Landscape Management, October 2010

BUSINESS PLANNER 2011 CASE STUDIES ON GROWTH Improving client connections helped Stay Green stay out of the red BY LINDSEY GETZ operating from the garage of their home in the San Fernando Valley Richard and Charlene Angelo launched Stay Green Inc in 1970 with a truck a handful of residential customers and a vision Richards sense of professionalism drove customer satisfaction and the business grew quickly through referrals Today the company has more than 200 employees working in three divisions landscape maintenance plant health care and tree care In tough times sticking to the basics of where one started really counts says Chris Angelo president of the Santa Clarita CA based business and son of Richard and Charlene Thats whats helped Stay Green grow the business despite a challenging economy Its why we got into the business in the fi rst place or for me why my father founded it and thats to provide exceptional customer service he says In trying times Chris Angelo believes its more important than ever to be connected to the client We do not lose sight of the clients and what they need he says We achieve that with things like monthly walkthroughs and working with them to fi nd solutions that will help them stick to their budgets These include water retrofi ts water effi ciency savings or changing annual color beds to perennials These types of efforts have kept client retention above 95 this year despite the economy Chris Angelo says Hes also been empathetic toward his clients who are struggling and that effort has been appreciated We recognize most landlords who own commercial properties whether offi ce or retail have conceded rent rates as much as 30 he says of his all commercial base That means weve had to be fl exible enough to provide them with a price that fi ts their budget this year That fl exibility and willingness to work with them has allowed us to keep high retention rates Stay Green focuses largely on landscape maintenance and grew that division by 9 this year which Angelo sees as a great success during the recession Overall revenue is tracking to grow slightly but any growth in this market is also a success In addition to a focus on customer relations Angelo says growth was also achieved with smart planning The secret to success is aligning our estimating with our current productivity he says That means working on productivity effi ciencies in operations and building specifi cations that work for the different client market segments Of course Angelo also recognizes he cant do any of this without good employees and hes turned some of the focus on them as well In fact he says helping them through these diffi cult times has been one of his biggest challenges The most diffi cult thing is morale in todays economy he says People we work side by side with are having fi nancial challenges of their own and its tough to keep their spirits up in these darker days We have employees who have spouses who lost jobs and no longer have a dual income Thats a reality for many Angelo says he has made a real effort to boost morale this year We are offering more company appreciation programs including a picnic that will have around 400 or 500 people in attendance he says Were doing what we can to keep our employees motivated LM getz is a freelancer with experience covering landscaping Back to basics LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET OCTOBER 2010 124 Chris Angelo GROWTH PROFILE Stay Green Santa Clarita CA 2010 Growth 5