COVID-19 and the Landscape Industry: Operating through the Pandemic
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Corey Halstead
Owner, HALSTEAD.
COVID-19 is here. Countless small businesses around the country are being dealt some of the most difficult news in their decade-long histories. Brick and mortar businesses that operate indoors—restaurants, spas, gyms, dentists, and so many more—are currently on the front lines of the battle, being ordered to shut down. But there will be many waves of economic impact as the situation continues, each affecting different industries along the way. Yes, COVID-19 is certainly here. Its effects are being felt in every sector of every industry and the landscape industry at $82 billion in the US alone, is no exception.
Seemingly every local and state government is setting different rules, with the majority of the verbiage for what is considered an “essential business” not specifically addressing the landscape industry, but rather larger, more umbrella call-outs like businesses responsible for “maintaining the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences,” So, it has become very difficult to understand where the landscape industry stands. But the difficulty of the task does nothing to reduce the incredible importance of the industry’s understanding of whether we can continue to work. Lives of business owners and their incredible staff, the mental health of our communities, the physical health of our population, and certainly the health of our economy over the next year, all lie in the balance.
At HALSTEAD, we are fortunate to serve businesses and organizations in the landscape—and greater design/build— industry every day. We understand that for the large majority of our landscaping clients, their businesses are made up of several revenue streams, complicating the understanding of hurried government orders even further. Commercial and residential grounds maintenance, lawn and plant care, horticulture, snow and ice management, design, and outdoor construction including carpentry, stonework, hardscapes, softscapes, and lighting typically all fall under “landscaping.” We will need to remember to treat these streams individually as we cross-reference the service lines with state and federal mandates.
News is traveling—and changing—at the speed of light. Legislation is currently gray in many states and counties. It is essential that we all come together as an industry to chase facts, not hearsay or social comments. We must come together to help end consumers feel more at ease, to help them feel more comfortable about letting our industry continue to work at their homes and businesses. We must educate business owners, property management firms, and homeowners about the devastating impact the landscape industry ceasing work will have on our economy and our communities. We must fight to stay working. And when we work, we must fight to work safely, exceeding the guidelines put forth by the CDC.
The approach here, not unlike most well-executed strategies in life, likely is a well-balanced one—somewhere in the middle, if you will. We must think and act short term to ensure the health of ourselves, our loved ones, our employees, and our community. But we must also think mid and long term, concerning ourselves with the health of the economy 6, 12, 18 months from today.
And this needed balance, we believe, is where things are a bit different when it comes to the landscaping industry.
In some ways, we’re fortunate. The great majority of the work the landscape industry does takes place in the great outdoors, under the open sky. With so many small businesses in other industries hanging on for dear life through these historical times, it is critical that industries that pose little negative impact to the safety and health of our communities by the very nature of their work continue to operate. In fact, to ensure the right balance—one in which we are all considering the necessary steps to reduce the spread of COVID-19 while also looking to the future health of our country’s economy—it may just be exactly what we need. But we need to work together to ensure we are going above and beyond the requirements outlined by the CDC. We have no doubt that the landscape industry—the one that I grew up in and continue to serve today—is up for the challenge.
As you know, this industry is home to some of the finest, most creative, hardworking, warm, ethical, and loyal people you could ever meet. The small business owners—along with their passionate teams—design, build, and maintain the outdoor and indoor living spaces that we call home. The very spaces that allow us to spend time with our families…the spaces that form the backdrop for our most cherished memories. Talented craftsmen who work tirelessly to ensure that the campuses, communities, and corporate parks that serve as our home away from home, are safe and beautiful.
We are honored to call these professionals our clients…to call many of you our friends. I know that you, the owners of essential small businesses, are committed to the health and safety of your team members, clients, and communities. And I am confident that we can navigate through these times. But it will not be easy.
Now, as we’re all entering what is typically the busiest time of year for the landscaping industry, this pandemic threatens many companies’ current plans and budgets just as demand for your services was expected to tick up. Adding to the challenge are the stay-at-home orders and social distancing restrictions, forcing more of the “behind the scenes” work to be done remotely. I’ve spoken to many of our clients over the last few weeks and despite many markets coming off of one, if not the, lightest winter seasons in history, have yet again been impressed by the agility, investment, and commitment to deploying remote-work infrastructures quickly and efficiently. But the unfortunate reality for many in the industry is that design, sales, and administrative work are not alone enough to sustain business for very long. Especially not on the back of those greatly reduced winter billings. You need your production staff in the field to continue to, well, produce. You need to remain operational. To do so means we must work together to get—or keep— landscaping deemed essential in the eyes of the state legislators. But the industry as a whole must also adapt—and adapt we must, basically overnight.
At HALSTEAD, we spend a growing amount of time serving as the link between industry trade organizations, product manufacturers, distributors, and contractors. On a daily basis, we work with each of these industry channels, not only in terms of their individual marketing and sales scopes, but also on programs and initiatives that work to unite the channels of the industry.
Along these same lines, we offer here a hub. An informational source for how the landscape industry can work together to propel forward through this incredibly challenging time. It will take each channel, working individually to do their part, but also together as a team with the others.
So let’s unite. Let’s unite to continue to serve our communities. Let’s unite to do our part to keep the American economy afloat, to keep jobs intact. Let’s unite to show the country the value of the landscaping industry.
Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay working.
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FOR LANDSCAPE CONTRACTORS:
Meet, or exceed, recommended safety guidelines.
Employers and employees can do their part to prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19. Take the necessary time to educate yourself and your team on the guidelines from the CDC and the Department of Labor. In order to prevent any negative health effects of the landscape industry’s field staff remaining operational during this time, it is critical that we put new practices in place before leaving the shop. Now is the time for leaders to emerge. Work to reduce the amount of staff on each crew or job site, paring down to the essential members. Institute a zero-tolerance policy for sick employees coming to work. Encourage those not feeling well to speak up and stay at home. Wear masks or face coverings when available, maintain safe distances between staff members at all times, wear gloves at all times, and change them after each site visit. Institute thorough sanitization procedures for all equipment and trucks. Ask workers to pack a lunch to avoid extra contact with others, and consider alternative travel solutions to and from work sites to avoid multiple crew members in the same vehicle. For those who have transportation, compensate them for the use of their own car to job sites during this time.
Yes, all of these things will increase overhead and reduce margins. But these measures will also provide reassurance and comfort to your customers. These measures will help the cause of getting landscaping services deemed essential by legislators and will show the general public that our industry is taking the necessary measures to remain safe, while also continuing to work. Remember, you play a major role in the overall safety of our communities and also a major role in our economy. Reduced margins are certainly better than the alternative of ceased production or further spread of disease.
Resources:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html
https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf
https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/standards.html
Work virtually when possible.
Utilize video and web conferencing solutions such as Zoom to work virtually whenever you can. You and your clients—or prospective clients—should continue to meet to talk about projects, share and review designs, conduct consultations, and plan the season’s work. Making progress on pending projects does not have to happen in person. Your designers can work from photographs and online property measurement tools to start planning design/build projects. Import that remotely gathered data into your 3D design software and keep the planning and design process moving ahead. Your commercial sales team can measure new maintenance contracts remotely to prepare bids and win new business.
Resources:
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us
Continue to market and promote your services.
Effective marketing is about consumer attention—where is it and how do you get a share of it as a business owner. In this regard, it’s a great time to market to your customers and prospects. They aren’t traveling. They aren’t out and about. They’re stuck inside spending way more time on social media, or stuck spending time in their less-than-spectacular yards. Use this time to let them know that you are operational (if you are permitted to do so by the state you operate in) or, if not, that now’s the time to get started on their upcoming design/build project or to get maintenance plans in place. The entire process of marketing, selling, communicating, and even servicing the property, can move forward without ever coming face to face with the customer. Reassure them of this upfront, in your marketing and initial sales calls.
Retain key employees.
In times challenging times like these, business owners and leaders need to flip their mindset. If you approach decisions as if you worked for your employees, not them working for you, it will allow you to make more long-term decisions, rather short-term hacks. We all need to find ways to reduce expenses, no doubt. That’s part of navigating a business through downturns. But when things bounce back—and they will bounce back—your business will suffer greatly if you’ve lost your key talent. Be honest with them, develop open lines of communication, and work together to come to the best solution. On the flipside, you better believe it’s time to trim the unnecessary fat.
Increase communications to customers.
If no one knows about it, it didn’t happen. That is the social media driven world we live in today. It’s critical that landscape business owners understand that now, more than ever. You instituted a new policy to spray sanitize all your equipment every hour on the hour? Awesome...tell your customers! You’ve created new production processes that ensure your employees are staying safe distances away from each other? Fantastic...tell everyone! Your customers need reassurance that you are being safe. They also need to be aware and educated about the possibilities of working with you safely during these times. Remind them, and remind them again of how they can support small businesses, keep workers employed, and how they can spend money with you. Communication will be the key to businesses coming through this situation successfully.
Encourage customers to keep planning their design/build projects.
After COVID-19 is under control, there will be a glut of work to complete in a shortened schedule. Your customers can act right now to book time with your teams so you’ll be able to complete their projects first. Waiting until it’s all over will delay their projects to next year. Let them know that they can schedule their installations today, start planning right now, and maybe even get permits applied for and approved ahead of time. Remember, right now at this very moment, homeowners are spending WAY more time in their homes. They are going outside for sanity's sake, and realizing how important it really is to create a place they can enjoy, no matter what. Help them dream, help them plan, and help them stay focused with something more fun than waiting for life to restart. Together, we can all use this time smarter and more efficiently.
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FOR DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS:
Meet, or exceed, recommended safety guidelines.
Yes, this one will be true for every channel in the industry. All employers and employees can prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19 by taking the necessary time to educate yourself and your team on the guidelines from the CDC and the Department of Labor. How these guidelines affect your daily business will differ between channels, of course, but it absolutely bears repeating.
Additionally, step into your role as a leader. For those dealers servicing both B2C and B2B customers, it will likely be a turn of focus to dial-in on their contractors. Part of that focus can involve helping those companies to understand the recommended guidelines and pivot quickly to get compliant.
Institute contactless deliveries and pickups.
COVID-19 is going to change business forever in some ways. And we need everyone along the supply chain to remain positive about how not all of those changes will be negative. We have heard stories of dealers closing down, even in areas where they are clearly deemed essential, leaving contractors without support. If you want those B2B customers to be there on the other side of this pandemic, be there for them now. Without you, they cannot continue to work, even if their state rules that they are an “essential” business.
But do so while being smart and safe. Adjust your delivery and pick-up procedures to put safety and health first. Institute contactless pickups and deliveries by allowing online or email ordering. Communicate with your essential staff of truck drivers, forklift operators, and yard crew remotely via text, email, of phone. Design your workflow so that no two employees are close together. Allow your contractors to pull into the yard, prepare their truck for taking material, approach and load the vehicle. All of this—or certainly enough to keep them operational—can be done while not coming face-to-face. Same for deliveries. Yes, this will be strange. But strange is better than out of business. Proper, effective, and frequent communication will be key to making this work.
Encourage manufacturers to play their part.
Navigating our industry through COVID-19 will be an all-hands-on-deck effort. Dealers should work closely with the top brands they carry to keep as much product as they can on the ground. Be strategic by encouraging contractors to place orders now for future projects. You can’t guarantee those projects won’t cancel through this situation, but at least you're playing the odds. Work with manufacturers to navigate the legal regulations of the state or states you operate in. Perhaps manufacturers can shut down the plant but remain open as a “distributor” of material to you. Some states have deemed manufacturing not related to medical equipment, etc. not essential but have deemed building suppliers as essential. Sounds like a window of opportunity for support. In some ways, we will be operating in triage mode, doing what we can with the resources we have. It will sometimes be way less than we need. For others, it may not be much different than a normal delivery. Either way, we are making progress and supporting each other.
Set up online/remote ordering solutions.
Not all business changes as a result of COVID-19 will be bad ones. Let’s face it. The landscape industry needs a little push when it comes to technological advancements overall. Online ordering is a great place to start. Most dealers we work with or have met over the years serving the industry are at best, offering emailed or texted orders. That’s a start and that will serve just fine right now. For those that don’t even allow that, please do so right away. This will allow you to continue business while maintaining compliance with CDC guidelines. For those looking to drive things forward, think about how you can streamline the process for your contractors during this time. Who knows, it may just position you as a leader and help grow your business moving forward, post coronavirus. Remember, the average contractor is only getting younger by the year and they will certainly be looking for online shopping when it comes to their building materials and supplies.
Launch education efforts.
Regardless of what capacity your contractors are able to continue work depending on their state, there is a lot to learn right now. No one has navigated through something like COVID-19, and this is certainly much different than a typical economic downturn. But many dealers are multi-generational—they’ve been around to see the ups and downs of business...2008, 9/11, etc. How can dealers offer support to contractors who have only operated in times of economic prosperity for the past 10+ years? How can you help your team, and at the same time the teams of your B2B customers, get up to speed with remote work infrastructure? Hold a class on selling remotely using Zoom? Absolutely! Create a webinar on navigating a small business during a time of crisis? Sure thing. Think outside the box and bring value, remotely.
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MANUFACTURERS:
Meet, or exceed, recommended safety guidelines.
Yes, we are including this again. All employers and employees can prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19 by taking the necessary time to educate yourself and your team on the guidelines from the CDC and the Department of Labor. Emerge as a leader and work hand-in-hand (okay, not literally during this time) with trade organizations and associations to educate the industry as a whole. Work to create the reality—and public perception—that we are leading the way in safety and health, while also supporting our economy. Other industries may judge now, but they will most certainly thank you later.
Pivot as needed to support dealers, contractors, and ultimately, the economy.
Because the guidelines outlining what classifies as an essential business are becoming increasingly local, it has become a challenge to stay abreast of all the changes as they happen in near real time. In some states it appears from the legislation that while manufacturing of concrete products is not deemed essential for instance, distribution of building materials is essential. So manufacturers will need to work hard with their legal team to thoroughly understand in what capacity they can operate. Can you stay open to supply materials to dealers, and in turn to contractors? In many cases, eight pallets of pavers or walls can make a world of difference for an installation company’s ability to weather the storm. Can you stay open to deliver the supplies clean-up crews need to maintain public parks and facilities? We will need these places for sanity and refuge on the other side of COVID-19.
Continue advertising and marketing
The landscape industry has grown rapidly in size and sophistication over the last decade. But we still have work to do. Manufacturers play an important role in leading the way for successful business practices, and can be a guiding light through these difficult times. Many smaller firms make the devastating mistake of cutting advertising and marketing in the light of an economic downturn, adding insult to injury and jeopardizing their business’s ability to make it through. There are a ton of studies and boundless information on why this should be the last resort, but contractors and dealers often look to manufacturers to set the standard. Lead the way and continue to drive demand for your products, and in turn, their services via calculated, targeted digital marketing.
Cost share with dealers and contractors
While advertising co-op programs are essential to customer loyalty and targeted local reach in any market condition, these efforts can be incredibly impactful in situations like this one with COVID-19. How can you help support a contractor who needs some help to keep his marketing going? Can you split the cost of a social campaign designed to drive results now, when the attention on social media is record high? This type of out-of-the-box partnership thinking will help keep more of the industry working.
Support contractors and dealers that need help now
Manufacturers often have more resources, more stability, in their businesses than much smaller contractors or distributors. While these are trying times for all businesses, perhaps there is a way that you can offer a support to your partners. Leverage your legal department’s expertise to help contractors understand the laws of their state as they change? Launch a social ads campaign that works to ease the minds of their end consumers, promoting the health and safety of the industry. Offer training to educate dealers and contractors about CDC guidelines for operating through the COVID-19 outbreak. Work together with trade associations to advocate at the federal and state levels for landscaping to be deemed an essential business. Lead the way to keep our people working and working safely.
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STAY SAFE, STAY WORKING
These are uncharted waters for all of us. No one knows exactly when this will pass and when we can all get back to business as usual. However, if we all stay positive and use this time to build our skills, our businesses, and our teams, we can emerge as smarter, stronger professionals. Let’s come together as an industry and work to keep landscaping deemed as the essential business that we all know it is.
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