it's, it's super exciting.
Our, our town Dallas.
Yes.
You know, we do things big in Texas.
Easy to get to.
The weather should be pretty decent,what are some things that name one
thing about the place or somethingthat's different from 10 years ago.
Yeah, so we've maximized all, all ofour office space and we have, we're
(28:40):
really we'd have to build anotherbuilding on property and things to do
it, but, you know, our, our efficiencieshave, have really come a long way
from our PM crew that we operate.
that's something thatwe can definitely share.
Yeah, that's great.
And, and deal with, and, and,and it works great for us.
It minimizes overtime,it keeps our team fresh.
Yeah.
our team overall, the metricsthat they're measuring and what
(29:03):
they're performing against.
Yeah.
I think our product has really developedin terms of our design and what we're
doing, the, the maintenance care teamand, and just the way that they're so
good and so fast about communication.
Yeah.
They're able to go ahead and turn in aninstant service request while they're
on the field taking a picture of, abranch that needs to be trimmed properly.
(29:23):
Mm-hmm.
With a proper hand saw when the crew'sout there, they can take a picture, they
can send that hot service request in.
There's a, there's a systemand a process for it.
It comes in, it's automaticallyprinted off, and it's on that
screw that crew schedule sheetwhen they go out there next time.
And then the crew can take thatsnapshot showing where it was done.
And it goes in, back in and there'sa record of it being completed.
(29:44):
So we can send that on to the prop,the homeowner, the management company,
whoever it is, that these are thethings that we actually achieved on your
property here this week or this month.
Those kind of things.
Great.
Yeah, man.
I'm super stoked.
Yeah.
To host.
I don't have to go very far from Frisco.
Right.
You, you're literally like throwa rock at the, at your place.
(30:04):
So we'll be there one year from now.
Next February, 2026.
Go see Gene Chris and his entire.
Complete land sculpture team.
It's gonna be fascinating.
This is hot off the press.
Like super, super gonna go backto the back to the team and go,
man, guess what we get to do?
The team doesn't even know.
Team doesn't even know.
So today they're gonna
find out when everyoneelse finds out in here.
(30:25):
Yeah, that's gonna be great.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
So yeah, we're looking forwardto the energy and, and stepping
up to the challenge, you know?
Yeah.
Well,
gene, it's a pleasure.
You're just an awesome.
Individual you mean a lot to, to mepersonally in the entire industry.
To see you grow and developand share all your knowledge.
I mean, you don't have to be doingthis, you don't have to be sitting
(30:46):
here, but this is for our audienceto learn more about you and the
team and get a little more nuggets.
Sure.
Like, as you mentioned along the way tomake you guys better at whatever stage you
are in your business, ownership to field.
Come listen to us, put it on in thepickup truck, driving the jobs, and
get a few nuggets and learn and, andwe make this industry better by sitting
(31:08):
here and taking time to do this.
Couldn't say any better.
Chris and I are humbled and we're we're,we're honored to be asked to do it.
Cool.
Thank you for your time, bud.
Thank you man.
Yep.
Appreciate you.
Ready to take the next step?
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Just go to McFarlinStanford.com/scorecardto get yours today To learn more about
(31:33):
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See you next time on the Roots of Success.
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