From Where I Stand — It’s November, but I don’t see many people
smiling in the landscape industry. This year, it seems like a long, slow crawl to the finish line. In broad strokes, most people I speak to just seem burnt. I know that is typical at this time in the season, but this year just seems different. There is something running deeper than mere exhaustion. I’m still waiting for the post season conversation with a member that ends in smiles and heartwarming joy. Many ILCA members I have spoken to seem embittered. They have soldiered through six long years of a recession with the promise that all would be remedied once the money spigot began to flow. Whether it was nostalgia or delusion, the pre-recession period was a golden time. Everyone whistled while they worked and greeted each morning with vigor. As the season winds down, I get to have deeper conversations with our members. They linger at committee and Board meetings and talk more readily on the phone. They acknowledge that business is good, almost too good. They are still toiling away both dreading and hoping for snow to signal the end. This has been a difficult season as weather, competition, and labor shortages have stretched landscape professionals thin. This has led to a widespread sentiment I can only label as resentment. Resentment is more than just a case of the Mondays. It is more than a bad day or series of bad days. As defined, resentment is the bitterness that occurs when we feel we have been treated unfairly. Resentment doesn’t occur in an instant. It is a culmination of negative interactions. We make the mistake of chalking resentment up to external factors when, in fact, it is an internal change in how we process daily interactions. Resentment is extremely common in professional settings. It is an ugly word that many professionals feel, but few have the courage to speak aloud. Imagine a professional walking into the boss’s office to say, “Boss, I resent you, my job, my clients, and my coworkers.” I don’t know a boss in the world who wouldn’t terminate that employee on the spot. We view those as malignant thoughts that run the risk of infecting an entire company. In reality, those words may never be spoken, but many think them daily. To pick up on resentment, you need to listen for context clues. I hear phrases from our members like, “The clients have changed. They are cheaper, more demanding, and don’t value loyalty.” “People in this industry used to come prepared to work, now they are all entitled.” “I’m just being run ragged, I can’t even go to the restroom without my phone ringing.” These are common expressions we hear all the time. On occasion, they can be chalked up to blowing off steam, but when the professional assumes something has permanently and negatively changed, resentment has arrived. As I dove deeper into resentment, I found two common themes:
1. People resent their cleints because they feel those customers don’t value them as a professional. 2. People resent their jobs because they feel their job distracts them from what they want to be doing. Let’s start with resenting clients. Anyone who interacts with clients over an extended period of time is going to encounter some duds. Yet, resentment is more than just being annoyed by a difficult client. Dealing with difficult clients is usually solved by pleasing them, finishing the job, or, in rare instances firing them. Client resentment, on the other hand, is deeper and more sinister. Client resentment results when the business believes clients have “changed.” They erroneously believe that clients, as a whole, are developing undesirable qualities that constantly create negative interactions and outcomes. Now, even the most resentful professionals won’t admit they dislike their clients. Resentment is different from disliking. Everyone has funny stories about a pain-in-the-butt client that come out after a couple of beers. Client resentment sours almost every client interaction. It is usually first seen internally but, before long, negatively impacts external client relations. Business coach Therese Skelly says the key to ending customer resentment is increasing your value as a service provider. Now, it’s not as simple as “raising prices.” That’s a great start, but not the solution to all of life’s problems. Skelly says raising one’s value has a hidden benefit. It causes professionals to want to match that increased value with increased effort. It’s like the concierge at a high end hotel. If you ask the front desk clerk at the Red Roof Inn if they could recommend Zagat-rated steakhouses, they will probably shrug or point you to a Steak & Shake. A concierge at a high end hotel pulls out a map, starts drawing circles, makes your reservation, and calls you a cab. Now, each are getting paid. The concierge understands you are paying a premium to stay at his hotel and he is matching that premium with his effort. The increased fees of the hotel increased the concierge’s level of customer appreciation and service. Skelly concludes that increasing fees isn’t just about money, it’s about convincing professionals to fall back in love with their jobs and the joy of offering premium service at a premium price. The second area of concern is when professionals feel resentment because their job prevents them from doing what they want to be doing. This doesn’t mean that all resentful employees want to quit and become stand-up comedians or rodeo clowns or shortstops for the Cubs. There are many professionals who find themselves in the wrong field and, eventually they will leave or just accept where they are. Often times, resentment is less about leaving and more about a lack of perceived flexibility. This lack of flexibility is found in two ways. The first, is when the professional cannot do what they want in their personal lives because work gets in the way. The second, is when a professional no longer can concentrate
The Antidote
The Landscape Contractor November 2017
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