Our Level Up series shares the strategies that help landscape and lawn care companies get to the next level.
Drost Landscape, based in Petoskey, Michigan, is passionate about creating custom spaces for their clients and pushing the boundaries of innovative landscape designs.
Bob Drost, founder and president of Drost Landscape, started out working for a golf course in Charlevoix, Michigan. He switched to working for a landscape contractor as times were tight and the pay was better. Drost says he also enjoyed the physical labor aspect of it.
“I wanted to be the best at what I did because I enjoyed it that much,” Drost says. “I came home the first night and we were all sitting at the dinner table and my dad says ‘Well, what do you think?’ I said, ‘That’s what I’ll do the rest of my life.’”
After feeling he had gone as far as he could with his previous employer, Drost branched out and started his own company in 1991. The business has a revenue approaching $20 million and 145 employees during the peak season.
General manager Dale Drier says they have one-, three-, five- and 10-year goals they are working toward and their five-year goal is to reach 250-275 employees.
Drost says they define success by meeting the needs of their clients and associates as well as putting out a quality product.
Meeting Clients’ Needs
The company offers a wide range of services from design/build for high-end residential clients to landscape maintenance, tree services and irrigation for more medium-range customers.
They also perform a small percentage of commercial work, but when it comes to snow removal, 60% of that revenue is commercial and the other 40% is residential. Drier says they started out just taking care of a handful of clients, but they decided to take a stab at doing commercial snow work as well.
Drost also added nursey and greenhouse after the first couple of years in the business. He says their greenhouse would introduce new plant material to the area, and it would quickly catch on with other designers as well.
“It’s mainly is for us, but if people call and need something, just like when we need things, we share with other contractors and swap back and forth,” Dros says. “It was always my dream that we could sell to the public, but it’s kind of difficult because they want things that we’ve hand-selected for other jobs. You got to tell them, ‘Well, that’s not for sale.’”
Drier says during the economic downturn, they were heavy in design/build and had to shift gears and utilize more of their staff to do maintenance and other services.
The company performs a number of specialty services, including artificial turf installation, shoreline protection and SludgeHammer Septic Services. Drier says these added services have brought them growth.
They’ve been installing synthetic turf for the past 10 years. Drost says it’s been a good solution for small spaces where it doesn’t make sense to mow but only a small percentage of their clients utilize it.
“It’s one of those market areas where you have to have the ideal client that wants that because the upfront cost is so much more than establishing turf,” Drier says.
Drost says he gained experience in shoreline protection and septic services with his former employer. The SludgeHammer system introduces bacteria to a septic tank, which feeds on the sludge in the tank – eliminating the need for septic pumping and restoring the septic field.
Keys to Success
Drost says their willingness to build things that no one else is has been one of their major keys to success. He says people in their area easily recognize landscapes with that wow factor as a Drost project.
“I just love that they label you,” Drost says. “What a good label to have.”
Drost says if there is a better way to do something, they’re going to talk about it and are always looking for new ways to be innovative.
“In our earlier years, there were people that literally waited a year for us to get to their site to do the landscape because we were doing it so much different than anybody else,” Drost says.
He says he is passionate about doing a super job for their clients and never wants to think their quality is dropping.
“I can see the whole thing is constructed in my head and when I get done that job, it’ll be the best job we’ve ever done until we do the next one,” Drost says.
He also credits Drier for helping get the company to where they are today. Drost says another aspect that has benefitted them is when Drier suggested they bring in Jeffrey Scott as a consultant to help get them in the right lane so they could travel a little faster in their growth journey.
“We brought in Jeffrey Scott right after we acquired Willcome Tree Service, and it probably was the single best, greatest move we ever made,” Drost says.
They made Drier the general manager and outlined what he and Drost would do for each other. Drost says they’ve been able to stay in their lanes and aren’t afraid to tell the other if they made a mistake.
“Dale knows he’s got my support,” Drost says. “Anything he decides is right. His track record so good. You just can’t help but let him do what he’s supposed to do.”
Drost says he’s also benefitted from attending NALP events like ELEVATE.
“When we went to ELEVATE last year as a company that has to be the single most, greatest run conference I’ve ever been at, and I came home feeling like the Energizer Bunny,” Drost says. “I’m excited for Dale to see it this year, because it’s just amazing. You learn so much, just seeing new products and learning and hearing and seeing what’s new and what’s coming.”
Recruiting and Retention
When it comes to growing their team, Drost’s biggest funnel has been their existing staff, thanks to their referral program. Drier says their employee referral program pays the individual who referred the new hire $1 per hour for the number of hours the new hire works for the duration of one calendar year.
They have also been utilizing Indeed, Mailchimp and Bamboo for lead generation. Driver notes having an HR person on staff has helped them respond to these leads quickly.
“The longer that they wait, the less likely you are to hire,” Drier says. “They’re looking with urgency. For the most part, the quicker you are getting them in the door, the more likely you are to hire them.”
The company has also invested a lot of their marketing dollars into recruiting at high schools, colleges and trade schools to help aid their long-term development as a business.
Drier says they retain their employees by treating them well.
“We do discretionary incentives, and we do bonuses based on profitability,” Drier says. “Those are tangible items that they can see in their check. Others are trying to do things for our staff. We’re doing an employee gathering every other week during the summer to give them updates on how the company is doing. We’re also doing an annual outing where they get the day off, and we cater to them.”
Drier says the unexpected gift at an unexpected time typically pays the most dividends. Drost has gone to the extent of writing letters to employees or their parents if they are younger, expressing his appreciation for them being part of the team.
Drier says the events they hold and keeping everyone informed about what’s going on with the company help maintain their culture. He says they will privately talk to individuals whose attitude may be killing the culture.
Training has been one of the biggest challenges for Drost while growing.
“You grow those team members that knew how to do it got promoted, and then they had to teach the next generation or the next level of the bench that we’re building,” Drier says. “It’s been a struggle for us. We’ve put some people in place to help with that. It’s improving, but I think there’s still some good growth potential in how we make it a cookie cutter process where even if somebody else is training somebody, they have the same information that they learned, not just what they remember.”
Joining the Mariani Premier Group
Drost Landscape is also one of 24 companies currently part of the Mariani Premier Group.
Drost says for years during meetings the $100 question always was what was his exit strategy. While they have a wonderful support staff that would ensure they could be successful into the next generation, Drost was more concerned about who would fill Drier’s shoes eventually.
He had received several offers but appreciated being approached by Mariani as they seek out companies that are the best in their area.
“I’m humbled with the fact that we were chosen because they could have chosen anybody they wanted to in Michigan,” Drost says. “We’re the only Michigan company because of what we’re doing. He (Frank Mariani) had researched us, he had looked at us for three years and put his sights on us. I feel honored that we’re part of that group.”
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