Episode Overview
Horticulture isn’t the first industry that pops to mind when you think about applying technology to daily processes.
However, LMC Landscape Partners IT Director Mike Lowrance has dug into the subject and has definitively shown how digital tools can lead strategy in horticulture and multiple landscape companies.
To start, Lowrance notes that employees enter into any kind of tech training with widely varying levels of expertise.
He says employers and trainers need to take employee knowledge variances into consideration.
“If you want to grow and be successful, you can't afford not to adapt to technology,” Lowrance says. “Start off small, chip away at it, and you'll achieve your goal.”
Once people achieve some levels of proficiency, he says the next step is learning how to accurately read and report input.
“There are a lot of people that have edited the input to make it look like they're being profitable in jobs,” Lowrance says. “That is muddying the water. You have to put in accurate information because you gotta know what you're doing good and what you're doing poorly at.”
He also says it can be easy to get lost in an abundance of data, so to be successful you have to keep a goal in mind. Lowrance points out that numbers can be manipulated to show myriad results.
For example, he says a company may have a very low gross margin on a big job, so your percentage is low, but your gross profit is high.
“So you kind of wanna know from the business standpoint what it is that you are being asked to build,” Lowrance says.
Even the best systems can fail without clear goals, thoughtful training and real buy-in, he says.
Mike Lowrance recently joined ServiceTitan’s Amanda Salvatore on the “Toolbox for the Trades” podcast, which included Lowrance’s thoughts on:
[7:12] How to build internal tech leadership with super users
[10:09] Trying to create super users
[12:54] How to create buy-in and deal with tech resistance
[14:19] Data leads to profitability
[18:43] What sets Aspire apart from other landscaping CRMs
To hear more stories from the trades, subscribe to “Toolbox for the Trades” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, or anywhere you get podcasts.
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