“You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” – Will Rogers

The preceding quote by famous vaudeville actor Will Rogers is not only important for people, but it’s even more for businesses. Every single serious business, whether it’s a retail store, apartment complex, warehouse, public building, or restaurant, must make an unforgettable first impression with its landscaping.

Contracting the specific skills of a commercial landscaping company ensures that businesses prune, design, shear, hedge, and plow their way into the hearts of customers.

1. The Right Skills

Commercial landscapers, as opposed to residential landscapers, bring a unique wheelhouse of knowledge and ability that is tailor-made to a business’s needs.

The priority of commercial landscaping is creating an environment that conveys a message to customers. If the landscape communicates “safety” and “cleanliness,” then customers know those qualities are inherent in the business.

From a practicality standpoint, commercial landscapers also know to work within the specific needs of a business. The landscape affects pedestrian traffic flow, delivery routes and paths for workers, parking lots, and a business’s geographic organization.

No one knows environmental “feng shui” quite like commercial landscapers.

2. The Right Equipment

Commercial landscapers’ toolbox requires more than just technical know-how, it also requires actual tools.

Landscaping companies that deal solely with residential properties (which are typically smaller) require fewer and different tools to accomplish their job. Those dealing with commercial accounts require the big guns, which include large flatbed trucks, cranes, commercial lawn mowers, and other specialized equipment.

Few residential-only companies have the tools to properly handle parking area maintenance, irrigation systems, and other commercial-only jobs.

3. The Right Connections

Not only do commercial landscapers provide necessary know-how and equipment, but they also bring connections and relationships that last a lifetime.

Whereas residential landscapers may only need to work with the homeowner, commercial landscapers are trained to collaborate with general contractors, property owners, property managers, and other involved parties. Time-tested experience in negotiating with multiple clients for one account assures a truly collaborative vision.

Commercial landscapers specialize in adaptation and improvisation, as they may work on landscaping a church, restaurant, shopping mall, and warehouse all in a short amount of time. Each client has different needs, and commercial landscapers know how maximize a return investment regarding each and every one of those needs.

4. The Right Snow Removal

Very few residential landscapers offer snow removal. The few that do lack the proper skills and equipment to pull it off as effectively as commercial landscapers do.

For the biggest projects, commercial landscapers use mighty plow trucks to clear out larger paths such as loading docks and parking lots. All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) plows handle smaller roadways with better finesse, and snow plows clear walkways with ease. Hand shoveling is a classic option that works with the most delicacy.

Residential-only landscapers may be able to handle the smaller projects well, but no one gets a big winter project handled quite like a commercial landscaper.