Roots of Success

If you're a green industry professional thinking about your next career move or actively searching right now, this episode is your playbook. In this  McFarlin Stanford Recruiting Roundtable focused on job seekers, host Barrett Chow flips the lens from companies to candidates, joining Ben Krocheski, Colin Adams, and Iden Bradaranhagh to cover everything a candidate needs to know: how to build a resume that shows numbers and results, where to look beyond the job boards, how to stand out in an interview (and what kills your chances), which questions to ask, which ones to avoid, and what it actually means to work with a recruiter who's on your side. This is the conversation most candidates never get to have with the people behind the search.  THE BIG IDEA:   The Job Search Is a Sales Process. Know Your Numbers, Speak to Your Resume, and Show Up Like You Want the Role. KEY MOMENTS:  [01:00] Top Roles in Demand: Account Managers, Business Developers, Design Sales, Office Managers [03:30] Common Resume Mistakes: No Numbers, No Book of Business Size, No Sales Stats [06:30] The AI Resume Problem: If You Can't Talk to It, Don't Put It On There [09:30] How to Approach a Company When a Job Isn't Posted [12:30] Don't Talk Salary, Benefits, or PTO in the First Interview [16:00] Reference Back to What You Saw on Their Website or Social Media — They Notice [18:30] Where Candidates Go Wrong: Overconfidence, Premature Salary Talk, "What's in It for Me?" Questions [21:30] We'll Keep You in the System: Even If There's No Role Now, There Will Be Questions we answer.  What does the green industry job market look like right now — and what roles are most in demand? What should I do before I even start my job search? What are the most common resume mistakes green industry candidates make? How do I show my value on a resume instead of just listing job duties? Should I include a portfolio with my resume — and when does it help? Where should I be looking for jobs beyond LinkedIn and Indeed? How do I approach a company about a job that isn't even posted? What separates strong candidates from average ones in an interview? How quickly should I send a thank-you note after an interview? What questions should I be asking in a first interview? What are the biggest interview mistakes candidates make — and how do I avoid them? 

Finding talent  for the green industry is challenging. People are often not on LinkedIn, the local talent pools are shallow, the job titles mean different things at every company, and most owners are too busy to run a real hiring process. In this roundtable episode of Roots of Success, host Barrett Chow sits down with McFarlin Stanford's recruiting team — Ben Krocheski, Colin Adams, and Iden Bradaranhagh — to pull back the curtain on what green industry-specific recruiting actually looks like. From intake calls and relocation conversations to closing landmines and real placement success stories, this episode is for you.  THE BIG IDEA:  Start Searching Beyond Your Backyard  KEY MOMENTS:  [01:00] Why Recruiting Is Particularly Challenging in the Green Industry: Location and Shallow Talent Pools[04:30] Geographic Competition: When You've Already Interviewed Everyone in a 25-Mile Radius [07:00] How Core Values Become the Foundation of Every Hiring Decision [10:00] Relocation Candidates: Why Most Owners Dismiss Them — and Why They Shouldn't  [13:30] Building the Relationship With the Client Throughout the Search — Not Just at the Start [16:30] Learning From Successful Placements and Building That Criteria Into Future Searches [19:30] Proactive Placements: Presenting Qualified Candidates Even When a Role Isn't Posted [23:30] Don't Confuse the Candidate: Interview Them for the Role You Brought Them In For [26:30] Success Story 2 (Ben): Back Office Chaos in Dallas — One Hire, Three More Roles Unlocked [30:00] The Matchmaking Advantage: Using Past Placements to Guide New Searches  Questions we answer: Why is recruiting in the green industry harder than in most other industries? How do I find qualified candidates when LinkedIn isn't where landscape professionals hang out? What does "right fit" actually mean — and how do you evaluate it during a search? Should I consider relocation candidates, and how do I handle the cost and risk? What's the difference between working with a green industry-specific recruiter and a general one? How does the intake process work — and what should I be prepared to share? What can I do to make my company more attractive to top candidates? What are the most common mistakes companies make during the hiring process? How do I avoid misaligning on compensation at the offer stage? When is the right time to reach out to a recruiting partner? What kinds of roles is outside recruiting best suited for? How do I get started with McFarlin Stanford Recruiting? 

Control can look a lot like leadership. But it's control. In this episode of Roots of Success, McFarlin Stanford facilitator Kevin Keim tackles one of the most expensive blind spots in the landscape industry: owners who have accidentally trained their teams to wait for permission on everything. Kevin walks through what real delegation looks like versus abdication, a four-part framework for transferring genuine ownership, and five questions that reveal exactly where you are the bottleneck, so you can start removing yourself from the day-to-day before it removes you from the work that matters.   THE BIG IDEA: Create the Systems so you are no longer the system   KEY MOMENTS: •        [00:30] Welcome — Kevin Keim Introduces the Owner's Blind Spot: You're the Bottleneck [01:00] The Pattern: Your Team Is Behaving Exactly the Way You Trained Them [03:00] Delegation vs. Abdication: The Distinction That Changes Everything [04:15] The Four-Part Delegation Framework: Outcome, Ownership, Authority, Accountability [06:30] Outcome vs. Process: Why the Path Matters Less Than the Result [08:00] Five Diagnostic Questions Every Owner Should Ask Themselves [10:30] Question 3 — What Information Exists Primarily in My Head? [12:00] Bundled Services, Flat Fees, and Sales Thresholds: Creating Systems That Eliminate the Ask [13:30] "Buy Back Your Time": Technology, SOPs, and Training as Long-Term Investments [15:00] "Create Those Systems — and You Are No Longer the System"     Questions we answer. •        How do I know if I'm actually the bottleneck in my own company? •        What's the difference between delegation and abdication — and why does it matter? •        What does real delegation sound like when you hand off a task or responsibility? •        What is the outcome / ownership / authority / accountability framework and how do I use it? •        How do I stop accidentally training my team to wait for my permission? •        Is it ever okay to give feedback on how someone completed a task — even if the outcome was right? •        What's the best way to capture tribal knowledge that only lives in my head? •        How do I set up systems that let my team make decisions without coming to me first? •        What thresholds or guardrails should I set so my team knows when they don't need my approval? •        If I disappeared for two weeks, what would that reveal about my business? •        How do I start removing myself from day-to-day operations without everything falling apart?

The best salespeople don't just fill a pipeline; they close it, and then they hand it off well. In Part 2 of this Roots of Success conversation, host Chris Psencik and Melissa Blake of Bates Landscaping break down why deep association involvement beats showing up once a quarter, how to ask discovery questions that make clients reveal exactly what they need and what a real multi-year follow-up strategy looks like. If you are looking to know when to renew contracts (hint: when the property looks incredible), and how to hand off a new account without losing momentum, then tune in for this tip-filled episode.  THE BIG IDEA: Nothing Happens Until Something Sells — and Nothing Stays Won Without a Clean Handoff  KEY MOMENTS:  [02:00] CAI, Chamber of Commerce, and How Melissa Chooses Where to Get Involved [05:30] Knowing Your ICP: Why Narrowing Down Who You Serve Tells You Where to Be [08:30] The Snow Pile Story: Why Surface-Level Problems Are Never Really About the Surface [11:30] Post-Proposal Follow-Up: Hand-Delivering the Contract and Setting the Next Conversation [15:00] The Three-Year Bid She's Still After — and Why She's Not Giving Up [19:00] Contract Renewal Timing: Renew When the Property Looks Its Best [22:00] The Plan First: Make Your Target List, Work the List, Stay on It [25:30] The Weekly One-on-One: Accountability, Not Just Activity Tracking [30:00] Arm Your People With the Vision: Nothing Happens Until Something Sells  Questions we answer.  How do I get real value out of industry associations — not just show up and collect business cards? What does it mean to be genuinely engaged in an association, and how does that translate to new business? How do I run a discovery conversation that gets a property manager to open up about their real pain points? What questions should I be asking on an initial property walk? What does a smart post-proposal follow-up strategy look like? How long should I keep pursuing a prospect that hasn't said yes? When is the right time of year to renew maintenance contracts? How do I coach and hold accountable a new business developer I want to hit $1M in new contracts? What habits separate elite business developers from average ones? What does a 30-60-90 handoff to the operations team look like — and why does it matter? How do I get my sales team excited about and aligned with the company's vision? 

Melissa Blake, with Bates Landscaping, looks at a laminated sheet listing her dream clients, and she carries it with her every single day. In Part 1 of this conversation, host Chris Psencik and Melissa dig into what commercial maintenance business development actually looks like on the ground. It's time-blocking your week into create, advance, and close new clients, and using LinkedIn to get ahead of relationship changes. She also shares how she knows when to walk away from a prospect and when to never give up. This is a real, specific, steal-it-today conversation about the front half of the commercial sales cycle.  THE BIG IDEA:  A Laminated List, a Blocked Calendar, and a CRM: The Unglamorous Infrastructure Behind Elite Commercial Sales  KEY MOMENTS:  [02:00] Bates Landscaping: Chester Springs PA, HOA-Focused, Commercial Snow and Maintenance [06:30] What You Don't See: The 3, 6, and 12 Months of Work Behind Every New Contract [09:00] The Laminated Target List: How Melissa Starts Every Year With a Strategic Hit List [12:00] When to Slow Down — and When to Never Give Up on a Prospect [17:00] Vetting Prospects: How to Build a Target List That Matches the Company Vision [20:30] Handling Inbound Leads That Aren't the Right Fit — Professionally [24:30] Getting in Front of Decision-Makers Before You Submit [25:30] "Compared to What?" — How Melissa Responds When She's the High Bid  Questions we answer.  What does a commercial maintenance business developer actually do with their time each week? What is the create / advance / close framework and how do I apply it to my own schedule? How do I build an annual target list — and how specific should it be? What's the best way to track prospects, touchpoints, and pipeline without losing the personal touch? How do I know when to keep pursuing a prospect and when to pull back? What's the difference between a hunter and a farmer — and why does it matter for how I structure my team? Should my account managers also be developing new business? Where's the line? How do I qualify inbound leads without burning bridges with prospects who aren't the right fit? How do I make sure I'm not just another line on the page when responding to an RFP? What's the right way to respond when a prospect tells you you're the highest bid?