Don’t settle for good – seek great
When you own or manage a business, there are ways to “be green” other than focusing on eco-friendly issues such as energy-efficiency and recycling: think commercial landscaping. One of the most obvious methods to control your own environment is to give the right attention to your business’s landscaping.
Of course, very few business owners allow their exterior spaces to appear scruffy and untended. They ensure that the basics of trimming and mowing are taken care of and a neat appearance is maintained. However, you can readily tell when a business does more than the minimum to present the best possible image to its customers, vendors, and employees.
The irony of commercial landscaping lies in the fact that, like many things, the mediocre or merely good can get you by, but just a little extra effort makes a tremendous difference. If your business has exterior areas, lawns and vegetation, it may present an excellent opportunity to make a minor investment that will generate a great return in several areas.
What can commercial landscaping do for your business?
If you accept that the value of your company’s brand is the total of a lot of details, it is easy to consider the role of your company’s drive-up impression. People today make their decisions about who they do business with based on a number of factors, some objective, many subjective.
Employees are also deeply affected by their working environment. A recent blog post in the Harvard Business Review points out that seemingly insignificant issues can dramatically affect overall employee morale and productivity.
What is the value of great commercial landscaping? While it may be hard to put a dollar figure on the importance of this aspect of your company’s brand, here are a few of the ways it can be evaluated:
- Eco-marketing. Most companies today understand the value of having an eco-friendly factor in their total marketing strategy. While it is sometimes difficult to find creative ways to achieve this positioning, it is easy to start with your business’s physical surroundings. By including unique vegetation and professional touches, both customers and employees will notice your attention to environmental details.
- Market value. As with branding, market value of property and businesses includes a number of intangibles and subjective factors. It is a given addressed by many studies that great landscaping will improve the value of any property, commercial and residential. However, it is also true that appraisals of a company’s value can be enhanced by the overall physical appearance of the company’s location and appearance. It simply reflects a management focused on details when the initial impression reflects thought and planning about such areas.
- Hiring and Productivity. It is certainly true that no key employee is going to join a company simply because of an exceptional first impression created by excellent landscaping. However, when one anticipates bringing in customers and even family members, there is a powerful subliminal attraction created by great physical spaces. In fact, the most competitive companies in Silicon Valley make major investments in their exterior landscaping to give employees an area to relax and take breaks. As noted above, such factors all work together to create a more productive and stress-free environment.
- Setting an example of excellence. In today’s competitive environment, excellence is often the key to profitability and success in the marketplace. When a company strives for excellence in all areas affecting its competitiveness, it makes a much stronger case for expecting excellence from its staff and personnel. Again, no one will work harder simply because they take a break in a beautifully landscaped break area. However, this can be one of many factors that help them view their work environment in the desired positive light.
If your company invests heavily in marketing, branding and an excellent workforce, you’ll find the relatively minor investment necessary to attain superior landscaping to be more than justifiable. Take the time to present the best face possible to all of those who deal with and work for your business and discuss the issue with your local commercial landscaper.
