The Industry Growth Council of the National Association of Landscape Professionals conducted an HOA/Commercial Landscape Market Survey in partnership with the Community Associations Institute to gauge the perception of commercial landscape professionals by Community Associations managers.
568 Community Association managers responded to the survey. Below are some of the takeaways from the survey.
As for the top services the respondents use, 96 percent use professional landscape maintenance services; 86 percent engage contractors for tree work and removal; 83 percent use professional lawn care services; 73 percent use water management and irrigation services; and 71 percent use landscape contractors for landscape design and installation.
93 percent of respondents say they were moderately to extremely satisfied with 61 percent rating their satisfaction as an 8 or higher out of 10. Only 6 percent rated their satisfaction at a 4 or less out of 10.
The 3 most important factors for Community Associations managers when it comes to hiring a landscape contractor are that they are licensed, they focus on safety and they present a professional image.
93 percent of respondents say they view their landscape contractor as a “trusted advisor” and 91 percent say their landscape contractor is an “expert in the field.” The Community Association managers also describe their landscape contractor partners as “trustworthy” (72 percent) a “valuable partner” (70 percent) and that they have the “property’s best interest at heart” (53 percent).
The top critiques from respondents were that landscape contractors were “not proactive about the property” (30 percent) and the services were “expensive” (21 percent).
Respondents said landscape contractors are doing the best job sharing “advice for long-range planning” and “regularly sharing enhancements suggestions” (66 percent), while doing slightly less well “sharing information on landscape design or property usage trends” (55 percent), and “offering information on the latest technology advances” (52 percent).
The information respondents say they want more of from their landscape contractor including “more consideration of long-term planning” (74 percent), “more information about plant material options” (72 percent), “more information on budgeting for enhancements and replacements” (64 percent) and “more information on sustainability options” (49 percent).
Community Association managers also said if they saw a more standard contractor or bidding sheet to compare the services of landscape contractors with greater ease this would be helpful.
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