Landscape Development

Curating green, sustainable, designer landscapes for clients, Landscape Development, Inc. had to collaborate with multiple clients, suppliers, vendors, and employees simultaneously. However, the lack of effective and two-way communication channels between the employees, teams, and management was the biggest challenge that hindered the company’s growth.

“Prior to using BizPortals 365, we didn’t really have any standardized processes. We were using Microsoft Excel pretty much for everything. Everybody had their own spreadsheets, and each division had its own process. The way we looked at data was something different.” Says Annie Wright, Marketing Director, Landscape Development, Inc.

The paper-based processes and spreadsheets they previously used weren’t adequate to handle the number of forms, contracts, and compliance documentation they dealt with.

Furthermore, they were challenged by Helix, the internal system used by the estimation department, which had a complex and time-consuming process to gather data from multiple sources like a CRM.

So, it was clear that the intended solution must replace manual and time-consuming processes, integrate with their existing systems, and be a customizable digital platform facilitating all stakeholders to communicate and collaborate effectively.

– Annie Write, Landscape Development Inc.

Every client is unique in their own way, and customizing a solution that meets their unique business requirements is always challenging. Recognizing their need for a transformative solution, a SharePoint-based intranet was ideal for creating a collaborative, productive, and scalable platform for them to work on.

Experts from BizPortals Solutions conducted a thorough requirement analysis and followed a user-centric approach to outline a robust intranet for Landscape Development.

Highlights of BizPortals 365’s features tailored to address the specific challenges of Landscape Development Inc.

Automated Forms and Processes

We created a dedicated widget for employees to easily enter, edit, access, and automate key forms, reducing manual data entry and errors. Also, the ability to create custom fields allows them to customize and digitize their forms as needed.

According to Annie, ‘Automated processes are great at reducing human errors. In the daily safety procedures, the spreadsheets that we use to run have a lot of formulas and user errors happening in the field. From the field staff’s viewpoint, automating this process was quite helpful. Now they just enter their name, and it auto-populates their employee ID number, division, manager, and a lot more, which they had to fill out manually before. Definitely, that was a major advancement for us in error reduction.’

Enhanced Productivity with Streamlined Workflows

With SharePoint’s powerful workflow capabilities, we streamlined complex approval processes, enabling forms to move through various stages more quickly.

Certainly, standardizing procedures, forms, and the data collection process was a remarkable decision. When asked about how streamlined workflows have improved the productivity equation within the organization, Annie, who is currently working on check request forms, says, ‘Definitely, there has been a lot of time going into processing check request forms and producing the daily safety reports manually. However, just having the required information from people who are filling in the form has saved a lot of time in accounting or activating contracts. Now the person on the receiving end doesn’t have to go tracking down all that information, maintaining productivity and workflow efficiency.’

Tailored Themes and Branding

With our customized themes, Landscape Development was able to create a cohesive visual identity that enhanced the end-user experience and made them more compatible with their culture and objectives.

Multiple Employee Engagement Features

Incorporating a multitude of employee engagement features, BizPortals 365 acted as a virtual water cooler for the landscaping company.

‘That’s very helpful. Our organization works within the SharePoint environment, and we try to keep it personable as well. With divisional updates, like our design studio, when they planted trees and volunteered, we displayed it for our people. We like to congratulate people here; we want to make this a whole center (intranet portal) like a Townsquare for announcements and create a community within the organization.’ Says Annie when asked about BizPortals 365’s employee engagement capabilities.

Intra-Departmental Collaboration and Data Accessibility

Creating dedicated department sites revamped intra-departmental collaboration by streamlining communication, workflows, and resources, resulting in enhanced productivity and better decision-making.

While discussing data accessibility in SharePoint, Annie shared her perspective: ‘All the data is right here in one place. People complain about SharePoint and OneDrive about data loss, but you just have to organize the SharePoint pages (sites) or create quick links, and you will be able to find the information they are looking for.’

Certainly, the editable grid feature, coupled with meta tagging and keyword integration, has proven highly advantageous in organizing document repositories, and improving data accessibility.

Integration with Existing CRM

BizPortals 365 laid out a comprehensive approach to smoothly integrate the existing CRM with the SharePoint environment, ensuring easy synchronization, seamless data mapping, and careful management of permissions and access controls.

‘The integration of CRM and Power BI functionality has been amazing. We call it our pipeline. By taking all of our Helix data, it gives clear visibility of what sales are coming in or seeing projections on what we have to achieve this year and even in the next year.’ says Annie.

– Landscape Development Inc.