National Lawn Care Month is in April, and it offers a great reminder of the importance of continual learning for any green business owner. As a lawn care entrepreneur and professional, you already place a strong value on creating a healthy lawn, but if you need some quick facts to share with your customers about why they should focus on their lawns, the National Association of Landscape Professionals offered these:
• The oxygen a family of four needs can be generated by a 50-foot by 50-foot section of lawn.
• Eight healthy front lawns have the same cooling effect as 70 tons of air conditioning—enough to cool, on average, 16 homes.
• A property’s value can increase up to 15 percent due to a well-maintained lawn.
• Lawns can lower noise levels by 20 to 30 percent over hard surfaces such as concrete and pavement.
The power of education
Continual learning is obviously important to help educate your customers about the value of lawn care services for their home and the environment, but what are some other benefits? When you or your staff become certified it shows that you have a better understanding of the industry than your uncertified competitor, and it makes the customer feel more confident they’ve made the right pick.
There are specific training modules devoted to the green industry you can explore, and many are offered online today. Areas that may be covered include safety issues, such as commercial mower or poisonous plant safety, or simply courses to expand your existing knowledge of landscape maintenance.
The benefits of continual learning
Pursuing additional green industry education can help you and your employees perform better and give your customers more confidence in your abilities, but it also has the added benefit of making your employees feel invested in.
There are multiple ways you can engage in continual learning, from self-directed training (supplying a study guide that you or your employees learn from) to on the job training (pairing a more experienced team member with a newer employee). However, you may decide to opt for classroom training via your local community college or agriculture extension office, as well as the virtual options mentioned above.
Spring-Green Lawn Care understands the power of knowledge. When a new franchise owner comes on board, a Spring-Green Business Consultant will conduct multiple onsite training visits. The Director of Education, Harold Enger, not only will conduct an onsite technical training visit but also travels all over the country each winter conducting professional development seminars with managers and their employees. In addition to the face-to-face training, Spring Green has created its very own online training portal—Spring-Green University. Close to 100 videos are organized by region and are made available to every owner and their employees. Have a question about a grass type? There’s a video about it in Spring Green University. Need a refresher course on spreading fertilization or how to perform core aeration? It’s in Spring Green University. Did you just hire a new employee and want to get him or her up to speed fast? Spring Green University is designed with that in mind. It is the initial training before your employees get started in the field.
As a franchise owner, you and your employees can log in to this online learning platform on your own schedules to gain knowledge and guidance on a wide variety of issues. The Spring Green University course list includes videos on
• Advanced Customer Service
• Application Procedures
• Basic Customer Service
• Basic Lawn Care
• Customer Retention
• Pesticide Handling, Storage and Selection
• Roster Management
• And Much, Much More!
Every other year, Spring-Green hosts a National Training Conference. The NTC provides a great environment to meet everyone involved with Spring-Green including support center staff, vendors and, most importantly, other franchise owners. From the conference to the professional development seminars and everything in between, partnering with Spring-Green means you are in business for yourself, but never by yourself. See all the ways becoming a Spring-Green franchise owner can help you grow and diversify your green industry business when you call 1-800-777-8608 or visit us at www.growmygreenindustrybusiness.com.
