COVERSTORY


ment is sanitized daily. We’ve upgraded our PPE requirements to also include disposable gloves — each team mem- ber has a box in their van — and face masks are available if so desired. We have also suspended all door knocking or leaving any type of paper hangers on the door. We’re now emailing our service notes.”


Many of the lawn and landscape business owners that we spoke with were optimistic about government funding opportunities.


arrive in the morning and when they return their trucks to the yard. “While on-the-go, they’re wiping down high-touch areas multiple times a day with a rag and bleach,” adds Rossen. “For now, we’re no longer doing our morning huddles and we’re preventing crews from talking or congregating at the shop by stagger- ing their start and finish times. We’ve created a check-out station that they go through as they exit the yard. The manager will stand there and give them any information they need. But we’re also encouraging crews to just report directly to the job site if they can.” For Oasis Turf & Tree, headquartered


in Loveland, Ohio, a focus on safety has meant a similarly well-coordinated effort of strategically planned out start times that help reduce human contact. “We don’t want to have a cluster of crews together waiting on each other to load the vans and get on the road,” explains Angie Bradley, chief operating officer for the company. “Each of the vans is also sanitized and their equip-


24 The Landscape Professional //May/June 2020


On the administrative and manage- ment side, Bradley says only a handful are coming into the office — everyone else is working remotely. All meetings are being held via video conference and the office facility is sanitized frequently. Everyone is cognizant of this new norm.


Adam Zellner, the company’s vice president of sales, says that as much as they’ve been focused on the team’s safety — the effort also extends to customers. “We know this is about the safety of our customers, too,” he says. “We have some customers that require communication prior to our visit, such as informing them before we treat. That’s something that we typically did in person. Now, we’re doing that from the driveway. Our customers have been extremely appreciative and greeted us with a positive attitude. They’ve been very cooperative about any changes we’ve had to make, and we’ve been grateful for that.”


Of course, keeping up with ev-


er-changing protocols has been no small feat, adds Fullerton. “We’re trying our best to keep up with every recommendation that comes out,” he continues. “It’s changing all of the time. First it was wearing masks,


then it was a recommendation not to exchange tools, and now it’s a sugges- tion of one man to a truck. It seems that every day it’s something new. We have 100 vehicles that go out every day and each of our drivers is respon- sible for bleaching down their truck. It’s a lot of work but everyone is really stepping up.”


CLIENT COMMUNICATION As a variety of changes have been made, it’s been important to keep clients well-informed. “The company has focused on enhanced client communication to both inform customers of our efforts to ensure safe operations on their sites and to understand the potential impact of COVID-19 to their businesses or organizations,” says Hopkins of Land- Care’s effort. “This approach is just an extension of the close relationships we strive to keep with our clients.” The Rossen team has also been communicating regularly with cus- tomers ensuring they understand that landscaping is an essential business. “We want clients to know that there will be no service interruptions,” Rossen says. “We’re also now announcing our site visits so that clients know we will be in their yard.”


Email communication has been a helpful tool that most companies have been utilizing. However, as Jack Moore, president and CEO of Grassperson quickly found out, many clients are already inundated with that type of communication from so many other businesses and services they’ve used. “Like so many others, we felt it made


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