Oct/Nov 1997 BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Turfgrass Producers International

TPI Pre-Midwinter Conference Seminar 
Train, Retain and Motivate Your Employees
conducted by Mr. Jackson and his staff at 
Your employees are the lifeblood of 
Agri Business Group in order to provide 
your company. How to manage these 
true-to-life case studies and examples 
precious resources is the topic of the pre­
which are applicable to the turfgrass sod 
conference seminar being held in 
production industry in general and your 
conjunction with the 1998 TPI Midwin­
company in particular. 
ter Conference at the Westin, Maui. 
Seminar attendees can expect to cover 
Your Conference and Convention 
the following areas in depth: 
Committee, under the leadership of 
* Finding the right people. 
conference chairman Ben Copeland, has 
put together this interactive session with 
your business in mind. Recognizing 
both the value of your employees to your 
company, and the tight supply of 
qualified workers in many areas, 
seminar presenter Mike Jackson will 
cover relevant topics from finding the 
right people to developing, retaining and 
motivating them. 
This is the third installment in a series 
of seminars presented by Mr. Jackson for 
TPI, each covering a new and relevant 
topic. The past two sessions led by Mr. 
Jackson have been very well received by 
the TPI members in attendance and have 
led to this “encore” performance. As 
was the case in prior seminars, a 
significant amount of research is being

You’ll learn about each of these topic 
areas - and more - using small-group 
discussions, case studies and problem 
solving that enable you to take what 
you’ve learned and use it once you get 
home. Your 1998 TPI Pre-Conference 
Seminar will be held February 11th. 
Don’t miss this terrific opportunity!

Do you have enough productivity?  
Creating equitable pay systems.  
Motivation through you actions.  
Adding value / creating opportunities. 

What is the right number of people? 

* Developing Employees. 

Individual performance planning.  
Coaching for success. 
* Retaining employees. 

Keeping 'em on the farm 

Retain Employees Thru Job Diversity
could mean encouraging a stacker to 
mow fields for part of a day. 
In addition to offering diversity and job 
enrichment for the individual, this will 
also provide the farm with more cross­
trained individuals who could assume 
new responsibilities when another 
worker is unavailable. 
While it has to be understood that not 
all employees want or would welcome 
new responsibilities, your more valued 
personnel probably will and the results 
would be positive for them and the farm 
For more examples and ideas on how to 
train, retain and motivate your employ­
ees, attend TPI’s 1998 Pre-Midwinter 
Conference Seminar on February 11.

Once you hire a good employee, how do 
you keep them? 
According to Cornell University 
Turfgrass Team member Thomas R. 
Maloney, a Senior Extension Associate, 
writing in the latest issue of “Cornell 
University Turfgrass Times,” expanding 
on mundane, repetitive and simplistic 
work can help overcome monotony, 
boredom and turnover. He suggests 
including new assignments along with 
basic routine work or rotating jobs so an 
individual is not doing the same job 
every day. 
On a turfgrass sod farm, this might 
harvest crew from driving to stacking, or 
include rotating responsibilities of a it 

ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS

Computer News Briefs Page 3  
Tips for Shrewder Computing.

Credit and Collections Page 2  
Faster Payment from Slow Payers,

Jest for the Fun of It 
Page 4 
TPFs “funny business” Department.

Labor: Retention 
Diversity of job tasks and job  
enrichment aids in retention.

Page 1 

Marketing Tip 
Making the Sale 
Four ideas for success in sales.

Page 2 

‘98 Midwinter Conference Page 1  
Pre-Conference Seminar: Train,  
Retain and Motivate your workers.

Taking Care of Business Page 3  
What do You Call What You Sell? 
Names, Titles and Trademarks,

Page 4 
TPI Action 
Membership update; Website news;  
ITPF Annual Campaign around the  
corner; Recommend TPI Board of  
Trustee candidates; Midwinter  
Committee meeetings... plus more.

Marketing Tip By Art Campbell, Campbell Sod  

Rossville, Kansas

Making the Sale

To “make sales,” you need create the 
Opportunity for yourself to develop 
customers. This begins by 1. identifying 
your market by analyzing the type(s) of 
potential customers (ie. wholesalers, 
retailers, builders, etc.), and 2. reaching 
these potential customers through your 
marketing efforts. 

Keep an open mind when identifying 
your market. Think both in terms of 
traditional customers (landscapers, etc.) 
and in terms of nontraditional customers 
(polo fields, zoos, cemeteries... let your 
mind wander). Once you have a list of 
potential customers, you need to decide 
how to reach them. 

good method in its own way, and they 
can be used in conjuction with others. 
It is important to set aside a portion of 
your sales revenue for sales/marketing 
activities. Your marketing efforts help 
to create, explore and ultimately exploit 
your sales opportunities. 

Once you have the opportunity to make 
a sale, three steps should be followed. 
First, listen to the customer. By being 
a good listener, you can better under­
stand the customer’s primary concerns. 
Find out their needs, wants, desires and 
budget restrictions. By understanding 
the intended use for your products, you 
will then have the opportunity to 
explain the benefits of your product in 
light of the customer’s need(s). 

Use direct mail, radio, television, 
networking, word-of-mouth (referrals), 
and telephone directories as opportuni­
ties to reach your identified ‘market’. 
These are but a few of the ways you can 
use to market your products. Each is a 

Second, be ready to fill the customer’s 
need and/or solve the customer’s 
problem(s). Sales should be directed to 
the customer’s needs, and not toward 
educating the customer. Most custom­
ers are not interested in the production 

of turfgrass sod, or what previous custom 
ers have accomplished - they want their 
needs met and problems solved. Give the 
customer enough information to make a 
decision, but not so much as to confuse 
them. Invite the customer to the farm to 
see the product in production to ensure 
acceptability (this may be particularly 
important for large jobs). 

Finally, don’t forget to ask the customer 
to buy. After you have informed the 
customer of their options, be sure to let 
them know that you want their business. 
All your plans and hard work will be for 
nothing if you don’t ask the customer to 
buy. In the event that your customer 
requires more time to make a final 
decision, make sure to follow-up so that 
your attentiveness and interest remain 
evident in the customer’s mind. 

Remember... create your sales opportu­
nities; listen to the customer; fill the 
customer’s need / solve the customer’s 
problems; and ask the customer to buy

The Secrets of Faster Payments... from slow payers

While most companies put enormous 
resources into marketing and selling 
their products - too many of them treat 
credit and collection efforts as an 
afterthought. However, most busi­
nesses can dramatically improve 
collections with minimal investment. 

Start by implementing policies that 
prevent your salesmen or order-takers 
from doing business with noncredit­
worthy customers or delinquent 
accounts. You can do this by having a 
system in place to check the creditwor­
thiness of prospective customers and 
that orders aren’t shipped to accounts 
that are over their credit limit or that 
have past-due balances. Controls 
should be in place to flag such orders 
and give them special review/handling. 

Vital Steps: Billing and Training 

Improve billing. No company can 
improve cash flow or customer 
relations if it bills inconsistently or 
inaccurately. Billing should be done 

the day a shipment goes out, or no later 
than one day after shipment, without 
errors. In addition, genuinely confusing 
bills are the excuse given for many bills 
being set aside for further investigation. 
A simple redesign of billing forms can 
solve this problem. 
Train collection people. It’s a big 
mistake to use inexperienced part-time 
clerks to make collection calls. Using a 
trained collector will make a difference. 

Collection Guidelines

Don’t feel guilty or sound tentative. 
Remember, the other party ordered and 
received goods for which the company 
is entitled to pay. 
Ask for a decision maker. Often your 
call will be answered by a payables clerk 
who has no decision-making authority.  
Let the customer respond. After 
saying that there is an open balance on 
the account, be quiet. This forces the 
customer to make some response and 
puts the burden on them to suggest a 
way to settle the matter.

Have details of the bill at hand. The 
worst thing that can happen to a 
collector is to be put on the defensive. 
Never give customers a chance to say 
they don’t know what you’re talking 
about. Prepare to be very specific about 
the whole transaction. 
Ask for specific payment dates and 
amounts. Never hang-up without 
asking what the amount of the payment 
will be and when the check will be 
mailed. Make a note of both. 
Plan for follow-up calls. It doesn’t hurt 
to call back on the date the check was 
supposed to be sent to make sure it is 
indeed going out. If it doesn’t come, 
another follow-up call is in order. 
Use call sheets to document all collec­
tion activity. These can be powerful 
tools when customers fail to keep 
previous promises. By referring to past 
collection efforts, you make it clear that 
decision-maker’s previous promises 
have been recorded and their credibility 
documented. The sheets help determine 
credit worthiness on future sales as well.

Taking Care of Business:  

What Do You Call What You Do?

Names and trademarks are part of our 

Everyday media culture. Through 
television, radio and newspapers we are 
constantly reminded of the importance of 
names and titles. In the everyday market 
place, generic “no-name” brands run a 
poor second to their well-named cousins. 
We eat Whoppers and Big-Macs... not 
hamburgers. We don’t not drink cola... we 
drink Coke or Pepsi. Likewise, with 
other commonly consumed items, such as 
beer, cigarettes, automobiles and tennis 
shoes, all have recognized trade names. 

The importance of names and titles in 
advertising is more than a media gimmick 
- it reflects how human beings use 
language and titles in everyday life. Who 
we say we are, we become. What we call 
what we sell, it becomes. The names we 
choose convey immediate impressions. 

Offering our product for sale and calling 
it “grass” is like trying to sell a racehorse 
named “Betsy.” Even a sod farmer can 
think of a better name for a racehorse: 
lightning,” “Streak,” “Blue Thunder.” 
OK. Now try to think of a name for your 
“grass.” What is it you want to convey 
about the product you sell - quality, 
consistency, reliability, durability, color, 

By Mike McDermott, Grass Pad 
Warehouse, Olathe, Kansas

Shrewder Computing

Problem: As software publishers  
add new features to their word­
processing programs, spreadsheets, 
databases and other business 
programs, many products are 
becoming overly complex and 
difficult to master. 

Solutions:
* Look for mature products.
Software products that start out 
badly flawed or mediocre often are 
improved significantly over time. 
With newly released programs, 
you’re betting that the publisher 
got it right the first time. 

* Get recommendations. Regular 
users of a particular program are 
usually glad to speak frankly about 
their positive & negative experi­
ences with the product. 

elegance, ease of use? Whatever it is, call 
it by its name. Name it “Quality Turf,” 
“Consistent Turf,” “Reliable Turf,” 
“Durable Turf.” You choose. 

Within the sod business, the use of 
names and titles has been slow to catch 
on. Many consider it pretentious, 
putting-on-airs, or worse. The dilemma 
is that using a common name sets a low 
standard of expectation for you, your staff 
and your customer. If you sell “Elite 
Tournament Turf’ instead of “grass,” it 
creates a higher level of expectation on 
the part of your customer. It also sets a 
higher standard for both you and your 
employees. 

Once you develop a name, it is impor­
tant that you use it for more than a sales 
tool. If the only place the new name is 
used is in the sales brochure, then don’t 
waste your time. It needs to be used in 
the shop, on the phone and in the field. 
Only then will it have an impact on how 
you or your staff think about what you do 
and what you sell. If you are just a 
“farmer” selling “grass,” then you have 
lots of competition. If you are a turfgrass 
specialist selling “Elite Tournament Turf’ 
you are the only one in the book.

Business Briefs

Personnel...
> Build a pool of ‘‘permanent” temps.
Today, many skilled people want to work 
part-time - such as women who want to 
spend more time with their children 
without giving up their careers... seniors 
who don’t want to retire completely. 
Opportunity: Build up a list of “perma­
nent” temporary workers who gain 
knowledge of the business through repeat 
assignments. They’ll be much more 
effective then temps who have to learn 
from scratch for every job. 

> Put praise on paper. Written words 
carry more weight than spoken words.
When giving positive feedback to an 
employee, don’t just say “Good job”... 
Put it in writing.

> Problem Solving. When a company 
suffers a quality problem with a product 
or service, customers often are lost. 
That’s usually not due to the problem 
itself - but due to the company’s failure to 
respond adequately to it. Opportunity: A 
strong and speedy response to customers 
who experience a problem can strengthen 
their loyalty to the business. Reason: 
Customers know they can experience 
problems anywhere and would rather deal 
with firms that show they care about 
fixing problems quickly. Key: Admit a 
problem quickly, really listen to custom­
ers ’ opinions about fixing it and act on 
them promptly. A satisfied customer is 
an excellent ‘advertisement’ for your 
company. Their word-of-mouth referrals 
can have a big impact future business.

* Evaluate the publisher. Look 
for a firm that extensively tests its 
software with users from a wide 
variety of fields. 

* Don’t let yourself be dazzled. 
Avoid programs with eye-catching, 
cutting edge features. Problems 
typically arise when a program that 
was originally designed to address 
a single, focused task has been 
upgraded to do multiple chores. 

* Never buy a program that can’t 
be returned. If you’re not happy, 
you should be able to send it back 
for a refund or credit. 

* Provide employees with 
adequate training. All programs 
present new users with a learning 
curve which can be shortened 
using books, videos or classes.

TPI Action

TPI’s membership reached a new record...846...to start the 1997-98 membership 
year, even after dropping 120 members for non-renewal. The previous record of
844 was set in September, 1994. Personal phone calls to non-renewing members 
by TPI Representatives and Board Trustees indicated that nearly half of the 120 
dropped members plan to renew later in the year. To strengthen TPI and help 
educate fellow producers, current TPI members are encouraged to recruit all 
non-TPI members in their area. Contact TPI to obtain membership applications. 

TurfgrassSod.org, TPI’s world wide website, should be “launched” by the time 
members receive this newsletter. Designed to serve both members and consumers, 
the site will be routinely revised, updated and expanded. TPI welcomes all 
member comments and suggestions on how the page can be more effective. 

Plan to put in your “2-Cents Worth,” to support research specific to the 
turfgrass sod industry. A request for contributions... roughly calculated at two- 
cents per pallet of harvested turfgrass sod... will be printed in the November/ 
December issue of “Turf News” magazine, as well as direct mail requests. Last 
year, TPI members contributed over $40,000 through this campaign. The Interna­
tional Turf Producers Foundation (ITPF) responsible for administering the funds, 
determined that up to 25% of all funds raised in this campaign can support 
current-year research, with the remaining 75% going to create an endowment that 
will grow every year and support future research projects. Contributions are tax 
deductible. 

You can recommend TPI Board candidates by contacting Nominating Commit­
tee Chairman Wayne Thorson (402/624-6385). This committee will be selecting 
Class A (producer) members to be candidates at the 1998 annual business meeting 
for the offices of vice president, secretary-treasurer and two three-year trustee 
positions. Current members are encouraged to volunteer themselves or to recom­
mend members they believe would be strong TPI Board members. 

Jest For The Fun Of It

It Pays to Remember

When Henry Ford purchased a very large 
life insurance policy for himself, the fact 
was spread in bold headlines accross the 
Detroit newspapers. One of the articles 
was read by an old friend of Mr. Ford’s 
who was in the life insurance business. 

Hurt that Ford had not bought the 
insurance from him, his friend called on 
Ford to ask why. Ford’s reply was: “You 
never asked me.” Don’t forget to ask! 

Business Buzzwords

Customer - someone who is always right, 
until safely out of earshot 

File Cabinet - four-drawer, manually 
operated trash-compactor 

Loss Leader - product sold below cost in 
order to hook customers into buying other, 
overpriced items 

Management - the art of getting other 
people to do all the work 

Productivity Increase - what manage­
ment labors to raise, but what labor can’t 
manage without a raise 

TPI Committees meeting in Hawaii will welcome all members. A schedule of 
planned meetings is printed in the Midwinter Conference promotional brochure 
and will be expanded and updated in future issues of “Turf News.” Many of the 
committees will meet Tuesday, February 10, a day before the official opening of the 
conference. Other committees will meet February 11 and 12.

Success - something that only comes 
before work in a dictionary 

Telemarketing - dialing for dollars

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT 
Turfgrass Producers International 
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