Candid sales and marketing insight for the lawn care and landscaping industry. Hosted by Chad Diller of Landscape Leadership, a digital marketing and sales agency for lawn and landscape industry companies.
OWN Your Green Industry Website: 3 Things You need
Your green industry company may have a website…but is it actually the website your company needs? And more importantly, do you truly own what you're paying an agency to build?
In this episode, Chad Diller sits down with Landscape Leadership® Digital Project Manager Kaitlin Funke to unpack what goes into building a website for a lawn care, landscaping, tree service, or other green industry company. They discuss everything from strategy, SEO, copywriting, design, photography, and development to the often-overlooked role the client needs to play in the process.
They also explain why a website should be viewed as a long-term business asset - not simply another marketing expense - and why ownership matters when choosing an agency and technology platform.
Key discussion points:
Why great websites require more than an attractive design
The three things contractors need to "own" during a website project
Why professional photography and video are valuable long-term marketing assets
The problems with cookie-cutter website templates
Why your website needs to be easy to update and portable
How hundreds of thin or repetitive SEO pages can create problems
Why fewer, stronger website pages can sometimes be the better strategy
Questions to ask an agency before hiring them to build your website
What green industry companies need to contribute during a website project
Why specific, consolidated, timely feedback keeps projects moving
How delays on the client side can derail a website launch
Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:10 Meet Kaitlin Funke
3:28 What "Ownership" Means in a Website Project
4:32 What a Digital Project Manager Actually Does
6:13 Turning Marketing Strategy Into a Website
7:06 The 3 Things You Need to Own
8:20 Why Great Photography and Video Matter
10:05 Planning Visuals Around Your Website
11:50 Why You Should Actually Own Your Website
12:50 Custom Websites vs. Templates
15:30 Building a Custom Website That's Easy to Manage
18:26 The Problem With Proprietary Website Platforms
19:55 When Your Website Has Too Many Pages
21:52 Simplifying Your Website Without Sacrificing SEO
24:10 What You Should Own After Launch
25:10 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Website Agency
26:00 Your Responsibility in the Website Project
28:25 How to Give Your Agency Better Feedback
31:55 Handling Creative Disagreements
32:45 How Much Involvement Does a Website Require?
33:25 Why Website Projects Get Delayed
34:10 What to Know Before Starting a Website Redesign
35:14 Own Your Visuals, Website, and Role
24 Aug 2026
Why New Salespeople Fail in the Green Industry
You hired an experienced salesperson, gave them a few weeks of ride-alongs, handed them a territory….and six months later, it's just not working. What went wrong?
In this episode of the Landscape Leadership® Podcast, Chad Diller talks with Kayla Lujan, founder of GRIT (Green Industry Talent), about why new salespeople struggle to gain traction in landscaping and other green industry businesses. Kayla draws on 17 years of industry experience, from working on a crew to leading sales for a top 25 landscape company, to explain why hiring the right person is only the beginning.
We unpack what effective onboarding actually looks like, why sales managers need to coach behaviors instead of simply managing numbers, and what owners should realistically expect during a salesperson's first 30, 60, and 90 days. They also challenge a long-held green industry hiring assumption: Your next great salesperson may not need green industry experience at all.
Key discussion points:
Why ride-alongs alone aren't an onboarding program
How to create clear objectives and expectations for new sales hires
Why information overload can stall a new salesperson
The difference between managing sales numbers and coaching the behaviors that produce them
Why sales leaders need to spend intentional time in the field with their team
How stronger personal relationships make sales coaching more effective
What owners should expect at 30, 60, and 90 days
Why industry experience isn't necessarily the best predictor of sales success
The traits Kayla looks for when hiring salespeople
What separates good salespeople from great ones
Why you can't hire your way out of a people-development problem
Chapters
0:00 Intro
0:42 Meet Kayla Lujan
2:20 Hiring Is Where the Work Begins
3:57 Early Warning Signs in Sales Onboarding
5:12 Why Ride-Alongs Aren't Enough
8:47 Building a Roadmap for New Salespeople
10:18 Managing Numbers vs. Coaching Behaviors
14:16 Why Sales Leaders Need to Get in the Field
16:54 Building Trust Before You Coach
19:40 Are Owners Expecting Results Too Quickly?
21:12 What to Expect in the First 30, 60 & 90 Days
23:02 Where Should You Find Great Salespeople?
24:54 Stop Making Sales a Dumping Ground
27:44 Can Great Sales Skills Be Taught?
29:23 Rapid-Fire Sales Leadership Advice
31:27 How GRIT Helps Green Industry Sales Teams
33:02 The Real Key to Developing Great Salespeople
11 Jul 2026
What 70+ Videos Taught Level Green Landscaping
A lot of landscaping companies create one or two videos and stop. But what happens when you commit to creating video content consistently for more than a decade?
In this episode, we sit down with Marion Delano of Level Green Landscaping to discuss how more than 70 videos have transformed their sales process, recruiting, company culture, and brand. Rather than treating video as a one-time marketing project, Level Green built a long-term content library that supports nearly every stage of the customer and employee journey. Marion shares practical lessons on planning, production, ROI, and why authentic storytelling continues to outperform polished sales pitches.
Reach and audience
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YouTube views
214,194
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.8 / 5
8 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 50 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
34
Social presence
0
YouTube
86
Engagement
81
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