MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Faces of the Industry: Joe Campbell By Jill Odom


AFTER A 22-YEAR CAREER IN PEST CONTROL, JOE CAMPBELL WAS introduced to the lawn care and landscape industry when he joined ABC Home and Commercial Services, based in Lewisville, Texas, nine years ago.


“It was very interesting because when


I accepted my position with ABC, I knew I was coming on board as vice president of the pest division,” Campbell says. “It was my onboarding day that I realized that also included lawn.” Campbell says he’s had to do a lot of research to get up to speed, and by bringing on a knowledgeable lawn division manager who reports to him, they’ve been able to grow their number off lawn and landscape crews.


they’v been able t grow their number of lawn and landscape crews.


“What was a quar er off a landscape crew and maybe a quar er of a lawn maintenance crew w


ew


ears to be six and three crews that


“What was a quarter of a landscape ew and maybe a quarter of a lawn maintenance crew,, we’ve grrown t in the last feown it in the last fi years t be six and three crews that


are out n the field doing projects,” Campbell says.


as- pect of w


e out in the fieldi doing projec Campbell sa His fa


mendous growth in their land-in their land-


or ABC Home and Commer- cial Services is the fact they are experiencing tre-iencing tre mendous growth


His favorriite as- pect of working for ABC Home and Commer cial Services is the fact they ar


scape, scape,


lawn and irrigation services. “Being able to assemble a team of direct managers that report to me, I’ve had the opportunity to craft that and lay out a vision and plan for where we need to go as a company,” Campbell says. While he’s been self-taught, Camp- bell admits he doesn’t feel he’s past the point of needing a mentor. He says attending ELEVATE for the first time last year opened his eyes t


year opened his eyes to the expansive industry in which he w


the


industry in which he works. “I would lov


connect with people within that particular industry so I can l


“I would love to collaborate and connect with people within


collabora


about it in respect to what are some of the benchmarks?” Campbel


ticular industry so I can learn more about it in respect to what a


the benchmarks?” Campbell says. “How does it operate? How do yo


that I know on the pest control side, and there’s some similarities, but mentor would be g


etain talent? Those are a lot of things that I know on the pest con


service industry as a pest control techni- cian, he says he saw it as a jo ound a


When Campbell first entered the service industry as a pest co


When Campbell first ente


cian, he says he saw it as a job before he found a ‘real’ job.


“Nev“Never could I enr could I envision as self that, ‘Hey‘Hey, you can actua whole career in the landsca Campbell says “So t


self that,f vision as my younger


whole career in the landscape industry,’” Campbell says. “So to my yo I wI would not be as close-min


, you can actually have a younger self,


ould not be as close-minded, and I would actually see it as an o


the Arm Reser es for eight years as a finance specialist. H


as a finance specialist. He says this experience hasm


“I“I’v’ve learned that


ould actually see it as an opportunity.” Campbell also previous


Campbell also previously served in the Army Reserves for ei


this experience has made him well-equipped twell-equipped to work in a team atmosphere in order plish a mission.


atmosphere in order to accom- plish a mission.


and the team are what matters most,” mpbell sa


and the team arew most,” Cam


who are customer-facing are the ones that really deter- e percep co


who are custome the ones that rea mine the


value of the company. You


e learned that the people Campbell says. “The ones


mine the perception and the value of thef


ther s some similarities, but having a mentor would be great.”


does it operate? How do you attract and rretain talent? Those are a lot


can have all the structure in the world, you can do all the marketing in the world, and you have the best website in the world, but at the end of the day, the team that shows up and actually are the boots on the ground are the ones that are the most valued. In my opinion, I’ve learned through my career to appreciate that more.” As the VP of field operations for ABC Home and Commercial Services, Camp- bell is in charge of all sales and field operations and spends his time focusing on the business instead of working in it. “My role is to make sure we’re driving


top-line revenue and growth, and we’re getting it done through the strategically placed people in teams,” Campbell says. He is currently working toward im-


proving their overall customer experi- ence from the initial point of contact to the completion of the project. Campbell’s biggest challenge in the


industry is recruiting and retaining expe- rienced people. He says another is always developing leaders.


“One of the challenges is to always


make sure that you’re identifying career paths and keeping people moving up- ward in their skill sets,” Campbell says. His favorite aspects of working in the landscape industry are the people and seeing the finished product. “The finished design is what I love the most about it,” Campbell says. “To see a customer’s eyes light up to where you ideally have met and excelled above their wildest dream when it came to what the project was.” Campbell would like the public’s


perception of the industry to change as many don’t understand it is a profession- al industry. Likewise, he’d like for other companies to stop undervaluing their services.


“Some companies that are smaller


tend to try to undercut from a pricing perspective,” Campbell says. “I would like to see them actually appreciate the value of what they’re doing.” TE


10 The


10 The Edg / March/A riil 20 he Edge //March/Apr ge Ma


/April 2025 025


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