Listen to this articleOutdoor living is having its moment. We’re all looking for creative ideas to give our little alfresco space a makeover. Not only do homeowners like to spend time in their aesthetically pleasing green lawns; but housing societies, corporate buildings, and even airports everywhere have taken on the responsibility to plant functional greens in the middle of concrete jungles.
This translates to a tremendously growing landscaping business ecosystem. And technological advancements like lawncare field software, Roomba style mowers, AI, etc. have only fuelled this growth further.
Here are 6 ways technology has and will continue to change the landscape of landscaping businesses:
1. Fleet Tracking and Lawncare Field Software
Managing multiple teams and fleet vehicles with phone calls is no more a sustainable way to grow your landscaping business. Customers need and appreciate quick solutions to their problems. Hence, GPS fleet tracking, automated scheduling, assigning, and dispatching have become imperative landscaping technologies.
A lawn care field service software can help you manage your resources and job times efficiently, communicate quickly with field service agents to troubleshoot problems, assign tasks, and manage payments seamlessly.
Recommended: Servian Founder Launches Data-Focused Cloud Consultancy ‘Vivanti’ In US
2. Roomba-Style Mowers
The transformational technology for the landscaping business has evolved to robots mowing your lawns without any human interference. These Roomba-style mowers will not only cut your grass to precision, but they are also smart enough to not bump into any obstacles, thanks to their hi-tech sensory powers. The robotic mowers can be controlled using a mobile phone with just a few taps.
Landscaping companies are increasingly deploying Roomba-style mowers for performing uncomplicated tasks, while their staff focuses on more complex things like weed eating, planting, gardening, etc.
3. Landscape Design Software
Landscape design development has evolved a lot from the days of blueprints and drawings of kings’ orchards. Today, landscaping companies are presenting customers with highly interactive and immersing designs using advanced landscape designing software. The drawings can now be done digitally and displayed through screens or printouts. Scaling digital models and producing 3D videos have also become the talk of the town.
This reduces the cost and time to acquire new projects and helps modify designs while incorporating customer feedback on the spot.
4. Automation of Back-office Work
Automating back-office tasks is probably one of the best landscaping business tips one could ever get. From invoicing, payment processing, and workflow management to customer servicing, scheduling, and inventory management; technology has made everything automated, faster, and more error-free.
For example, you need to do a one-time data entry into the system about how long your field agents take to complete particular tasks in a day while taking into account their capacity, travel time, the complexity of the task, etc. Once the data is fed to a field service software, it becomes easy to get the most efficient schedule for the day or even a week in a way that both your time and resources are optimized.
5. Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality
As landscape businesses face tough competition due to an increase in demand, it becomes essential to differentiate yourself using AI and VR technologies by taking the customer experience beyond 3D renderings.
Imagine the customer’s delight when they see a landscape design come to life on their existing lawn?
Many companies have already taken the plunge and developed technologies that can place a to-scale future outdoor space right in front of the customers, in their own yard. Not only does this make field workers look smart, but it also makes it easy for customers to visualize their dream landscape design.
6. Battery-Powered Equipment
The clean and green movement has now reached the landscaping business ecosystem, thanks to the harmful effects of costly gas-powered lawn care equipment. It’s time for rechargeable mowers, trimmers, blowers, and a variety of smaller battery-powered tools that are good for your business, your eco-conscious clients, and the environment.
With people willing to invest huge amounts of money in their outdoor spaces including plants, playgrounds, fire pits, and even fairy lights; it’s no wonder that landscaping companies are transforming their ways of doing business with the help of technology.
Written by: Zuper team. Zuper is an intelligent workforce management platform for service-oriented businesses.
