I was recently told by a decent sized landscape company, “We don’t think our customers will pay for water management services, and we don’t believe we’ll pick up enough labor savings alone to cover remote access costs for our irrigation systems.  So we’re just going to stick with the status quo (offline, rarely adjusted irrigation timers).”  This wasn’t the first time we’ve heard this almost exact quote, one that's in stark contrast to what some of their direct competitors believe with the same customer type and same labor and technology costs.  So who’s right?  It really begs the question: should landscape professionals proactively manage their customer’s water?  

If water was abundant, free, and wasn’t the #1 killer of landscaping, then I could completely understand the logic behind the strategy to not manage it.  But that’s just not true.  Water isn’t free for most properties and overwatering kills more landscapes than anything.  Plus, it would be alarming if managing something as important as water is to the landscape doesn’t matter because it would mean landscaping is a pure commodity, “who can mow the cheapest” business.  There’s no doubt that certain U.S. markets haven’t had Green Industry leadership in water management emerge YET, so there’s no real competitive pressure or customer awareness of the water management opportunity (note: these are the lowest landscape maintenance margin markets in the U.S.).  Landscape companies there can often get away with the status quo of not managing water.   But just because they can, does it mean they should?  So, it still begs the question: Should YOU manage water?

Every day we hear inspiring stories from our successful Premier Partners sharing that their customers place a high value on water management services.  Water is after all the fastest growing utility expense throughout America and it’s the foundation of healthy landscapes; so why wouldn’t a property want it professionally managed when presented a financially viable opportunity?  FACT: The largest property and community management companies (CBRE, JLL, Associa, First Service Residential), most Fortune 500s, and thousands of major institutions are all actively seeking and paying for water management services -  right now, during a pandemic.  I deal with them personally, every day, on this exact topic of water management, so there is no question where they stand on water.  They’re embarrassed by their waste and want it stopped now.  

Ironically, the number one question we at Weathermatic receive from property owners/managers is, “Love your technology, but can you tell me which landscape companies will know how to actually use your product to manage my water?”  There’s frankly not an abundance of good answers in a decent chunk of U.S. markets today that desperately need trained professionals to install, monitor, and inspect thousands of sites to make a dent into the water waste (38% savings opportunity on average).  These virtual deserts for water management companies are the same exact markets where I get landscape companies telling me no one is interested in water management - what a terrible disjunct!  One thing’s for sure: there’s a huge gaping void in the market for water management service providers.

Water management in the Green Industry ironically comes down to something unrelated to water.  It’s about the landscape professionals who have a growth mindset – a passion to be profit-driven market makers and to use technology to do something about their #1 challenge: labor.  The appetite for water management requires the same capitalistic drive that led landscape companies (albeit some kicking and screaming) to bring irrigation repairs inhouse.  But the v2.0 for water management in the Green Industry is about more than repairs; it’s now more profitable and smarter with global commands, alert monitoring, asset mapping, proactive water efficiency enhancements, and scheduled maintenance of system components.  Winning landscape companies are looking for this new type of competitive edge that water management uniquely offers.  They also recognize their labor pains won’t magically go away, especially when it comes to attracting, retaining, and leveraging irrigation talent.  Efficiency, standardization, and automation made possible through software and cloud based technology increasingly rule the day.   

Over 1/3 of the industry’s top 150 companies and counting are embracing the opportunity to become water management companies by tapping into millions of our capital to connect their irrigation portfolios online using affordable technology leasing - only $25/month for a cloud based irrigation control system.  They’re monitoring alerts, tracking performance, and getting religion about consistently completing profit-producing irrigation inspections and proposals.  Consequently, they’re retaining the best contracts and winning new business hand over fist with the almost unfair advantage of bringing water management savings to the table.  It’s like having a gun in a knife fight.  Water management companies flat out beat one dimensional landscape only companies (unless there’s no water management company at the table, then it’s just about price).  Ask yourself: would you rather be a water management company or compete against one?  

For companies in the industry who just don’t get it and take an intentional stand to not manage water, there’s probably nothing anyone will say to change their procrastination based strategy.  Until, as the saying goes, “when the pain to stay the same is greater than the pain to change, things change.”  Competitive and operational dynamics around water management are changing – and fast.  We’ve seen single companies introduce water management services into their market and turn it on its head, almost overnight.  Millions of dollars in landscape contracts are being won (and lost) because water is now the tie breaker.  The future has never been brighter for water management and thus the Green Industry.  Light bulbs are going off in the minds landscape industry entrepreneurs based on the plain truth about the importance of efficiently managing water, and that should also be your truth:

YOU SHOULD MANAGE WATER.   

Success requires a certain type of humility to know that what got you to where you are, is not the same thing as what will get you to where you want to be.  Water management services is the next big thing in the Green Industry and should be a core competency for every professional landscape company.  And at the end of the day, success in water management is about the same fundamental ingredient we see throughout business – PARTNERSHIPS.  The Weathermatic Premier Partner program combines the training, marketing, capital, social cause, and success guarantees in a simple process, proven time and time again.  It’s not for everybody, but if you think it might be for you, let us know.  You’ll be glad you did!

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