ManageMowed

The Challenge  

“We weren’t really looking for new software,” Peter Roberts, Founder of ManageMowed, a landscape management franchise, said about the decision to migrate to ServiceMinder.  

The brand had formerly been on a landscaping specific platform, but after meeting John Keene and the ServiceMinder team at IFA 2022, decided to make the switch.  

“My control [on the previous platform] was really hard. We wanted something more franchise-specific,” Peter said. “We really liked the franchise specific platform. That was the real reason to move. You guys knew franchising, so that was important so we could have more consistency across all locations.” 

How ServiceMinder Helped 

With ServiceMinder, Peter is able to view location-level details to support his franchisee’s growth.  

“I [use ServiceMinder] to look at other people’s accounts for support. How many proposals are they getting this week? Are they using the campaigns that we set up?” he says. “I don’t even have to log in to individual locations. I have the drop-down menu and I’m connected to all of them, so it’s really easy. I’m using it every day.” 

ManageMowed also leverages the technology to onboard and train new franchisees.  

A few months ago, the brand implemented monthly ServiceMinder trainings with their franchisees to share best practices. “All our operations run through [ServiceMinder]. It helps with workflows and training. It’s definitely a foundation of everything we do,” Peter explained.  

“We’re a growing system. I feel really confident in the software, in ServiceMinder, and bringing on new people. I’m confident this is going to work for everybody, so we train them on it. We’ve got the workflows. Everything works smoothly. They just have to get out there and do the work. We’re past the point of learning ServiceMinder; it’s more about perfecting and making sure people use it properly and consistently.” 

CRM transitions take time, with Peter mentioning a few franchisees are still using other systems. “I can’t see what they’re doing,” he says. “My goal would be everybody on ServiceMinder and doing their royalty reporting there every week.”  

Jeremy Pond isn’t one of those cases. Owner of ManageMowed in Eugene, OR, Portland OR, and Snohomish, WA, Jeremy is a ServiceMinder superstar. He says “I probably use ServiceMinder the most in our network on a day-to-day function. I push my team, so we all use it. I try not to have a notebook and have ServiceMinder be my repository, my go-to for scheduling and utilizing all the tools it has.”  

Jeremy doesn’t have a favorite workflow, because the entire platform serves his needs. “I leverage all of the workflows. From the initial contact to the proposal accepted to getting jobs done,” he explains.  

As for the benefit of ServiceMinder being Jeremy’s repository, he says, “The visibility. I can make shortcuts. It’s dynamic with less clicks in my day. I want to know the exceptions, what’s not been completed [across my territories]. Account managers can use this to confirm with vendors what is going on before the customer asks.  AM’s have a job to do, I have a job to do, and I hope I’m putting them in a position for success.”  

Jeremy is also a member of the beta team for the upcoming mobile app, citing it as being more intuitive and noting that he’s now removed the legacy app from his phone and is only operating with the new app for day-to-day.  

Both Peter and Jeremy appreciate the support ServiceMinder has available for franchisees. 

“The support channel has been really beefed up. I tell everybody now, ‘don’t come after me for a question’. You just get a ticket [with ServiceMinder], so that’s been really helpful,” Peter said. “I feel confident that the support team will be able to help our franchisees, and it helps eliminate some work for me.”  

Jeremy adds, “I’d tell other franchisees to leverage the help desk. They’ll get back to you. They may not have a solution right away, but they’re responsive.” 

The Results  

For fellow franchisees, Jeremy shares this advice: “There’s sometimes frustrations – that happens with any platform.  Don’t give up. Everything has warts, there’s always something you personally don’t like, but keep pushing because it will get better. Don’t use an excel spreadsheet to track. Use the system and make it your repository so you can just use everything.” 

As for franchise peers considering ServiceMinder, Peter has some advice. “Onboard slow and make sure you have a good plan when you transition franchisees. Do it properly at the beginning and train everybody on it before you go straight into it. Ultimately, it’s great for franchising and we like it.”  

ManageMowed has been with ServiceMinder going on four years. The system has grown to over 23 locations with more in development. To learn more about ManageMowed, visit https://managemowed.com/. To learn more about ServiceMinder, visit Our Platform page.