Solving tech implementation for landscaping

Landscaping industry is finally seeing a surge in technology.

We've got robotic mowers, AI takeoffs, battery-powered equipment, mapping solutions and whatnot.

But today, we wanted to shed some light on a more important issue - implementing tech!

Why? Because all of technology is useless if it is not implemented. So let’s hear from someone who actually has an experience of implementing technology successfully.

Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you Michael Mayberry. Mike is the Director of Customer Success at Scythe Robotics and a true torchbearer for the cause of technological revolution in our industry.

Here are some best practices that Micahel Mayberry suggests for successful software implementation

Don’t start teaching everyone all at once. You want to implement software while keeping your business running. You can’t shut down for two or three months. This is why it’s good to find a guy who can learn and document the learning process which you can give to the other guy.

Find a champion

First thing you need to do is find a champion - somebody who’s going to own that process from beginning to end. By the way, the end is not when the software has been implemented. The end is 1 or 2 years after the software has been implemented a complete mind shift has taken place, ie, folks using the tool can't work without it anymore 

Now, how are you going to find a champion?

By looking at your guys and identifying one who exhibits the following characteristics:

• Passionate
• Detail oriented
• Grinder

Passionate because you can’t force someone to learn a software. You need at least one person who’d volunteer and say, “I’ll take ownership of this!” 

Detail oriented because you need some who would be able to identify the implementation challenges early on and document their journey of learning the software. You can then use their journey to teach other employees.

Grinder because implementation is a pain. Once the excitement dies and you get in the trenches, you realize there’s a ton of boring, tedious admin work to be done. You have to grind it out for a couple of months depending on what you’re implementing.

Mike says every company has a guy. If you’ve been in a meeting and heard someone say “Why don’t we do it like this? We can make it better,” then you know who your guy is.

Make it sticky

If all your guys have started using the new software that you wanted them to, it’s great - but the job isn’t done! Post implementation, you need to make the software sticky. It needs to penetrate so deep into the organization that when a new guy joins in, he picks up that software as part of the SOP. 

Mike expressed he has often heard people say that the software failed. While that may be true 5% of the time,95% of the time it is the implementation that failed. 

Align top-down and bottom-up forces

Champions need support from CXOs to get the software implemented. Since the champions are usually going to be the mid level managers, they don’t have the level of authority over their peers like the CXOs do. When the mandate comes from the big guy himself, people pay attention. 

However, just telling people to do something isn’t enough. The CXO’s responsibility is to enforce accountability. He has to hold people accountable to the change that the champion is trying to make. 

If no one is held accountable, the implementation will fail. It is a human tendency to revert back to the easiest and most comfortable state.

Many SiteRecon users have asked us for usage reports to see who is and isn’t using the software.

Use software usage reports

The software company you are interested in would know how the implementation works. Talk to them about the challenges that other users face and nip those problems in the bud. You don’t always have to make mistakes to learn. Sometimes you can learn from the mistakes of other people.

Keep grinding

It’s going to be a constant process. It’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon. You need to keep making minor adjustments and keep reminding people that they need to be doing it the new way. 

Build a software culture

You’ve got different verticals in your business and each vertical might be in need of a software. Once you’ve implemented a software successfully, use your experience to build a sort of muscle memory for your organization. This will help you build a software culture in your company and make new implementations easier.