The Grounds Guys, a Neighborly company, is one of the largest landscaping franchises in North America. Their growth is thanks in part to a scalable model built on systems that empower owners and teams to focus on giving customers a great experience, rather than focusing on back of house admin work.
The Grounds Guys has grown to more than 200 franchise locations around the United States and Canada by focusing on hard work and customer satisfaction. And as these franchise locations continue to grow themselves, more and more owners are adding CompanyCam to their tech stack to help them prove their work, share updates with customers, and simplify their documentation.
The Problem: Delayed Customer Payments & Internal Team Miscommunication
In landscaping, it’s easy to see what did and didn’t get gone. But unlike other trades work, customers aren’t typically on site while these projects take place.
This creates an issue for some Grounds Guys franchises when it comes to billing for the work. Customers want to see the finished product before they pay. If teams weren’t capturing photos of the work as it happened, that means waiting for the customer to go home or be on site of a commercial job. All these time delays mean more time between the work and getting paid for it, causing strain on operating budgets.
The other issue they run into is internal team communication around a project. Most of the time, the person quoting and selling the job isn’t on site while the work is being done. And if photos and notes weren’t captured or shared with the crew doing the actual work, it led to too much or not enough work being done, or delays caused by team members messaging about what to do or making unnecessary trips across town to clear things up.
Speeding Up Quoting and Invoice Collection
Prior to using CompanyCam, one owner used a popular video walkie talkie app to document initial site walkthroughs. He would then have to rewatch the video to pull out the measurements and other notes.
Now with CompanyCam, he simply captures photos as he walks the job site, draws on the photos and adds measurements using his voice, and organizes his photos and notes with the Progress Recap features. He then inputs the photos into LMN—the CRM, payroll, and invoicing software used by The Grounds Guys.
“CompanyCam allows us to package those pictures up and send them a finished product so they can see it right then and there, and then pay their bill before we are done with the day, which is huge for us.”
—Ohio territory owner
By using complementary tools, several franchise owners have noted that they’re able to get paid out faster on jobs. Some send the LMN invoice with CompanyCam photos embedded into it, while others send the invoice alongside a gallery of photos to the customer as the crew is wrapping up so that any questions can get addressed, though this process has led to fewer disputes overall.
Improving Handoffs with Visual Job Site Notes
Project handoffs are one of the most common places for communication breakdown to happen, both internally and externally with customers. And if the time between the project agreement and the actual work is significant, and there wasn’t solid documentation, there’s even more room for friction.
“My guys aren’t seeing the contract, they don’t know all the verbiage… coming to [CompanyCam] just allows them to see quickly, see ‘yep, no, that’s not part of it.’”
—Ohio territory owner
That’s where CompanyCam has been a net positive for Grounds Guys teams. By frontloading projects with more visual and text documentation, owners have experienced fewer go-backs and unnecessary drive time because teams doing the work can see what was agreed already with the customer. This also gives them the confidence to push back on customers who may try to add some services that they didn’t pay for.
Some owners create checklists based on the agreed upon terms so that teams know exactly what to do before they arrive on site. And if there’s a change in scope, owners will add these additional line items to checklists to ensure the team gets them taken care of.
Improving Team Communication with Centralized Documentation
Once jobs are handed off, crews can review the entire job site record prior to arriving on site so that they know exactly what to load up and start with once the park at the curb.
“If my foreman’s out in the field and I need another set of eyes on it, I can call him, pull up this project, take a look at it with me… communication-wise, it’s been really great.”
—Texas territory owner
Having all of this centralized documentation is even more beneficial for their maintenance accounts. Owners label projects for recurring services like mulch changeout and fall cleanups, so that it’s both clear for teams to see what type of job they need to do and what it’s looked like in the past when others did those services.
CompanyCam’s photo-forward tools, in addition to Spanish support, help to bridge any language barriers between the office and field. Annotated photos showing exactly what and where to trim on a tree or how far to bring out a landscaping bed are much easier to communicate visually.
The Case for CompanyCam
As these franchisees grow, they’re relying on CompanyCam to be the source of truth for project scope, execution, and proof. Having the right documentation alongside their customer records, provides for better project outcomes for owners, crews, and, most importantly, customers.
A better documentation system results in fewer disputes, faster payment, less confusion for crews, and less time in the truck checking work or visiting with customers. This extra time gives back owners more time to focus on selling more jobs and develope relationships.
