How to Subcontract Plant Services Without Losing Control

If you’ve ever subcontracted service accounts, you know it can be both a blessing and a headache.

On one hand, it gives you flexibility: you can cover accounts in another region, balance seasonal peaks, or step in when you are simply understaffed.

On the other hand, it’s your company’s reputation on the line every time another team walks into your client’s office wearing your badge.

And here’s the hard truth: once you outsource, visibility tends to vanish. You don’t really know how much time subcontractors spent at the site, whether they followed your standards, or even if the visit happened at all until your client calls with a complaint.

Over time, this lack of control doesn’t just affect individual service sites - it chips away at client trust, makes renewals harder, and puts your long-term reputation at risk.

That’s why we built subcontracting management right into One Big Green (OBG).

It’s designed to give you the best of both worlds: the reach and flexibility of subcontracting, with the oversight and consistency you need to keep your standards high.

---

How OBG Helps You Stay in Control

Bring subcontractors into your system safely

In OBG, you can invite your subcontractor’s technicians and managers into your organization with just a few clicks. But instead of giving them a blank check to roam around your portfolio, you assign them the "field team" role and limit their access only to the service sites they’re responsible for. They see only what they need, nothing more.

Make sure they play by your rules

Every company has its own way of working - how long and how often a service visit should take place, when a replacement is needed, and what counts as a service issue. With subcontractors, these guidelines often get blurred. In OBG, you set those standards upfront, so expectations are crystal clear.

Onboard your partners the smart way

To avoid confusion, you can point your subcontractors to the relevant instructional videos in the OBG Knowledge Base. These cover everything from logging service visits to handling replacements, so your partners know exactly how you expect things to be done. No guesswork, no excuses.

Give them everything they need to succeed

Before subcontractors ever step foot in the field, you can set up the displays, plants, and planters in the system, complete with instructions and notes for each customer. That way, they’re not walking blind into a client’s office - they’ve got the full context, from watering needs to access instructions.

Keep scheduling in your own hands

You stay in charge of the calendar. You assign visits, and the subcontractors get clear notifications through the OBG mobile app.

If a subcontracted technician needs to reschedule a planned visit - maybe they’re delayed, or something came up on their side - they can do it themselves in the app with a single click. The moment they do, you’re instantly notified, so you never lose sight of what’s happening.

This keeps both the office and the field perfectly in sync, even when things don’t go as planned.

---

The Risks You Avoid

• Time leakage: Without oversight, subcontractors might rush jobs or pad their hours. With OBG, you see exactly how long they spent on-site, down to the minute.

• Ghost visits: Ever had a subcontractor say they visited when they didn’t? With OBG, all time records are geocoded, so you know where they were and when.

• Sloppy reporting: Things start falling apart when work isn’t documented properly. OBG generates instant visit reports, so you can keep track of what was done, what wasn’t, and whether replacements or issues were logged.

• Unmeasurable performance: Over months or years, these blind spots add up. Without data, you can’t evaluate your subcontractor’s productivity or make informed decisions. OBG gives you the stats to measure, compare, and course-correct before it affects your client relationships.

---

Why This Matters Long-Term

Subcontracting isn’t just about covering a few accounts this month.

Done right, it can become a powerful strategy to grow your business into new markets and handle larger portfolios without ballooning payroll. But done wrong, it quietly erodes client trust, leaves you vulnerable to inconsistent standards, and makes it harder to renew contracts.

With OBG, subcontracting becomes a controlled, transparent part of your business model. You can scale faster, protect your reputation, and make sure every client gets the same quality of service - no matter who’s carrying it out.

---

Ready to See How It All Works?

Whether you’re already an OBG customer or just exploring your options, we’d love to show you how easy and safe subcontracting can be inside One Big Green.

👉 Book a demo today, and let us just show you how well-managed subcontracting can take your company to new heights!