Mr. Baker

Architecture & Design

11 Questions You Must Ask Your Landscaping Firm

By Dennis M. Baker, President and Chief Executive Officer, Avendra, LLC

Whether it's a five-star resort or a two-star hotel, customers rate location as the number one deciding factor when booking a hotel according to a recent consumer survey by HotelClub, a leading online accommodation specialist. But as everyone knows, within the "location" category there are many choices. With today's online virtual tours customers can get a fairly accurate evaluation of the details of your location in advance. Obviously room size and d'ecor, attractiveness of common areas and available amenities are critical in that evaluation, but the exterior appearance of the grounds, everything from flowers to plantings to trees, is also important to your hotel's image.

To better serve a hotel's desire to provide beautiful exterior settings and an initial positive first impression to the arriving guest, Avendra's contracting experts recently negotiated two major national landscaping contracts. Besides coverage, professionalism and great pricing, the two companies we chose also offer owners environmentally friendly landscaping alternatives that can help lessen dependence on mowing and watering. In formulating these programs we culled information from a wide spectrum of customers and the supplier community and along with our vast experience in this area, used that to develop a list of points to consider. These were critical in evaluating potential service providers to ensure that they would be capable of providing the necessary expertise, service, terms and overall value. Some of the key issues that you might want to consider as you think about these services for your property are listed below.

1. Staff Expertise - When selecting the next landscape maintenance firm for your hotel, find out if they have sufficient expertise. For example, are the employees properly licensed to handle and dispense chemicals? Do they have horticulturalists and landscape architects on staff? In this same vein, if something unexpected happens that requires immediate action, can you readily contact the proper expert at the company's offices for consultation? Further, you might want to check if the potential bidders are members of appropriate professional trade associations. For example, both of our vendors belong to PLANET, a professional landcare network that keeps its members aware of the latest trends, offers certification and helps maintain the standards of the landscape maintenance industry.

2. Insurance and Indemnification - Due to the nature of the services provided, determining appropriate levels and types of insurance coverage is essential. This can be complicated, but it is critical that your landscaping supplier possesses adequate insurance coverage and in addition, provides appropriate indemnification to protect your investment and to limit your liability.

3. Immigration Verification - A longstanding issue within the landscaping industry is the widespread use of undocumented workers. In order to protect your hotel from any wrongdoing it is imperative to have verified workers. Avendra took this issue very seriously and both of the vendors we chose are heavily involved in the Federal program known as H2B that arranges for Visas for workers and provides immigration verification.

4. Geographic Coverage - If you are a multi-unit operator it is assumed that by leveraging your purchasing across all your hotels, you get a better deal. Ask bidders if they can provide services at all your properties and properly discount your price since they are getting a larger share of your business? Further, with a uniform provider across all your properties, you get consistency of quality and service, so all of your hotels stay true to your standards.

5. References and Hotel Experience - When conducting your search, ask for references of properties that are similar to yours and follow-up with calls to discuss performance. You might want to consider firms with a minimum of two consecutive years of hotel experience, but at the very least validate that they have sufficient commercial experience including large customers, such as parks, malls, office complexes or golf courses.

6. Scheduling Capabilities - Ask the landscape company how it plans to schedule its workforce. Can they offer you a seasonal team when you need it? Do they have the ability to send larger teams of workers so work can be performed quickly and projects can be completed simultaneously? This characteristic is particularly important in the hospitality industry because a major goal is to minimize disruptions to guests. When evaluating which landscape maintenance firm is right for your hotel, ask how each firm schedules its workload to ensure work is performed during off-hours with minimal guest intrusion.

7. Personal Needs Assessment - You might consider walking the grounds with each potential bidder. This way you can assess firsthand if the contractor is an expert at knowing which parts of a hotel property offer the greatest "bang for your buck." Find out how each would approach a cost effective solution for your hotel's high visibility areas.

8. Contract Scope/Contingent Services - Are there provisions to terminate for poor performance? Does the contract automatically extend for another year without requiring your written consent? Is seasonal tree trimming or flower planting included? What if you have a disaster? Hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters can seriously damage your hotel and its grounds. To make sure that you are prepared to deal with the impact of these events, you should ask potential bidders about their disaster recovery capabilities and how you will get scarce resources (sandbags, turf and new plant materials) following a natural disaster. Importantly, how much more is the mark-up for these add-on services?

9. Environmental Considerations - As your customers become more conscious of "green" and other environmental issues, you might want to consider a landscaping partner that is capable of helping you plan and execute your strategy for this very important area. Besides the advantages of being "environmentally friendly", a potential added benefit is that you may achieve some savings in the long run by reducing costly, labor-intensive mowing and watering. As an example, two areas for which we sought specific expertise were irrigation systems and utilization of recyclable materials such as mulch and lawn bags.

10. Creativity - Hopefully your hotel serves many repeat visitors. If so, you want to anticipate their high expectations. If your grounds look exactly the same every time your guests return, their excitement may diminish. Can your landscaping company provide a strategy for introducing creative new landscaping designs-including seasonal changes in colors of flowers and plantings, or construction of waterfalls or fountains-to add interest?

11. Ancillary Services for Seasonal Needs - Just like natural disaster planning, some parts of the country need ancillary services such as winterizing and snow and ice management. Can your landscaping company provide any of these services? If your guests have difficulty navigating your parking lot due to a poorly plowed surface, it could have a negative impact on their stay. Even employees may be affected, resulting in less efficient operations and low morale. Hotels that experience the best snow removal efficiency are those that begin lining up contractors in the off season recognizing that the best snow removal teams require a comprehensive knowledge of their parking lots - and traffic patterns - before they are buried under a mass of snow. And who knows the logistics and traffic patterns of your property better than the landscape maintenance firm who services the site throughout the season?

When selecting a potential contractor for your landscaping needs, preparing a comprehensive list of requirements is critical. Developing a scope of work that specifically outlines what services will be provided and at what frequency helps you to communicate expectations up front. This also allows all parties to clearly understand the individual needs of your hotels. Finally, it enables you to know if firms are providing comparable bids and that you are actually comparing "apples-to-apples", always a challenge in this arena.

Dennis M. Baker is president and CEO of Avendra, LLC, a business-to-business procurement company serving the hospitality industry. Mr. Baker was the EVP and GM of The Marketplace by Marriott, a division responsible for developing and implementing a strategy to consolidate and streamline procurement. Mr. Baker was responsible for overall operations, including strategic direction and business planning. He began his career at Marriott International in 1987. He joined Marriott Distribution Services in 1991, which also housed Marriott’s centralized food procurement functions. Mr. Baker can be contacted at 301-825-0500 or Dennis.baker@avendra.com Extended Bio...

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