With scarcity of labor and increasing business costs, the landscape industry is facing mounting headwinds to profitability that can ONLY be countered by applying new technology and automation, especially in irrigation services. According to Brodie Bruner, EVP of Weathermatic, “Throwing labor at operational inefficiencies is no longer a viable strategy, either from a labor supply or cost perspective. Half of the top 150 landscape companies and many Bruce Wilson & Company clients are partnering with us to make irrigation a strategic priority by deploying SmartLink technology portfolio wide – it’s their irrigation operating system. They’re bringing us in to integrate SmartLink with their business management software like Quickbooks and Aspire and then set up KPIs for tracking irrigation success. It just makes sense to leverage their existing investments in people and software to solve process problems and make tremendous money in irrigation.“
The old world approach of randomly “selling” smart irrigation controllers as an enhancement to under 20% of properties has given way to a new era where enhanced water management services are implemented as a “standard” maintenance contract item. With no upfront costs for SmartLink technology and low monthly payments, no exhaustive selling is required and SmartLink technology can be a strategic operational decision on every property – similar to rolling out a new fleet of mowers. Bruner says their Premier Partner program members are experiencing results in 4 key areas:
1. PROFITABILITY: Double profits by growing irrigation repair and preventative maintenance revenue to achieve 20% of maintenance revenue (industry average is below 5%). Irrigation done right is like having a 2nd enhancement division with 60%+ margins!
2. LABOR EFFICIENCY: Double capacity with remote access to irrigation controllers. Placing 24/7 irrigation control in the hands of your existing mobile connected team eliminates costly truck rolls and gives back labor for profitable work.
3. AUTOMATION: Eliminate wasteful irrigation tasks in the office and field. 30-50% efficiency improvement using the SmartLink mobile app! The inspection and proposal process is ripe for automation between the SmartLink irrigation operation system and accounting/business management software systems.
4. SUSTAINABILITY: Be recognized as an environmental thought leader to achieve 90% contract retention rates! Properties love the global water initiative “Save Water. Give Life.” where every control system upgraded provides a person in the Third World with a lifetime supply of clean water.
Reach out to the Bruce Wilson & Company team or Brodie Bruner directly (brodie.bruner@weathermatic.com) to put your 2023 irrigation strategy in place.
Reprinted with permission from Weathermatic.
