The Middle Management Dilemma - Part 1

Those of us who have been around the landscape management industry for years have noticed a rather disturbing trend. It is becoming more difficult every year to fill middle management positions. There are many reasons for this, including the law of supply and demand. Competition for these positions has increased dramatically, and two-year and four-year colleges are turning out more students interested in building a career in landscape design than they are turning out students interested in landscape management.

Our paths are clear. We have to encourage students to take a serious look at landscape management as a career opportunity, and we have to continue to develop managers up through the ranks.

Regarding students, I believe one of the challenges is overcoming a misconception about landscape management - that it does not offer the opportunities or challenges that, for example, a similar position in landscape design does. The truth is that students who aspire to be account managers in our industry have tremendous growth opportunity and, with the right training, they can earn their stripes quickly. It behooves all landscape management contractors to work with their area schools, including high schools, technical schools, and two-year and four-year schools. We need to encourage students to look at landscape management as a career opportunity and help schools develop appropriate curricula for their programs.

Are your clients aware?

We are not unlike most full-service landscape management companies. We offer a diverse line of services through several different groups. Offering so many services is a tremendous advantage, but only if clients and potential clients are aware of them. One area where we can definitely improve is communicating more effectively with our clients. We need to make them aware that, in addition to landscape management, we also offer aquatic management, design build, public infrastructure, irrigation management, and snow removal services, to name a few of many.

It is sad but true. Many clients that we have done business with over the years are still unaware of our diverse service offerings. As a result, we have missed out on some business and growth opportunities. How is this possible? The answer, I suspect, revolves around the word "assumption." Our clients assume that our offerings are limited to what they experience in dealing with our firm. Our managers assume that a client is already aware of our many services, and as a V.P., I assume that both clients and managers do not hold these assumptions.

I am attempting to throw all of these assumptions out the window. All of our clients will receive a letter thanking them for their business and outlining our full-service offerings. Then, every time I have a chance to meet with them personally, I again will mention these services. I will also ask all of our managers to do the same. This is less rocket science and more marketing 101. After all, we should be promoting our companyevery chance we get.