Choosing a Landscape Provider For Your HOA
4 Tips for Choosing a Landscape Provider as an HOA
When choosing a landscape provider for your HOA, you want to be able to feel confident that you’ll be happy with your decision. After all, when residents are not happy that means dozens, if not hundreds, of dissatisfied voices.
Of course, if you’ve worked with a professional landscape provider in the past, you understand they’re not all “created equal.” Some landscape companies are better than others. But with so many different choices out there, how can you know what to look for? You ought to be able to feel confident that you’re making a wise choice.
We understand that the selection process can be daunting. That’s why we’ve rounded up 4 helpful tips that should give you a sense of what to look for and how to know you’re choosing well.
Experience is Key
Though they are certainly made up of residential homes, HOAs as a collective entity are a lot different than individual residential properties. For this reason, choosing a landscape professional who is used to solely doing single-family, residential work could be a mistake.
Instead, you want to choose a landscape professional that can create uniformity while also meeting all of homeowners’ individual needs? This can be a tall order but a skilled commercial landscape company that has worked with HOAs in the past can handle it.
The company you choose must also be able to work within certain regulations and restrictions that naturally accompany the HOA community living setting. This is another reason why it’s important to seek an experienced professional who is used to working in this type of environment.
Communication Matters
Another important factor in the overall success of working with a professional landscape contractor is how well they communicate. You’ve probably heard horror stories before of an unresponsive landscape company—perhaps you’ve even had an experience like that of your own. It’s frustrating and when you have so many voices in your community to answer to, it’s honestly unacceptable. You need your landscape company to be a good communicator so that you’re always kept in the loop of what’s going on—and so that you can reach them when they’re needed.
That good communication should extend to problems, too. Mistakes happen but nothing is worse than a company that tries to cover these up or doesn’t try to fix them in a timely manner. If something goes wrong you want to know right away—and you want a company that’s not only going to own up to the mistake but fix it quickly.
The Company’s “Team” Makes up a Company
While you might communicate with an account manager or someone else in management, you know that it’s the landscaping team that really makes up the company. These are the crew members that are going to be in your HOA and on your residents’ properties day in and day out. It’s important that the team is respectful, hardworking, and skilled at what they do.
Unfortunately, a lot of landscaping companies will hire anyone they can get to do the work. This makes it important to find a landscape company that is committed to only hiring the best. This type of company might cost a little bit more—after all, they’re paying their highly qualified workers more—but in the long run, it’s well worth the investment. It means less headaches and better results.
They Should Have a Plan for Success
Finally, the best landscape companies for HOA set you up for success because they are able to create a plan that works exactly as it should for your specific property. No two HOA communities are alike—nor should they be treated that way.
Unfortunately, a lot of landscape companies are mere “order takers” and they follow the samepattern from property to property. But you want a company that will treat your community unique and create solutions that work exactly for you—and you alone.
At Carruther’s Landscape Management, a plan for success that is customized for your HOA is exactly what we can offer. We are looking out for your best interest by developing landscape solutions that will keep your property looking its best.