PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS


Technology to Help Provide Proof of Service


By Jill Odom


DO YOU STRUGGLE WITH CLIENTS not knowing that you’ve provided service? In some cases, it’s obvious when work has been completed, such as snow being gone from a parking lot, but there are other services where clients may question if your crews have been to the site at all. Providing proof of service is a way to confirm when and what was done at a client’s property.


“As an industry, we should perceive


proof of service methods as a tool to document progress, report issues, and provide value via better communication to your client base,” says Robyn Schmitz, owner and CEO of High Prairie Landscape Group, LLC, based in Edwardsville, Kansas. “Proof of service is an excellent oppor- tunity to remind your clients how you’re serving them and protect your own team at the same time.”


METHODS OF PROOF OF SERVICE How you want to go about providing proof of service depends on what works best for your operations, but don’t just settle for leaving a door hanger to show you visited a site. Level Green Landscaping, based in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, provides all of


their customers with a property service report that is emailed to the address assigned to the jobsite. Joey Schneider, regional manager for Level Green Land- scaping, says previously they used carbon copy forms to leave a document at the property. For the past five years, they’ve been using an app they developed where the crew can select from a dropdown list of what services they performed. Similarly, High Prairie also generates re-


ports that are sent to their clients through their online client portal. Customers can see the visit history complete with notes, photos and tasks completed.


“These electronic forms include time


tracking, material use, tasks completed, observations reported, date/time of service, and options for both photographs and videos of work,” Schmitz says. “Some- times we are photographing before and after depending upon the project. We use this reporting for both our construction division and our garden care division. The forms automatically track the date, time, location, and person submitting the information. Mike McCarron, president and founder


of Image Works Landscape Management, based in Fairfax Station, Virginia, opts to take photos to document the property before, during and after his crews work on a site. “This helps put any issues to rest, espe-


Landscape Management Service Report Branch:


Site Name: 8950 Rt. 108


LGL Crew Leader: Fidel Alvarado Ramirez


Date Of Visit: 05-08-2023


LGL Account Manager: Brittany Antolick


Contract Maintenance Services Performed: Mowing Chemicals Treatments Treatment Areas: Sprayed Weeds in Beds


General Site Comments: LGL Crew Leader Signature:


Fidel Alvarado Ramirez 12 The Edge //July/August 2023 Sprayed Weeds in Hard Surfaces


Time Of Visit: 8:26 am


LGL Operation Manager: Jacob Austin Ward


North CrewLeader Name:


Amilcar Carpio Ramirez Job Number:


500696 Job Name:


7020 Columbia Gateway Dr Type of Service


Weekly Maintenance Date:


Site Representative Signature: Client Signature


 Time:





cially for out-of-town clients and/or clients with out-of-the-area rentals,” McCarron says.


He says they have a training session to


teach crews how to handle the types of pictures they need to capture and from what angles are neeeded both for their in- ternal training and the client’s request. He says snow removal can be a tricky service to capture before images showing the depth of the snow and to what degree the ice is compacted. He says they store the photos using Google Cloud services and Microsoft Azure. After 18 months, they will select what can be deleted. Schmitz says they also train their crews on what and how to take pictures during a property visit so they can capture pos-


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