We’re enjoying the first snow of the season!

If you are in the Kansas City area, and are interested in EMERGENCY SNOW REMOVAL SERVICES, because you are without a current contract, or your current snow and ice control contractor did not perform plow, salt, sand, sidewalk clearing, or any of the above services, please contact us.  We are available 24-Hours a day for Emergency Snow Removal Services.  Contact us via email at sales@highland-outdoor.com (this email is forwarded to our phone) or call us at 913-238-0164 during non-business hours, or 913-782-3700 during regular business hours.  This is for Commercial Clients only in the Greater Kansas City Area.

Earlier this year, we told you about how Highland Outdoor was named one of Kansas City’s Top Companies.  The magazine article recently came out, and we got a copy…  Here is the screen shot from Midwest CEO Magazine…  We’re honored!

Well folks, the cold weather has officially arrived and if you have any landscaping that has just been installed or has been in your yard for quite awhile, there are things that you can do to ensure that next spring will bring lots of buds and green leaves to your plants and grass.

If you are on our turf application list or someone else’s, you should have received an application on your lawn at some point in November or December that contains mostly nitrogen that will give the turf the nutrients needed for winter.  The nitrogen will promote root growth and food storage for winter survival of your turf.

To prepare your shrubs and trees for winter weather, pruning is a great idea that will encourage a healthy growth for when spring time rolls around.  Most pruning should be done after the leaves have turned which will mean the plants are dormant for the winter.  Some plants might need to be wrapped with burlap to protect them from the harsh winter weather.  Spreading mulch around the base of the plants will also help in protecting them.

Tree branches should be pruned so that they are not near any power lines or hanging over your house.  This will especially be helpful in the event of an ice storm.  If you have already pruned the branches back beforehand, you will be happy that you did and might not have as much damage from falling limbs if an ice storm does occur.

If you need any help at all with your winter prepping please contact our office at 913.782.3700.

About a month ago, I wrote about “SWGKC, Day 1″ - and we’ve been patiently waiting to tell you the rest of the story…  We’re excited and enthusiastic about the launch of a sister company, Southwest Greens of Kansas City.  Our launch of this new company was around the install of a professional grade competition synthetic putting green in the backyard of my friend and MLB Hall of Famer George Brett.  We’ve got final photos of the install, and posted them to our Project Portfolio.  Click here to see some photos from the install and the final product.

Southwest Greens of Kansas City has been an exciting road to have gone down the last year or so.  Please visit our new website (although, at this time, not 100% complete) at www.swgkc.com.  If you’re interested in the story of how Highland Outdoor got involved in Southwest Greens, and specifically George’s role in asking me to start the business, you can read it on the SWGKC website, under “About Us”…

Southwest Greens has an impressive list of pro endorsements - from Vijay Singh to John Smoltz to Jim Fuyrk to name a few… And now, Kansas City’s own George Brett can be added to the list of Pro Atheletes who have the golf product at their personal residence.

Out Southwest Greens team at Highland (Highland Outdoor is the exclusive installer for SWGKC) has been thoroughly trained to install these putting greens, and we are excited for our formal launch soon.

For more information on Southwest Greens of Kansas City, visit our website, or email us here.  We hope you enjoy the photos…  And the product!

It never ceases to amaze me how fast the seasons change in Kansas City. Autumn is here, and soon enough the cold blistery winter will sweep over Kansas.

It’s time to start thinking about a few things.

Have you called the office to set up a winterization for your sprinkler system? Here in the next few weeks we will have our first freeze. You can call the office and speak to Natasha to get your name on the list!

Many of the tree’s are starting to turn colors and drop leaves, which means you may need a fall lawn clean up. If you are like me, you want to get those pesky leaves off of the lawn for a fresh clean look.

And, last but not least have you scheduled Highland Outdoor to design and construct your holiday décor? Many of you took advantage of this great service last year, and we have your décor in our storage. Which I think is great, how nice to have one less thing in your personal storage spaces. We will be sending out our annual information sheet in the next few weeks, in case this is a service you would like to start! Why not, one less thing you have to worry about for the holiday season!

If there is anything else we can do to help you prepare for the winter please give us a call at the office Natasha or I would be glad to help you!

Cheers!

-Abby

From the October 6th Kansas City Star:

Meeting customer expectations keeps them coming back

By ROBERT COLE

The Kansas City Star

The pre-dawn ritual at the North Kansas City Community Center is a familiar sight at many fitness and indoor recreation centers throughout greater Kansas City.

About 50 to 80 early birds kick off the day swimming laps, lifting weights or playing a quick game of pickup basketball before showering and heading to work.

Which means a really early start for the center’s staff.

The facility must be ready for business at 5:29 a.m. to serve members who want to be at their job by 7, said Greg Hansen, center director.

Providing the preferred hours and offerings to customers who thrive on getting a daily dose of health and wellness is common at area fitness venues. But such adjustments to customers’ needs and desires also is increasingly important for other businesses.

“Customer service is the biggest make-or-break in business,” said Jason Cupp, president and CEO of Highland Outdoor, an Olathe-based landscaping firm.

It is not only being honest and treating every customer like gold, it is also identifying what their needs are before the customer has to identify them, he said.

How area companies and municipalities choose to define quality products and service can result in expensive, time-consuming improvements. Yet they also can relate to more basic customer expectations, including cleanliness and accessibility.

Olathe Toyota spent nearly two years upgrading its facility, said Kenny Thomas, company president. The dealership’s service department is now open seven days a week, primarily to serve families who often are too busy during the week to come in for oil changes and basic repairs.

In May, the Gamber Center, an 18,000-square-foot multigenerational facility, opened north of downtown Lee’s Summit. The center is programming more daytime activities for the city’s senior population, including instructional programming in its arts and crafts and computer rooms, said David Dean, the department’s superintendent of recreation services.

New workout equipment designed for the body types of preteens and an older, smaller-size population also was added in May to the city’s Legacy Park Community Center, he said.

Despite the expense of recent additions and physical improvements, the department focuses on customer expectations every day. Dean said staff members walk the grounds of fitness centers and ball diamonds to talk with patrons about their experiences, particularly cleanliness.

“It’s the number one priority,” Dean said. “If the facility is not clean, then we know they won’t come back. We have to make sure that they’re all in tip-top shape.”

Cupp, of Highland Outdoor, writes a blog focused on landscaping trends, but he often posts pictures of company team members when they attend fundraising events.

“It makes us more real to our clients,” Cupp said. “When we build relationships with them, they see us as real people and not a company. It actually allows customer service to be a lot easier.”

In harsh weather, Cupp posts information to the company’s Web site to reassure clients how their trees and plants may be affected.

“It sends a consistent, timely message to our clients,” he said. “It helps us build relationships with people.”

Despite the rain today, we completed the portion of our first project that we planned to.  We hope the rain subsides tonight and we have a good day tomorrow.  Some photos from our first day…

More tomorrow - hopefully, NO RAIN!

If you haven’t been to the SWGKC website yet, visit it here…  Full update next Monday/Tuesday overnight….

I have some exciting news… but I can’t quite share it with you - yet.

Check back next week on our blog for updates relating to this awesome news, but in the meantime, visit a new website we will be launching:  www.swgkc.com

We wanted to begin to reveal here for our website visitors, as well as our existing clients before we make a formal, public announcement…  Check back next week!

Highland Outdoor was recently featured in an article in the Kansas City Star on Customer Service and Expectations:

Meeting customer expectations keeps them coming back

By ROBERT COLE

The Kansas City Star

The pre-dawn ritual at the North Kansas City Community Center is a familiar sight at many fitness and indoor recreation centers throughout greater Kansas City.

About 50 to 80 early birds kick off the day swimming laps, lifting weights or playing a quick game of pickup basketball before showering and heading to work.

Which means a really early start for the center’s staff.

The facility must be ready for business at 5:29 a.m. to serve members who want to be at their job by 7, said Greg Hansen, center director.

Providing the preferred hours and offerings to customers who thrive on getting a daily dose of health and wellness is common at area fitness venues. But such adjustments to customers’ needs and desires also is increasingly important for other businesses.

“Customer service is the biggest make-or-break in business,” said Jason Cupp, president and CEO of Highland Outdoor, an Olathe-based landscaping firm.

It is not only being honest and treating every customer like gold, it is also identifying what their needs are before the customer has to identify them, he said.

How area companies and municipalities choose to define quality products and service can result in expensive, time-consuming improvements. Yet they also can relate to more basic customer expectations, including cleanliness and accessibility.

Olathe Toyota spent nearly two years upgrading its facility, said Kenny Thomas, company president. The dealership’s service department is now open seven days a week, primarily to serve families who often are too busy during the week to come in for oil changes and basic repairs.

In May, the Gamber Center, an 18,000-square-foot multigenerational facility, opened north of downtown Lee’s Summit. The center is programming more daytime activities for the city’s senior population, including instructional programming in its arts and crafts and computer rooms, said David Dean, the department’s superintendent of recreation services.

New workout equipment designed for the body types of preteens and an older, smaller-size population also was added in May to the city’s Legacy Park Community Center, he said.

Despite the expense of recent additions and physical improvements, the department focuses on customer expectations every day. Dean said staff members walk the grounds of fitness centers and ball diamonds to talk with patrons about their experiences, particularly cleanliness.

“It’s the number one priority,” Dean said. “If the facility is not clean, then we know they won’t come back. We have to make sure that they’re all in tip-top shape.”

Cupp, of Highland Outdoor, writes a blog focused on landscaping trends, but he often posts pictures of company team members when they attend fundraising events.

“It makes us more real to our clients,” Cupp said. “When we build relationships with them, they see us as real people and not a company. It actually allows customer service to be a lot easier.”

In harsh weather, Cupp posts information to the company’s Web site to reassure clients how their trees and plants may be affected.

“It sends a consistent, timely message to our clients,” he said. “It helps us build relationships with people.”

Highland Outdoor is pleased to be named, along with several of Kansas City’s other incredible landscape and design/build firms as one of the “Best Landscaping Companies in Kansas City” - see the article below, or a direct link at here. Thank you Associated Content!  We are honored to be on a list of such reputable firms…