W [SNOW]
The toughest segment of our business is truly emergency on-call work. Trying to determine the timing of each snowstorm, properly staffing depending on what service is called for, and then providing high level service to allow customers to navigate their lives with minimal interruption are always the goals. Add to the uncertainty of that the brutal
environment we work in, minimal visibility, high winds, and freezing temperatures. This all makes our job that much tougher. While a shout-out goes to all the Semmer snow warriors, there have been a few that have really stood out.
When you think of heroes, Superman, Wonder Woman or Batman might come to mind. For me, it was usually someone in the MILITARY, POLICE or FIRE DEPARTMENT; regular people all doing extraordinary things.
The heroes we have at Semmer Landscape might not stop a speeding train, but they can make the life of association residents and property managers much easier by going above and beyond. When considering writing this article, I decided to make this about our unsung heroes, the staff that does the day-to-day work, and rarely is publicly recognized.
Great examples of heroic team work are saving the client money, going the extra mile to keep the client happy and taking extra steps to prevent when could be a much bigger issue. Semmer employs over 150 team members in season and while all do a great job, there are a few staff members who really stand out.
One of our clients, Giovanni, a property in the South Loop emailed me about how Semmer Landscape goes above and beyond, saving them money and aggravation over the winter months. “Although the landscape crew does a great job every season, the example of Semmer being a hero at UV HOA is definitely in the winter. The snow crew working collectively with their supervisor (Baltazar) always does a good job clearing snow. The snow crew does an amazing job utilizing the limited areas of the property to store/ spread the excess snow that hits our property driveways, roads and parking lots. This allows the HOA to limit the use of having to offload/remove the snow from the property which potentially could saves the HOA thousands of dollars in any given snow season.”
Sometimes it’s just a matter of keeping the client happy with some creativity. At a site in Lincoln Park, where space is a challenge, Semmer needs to store a Skid Steer tractor for plowing on site at the board’s request but some of the homeowners did not want to see the equipment sitting in the courtyard all winter. After meeting on site with our supervisor, Luis, and the property’s’ landscape committee chair and board member Chris, Luis suggested screening the tractor with a hedge of arborvitae. Chris stated that Luis’ creativity “really impressed the concerned homeowners and was able to keep all parties satisfied.”
While it may be something as simple as rotating starting points on each property so all homeowners feel they receive equal service, or an on-site meeting to discuss the snow storage areas, the little things can go a long way in keeping the client happy.
[MAINTENANCE]
The site supervisors take a very active role in not only making sure the weekly contracted tasks are accomplished, but also are on the lookout for any preventative action that could be taken to either improve the sites’ appearance or to prevent and solve issues that could be expensive for the client.
www.cai-illinois.org • 847.301.7505 | 41
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