Marty Grunder and his team did another spectacular job hosting Grow! 2016. The theme this year: Go Big or Go Home. Location: Dallas, Texas. (Get it – everything is bigger in Texas, right?!) And, indeed, we went big! Big ideas, big lessons learned, big networking, big time motivation.
Marty challenges all attendees periodically throughout the conference, “What have we learned?”. For Grow! 2016, here are a handful of tidbits that I picked up over the course of the three day conference:
- Act bigger than you are
- Vision, Mission, Core Values are essential and never go out of style
- If everyone is accountable, no one is accountable
- The term “Landscapers” is out. “Landscape Contractors” is in, so says Mr. Frank Mariani
- Saying “No” is vital to growing your business
- Make the distinction between revenue and profit
- Do not underestimate the importance of collections and develop processes with your clients and internally to get your money
- Information is free and information will make you money
- Use data to measure business decisions
- Technology is key in running a business as demonstrated by Complete Landsculpture
- Real-time information is priceless in making decisions
- Efficiency = Profit
- You cannot get back/recover hours
- Be consistent, it is an art and should be practiced in all facets including responding to emails/texts/phone calls, holding review meetings, handling in-box items, company traditions, etc.
- Fanatical customer experience is an achievable goal – look to the clients of Complete Landsculpture, or ask any of their employees
- It is hugely important to identify your ideal client and define your competitive advantage
On the reading list:
Scale by Jeff Hoffman and David Finkel