In this episode of the Partner Interview Series, Weathermatic President, Lex Mason welcomes Joe Chiellini, CEO of ASI Landscape Management to discuss how his team has raised the bar on what it means to be a Partner in landscape and it brought a whole new take on water management to their clients! Click here to watch the full interview with Joe Chiellini of ASI Landscape Management. 

Full Transcript:

Lex – Could you share just a little bit about how you got into the business and what you’ve been up to the past couple years?

Joe – During my 30 years with the fire service, the entrepreneurial spirit took off and I started cutting grass and just doing residential yard work and so forth until I got a break and went into commercial! 25 years and $14M later, we got 170 team members. I retired from the fire service, as a captain after 30 years, and led our team in the battle of landscaping!

Lex – Thank you so much for your service there! So, Joe, tell me a little bit about what kind of a role water now plays in the landscape business?

Joe – So, in Florida, there was a “green” movement in the past. But, here at ASI, we believe the “blue” movement is going to be next! Water is going to be almost a commodity and we feel like we owe it to our children and our families to protect as much as we can.

Since we’ve partnered with Weathermatic, we're not even asking customers if they want to purchase a timer or become part of the preferred vendor program. We're telling customers: this is how we do business at ASI. If you want ASI on your site, we're bringing this particular water management piece to you! That helps us know how serious customers are about their water. We're saying if you want to do business with ASI, this is how we do business.

Lex – Incredible! You guys were such an early adopter and early thinker to take that stance and to move the needle! It’s changing the narrative because it's different than what everybody else is talking about.

Joe – Well, and you know, part of our package that we turn in is we discuss our core values at ASI. Weathermatic presents me with an opportunity to live our core values of partnerships and solutions!

Lex – I appreciate that. So, shifting gears a little bit, I know I mentioned the labor component. Tell me a little bit about how SmartLink or anything like that has helped you reach out and recruit.

Joe – As anybody, I believe it’s getting harder and harder to find irrigation technicians. Nobody wants to be on the bad end of the shovel and we get that! How can we appeal to the newer generation and kids coming out of college?

We got a success story here. A young friend of mine was out of a job during COVID. He called and asked if we had anything. We brought him in, gave him an iPad and showed him Weathermatic and how it all works. And, after a week of training, he was ready to go on his own! He understands the technology and is able to pick up on it!

Lex – That's been a thing that we've seen, too! It's going to get increasingly difficult to recruit if technology is not a core component of what you're showing! But, you guys have been ahead of the curve.

So, what has been some of the customer reactions to your water management proposals?

Joe – When we hit the ground running with the Partnership program, we were installing a lot! And I was, was like, ‘Hey! Am I ever going to get one? I'd love to turn my irrigation on from my phone.’ Long story short, they installed one at my house, and my water bill was cut dramatically in half! I could not believe it. When I talk to somebody, if they don't believe it, I am living it and I'll bring my water bills!

Lex – I love it! Have you guys seen any kind of efficiency gains or site trip reductions?

Joe – Our guys are definitely getting through sites more efficiently! I mean, they're not doing the two-minute tests run and then, you know, running to the next zone! There's also a quality piece and that's what we try to tell everybody. Our guys are taking their time, and we show them that they're getting a better-quality inspection.

Think of Florida and hurricanes. When hurricanes were coming, imagine over a hundred sites and some of those sites that have 4, 5, 8, or 10 irrigation timers… with Weathermatic, we log onto the computer. Boom, boom, boom. Shutdown! You talk about a savings of time!

During COVID our clients were not in their offices. We were still able to service their irrigation systems through Weathermatic and they were beyond excited!

Lex – That's a big deal, especially right now! Joe, I appreciate everything that you guys are doing. you've, you've been a head of the pack guy for, for quite a while. Love that, that you guys have reached out and continue to push the envelope, here, with water. So that's a lot of fun and appreciate everything you've done!

Joe – Thank you guys for having me.

Click below to watch the full interview with ASI Landscape Management.  If you enjoyed this interview, be sure to check out the rest of our interview series on our YouTube channel.