5 HOA Commercial Landscaping Tips to Keep Residents Happy
How to maintain high standards to keep residents complaint-free.
Homeowner Association residents expect a hassle-free, beautiful, relaxing home environment. Maintaining high landscaping standards is a key part of the equation.
Here are 5 tips to help ensure your residents are happy by removing the “complaint department” from your list of responsibilities.
1. Maintained Commercial Landscaping Consistently Year Round
As the saying goes, if you fail to plan, you will plan to fail. The same is true for the aesthetics of your community. Keep your residents happy and give them a beautiful environment to come home to, any time of the year, with three well-documented plans:
- Proactive landscape plans with solutions for enhancements
- Year-round maintenance plans
- Storm response plan (e.g. snow, wind, rain, hail)
Landscape services planning starts with a site assessment. Document and take pictures of the current conditions of the property, define objectives, and measure success against your documented standards.
2. Protect Property Values
HOAs and property managers play a pivotal role in maintaining property values through commercial landscaping management. Eye-catching and vibrant landscapes create curb appeal attracting real estate agents, investors, and new homeowners.
Rental rates are 7% higher for multi-family dwellings that have high-quality landscapes, according to The National Association of Landscape Professionals. And the WSJ reports curb appeal raises house values by 7-14%.
Opportunities for high-impact landscaping include:
- Custom features maximizing focal points and “wow factors”
- Seasonal color design and mulching
- Site Cleanliness
- Weed Free
- Green Turf
- Xeriscaping designs utilizing elements that need little to no additional irrigation
- Crisp-Edge Beds
- Spectacular Flowers
- Uniformly Mulched Beds
- Neatly Pruned Trees & Shrubs
3. Budget Transparency with Homeowners
HOA budgets are under constant scrutiny and Landscaping is typically one of the larger line items. Keep your commercial landscaping budget in control with preplanning and minimal unbudgeted expenses:
- Streamline processes by consolidating vendors. Combine services – design, landscape maintenance, water management, tree care, snow removal, and parking lot maintenance.
- Reduce risk by partnering with a reputable company with local and national resources.
- Keep expenses under control by utilizing natural resources, reducing waste, and managing water usage and runoff.
- Avoid unexpected bills due to negligence or inexperience by utilizing qualified experts:
- Horticulturist
- Certified Arborists
- Pesticide specialists for plantings, trees, and ground cover
- Certified Irrigation Technicians
- Certified Snow Professionals
- Share with your homeowners how the budget is being allocated.
4. Choose the Right Vendor
The right vendor should become an extension of your HOA management team. Conversely, the wrong vendor will cause you to spend extra hours fielding calls from unhappy residents.
Criteria for vendor selection:
- Employees are easily identifiable (through their uniforms) on your property and are courteous to your residents
- Well-documented environment, health, and safety (EH&S) protocols
- They do what they say they are going to do - the first time
- Has local (weather, plant, and environmental) knowledge
- Can bring in the nation’s top agronomic, horticultural, and arboricultural talent
- Can leverage national team support at peak times or in an emergency
- Has established processes and programs to ensure quality
- Measures performance against agreed expectations
- Is highly reputable and financially stable
5. Open Lines of Communication
Effective communication is the foundation of a successful partnership. It’s critical that you know how your homeowners are feeling, what is concerning them, and what their expectations are of you.
Communications with a commercial landscaping partner are most effective when there is a primary point of contact who has a detailed understanding of the property. The account manager should be readily available to property managers and HOAs to provide information, recommendations and answer questions.
Effective communications include:
- Strategic planning meetings to establish priorities and timelines in line with the HOA’s vision and goals for the property
- Periodic review meetings evaluate performance and provide the opportunity to adjust
As a benchmark, BrightView’s Client Partnership Plan includes:
- Pre-Season Collaboration Meeting
- Quality Site Assessment
- Business Reviews
- Post-Season Collaboration Meeting
- Customer Satisfaction Surveys
BrightView has taken communication to the next level with BrightView Connect. This tool gives you, and your residents, the ability to report concerns in real-time through any mobile device.
If last night’s storm brought down a tree limb, simply submit a ticket, along with a photo, from your mobile device. BrightView’s commercial landscape team will respond and send you progress reports along the way.
BrightView Connect gives you the ability to
- Submit and track service requests
- View planned maintenance schedules
- View and edit community news
- Receive notification emails
- Receive weather alerts
Summary of BrightView’s Keys to Outstanding Customer Service
Some of the most common HOA challenges are creating an aesthetically pleasing environment, maintaining property values, budget control, and managing ongoing communication.
BrightView wants to help keep your residents happy. Our goal is to keep landscaping complaints to a minimum and let you focus on other priorities.
Partnering with BrightView will maintain or increase your homeowner’s property values and entice more people to visit with a well-laid-out seasonal plan. You’ll be able to access those service schedules or make a request in real-time on your mobile device. You will be in constant control.
About BrightView Landscape Services
Property management means balancing the visual appeal of your property against the cost of sustaining and protecting your investment. Our partnership ensures your landscape needs are covered from landscape maintenance, fertilization, water management, weed and pest management, tree care, snow removal, storm preparedness, and response.
Since 1939, BrightView partnerships have provided high-quality, cost-effective, and consistent commercial landscape services.
Schedule a consultation to see how BrightView can help you keep your residents happy.
