Bruce WilsonNov 3, 2023
A healthy company is a productive place where staff members feel valued and empowered. This is possible because there’s a cohesive leadership team who behaves in…
Kevin KehoeNov 3, 2023
At the end of a sales presentation the words, “We like your numbers; we’ll get back to you,” are the kiss of death. It’s in…
Phil HarwoodNov 3, 2023
One of the classic questions a customer asks a snow removal professional is, “How do you price—hourly, per plow or flat rate?” Of course, this…
Gregg RobertsonNov 3, 2023
In June, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed bipartisan legislation designed to find solutions to the growing Lyme disease problem. Cases of Lyme disease are expected…
Jeffrey ScottNov 3, 2023
As a business owner, there’s never enough time in a day. Shave off a few minutes and meetings by training your employees to think for…
In a recent consulting visit with a contractor in the South, my client raised the issue of attrition of her commercial clients. Her retention numbers…
The "old saw" of price, service and quality is what used to define value. It used to be said that customers could control two out…
In my June blog, I expressed some hope a window had opened a crack to move immigration reform forward in Congress: House Speaker John Boehner…
There’s hardly a contractor who’s not concerned with pricing challenges and the negative impact they have on gross margins. The competitive environment has put enormous…
Frank RossNov 3, 2023
My partners and I gather the financial data from many of our clients nationwide, dump the information into a big cauldron, stir it around and…
Shaun KanaryNov 3, 2023
Amazon has built an empire by providing its consumers with a range of products, becoming a one-stop shop for most people's entertainment needs. The amazing…
Owners who are active in the business have two roles: As leaders, answering the questions “why and who;” and As managers, answering the “what and…
The Brickman Group/ValleyCrest Landscape Cos. merger is on everyone’s mind. Is this a game changer, I’m asked? Or, as in the past with LandCare USA…
Marketing your company effectively takes much more than luck. It takes a lot of trial and error, as you tinker with strategy and tactics to…
Just when possibility for Congressional action this year on immigration reform seemed doomed, a small breeze came in through the window. Players on the Republican…
It's almost impossible to keep all the balls in the air in the spring. Use these five time-management tips to get more done in less…
In Phil Harwood's May 2014 Snow Strategy column, "How to use weather data for sales, renewals," he offered snow management companies several suggestions about what…
Calculating probability of various snowfall totals is not all that complicated, although not quite as easy as calculating the average seasonal snowfall for your market(s).…
Sometimes things go wrong. Even with best practices in place, mishaps will occur, and sometimes these mishaps involve the customer. When they do, you have…
Are you getting the most out of your investment in production supervisors? In many cases the answer is no. The position has evolved into more…
How do you sell more work? Relationships certainly help. Luck is a good thing, too. But it’s good habits consistently executed that create results. This…
The snow business is full of unknowns. One of the biggest unknowns is, of course, the weather. But there is one aspect of the weather…
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) set off a firestorm of protest, especially with farmers, when on April…
Successful business leaders remain focused on the future when dealing with short-term problems and opportunities, even when dealing with urgent ones in the heat of…
