Artificial intelligence is a hot topic, and rightfully so. This groundbreaking technology is evolving and improving on a regular basis and many landscape companies are starting to find ways they can take advantage of this tool in their day-to-day work.
Jay Rotonnelli, vice president of business development for Piscataqua Landscaping & Tree Service, based in Eliot, Maine, says that AI is already impacting them from an operations standpoint, and it is only getting stronger.
“I think it’s going to help us manage some of the systems and processes a little bit better and make them stronger, whether it’s buying materials, from marketing, or even sales,” Rotonnelli says. “You’re never going to take that human element out, nor do you want to, but I do think that AI is here and it’s going to it’s going to start to change the face of the industry quite substantially.”
Patrick Murray, managing partner of Local Roots Landscaping, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, says they are all in with AI as it helps them cut out some of the more mundane work.
“Simple things, like ChatGPT, we’re teaching all of our employees on how to use that utilize it and leverage it to make them stronger in their workplace,” Murray says.
K&D Landscaping, Inc., based in Watsonville, California, has already developed best practices around how their team should and should not use ChatGPT.
“We definitely want them using it, but we want them using it in a way that adds value to them and our clients,” says Justin White, owner of K&D Landscaping. “It doesn’t replace them sending an email. You still need to write things and make sure it sounds like you, but you can use it as a sounding board.”
Niwar Nasim, president of Nasim Landscape, based in Puyallup, Washington, says they are also currently using ChatGPT to expedite certain processes. He has also been taking advantage of AI-assisted measurement tools to speed up takeoffs. Nasim thinks AI is an incredible innovation with a lot of potential.
“Time is everything, so all the all the data entry, manual time-consuming tasks, I’m not saying they’re going to be completely eliminated, but there’s going to be a drastic change,” Nasim says. “Humans will do the final touches, the quality control aspect.”
White says they hope to utilize AI to analyze data in the field to dial in some of their practices like water management to how often they need to be mowing the grass.
“We are very intrigued but maybe a little fearful about the onset of AI,” says Bob Grover, owner of Pacific Landscape Management, based in Hillsboro, Oregon. “We would love to take advantage of where it would potentially improve our service and efficiency, but I’ve always been a relationship-based business and somewhat fear AI replacing the human touch. There are a lot of opportunities to utilize AI, but we don’t want to depersonalize our service to our customers as that has been our greatest strength.”
Maintaining Personalization
With the increased usage of AI, there has also been a demand from customers to receive more personalized service.
“Nothing is going to eliminate the need for the physical presence of a human-to-human interaction,” Nasim says. “I think that will become even more important.”
Nasim says he’s received feedback from his clients on how much they appreciate his employees stopping by the office to check in from time to time as the world becomes more technologically advanced.
“The human element just cannot be forgotten,” Nasim says. “If you rely too heavily on technology and you don’t keep up with that part, I think that’s where you’re going to realize that that retention could become a direct problem. You might find that somebody else could come and take your place because they’re emphasizing that presence of how important it is to go see people.”
White says that their account managers are conducting quarterly business reviews with property managers to maintain that personal connection with their clients.
Murray says one of the risks of automation is it can make you sound more generic and not as personable. Murray says they emphasize the service industry aspect through their client portal. Each client has their own conversation with the designer, project manager and team leader. The client receives morning and evening updates along with pictures of the project
“It’s over-communicating for sure; some people don’t want anything of it,” Murray says. “A lot of clients will buy in and they’ll circle things on the image and say, ‘I really like where this is placed. Can we talk about this tomorrow whenever you’re on site?’ It really connects our team leader to that client as their client. It adds in a whole different depth.”
Justin Gamester, president of Piscataqua Landscaping & Tree Service, says that they believe they should know their customers very well and anticipate their moves before they call the company.
“Customers want to see you,” Gamester says. “They want to hear from you, and if you think otherwise, you’re fooling yourself. They’ll tell you when they don’t want to see you anymore. When you pay for a service, wouldn’t it be nice to receive that white glove service you didn’t think you were going to get.”
Philip Hussey, CEO of Outerlands, based in Mashpee, Massachusetts, says they have been shifting their business models to having fewer customers per account manager but having more frequent touch points.
“If they trust that account manager, they’re more likely to stick around, they’re more likely to buy, and ultimately, they’re more likely to have a better property because the account manager knows what looks good,” Hussey says. “Folks these days are often trying to figure out how can we minimize phone calls, how can we depersonalize everything. But our view is landscaping, and particularly with high-end residential, it’s very personal. You spend a lot of time there and so we need to curate this intimate experience.”
