What a custom agent looks like inside a landscape maintenance, design-build or lawn care company — the ten roles in your language, and what each plugs into in a business running Aspire, LMN or Jobber.
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Landscaping is a route business with a project business attached, and the two halves have different problems. Maintenance runs on contracts, routes and renewals, where the recurring cost is chasing renewals and explaining what was done. Design-build and enhancement work runs on proposals, where the cost is estimating and follow-up. Both sit on a seasonal calendar that compresses everything into a window nobody can extend.
The honest version of "does it integrate with my software." These are the systems this industry actually runs on, and what each one means for a build.
The system of record in larger maintenance and design-build companies, covering estimating, contracts, scheduling, job costing and invoicing in one place.
Strong on estimating and budgeting, widely used in mid-size companies, and the place where the true cost of a maintenance contract is actually worked out.
Common in smaller maintenance and lawn care operations, with Real Green particularly established in chemical lawn care where route density drives the economics.
Clock-in against jobs from a phone or tablet, which determines whether job costing is real or decorative.
Where the money lives, usually disagreeing with the operations system about what a property actually cost to service.
Either built in or separate, and the single largest lever on maintenance margin.
Application records and applicator licensing, which are regulated in most states and tracked by hand in many companies.
Text and email about visit timing, weather delays and property questions, at volume during the season.
Each of these is a real build, not a feature of a product you already pay for. Follow one through to see how it works in general.
Nothing you are owed gets dropped.
Whatever arrives, in whatever format, becomes a clean record.
Writes the recurring document from your own past work.
Knows what expires, renews or comes due — and says so first.
Answers from your own records, not from the internet.
The conversation becomes the record, without anyone typing it up.
Assembles the recurring report from systems that do not talk.
Matches two sets of records and queues only the exceptions.
Two systems that do not talk, now talking.
Applies your rules, escalates only what needs judgment.
If that is a job in your business, the next step is half an hour on a call. Bring whatever you know about the volume — how many a month, who owns it now, which systems it touches. That is enough to scope it properly and quote it flat before anything starts.
Everything in this library is built to order rather than bought off a shelf — and whatever I build, I host and maintain. The rest of the library is here.