It is September, and many of us are knee-deep in planning contract renewals and, in seasonal markets, preparing for snow removal despite record-breaking summer heat. One critical item often overlooked this time of year is the operating budget. Many companies I speak with have never created one. One company told me it did not see
The traditional insurance buying process was largely designed around annual transactions, not long-term business outcomes. For many companies, this standard approach is familiar: gather renewal information 60–90 days before expiration, market the account, compare quotes, negotiate terms, and repeat the cycle the following year. That process may create the appearance of competition, but it rarely
If your strategy for pursuing leads still relies on whiteboards or sticky notes to remind you to follow up on quotes, you’re leaving real money on the table. Here’s the reality: Landscape companies had a median of 355 customers in 2025, according to the Financial Benchmark Study from the National Association of Landscape Professionals. That’s
You can buy another truck, add another crew, and roll out another piece of software — and still watch a competitor with the same resources pull ahead of you. That gap almost never comes down to equipment. It comes down to who is leading the work. The companies that keep climbing understand something the rest
When I trained for my first Ironman, I assumed the breakthroughs would come from working harder. They didn’t. My coaches spent most of their time on adjustments that felt almost too small to matter: where my stroke was inefficient, where I was burning energy on the bike, how I fueled between aid stations. None of
Some events are defined by who takes the stage. The Thought Leaders Retreat has always been defined by who is sitting in the room. This July, landscape industry CEOs, owners, senior leaders, and partners gathered at Live! by Loews in Arlington, Texas, for three days built around a simple idea: give experienced leaders the time,
The second half of the year is when next year gets decided End-of-season enhancement sales, snow contract commitments and the Q3/Q4 bidding cycles will help determine which companies make the shortlist for maintenance contracts starting in January 2027, and all of it will land in the next 120 days. Every owner and C-suite leader should
About fifteen miles into the marathon leg of my first Ironman, I hit the wall. Not a metaphorical wall, the real one. My legs stopped answering, people I had passed hours earlier began passing me, and the negative tape started playing in my head: Do I quit? Do I keep going? What saved me wasn’t
Two weeks from now, 150 landscape industry leaders will gather in Arlington, Texas. Most registrations happen in June. By early July, the attendee list stabilizes. CEOs and owners running $15M to $75M operations. Senior leaders building the infrastructure that allows companies to scale. People who came because they want sharper thinking, not just more content.
Customer retention depends on proactive communication and building trust and strong relationships long before renewal season arrives. Recently, I spoke with a leadership team that had just lost a client they fully expected to renew. The account had been with them for years. The work was strong. There were no major complaints, no heated conversations
