July 09, 2025

Interview Series: Keith Bowman of McHale Landscape Design

46 minutes

In this episode, Marty is joined by Keith Bowman of McHale Landscape Design who shares what the McHale team does to find new clients, build strong client relationships, find and retain team members, install and maintain award-winning properties, and keep their business running as smoothly as possible.

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00:00 - Introduction & Welcome

01:27 - Meet Keith Bowman from McHale Landscaping

01:53 - History & Growth of McHale Landscaping

03:12 - McHale’s Unique Operations and Facilities

05:42 - Customer Service and Competitive Advantage

08:40 - Marketing and Networking Strategies

14:30 - Employee Retention and Career Development

20:12 - Family Dynamics in Business

22:53 - Balancing Family and Business

24:22 - Leveraging Subcontractors for Success

26:52 - Protecting Pricing in Landscape Design

30:50 - Efficient Morning Rollouts

36:04 - Equipment Used & Theft Prevention

41:10 - Award Winning Work & Company Culture

43:37 - Challenges at McHale and Authenticity

44:49 - Conclusion & Field Trip Invitation

Show Notes:

People are the competitive advantage: Empower employees with entrepreneurial opportunities within the company. Create "little businesses stacked on top of each other" where team members take ownership. "I believe our competitive advantages are people. And just empowering people... the McHales have given people the ability to kind of go out and make mistakes."

Customer service isn't overhead: Exceptional service doesn't require additional equipment costs but drives referrals and long-term relationships. "Customer service doesn't add overhead. If you wanna build up your team's customer service, you're not adding a truck payment."

Protect your pricing: Understand true costs and maintain appropriate margins. Compete on value, not price alone. "The number one thing... is protect your pricing... There's a lot of work that goes into landscape design building."

Family business done right: Having 37 families with multiple employees creates stability. Treat family members as employees first while leveraging family commitment. "We have 37 families that have two or more employees at the company... it shows what the McHale family has done to support our employees."

Define career paths: Help employees understand if they're "front of house" or "back of house" people and create clear advancement opportunities. "Another thing that's important to retain employees is doing your best to have a defined career path for them."

Integrate design-build and maintenance: Design-build clients make better maintenance clients because they already understand your value. "Our account managers like to get design build clients for their maintenance portfolio better... because they already know the value they're gonna get."

Strategic subcontracting: Maintain core capabilities in-house while using trusted subs for specialized work. "We do rely on subs. We have preferred subs... they're like an extension of our company."

Morning rollout is critical: The first hour sets the tone for efficiency, culture, and operational success. "Morning rollout, that first hour of the day is the most important time of the day."

Awards drive culture: Competing for industry recognition motivates teams and helps retain employees. "That also helps keep employees too, because that motivates people."

Authentic leadership: Be transparent about challenges while celebrating wins to create trust and realistic expectations. "We're not a perfect company, but we strive for the best every day."

Resources:

Virtual Sales Bootcamp

Grunder Landscaping Field Trips

The Grow Group

Grunder Landscaping

Marty Grunder LinkedIn

Stihl

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By Marty Grunder

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