Pest management and lawn care business software company Real Green Systems (RGS) hosted approximately 700 customers, potential customers, vendors and industry partners in Orlando, Fla., last week. The company’s annual user conference boasts the theme “Solutions 2017: The Magic of Marketing,” playing off the Magic Kingdom locale (Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, to be precise).
While airport woes caused me to miss the Tuesday night reception that included an appearance of Mickey himself, I was able to attend Real Green CEO Joe Kucik’s opening remarks Wednesday morning. During his keynote, Kucik, who founded the Walled Lake, Mich.-based company nearly 40 years ago, unveiled Real Green’s new software: Service Assistant (SA) 5.
“It’s our goal in 2017 to make it easier to see what is and is not working in your marketing and sales, and what the return on investment is on all facets of your business,” he said.
Real Green Software Development Vice President Steve Katz reviewed SA 5’s benefits and conducted a live demo. Among the chief changes of SA 5 from the SA 4 are:
- It no longer needs Windows or server access — just Internet access. The cloud-based hosting means updates and backups can be done automatically.
- It’s designed to be easier to learn and use than previous editions.
- It continues to work with all of the other RGS systems.
Katz stressed to attendees that SA 4 users won’t be left unsupported: “A definite end has not been determined yet, but it will not be before January 2019.”
After the general session, attendees were encouraged to join breakout seminars, network and browse the vendor booths.
Among the 140 concurrent sessions over the course of three days included:
This story was written by Heather Gooch, editor for Landscape Management’s sister publication, Pest Management Professional.
