Request
It started out as a simple request. The owner came out asking that we prune her Camellia shrub, now that it had finished flowering. She was in a rush because she was ready to plant annuals right under the Camellia.
But, why wait you might ask? Because in seasons past, the lady had her beautiful new annuals damaged when the landscapers finally got around to pruning the Camellia. I can totally picture a new apprentice raking between the lady’s petunias and eliminating many of their flowers.
Clearly, she has learned from her mistakes.
Just do it!
I know why there was delay in completing this request. The Camellia is mature, and to prune the top you need a ladder and an extension for your power shears. Also, the extension makes the power shears heavier, thus requiring extra effort.
And this brings me to the point of this blog post. Amateur landscapers focus on themselves, and their own comfort. Professionals think about service first, not their physical comfort.
It’s super simple: your client wants her shrub pruned so she can plant annuals at the base of it. I brought a ten foot ladder and an extension piece for my power shears. I believe the pruning job took me half an hour.
Since I had other requests to attend to, I delegated the clean up to junior crew members.
As I was packing up to leave, the homeowner came out smiling, thanking me for pruning her shrub and allowing her to finally plant her petunias.
Mad amateur
The foreman in charge of the site knew about the request for weeks. Incredibly, he grabbed his power shears and started walking away with the intention of pruning easier targets. Targets that didn’t require ladders or extensions. Let the lady wait…….
I see this all the time. Younger workers estimating the required effort to complete a task, instead of just doing it. That’s how amateurs work: if it looks taxing, they delay or try to delegate, while their list of requests grows.
And don’t forget that people attend their strata (multi-family complex) meetings, so it’s important to make a good impression.
Conclusion
Work like a professional. Deliver great, world-class service by focusing on your client’s needs, not on your physical comfort. It took me thirty minutes to complete a pruning request and make the client happy. The other dudes stalled until I showed up to do it. Don’t work like them.
