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Cultivating Growth Through Mentorship in Sales

Sharing knowledge within the landscaping sales industry is akin to planting seeds. As seasoned salespeople pass down techniques, best practices, and hard-earned lessons, several benefits emerge. First, it ensures continuity—the industry’s legacy thrives as wisdom is transmitted. Second, teaching encourages fresh perspectives, leading to innovative approaches and sustainable practices. Lastly, mentorship fosters camaraderie, creating a network of support where questions find answers and challenges become shared victories.

Greg Cranford

Please enjoy this weeks guest contributor Pam Cook , Account Manager, Clintar London /Faculty, Horticulture Technician Fanshawe College with the article -We Are All Educators: Insights from an Industry Professional.

We Are All Educators: Insights from an Industry Professional

Throughout my career in the landscaping industry, I’ve discovered that every professional holds the role of an educator. We spend years gaining knowledge through life experiences, trying new things, and honing our craft. Once we have this knowledge base, we shift from internal growth to external growth through education.

The Role of an Educator

• Daily Mentorship: As owners, leaders, senior management, and supervisors, we constantly educate our staff. Every day, we coach our teams, share our skills, and impart our wisdom. With our clients, we share our experiences, educating them about their landscapes and helping them understand our insights regarding their spaces.
• Public Interactions: Passionate professionals often share their knowledge with the public. Whether it’s in a grocery store line, at a gas station, or when someone approaches us while we’re working in the field, we readily share our expertise. “Can I ask you a question about my tree?” is a common refrain we hear.

Lessons from the Field

• Education Takes Many Forms: I’ve held roles in community, employee, and peer education for decades. When I embarked on the role of a post-secondary educator, it became another facet of the industry that leveraged all my skill sets. It provided the opportunity to offer industry-led educational experiences. What I didn’t expect was the incredible opportunity to be both an educator and a student simultaneously.
• Learning from Students: Engaging with 30+ different perspectives from another generation has opened my eyes to another form of growth. After spending two-plus years surrounded by diverse demographics, generations, and cultures of students, the learning I’ve gained from them is invaluable. It has changed my perspectives, increased my adaptability, and created a space for me to grow in ways I didn’t know I could.

Embracing Change

• Growth Through Immersion: Immersing yourself in other perspectives can create neural pathways in your brain and extend your life expectancy. It fosters empathy and opportunities for growth, and grow i have.
• Impact on Industry Practices: In the fast-paced world of horticulture, sales, and landscape construction and maintenance, embracing every opportunity to learn is crucial. You cannot quantify how learning from the next generation can expedite your craft. Working with up-and-coming professionals opens your eyes to what the next decades could look like and the direction they will take.

Final Thoughts

Changes in Practice: Working with post-secondary students has brought about several changes:

• I am embracing challenges and have become more adaptable.
• I have a broader world view and a better understanding of Equality, Diversity & Inclusion. I will continue to be receptive to changing viewpoints and identities.
• I am changing how I interact with new hires and engage with them on a more meaningful level.
• I understand better how to retain their talent by understanding their values.
• I have a strong understanding of their expectations of their employer and how we can tailor our businesses to focus on retention.
• I am able to listen in a way I didn’t know our workforce was looking for.

In short, we are all knowledge keepers, educators, and masters of our trade, striving to create a better business, industry, and community. Engaging with youth and new entrants into our industry with a passion to learn about our profession may be the single most rewarding experience you could undertake and one of your biggest opportunities to grow.

Pam Cook

Account Manager, 

Clintar London /Faculty, Horticulture Technician Fanshawe College

mowr notes

We’re always looking for fresh perspectives and insights from our community, and we’d love to hear from you!

If you’re interested in contributing to our future newsletters, please don’t hesitate to direct message Greg Cranford .

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