This week Emily, Kennedy, and I were at McHale Landscape Design for the annual NALP Field Trip. It was a fast-paced 24 hours onsite with our fellow landscape professionals, but I'm back home now with a ton of notes in my OneNote and a lot of new ideas to make Grunder Landscaping Co. better. Here were my top takeaways:

1. Take Care of Your People

We think we heard this right - 40% of their team members have been with the company for 10+ years. That's an impressive stat, and speaks to their retention efforts and company culture. There were a few specific things we saw them doing that we believe contribute to this:

• Leadership realizes they must trust their team, and they let them run with the ball and try new things. 
• They don't punish their team for losing or not having their PPE, they just make sure they have it. This attitude stretches beyond just PPE: it's about progress, not punishment. 
• Managers understand the impact of their words and intentionally work to build their teams up. 

2. Make it Work 

They have a solutions-focused attitude, and we heard about all the ways their team just goes out and makes it happen. We saw facilities that have been added-on-to and expanded gradually as the company grew and also heard stories about how teams have improvised to delight their clients. 

I've said in this weekly Great Idea before that our teams are frequently professional problem-solvers: the McHale team takes this title seriously.

3.  Listen Well

Their team emphasized the importance of listening more than you talk with clients, which I think is something that's easy to forget as salespeople. Sometimes we're so excited to show our expertise or we have so many ideas, it's hard to keep it in. But we get closer to the client's desired final product when we let them do the talking and take good notes - both on installations and in maintenance. 

It was an all-around great couple of days together in Annapolis, MD, complete with some down time for my team and I to enjoy downtown Annapolis. We don't always get to go exploring when we travel - so that was a treat we were grateful for! I'm back home this weekend reviewing my notes, and I'm excited looking ahead to seeing even more of you in-person at our upcoming events this fall and winter. 

If you joined us at the NALP Field Trip, thanks for taking the time to come learn with us!

Marty Grunder
Founder & CEO
The Grow Group & Grunder Landscaping Co.

P.S. I interviewed Keith Bowman, President of Horticultural Services and Business Development, on an episode of The Grow Show Powered by STIHL earlier this year. If you haven't watched it yet, check out this video for additional insights from the McHale Landscape Design team!