The numbers in the LM150 — sponsored by John Deere and conveniently celebrating $11 billion in total revenue in its eleventh year — continue to impress. The top four companies remain unchanged from 2018, with BrightView, TruGreen, The Davey Tree Expert Co. and Bartlett Tree Experts maintaining their positions in spots one through four. Florida-based Yellowstone Landscape cracks the top five, reporting 32 percent growth, from $174 million in 2017 to $230 million in 2018. Read Yellowstone’s story here.
Along with compiling these numbers, we talked with five different LM150 companies about their keys to success, including how they landed that “big fish” account. We also spoke with Ken Taylor, sales manager, Corporate Business Division of John Deere, on the topic on Landscape Management TV.
See the videos:
“At John Deere, we do the same thing — we look for that big fish too,” Taylor says. “How that starts for us, and for the contractors I interact with, is that you first have to understand the customer. Who they are, what their needs are, what kind of services they need.”
The information in the LM150 is self-reported unless otherwise noted. Some companies don’t break out their service lines, so we can’t be sure what revenue is specific to typical green industry services. There are several firms that opt not to participate in the list, there are others we don’t know about and it’s possible some firms’ revenues overlap due to subcontracting agreements.
Methodology
LM sought submissions from landscape companies in the magazine, here on our website, via email and over the phone from January through May. Companies submitted their details through an online form. LM editors compiled the results and, where applicable, removed nontypical green industry revenue sources from totals reported by companies. For example, we omit revenue from pest and janitorial services.
We estimated revenue for firms that didn’t provide data if they participated in last year’s list and reported a projected 2018 revenue figure. We calculated the numbers for client mix, profit centers and regional charts based on data submitted.
Who did we miss?
Should your company be on the LM150 list of the largest landscape companies? Or do you know of one we missed? Contact Special Projects Editor Marisa Palmieri at mpalmieri@northcoastmedia.net to be notified in early 2020 when the submission period opens. We encourage companies with more than $8 million in revenue to enter.
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To view the complete list, breakdowns and company profiles, check out a PDF version here.
