Simple Sales Solutions Series - 1 - Standardized Processes

“One must standardize, and thus stabilize the process, before continuous improvement can be made .” - Masaaki Imai

Introduction: Why are Standardized Processes Important?

(Psst - there's a P.S. at the end of this blog. You can scroll to it if you'd like, or simply read and get to it when you get there. Thank you either way - Isaiah S.)

Running a landscaping business is hard. Between juggling leads, cutting grass, laying flowers, planting mulch, training employees, admin work, calculating costs...a lot of business owners are wearing a lot of hats in order to make their client's homes look great, thus satisfying them and making a profit. If you do a really good job, you'll get repeat customers and referrals. And then you might not get it again. Why? Because your process isn't standardized. Let's break it down:

A Standardized Process is just a recipe for doing the same way, the same time, every time.

It can be called this, a standard operating procedure or an SOP, but they all mean the same. It's the reason why when you go to your favorite restaurant, your food tastes the same; all of the cooks have to follow the recipe and the outcome has to be nearly the same, if not identical. If you sat down at a restaurant and the cooks had no recipe, chances are you will either hate the food, or you will have a much worse time as soon as you come in and a different chef whose food you dislike under the hood.

This isn't just a restaurant thing though, EVERY business has standard operating procedures. It is important for employees to know and be trained on exactly what to do in a certain situation and how. In landscaping specifically, when every worker cuts a lawn the same way, every job gets billed the same way and every customer gets serviced the same way, your business feels organized, professional and easy. But what about when it doesn't?

That problem is way bigger than just being a little disorganized.

Workers doing whatever they think is right, any team leads getting overwhelmed, jobs taking forever, training taking forever, customers losing trust...and eventually, your business dying a slow, painful death due to a problem you didn't know hoe to solve because you never built the initial roadmap before running into an obstacle.

No processes = lost profits, lost hours, and lost customers. But, since you're likely more profits-focused, I know you're probably asking..

What's the Benefit of Standardizing Processes?

There's a whole list that we could go through in depth, but I'll try to shorten it. When you create simple processes everyone follows:

• Jobs are done faster - Workers no longer have to ask what to do, how low to cut grass or trim hedges, how much mulch to lay, etc. because it has already been laid out beforehand.

• ✔ Customers are happier - They are given service sheets to check off in order to ensure that their yard has been completely serviced and cleaned, increasing satisfaction drastically and reducing the amount of re-do jobs (charity work) you end up doing.

• ✔ Workers need less training - Training goes much faster because you already have set guidelines that your more experienced workers no longer need to consult you for in order to train new hires. This also maintains consistency without you having to micromanage each and every employee.

• ✔ You save money - Less re-do jobs means less time wasted driving and working for free, which means having to replace equipment less often, having to re-supply less often (and on a less predictable basis) and thus, saving more money.

• ✔ You take on more jobs - Doing your jobs efficiently and thoroughly means the time it takes for one project to be completed is shortened, allowing for more production in the same amount of time. That means more money for the same hours.

• ✔ Your brand looks professional - If your customers are always satisfied, re-dos are rarely necessary and your team completes jobs efficiently, word will get around. Your brand will grow and people will come to see you as reliable, trustworthy and detailed in your approach...in short, you look like the expert in your field that you should be.

• ✔ You can grow without stress - Standardizing your process makes it predictable. You know what to expect from project to project, and that means that you can now focus on growth without having to backtrack to tackle constraints that seemingly pop up out of nowhere.

So, by this point you should understand what a standardized process is, why it helps to have one and why it hurts to NOT have one. Great! Now that we've addressed the "what" and the "why" can finally address the two elephants in the room now, the "where" and the "how". Let's start with the where.

In What Areas Should I Standardize My Process?

The short answer? In any and every place that could possibly be standardized. If you think that even a general rule would standardize a process, try it out at the very least.

The long answer though is to start with the most important parts of your business, the activities that are done both in the field and in other facets every day, and standardize those. Take a second to write down all of your business activities and sort them by which ones you do daily, frequently, and occasionally if needed. Then, continue going down to the activities that are done less frequently, creating standard procedures for each possible activity until you have streamlined as much of your business as possible. Of course, this doesn't have to be done all at once, but it should be done as soon as possible, especially with the business activities that happen daily or frequently.

If you want a list as a starting point, then here is a list of areas your landscaping business should create processes for:

In the Field (Work Getting Done):

• How to mow each type of yard

• How to edge and trim

• Where to park trucks

• How to handle tools

• How to load/unload equipment

• Safety rules

• Clean-up checklist before leaving job

With Customers:

• Greeting when arriving

• What you say when leaving

• Estimates & quotes

• How to handle complaints

• When to ask for reviews

With Business Operations:

• Hiring and training

• Inventory and tools

• Invoicing and payments

• Scheduling jobs

• Weekly team meetings

• Marketing plan

Now, more than likely, this is not a list that will cover your entire business, and these will simply be the ones that are done daily or frequently. But that is a great starting point for anyone looking to streamline their business procedures.

We're almost done now. There's only one more thing we have to tackle...How do you actually make a standardized landscaping procedure? It's way simpler than the name suggests.

How Do I Standardize My Landscaping Procedures?

This goes back to the definition of standardized procedures...at their core, they are simply instructions put in place to achieve a certain outcome, much like a recipe to a cake. Follow the steps, achieve the result, reap the rewards...not the difficult, right? Well then, let's start. And again, you don't need to do everything at once if you're unable to.

Step 1: Make a checklist

A checklist is a simple, but magical tool. People do not forget steps when they read steps. Pilots and surgeons use checklists to do their jobs, why shouldn't you use one for yours?

Example: “Lawn Care Complete Checklist”

• Cut grass to ___ height

• Trim fence line

• Blow driveway

• Take before/after photos

• Send “Finished!” text template to customer

Attach this to every job, customizing it to your liking and changing it for each task. Now you no longer have to deal with re-dos because of things that were forgotten or done incorrectly AND you gain a reputation as someone who always gets it right on the first try.

Step 2: Write a short “How To” for each task

This does not need to be fancy.

Example:
How to mow

• Walk yard first

• Remove trash or toys

• Set deck height

• Mow in straight lines

• Overlap 2 inches

That’s it. Short. Clear. Consistent. Your customers get the same outcome every time, and you don;t have to re-train your employees as often.

Step 3: Train with your new process

Show your team the process, explain it to them, do whatever you have to in order to ensure that everyone has clear understanding of the expectations. Then, watch them do it and give feedback. This way, you can ensure that your product is delivered with a level of consistency that satisfies both you and your customers.

Tell them:

“These steps help us all make more money, get more jobs, and keep customers happy.” Why? Because they do. Customers pay for peace of mind, reliability, consistency. If they know you're going to do it right, chances are they'll go with you, even if your prices are higher than a competitors.

Step 4: Store your processes somewhere easy

You can use:

• Printed binder in the truck

• Google Drive

• Trello / Asana / ClickUp

• Your CRM

Don’t hide your process. make it easy to find. Even after the first 3 steps, your employees will forget because they are human. Make sure that you have easy access to all standardized processes, and preferably that they do as well.

Bonus Tip: When Things Break, Fix the Process

If a mistake happens:

- Don’t blame the person first.
- Fix the process.

Ask:
- Do we need a new step?
- Do we need a better checklist?
- Do we need a picture example?

Your business becomes stronger each time. Like a chef tweaking their dish ever so slightly, over time the little improvements take your business from a decent local option to an item that's so desired, the customers come to you cash in hand.

Final Thoughts

Long story short, landscapers who use standardized processes do better, more consistent work, grow faster and more predictably, save money, have happier customers, stress and backtrack less, and build teams that run without them. Businesses that don't standardize their process either don't achieve any of these things, or don't achieve them consistently because they do not know or remember the process by which they achieve the result to begin with.

They are what makes your landscaping job into a landscaping business, and they are what the biggest and most successful companies are built on...the backbones that allow them to grow and scale without major issues along the way.

(P.S. - If you're seeing this, hello and thank you for reading. This is the C.E.O., Isaiah. am currently working on a course that will be made available to all customers of Hi-Roller Solutions, in which I will go over these procedures more in-depth and provide even more insights as to how to implement these processes into your business. The product I sell already helps drastically with the marketing and outreach procedures, but I am doing this to provide even more value to my customers and boost their businesses further. If you happen to be waiting for that and you want to be one of the first to know when this is released, subscribe to my blog and it will be made available to you as well. Thank you.)