The Aspire Software Co.’s second annual client conference took place last week in Tempe, Ariz. It was an opportunity for the company’s software users to learn more about the software as well as learn more from industry leaders.
Many of the speakers were names familiar to readers of Landscape Management. For example, two LM columnists, Marty Grunder and Aspire founder Kevin Kehoe, co-presented on “The Key to profitable growth and sales management by the Grow Group.” In another segment, Ken Thomas and Ben Gandy spoke on the topic of, “Organizational development by Envisor Consulting.” And Greg Herring, a frequent contributor to the magazine, presented a seminar on “Creating an enduring, winning culture.”
Herring also addressed the group as a whole with a forecast for the industry from his company, The Herring Group. He listed three negatives currently in the industry: BrightView’s performance; the labor shortage; and a lack of executive talent that “crushes” owners.
But there were more positives than negatives, he said. Among the industry’s positives were acquisition activity; growing investor interest; the ability to increase profit margins; a superb return on invested capital; and robust and growing software capabilities.
On that last one, Herring told the crowd that they had a “secret weapon” by utilizing Aspire.
Marty Grunder said during his presentation that his company, Grunder Landscaping Co., has already seen positive results using Aspire, despite the software being relatively new to the company.
“We have learned that we have a ton of winter work. We set a record in revenue in January, and that’s with no snow,” he said. “It started with data we put into Aspire, a dashboard for unique winter work. And then we were building retaining walls and doing brush removal.”
Kehoe told the same group of listeners that his goal is to transform their businesses. “But you have to get the data in … if you can’t manage it, you can’t see it.”
Envisor’s Ken Thomas echoed those comments.
“Aspire doesn’t think — you have to think. Aspire doesn’t get a signature — you have to get a signature,” he said. “You might be successful at getting the business, but getting the business is not complicated. But it is a complicated business. What are your strengths and weaknesses, and what are your obstacles to your workflow? You need to have lots of standard operating procedures. Aspire will facilitate that; however, we have to work to set it up.”
Conference attendee Samantha Wilson of Signature Landscape in Olathe, Kan., told LM that evolving technology like Aspire has made the company more successful.
“Aspire has provided us Crew Mobile, where before we used to have daily reports that we would handwrite information on, that can be subjective,” she said. “Crew Mobile drops pins relative to the address we’ve assigned, and on top of that, it gives us real start/stop information. It creates reliable data that we know is coming from the field. It gives us a better projection on our reporting and allows us to make better business decisions.”
The keynote speech at the conference was delivered by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Rob Teschner, call sign “Cujo.” A riveting speaker, he talked about his experiences in the U.S. Air Force and related how his work as a fighter pilot can relate to the group by getting the best out of employees and how important great teamwork is for success.
“Team excellence begins with team purpose,” he said, while displaying a photo of a fighter jet being refueled midair. “When we’re all committed to a common purpose, we’re willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”
He asked attendees to take 30 minutes of their time to reflect on their lives and where the gaps are. If they were to do this, he said, they would be more likely to follow through on the things they learned at the conference. He also asked attendees to work on their team’s purpose.
“Teamwork allows us to be the best we can be,” Teschner said. “Transformation can lead to true excellence. True excellence is enabled by learning through failure.”
