The GROW! Show

Marty Grunder
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The GROW! Show is a show that highlights Marty Grunder's annual conference, GROW!. The GROW! show will showcase how anyone in the green industry can grow themselves, their team, and their business.

  1. 5 DAYS AGO

    The Consistency Framework: Culture, Quality, and Client Experience with Marty Grunder

    In this solo episode, Marty Grunder breaks down why growing companies struggle to stay consistent and what to do about it. Growth exposes every crack in your operation. Customers do not see departments or branches. They see one company. Marty walks through his consistency framework: clear standards plus trained leaders plus enforced systems. He covers the three areas where most companies break down: culture, quality, and client experience. BOBYARD is an AI-powered takeoff and estimating platform that automates the most time-consuming parts of bidding work. Contractors report up to 65% reduction in takeoff time and 3-5x more bids submitted per estimator. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Chapters 00:30 - Welcome & Please Subscribe! 01:06 - Inspiration From Dan Pink 01:57 - Why Consistency Matters 03:51 - Three Consistency Pillars 06:08 - Non Negotiables at Grunder 06:45 - Leaders Model Culture 09:36 - Quality Standards System 10:28 - Visuals & Scorecards for Your Team 12:15 - Inspect and Coach Fast 13:26 - Client Journey Mapping 14:04 - One Voice Messaging 14:59 - Feedback and Snow Lessons 16:44 - Consistency Framework Recap 17:54 - Action Steps 18:39 - Please Subscribe and Share! Key Learnings Growth Exposes Inconsistency: What works at one crew breaks at five or ten. Customers see one company and expect consistent delivery. Action: Identify where your span of control has broken down. Fix the handoffs. Culture Is Behavior, Not Posters: You can post values on the wall, but culture is what your people actually do on job sites. Action: Define what doing it your way looks like in observable terms. Role play it. Show real examples. How You Treat Leaders Is How They Treat Clients: What goes downhill flows all the way to the customer. Action: Ask yourself how problems get handled. Do you correct with respect or frustration? Standardize the Non-Negotiables: Core behaviors should never change regardless of crew or location. Action: Document one standard this week. Train to it. Inspect it. Quality Requires Documentation: You cannot inspect what you have not defined. Photos of good, better, and best give your team a target. Action: Build visual standards. Use photos. Make quality observable. Inconsistency Lives in the Handoffs: Map the client journey from first call to final invoice. Transitions are where consistency breaks. Action: Identify who touches the client and where the handoffs occur. Tighten those gaps. Feedback Is a Control System: Reviews, surveys, and follow-ups catch patterns before they become problems. Action: Secret shop your own company. Ask clients over lunch what they would do differently. The Consistency Framework Clear Standards + Trained Leaders + Enforced Systems = Consistency Culture: Defined behaviors. It starts with you. Quality: Documented processes. Pictures of good, better, best. Experience: Standardized communication. Eliminate "that's not my job." Reflection Questions Where are you inconsistent right now? If you hired your own company, where woul...

    19 min

  2. 18 MAR

    Interview Series: Bob Marks on Scaling Snow Operations and Managing Zero-Downtime Facilities

    In this episode, Marty is joined by Bob Marks, owner of EMI Landscape in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. Bob grew the company from $700K to over $13 million in revenue and has built one of the most impressive snow operations in the industry. A former Audi mechanic who returned to his family's business when his stepfather was injured, Bob shares the details of their fleet, how they manage large zero-downtime facilities, and how they keep 150+ employees motivated through long storm events. BOBYARD is an AI-powered takeoff and estimating platform that automates the most time-consuming parts of bidding work. Contractors report up to 65% reduction in takeoff time and 3-5x more bids submitted per estimator. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Chapters 01:35 - Meet Bob Marks 02:23 - From DC to EMI 04:35 - Scaling EMI 06:21 - Working with Mack Trucks 07:45 - EMI’s Fleet 09:38 - Plows and Efficiency 11:04 - Snowfall and Forecasting 13:03 - Buy vs Leasing Strategy 16:09 - Maintenance and Options 20:08 - Zero Tolerance Clients 21:45 - Saying No to Grow 26:47 - Selling Snow Work 28:04 - Subcontractor Labor 29:24 - Fair Subcontractor Partnerships 30:51 - Accountability With Brokers 32:31 - Year Round Snow Planning 33:43 - Equipment Ordering Strategy 35:36 - Staffing & Training Bootcamp 38:07 - Projector Based Site Training 38:40 - Truck Brush Safety Costs 40:43 - The Storm Communication Playbook 43:35 - Motivation, Culture, and Bonus System 46:31 - Biggest Snow Challenges 50:09 - Pride in People First 52:49 - Please Like, Share and Subscribe! Key Learnings Make Sure the Client Wants What You Are Offering: If they do not want it, you will not make them happy. Getting expectations clear upfront saves everyone. Action: Be clear on who you are, where you are going, and who you want to work for. Say no to work that does not fit. Partner with Your Dealer: The biggest equipment mistake was not building a relationship with a local dealer who could advise on specs, options, and configurations. Action: Go to lunch. Talk regularly. Learn what you do not know about quick couplers, transmissions, and winter packages before you buy. The Implement Matters as Much as the Machine: A small plow on a $200,000 loader means you are not getting the efficiency out of that machine. Action: Invest in hydraulic wing plows and proper attachments. EMI reduced their fleet by 15% and did the same amount of work. Snow Never Turns Off: Planning is year-round. Equipment orders happen now. The SIMA Symposium in June kicks off the next winter season. Action: Finalize equipment and personnel by September or October. Train regional managers before training everyone else. The 48-24-12 Rule: Give your team 48 hours notice when snow is in the forecast, 24 hours to confirm availability and send referrals, and 6-12 hours for the final call. Action: Communicate early so people show up prepared. No sneakers, no excuses, no last-minute surprises. Treat Subcontractors Like Partners: Pay them faster than you get paid. Give them all the work on their site, not just the big storms. Treat them like human beings. Action: Be picky...

    55 min

  3. 11 MAR

    Metrics: The Early Indicators You Should Watch in Spring with Marty Grunder

    In this solo episode, Marty Grunder explains why spring success is not decided in May. It is decided by what you notice or miss in March and April. Most owners look at lagging indicators like revenue, profit, and backlog. Those tell you how you did. This episode is about leading indicators: the signals that tell you early whether spring is going well or quietly slipping away. BOBYARD is an AI-powered takeoff and estimating platform that automates the most time-consuming parts of bidding work. Contractors report up to 65% reduction in takeoff time and 3-5x more bids submitted per estimator. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Chapters 00:28 - Welcome & Thanks to our sponsor BOBYARD 01:10 - People First Leadership 01:50 - Spring Leading Indicators 02:34 - Production Efficiency Signals 05:38 - Morning Rollout Speed 08:26 - Sales Op Handoff 10:50 - Weekly Metrics Matter 13:07 - BobYard Ad Read 16:12 - Training During the Peak Season 19:06 - Eliminate Fires with Client Communication 20:53 - Early Season Challenges 23:17 - Wrap Up - Please Share & Subscribe! Key Learnings Production Efficiency Shows Up First: Crews running long on jobs they have done a hundred times before is not bad luck. That is inefficiency leaking out. Action: Watch weekly revenue per labor hour, job duration versus estimate, and efficiency ratings. If you are not watching hours, spring will decide for you. Morning Rollout Tells the Truth: A smooth morning rollout is indicative of a very well run company. Daily mobilization speed matters. Action: Are work tickets decided the night before? Are trucks set up so crews are not sharing equipment? Watch how fast crews leave and return. Sales to Production Alignment: If sales and operations drift right now, the gap only widens as volume increases. Action: Do not let jobs get sold and posted on the schedule that are not set up correctly. A sold job means nothing if it costs more than you bid. Fewer Metrics, More Frequently: Spring does not require more metrics. It requires fewer metrics reviewed more frequently. Action: Focus on weekly labor efficiency, billed versus produced revenue, missed production days, equipment breakdowns, and staffing gaps. Train for Consistency, Not Excellence: Spring is not your training season, but some training is non-negotiable. Rework during peak season is margin poison. Action: Avoid long classroom sessions and new system rollouts. Focus on job setup and team leader communication. Get them doing most of it right. Client Communication Prevents Fires: Most spring client issues are not operational problems. They are informational problems. Action: Go to clients and tell them things before they start wondering. Promise a week or a window, not a day. Clients tolerate delays far better than silence. Small Misses Compound Into Big Problems: If 30% of your crews are not following the process, that is not a coaching issue. That is company-wide. Action: Do not assume volume will fix efficiency. The earlier you correct what is off track, the cheaper it is to fix. The Core Message The hardest part of spring is not the work. It is thinking clearly under p...

    25 min

  4. 4 MAR

    Five Things Leaders Do (and Don't Do) That Undermine Their Respect

    In this episode, Marty shares 5 things he sees people doing as leaders that undermines their credibility or relationships with team members. He gives common mistakes that can hold you back in your career or limit the growth of your direct reports to help you notice if you're doing these things and course correct while there's time. ACE Peer Groups Register for ACE Discovery - March 25-27th ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Chapters 01:27 - Why Respect Erodes 02:20 - Apologies That Disappear 03:31 - Actions Over Words 04:46 - Stop Cancelling Meetings 06:07 - Regulated Leadership Wins 07:49 - Think Through Optics 10:11 - One Change This Week 10:42 - Please Like, Share & Subscribe! Key Learnings  "Leadership isn't what you intend. It's what people experience." - Marty Grunder The Apology That Disappears: The moment you say "but," you erase the apology. No one remembers what came before it. Action: If you are going to apologize, let it stand alone. Say "I was wrong, I own it, I will handle it differently next time." Then stop talking. What You Do Matters More Than What You Say: Your team does not follow your declarations. They follow your patterns. Action: Your calendar reveals your priorities. Your reactions reveal your standards. Your tolerance defines your culture. Your behavior is the real policy. Canceling Meetings: When you cancel, your team learns that commitments are flexible and that your time matters more than theirs. Action: If you schedule it, honor it. If you must cancel, do it early, give a real reason, and go to great lengths to reschedule. Spend time Sunday planning your week. Do Not Let Them See You Sweat: Your team reads your nervous system. If you look rattled, they feel rattled. Your nervous system is contagious. Action: Vent up, not down. Problem solve across. Reassure down the org chart. Find a spouse, mentor, or peer group member to process with. Think Through the Optics: People do not judge your intent. They judge what they see. Optics are the receipts of trust. Action: Before you make a decision, ask yourself: if I were them, what story would I tell about this? Does this match the sacrifice I am asking others to make? The Core Message Trust is not rebuilt with speeches. It is rebuilt with consistent behavior that people can see. Do not try to fix all five. Pick one behavior you are going to tighten up this week. Reflection Questions When was the last time you apologized and then added "but"? What would it look like to let the apology stand alone? If your team only watched your behavior and ignored your words, what would they say your real values are? What decision have you made recently that might look different to your team than it felt to you? Resources: ACE Peer Groups Virtual Sales Bootcamp   Grunder Landscaping Fi...

    12 min

  5. 25 FEB

    What Owners Should Be Thinking About This Spring - Marty Grunder

    In this solo episode, Marty Grunder delivers a direct message for landscape business owners heading into the busy season: Spring does not forgive. It does not slow down, and it does not wait for you to feel ready. This is not a tactical checklist. It is a mindset reset for leaders who want to enter the season decided rather than hoping things work out. Event Home: GROW! 2027 2026 Discovery - NOLA | ACE Peer Groups ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Timestamps 00:56 - Grow 2026 Recap & Announcing Grow 2027 02:15 - Spring 2026 Mindset: Why Spring is Dangerous 03:37 - Execute the Plan: Focus Over New Initiatives 06:00 - Leader Energy Sets the Tone 07:27 - Build Processes, Not Heroes: Clarity Beats Complexity 08:44 - Set Client Expectations Early to Avoid Surprises 09:52 - Owner Stamina: Be Intentional Through Peak Season 12:42 - Don’t Do Spring Alone: ACE Peer Groups 15:24 - Please Share & Subscribe! "Spring doesn't create problems. It reveals them."— Marty Grunder Key Learnings Spring Is Not a Surprise: Anything you avoid addressing, spring will expose. Strong companies enter spring decided, not hoping.  Action: Identify the decision you have been kicking down the road. Make it now. Now Is the Time to Execute, Not Innovate: Spring is for selling work and doing work. New software, demos, and initiatives can wait. Action: Say no to distractions. Execution beats innovation in the spring. As You Go, So Goes Your Team: Your team mirrors you. If you are stressed and reactive, expect the same from them. Action: Be present. Spring leadership is about presence, not perfection. Process Over Heroics: If your best people save the day every day, they are not heroes. They are hostages. Action: Build simple, repeatable processes. Spring rewards clarity, not complexity. Set Client Expectations Early: Most spring problems are expectation problems. Silence creates assumptions. Action: Communicate early. If someone is sick at 7 AM, call the client at 7, not noon. Protect Your Energy: Spring is when owners burn out. Your energy matters because your team is watching. Action: Sleep seven hours. Eat right. Move daily. Skip the gas station lunch. Do Not Isolate Yourself: The difference between owners who handle spring well and those who do not is whether they go it alone. Action: Sharpen your thinking with peers. The best leaders do not prepare alone. Reflection Questions What decision have you been avoiding that spring is about to make for you? Where is your business relying on heroics instead of process? Who are your hostages? What does your team see when they look at you right now: calm and focused, or stressed and reactive? Resources: ACE Peer Groups

    16 min

  6. 18 FEB

    What's on the Mind of ACE Peer Group Members Going Into Spring 2026

    Vince Torchia shares insights from over 250 members across 19 ACE peer groups about what's top of mind heading into spring 2026. From creating more leaders without micromanaging to understanding the difference between owner math and financial knowledge, to the red-yellow-green client rating system, Vince breaks down the three critical areas landscape business owners are focused on right now. ACE Peer Groups Register for ACE Discovery - March 25-27th ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Timestamps 00:51 - Key Topics for Spring 2026 01:02 - Leadership In Your Organization 05:24 - Enhancing Financial Knowledge 08:52 - Defining Your Company’s Vision 12:40 - ACE Discovery 2026 Key Learnings  Leadership: Create Leaders Who Can Make Decisions Without Permission – What do I do to get more leaders at my organization? What kind of environment do we need to create where somebody can make a decision for a customer, make a decision for our team, invest time or money without having to come ask me as the owner? We've set up an organization where people can go take action and have some autonomy. The Nick Saban Coaching Tree Analogy – All four coaches that made it through the college football playoffs were coaches under Nick Saban at one time or another. His ability to be a great coach was also an ability to create other leaders, not just people that did whatever Nick Saban wanted them to do. The more people that we have at our organization that are leaders, the better that we will do. Soft Skills Are the Real Skills – It's really not about the technical side of landscaping or maintenance or irrigation or snow. It's all about the soft skills. How do you have a tough conversation? How do you coach? How do you lead? How do you give corrective behavior tools and still have them appreciate and respect what you're doing? 10 Years Ago It Was Just Me, Now It's Eight Leaders – Marty talks about it a lot. 10 years ago, he felt like it was him, maybe one other individual from Grunder who thought like an owner. Now there's eight of us on the leadership team, and many managers feel the same way about having the ability to make a decision, the ability to run the ball. Owner Math vs. Financial Knowledge – A lot of ACE members are great at owner math or napkin math. We know how many trucks are going out, we can tell by morning activity what we're at from a capacity standpoint. But my cash isn't matching my P&L. I have no strategy around debt servicing or liquidity. People are paying slower now. My AR days are higher than usual. Profitability and Cash Flow Are Not the Same Thing – The profitability moves from your P&L to your balance sheet. It's an accounting equation. The more we understand those levers, the better we can operate, the better we can have conversations with our banker, our lawyer, our insurance agent, our vendors. Red, Yellow, Green Client Rating System – Green means we love working with them, it's sustainable, profitable, enjoyable. Yellow, I don't know about these people, we might need to value engineer. Red, we're not making money, we're never making them happy, they're not referring us. Honor your contracts this year, but rate them and make a plan. Spring Is When You Ask the Hard Questions – Every spring, we go back out on clients' properties and the question enters our mind: should we be doing this work for this client? When we're at our most stressed is when we really start to ask the...

    14 min

  7. 11 FEB

    Time Management: Prepare Now or Pay Later - Win the Busy Season!

    The busy season is around the corner and will expose the cracks in your systems. Prepare for the spring rush now with these tips from Marty Grunder on organizing your calendar, setting and focusing on priorities, planning ahead, and more to calm the chaos of spring. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Timestamps 00:55 - Proven Winners and Marketing Ideas 01:52 - The Busy Season is Coming 03:31 - Use Your Calendar as a Leadership Tool 04:02 - Sales Leaders: Proactive Client Communication 05:17 - Operation Leaders: Planning and Coordination 07:02 - Owners and Senior Leaders: Strategic Thinking 10:08 - Look Ahead & Reduce Surprises 12:03 - Doing Tomorrow’s Work Today 15:27 - Habits for Handling Pressure 18:48 - Prepare Now or Pay Later 20:29 - Please Share & Subscribe! Key Learnings  The busy season doesn't create problems, it reveals them. If things feel chaotic in April, they were probably disorganized in February. Your calendar is a statement of priorities. If something is not on your calendar, it's optional, and optional things don't survive a busy season. The people who win the spring are the people who prepare in the winter. Things never slow down, they just change shape. Sales leaders need three daily habits: prospect, nurture, close. Every day I prospect, every day I nurture, every day I close. Without planning, you're not leading, you're chasing your tail. Operations leaders need time blocked for planning, crew coordination, equipment readiness, and problem prevention. Somebody has to be thinking about tomorrow, next month, next year. If your calendar doesn't have any time for thinking as an owner, is that really where you want to be? When pressure goes up, memory goes down. Write things down and capture commitments, or you'll forget customer requests while driving. Your brain is for thinking, not storage. Clear your head daily before you go home so you can lead. Simple beats fancy every time. One program with a couple bolt-ons at most, not 16 different programs on your iPad. Prepare now or pay later. You can either prepare now and lead calmly, or react later with a raging river and out-of-control mess. What to Calendar Right Now SALES LEADERS: Proactive client communication Proposal review time Relationship building Daily: Prospect, Nurture, Close OPERATIONS LEADERS: Planning time (spring cleanups, construction, leaf season) Crew coordination (who's on what crew, where) Equipment readiness Problem prevention (review last year's issues) OWNERS & SENIOR LEADERS: Time for thinking (staring out the window counts) Reviewing the business Talent development conversations Planning for tomorrow, next month, next year Resources: ACE Peer Groups Virtual Sales Bootcamp   Grunder La...

    21 min

  8. 4 FEB

    Make It About Them: Grow 2025 Columbus Keynote Replay with Marty Grunder

    This episode's a little different: we're bringing you Marty's keynote address that opened GROW! 2025 as we're onsite in Dallas, TX for GROW! 2026. Listen to hear Marty's take on growing a landscaping business. He shares the hurdles that stood in the way of growing Grunder Landscaping Co., how they overcame them, and what's ahead for businesses that are excited for the future. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Episode Timestamps 01:53 - Keynote Intro 04:34 - The Importance of Growth and Community 07:53 - Personal Stories & Lessons Learned 13:48 - Early Business Challenges & Successes 20:42 - The Birth of a Speaking Career 21:40 - Financial Struggles & Family Values 23:03 - Lessons Learned Through Growth 27:33 - The Importance of Team and Client Relationships 29:40 - Creating a Positive Company Culture 38:40 - Please Like & Subscribe! Key Learnings Growth Isn't Linear – In my 41 years of business, I've found that growth isn't linear. It's not a straight line. It doesn't happen that way. And it's not easy. I'm a 40 year overnight success story. Training Is an Investment, Not an Expense – The best way that you can grow a team is by making an investment in them. Sending them to something like this is way more than training. This is an experience. This is what can happen when you get around other risk-taking peers and let your hair down. The Christmas Party I Threw for Myself – I spent a lot of money on a nice party at a fancy restaurant. An employee pulled me aside: "We had to buy nice clothes. Our pallets aren't as sophisticated as yours. Pizza and bowling would've been fine. Give us a cash bonus." Who'd I throw the party for? Myself. I made that party about myself. Our New Mission Statement Puts Team First – Creating opportunities for our team to grow and succeed by enhancing the beauty and value of every client's property. The first sentence there, creating opportunities for our team to grow and succeed, that is our focus. Not about Seth, not about Marty, it's about the team. Business Is Like Golf – You grab that club real hard and swing harder and the ball doesn't go anywhere. You hold the club like a bird and swing it real easy and it's amazing how far the ball goes. I'm hitting my five iron 30 yards longer. Business is the same way. When we try too hard, when we push, when we make it about ourselves, we lose. $2.1 Billion in Combined Revenue in This Room – The combined revenue of all the landscape companies in this room right now is $2.1 billion. If we all leave here with our head on straight, with new ideas, making it about the team, not about ourselves, a rising tide raises all boats. Don't Go to Dinner by Yourself – The only way you're gonna get in trouble with me here today is if you go to dinner by yourself. This is a warm, caring community that wants to help you. I don't care how big or small your business is. Learn From the Little Guys Too – I got a buddy in a peer group with all these huge companies. Third year he quit. They were talking about captives, vacation houses, investments. He said, "I want to talk about where are you parking the truck and how are you maximizing that? How are you keeping those hourly workers?" There's secrets in those day-to-day struggles. Stress Is Caused Because You're Out of Control – Look for ideas so you and your team can work together with less stress. Doesn't that sound fun? Stress is caused because you're out of control and you don't know what...

    40 min
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About

The GROW! Show is a show that highlights Marty Grunder's annual conference, GROW!. The GROW! show will showcase how anyone in the green industry can grow themselves, their team, and their business.

Information

  • Creator
    Marty Grunder
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2023
  • Show Website
    The GROW! Show
  • Provider

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