He focuses on high-end remodelers.

At first glance, remodelers and landscapers look like two different industries.

One works inside the home. The other works outside.

One builds indoor kitchens, additions, and living spaces. The other builds outdoor gardens and environments.

But at the high end, they are playing almost the exact same game.

(Note: if you are in the commercial segment, pay attention if you also want to raise your standards of operation.)

High-end landscapers and high-end remodelers both sell trust, taste, transformation, and risk reduction.

They are not simply selling labor, materials, plants, stone, cabinets, or fixtures. They are selling a better way to live.

High-end residential clients are emotionally invested.

They care about beauty, comfort, pride, status, family, entertaining, and how their home feels when the work is done.

That means the client experience matters just as much as the finished product.

In this podcast, “Building a High-End Client Experience,” Kyle and I talked about what these two industries have in common—and what we can learn from each other.

We dug into premium positioning, client expectations, communication, design-build handoffs, change orders, jobsite professionalism, and why scaling a high-end business without diluting quality is one of the toughest leadership challenges.

My biggest takeaway:

At the high end, craftsmanship gets you noticed.

But fine-tuned systems, communication, and leadership are what get you referred and allow you to grow profitably.

If you serve high-end clients—or want to—this conversation will give you plenty to think about.

Regards,
Jeffrey!

The post Building a High-End Client Experience appeared first on Jeffrey Scott.

TAKEAWAYS

This is no longer just a list of big companies. It is a snapshot of the future.

I compared this year’s list with 2016 and pulled out three major lessons.

First, BrightView remains #1, but its growth has been modest compared to the explosive growth lower down the list. Size and short term thinking does not always make a winning combo.

Second, I looked at the #10 and #25 spots.

The #10 in 2016 had 128mil in revenue. In 2026, that spot had more than 460mil.
The #25 showed similar, with a 3.5x jump in revenue from ’16 to ’26.
This growth highlights the bigger changes happening;

• industry consolidation and outside investment,
• stronger management teams and better platforms, and
• the growing importance of recurring revenue.

Third, what about single-location operators?

The bottom ten spots on this list tell a different story: In 2016, #100 was 17.8 M in revenue. In 2026, #100 was 36.5 mil.

Taking inflation into account, it’s not that much higher. That means there is still ample room at the bottom for the privately held companies to grow and get on this list.

Here are my 5 overarching lessons from this list:

1. Get more professional.

The companies at the top and at the bottom show what the market increasingly values: recurring revenue, clean financials, leadership depth, sales discipline, and a business not completely dependent on the owner.

That applies whether you are doing 3, 10, 25 M, or more.

2. Client Lifetime Value matters more than ever.

Recurring maintenance, lawn care, tree care, snow, and long-term contracts create stability. They create a stronger base to grow from.

If you are design/build-heavy, this does not mean your model is broken, especially if it’s highly profitable.

But you should think harder about client lifetime value: enhancement work, maintenance conversion, and repeat relationships.

3. Turn hustle into systems.

These top companies sell, schedule, produce, manage, and measure work with more consistency.

Smaller companies do not need big-company bureaucracy to compete. But they do need better software, better data discipline, and simple repeatable systems.

If everything still runs through the owner’s head, the company is fragile.

4. Upgrade leadership depth.

These top 100 companies are not just growing revenue. They are constantly upgrading their management depth. I see this all the time, including from my clients that are on this top 100 list!

These firms are constantly building a base of better: branch/account managers, sales leaders, production managers, finance, HR, etc.

Small companies should ask one hard question: Who besides me owns results?

5. Avoid the double-edged sword.

Bigger companies can have stronger recruiting, buying power, capital access, and great systems.

But scale can also create culture dilution, complexity, cash flow pressure, and leadership gaps.

The future does not automatically belong to the biggest companies. It will belong to the companies that get better (and thereby get bigger.) That is an important distinction.

Become the better company that attracts better clients and employees.

Your Challenge: Stay Agile.

You can still compete with larger companies for talent and clients –– it takes being more agile, responsive, focused, and staying connected.

The L&L Top 100 is no longer just a leaderboard. It is a mirror showing where the industry is headed.

Pay attention.

Because the next ten years will reward companies that stay abreast and keep adapting.

Let’s go!

Regards,
Jeffrey Scott

The post What the L&L Top 100 Reveals About Our Industry appeared first on Jeffrey Scott.

We are starting Kai off as an intern, and from there the sky’s the limit.

His mom, our daughter Kate, has come a long way! For those of you who know me, you have heard some of the stories.

She has worked hard over many years to find herself, work on herself, and become the person she is today.

Kai is the son of Jay Washington and Kate Scott

Two years ago, we trusted her with something meaningful.

We invested in a house where she became the live-in landlord. She found the tenants, got the leases signed, managed the relationships, and handled the responsibilities.

She surprised us with how she stepped up.

We gave her trust, responsibility, and full “immersive” ownership. She was literally immersed in the situation.

It reminds me of the classic chicken-and-egg challenge of leadership.

Sometimes we wait for people to prove they are ready before we give them responsibility.

Other times, people prove they are ready because someone sees their potential and gives them real responsibility.

People will rise to the occasion in all walks of life and work. And I can see Kate doing the same again with her firstborn, Kai.

A Business Lesson in Leadership

This reminds me of a conversation I had recently with one of our peer group members. He was very frustrated.

He wants his team to take more ownership, so he is not the only person driving the business forward. I am sure you can relate.

Even though I had not met his team yet, my advice became clear as we spoke.

If you want them to act like owners, treat them more like owners and partners.

Invest in them. Share information with them. Give them pieces of the business to run and grow, like you would a partner.

We all want our people to think and act like owners, but are we doing enough to make that happen?

If you are holding back the numbers and goals, making all the final decisions, keeping key relationships close to your chest, solving every problem yourself, and not allowing others to make mistakes, then ownership will not happen.

It’s no wonder others do not step up.

So Where Do You Start?

You don’t have to hand over the keys to the kingdom and walk away.

It starts with giving someone a meaningful piece of the business to manage, sharing your goals, a vision for success, some key metrics, and then being a mentor — like we were to “landlord Kate.”

It requires the balance of an upfront investment while at the same time “letting go” and letting them own it.

“Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do (and why) and let them surprise you with their results.” — General George S. Patton

Your Challenge: You have to see the hint of what is possible in someone before they fully see it in themselves.

That was true with Kate. It will be true with our grandson Kai.

And it could be true with the next leader inside your company.

Are you acting like the sole landlord of your business, or are you allowing others to immerse themselves and feel the ownership?!

Hoorah for the next generation!

It’s time to roll.

Go get ’em.

Regards,
Jeffrey Scott

The post We Expanded Our Team – By Adding A Special Person appeared first on Jeffrey Scott.

🚨 Super early bird ends May 8th! Register now and save $400 per ticket: https://jeffreyscott.biz/summer-growth-summit-26/

Key Takeaways:

There is no shortage of noise and distraction right now.

Your employees hear it everywhere: economic uncertainty, political tension, rising costs, overseas conflicts, and endless social media opinions.

You cannot control what your team hears outside of work.

But you can become the most trusted voice they hear inside your company.

Inoculate your team from outside distractions.

Your team needs more than a once a month memo. They need consistent, engaging and positive communication, every day, like a radio station.

Why it’s important:

When leaders go quiet, their people do not assume everything is fine. They fill the silence with gossip and guesses. And those guesses are usually worse than reality.

Here is how you fill the void.

Nine Ways to Become Your Employee’s Favorite Radio Station:

1. Be on the air consistently.
   Do not communicate only when there is a problem. Share weekly updates and daily if needed. Small, steady communication beats the occasional big announcement.
2. Use more than one channel.
   Video, email, group text, team huddles, dashboards, handwritten notes, and quick jobsite visits all count. Mix serious updates with encouragement, recognition, and fun.
3. Let more leaders become voices.
   A good radio station has more than one announcer. If only the owner is communicating, the message gets stale or bottlenecked. Department heads, managers, and crew leaders should all help carry the message.
4. Share real facts and figures.
   Tell your team how the company is doing. Share wins, challenges, backlog, sales progress, safety results, client feedback, and key numbers.People will love the trust you give them by sharing the truth.
5. Talk about the future.
   Keep your future-focused plans visible. Are you investing in better equipment? Testing automowers or new technology? Improving onboarding? Building a stronger sales process?Share what you are working on and why it matters—but only when you know you will follow through.
6. Explain the “why” behind changes.
   New productivity goals, pricing changes, service standards, or protocols can feel like pressure without appropriate context.Connect the dots between better performance, stronger margins, better clients, and better opportunities for the team.
7. Share what comes out of leadership meetings.
   When you hold leadership meetings, your employees see the bosses meeting behind closed doors. They naturally wonder what was discussed. After each leadership meeting, share a few relevant decisions, priorities, or updates.
8. Recognize sacrifice and effort.
   If you are asking your team to push harder, adapt to change, or tighten up performance, then acknowledge it. When appropriate, explain what leaders are doing too.Shared sacrifice builds credibility.
9. Tune into WIIFM: “What’s In It For Me?”
   Your employees’ favorite radio station is WIIFM. They want to know how company decisions will affect them. Will they result in:
   • More stability?
   • Better equipment?
   • Better training?
   • More career opportunity?
   • Better clients?
   • Stronger year-end results?

   Make the personal benefit and impact clear. Don’t assume they see it.

Your Challenge: Communicate more, even when you have less time.

When leaders get busy, they communicate just enough to keep things moving.

Yet poor communication is one of the bigger issues that employees ask us to solve when we are consulting. As industry consultants, we often see a communication vacuum doing damage to your company.

The true proactive leader understands that communication is their main job.

“Treat your entire team as your inner circle” and they will step up and act like it.

As you grow, you will have to parse out information carefully, but never forget:

“Give trust and respect, and you will get it back in abundance.”

In a world full of noise, become the station your employees can count on.

Regards,
Jeffrey!

P.S. At our Summer Growth Summit (Aug 18–20) you will visit two companies who are excellent at building an energetic employee-first culture.

Get fired up by the speakers and 2 facility tours!

Register now to save $400 per ticket; Super Early Bird pricing ends soon, May 8.

The post Become Your Employees’ Favorite Radio Station appeared first on Jeffrey Scott.

You know the usual advice: build strong systems, teams, earnings, and recurring revenue.

Many owners miss a fundamental value-driver hiding in plain sight: brand equity.

It may start with a new logo, website, truck wrap, or color scheme. But it goes deeper.

I know from my family’s business—where I always kept a focus on building brand equity. When it finally sold, our loyal client base, reputation, and market position were a large part of the value.

That is why your brand equity matters. It affects the economics of the business in ways many owners underestimate.

Take My Brand Equity Quiz

1. Pricing Power

When clients see your company as dependable, professional, and lower risk, they are less likely to make decisions based on price alone.

A strong brand helps your team defend price and protect margin.

Ask yourself: Do your salespeople believe in the pricing power of your brand?

2. Sales Efficiency

A solid brand pre-sells your company. Leads and upsells close faster because prospects come in with more trust and less skepticism.

That trust shortens the sales cycle and improves close rates.

Ask yourself: How smooth and client-friendly is your sales process?

3. Customer Loyalty

Customers stay with companies that keep their word, communicate well, and deliver a consistently strong experience.

That loyalty helps when mistakes happen, prices rise, or competitors undercut you.

Ask yourself: Are you measuring client satisfaction and loyalty in a meaningful way? Are you being equally loyal to your clients in return?

4. Recruiting and Retention of Employees

In a labor-constrained industry, employer reputation matters.

If your company is known as a place where people are respected, developed, and proud to work, that becomes a competitive advantage.

Better people stay longer, serve clients better, and reinforce the reputation that attracted them in the first place.

Ask yourself: Are you measuring employee satisfaction and acting on what you learn?

5. Brand Is Bigger Than the Owner

A valuable business cannot depend on the owner’s personality, relationships, or hustle.

Yes, owners should stay involved with top clients. But the company’s credibility should extend beyond one person. A strong brand gives clients confidence in the entire company.

Ask yourself: How well trained and empowered are your people to represent your brand? Are they steeped in everything your brand stands for?

Your Challenge: Building Your Brand While Building Your Business

Here is the irony of branding: it matters less what you say about yourself and more what your clients say about you—both to your face and behind your back.

Google reviews and marketing matter, but they are only part of the story.

If you really want to build brand equity, spend time listening to clients.

Find out what is working and what is not. Here are a few practical ways to do that beyond a client satisfaction questionnaire:

• Hold a client focus group each year
• Invite clients to speak to your team
• Take clients to lunch and ask for honest feedback

As you build value over the next few years, focus on this too.

It will impact all the important parts of your business: sales, company culture, referrals, retention, recruiting, profit margins, and ultimately valuation.

Play the long game.

Regards,
Jeffrey

P.S. At our Summer Growth Summit (Aug 18–20), you will learn from two great brand builders. They will share how they built their brands, what worked, and how you can apply it to your company.

Register now to save $400 per ticket; Super Early Bird pricing ends May 8.

The post Brand Equity: The Overlooked Way to Increase Company Value appeared first on Jeffrey Scott.