February 27, 2024

Accelerate vs. LMN: Choose the Best Landscaping Business Management Software in 2024

Business Management

Your choice of business management software can make a significant difference in how effectively your commercial landscaping business operates. Two options in this space, Accelerate and LMN, offer distinct advantages depending on your business needs. 

Whether it's seamless sales automation, labor tracking, or advanced data analytics you're after, understanding the nuances between Accelerate and LMN is key to making an informed decision. 

Here’s a deep dive into how the two landscaping business management software compare and what’s the best LMN alternative.

What is Accelerate?

Accelerate is Attentive.ai’s AI-powered end-to-end business management software, which automates your sales workflows, streamlines operations, improves crew management, and makes back-office functions flexible for commercial landscaping maintenance and construction businesses.

Additional Read: Why your current landscaping business management software is broken?

What is LMN?

Landscape Management Network (LMN) offers business management solutions for residential & commercial maintenance, hardscape, and snow removal businesses in the landscaping industry to streamline sales reporting, operations, and dispatching, among other processes.

Best LMN Alternatives

  • Accelerate
  • Boss LM
  • SingleOps
  • Aspire
  • Asset

Now, let’s decode how Accelerate is the best LMN alternative for all your landscape maintenance and construction business management needs.

Feature Category LMN Accelerate
Operational Efficiency
Real-time Data Access Manual, deep dives into job required for data analysis Upfronttracking of estimates vs. actuals, percentage completion and key job costing metrics
Scheduling Capabilities Requires manual adjustments with multiple clicks Drag and drop scheduling and bulk rule-based scheduling capabilities
Schedule Adjustments & Duplication Allows adjustments, requires manual input for schedule duplication Easy shift adjustments, one-click schedule duplication
Sales and Estimation Automation
Visibility into Sales Metrics Offers tabular view User-friendly Kanban view with live pipeline tracking
Blueprint Data Integration Not supported Support for Blueprint takeoffs
Customizable Proposals Limited flexibility Highly flexible and editable proposals
Comprehensive Feature Set
Maintenance and Construction Management Basic framework for landscaping business management, workflows not tailor-made for construction Comprehensive solutions for both divisions
Specialized Billing (e.g., AIA Format for Construction) Not available Supports AIA format billing
Automated Processes Limited automation Extensive automation across functions, including takeoffs, estimates, proposals to ops & backoffice.
Purchase Order and Inventory Tracking Basic tracking Advanced tracking for up-to-date and accurate reflections of costs

Accelerate vs LMN Software: Production Planning & Time Tracking Features

Operational efficiency underpins the success of landscaping businesses.

Accelerate outshines LMN with enhanced real-time tracking, powerful scheduling capabilities, and effective resource utilization, including bulk scheduling and smart warnings against incorrect scheduling. LMN’s approach, by contrast, is more manual and rigid.

Real-time Data Access

Accelerate provides immediate tracking of critical information like estimates versus actuals and percentage completion. This is a game-changer as it allows for proactive adjustments to maintain profit margins and project timelines. 

In contrast, LMN's approach requires manual deep dives into each job for similar insights, a process that takes up time 

Drag and Drop Scheduling

Scheduling efficiency is paramount. Accelerate’s drag-and-drop scheduling is not just a convenience; it's a productivity multiplier. It contrasts sharply with LMN's feature, which entails you spend more time on manual adjustments.

Bulk Scheduling Capability

With Accelerate, you can bulk schedule jobs to multiple crews with the flexibility that the dynamic landscaping environment demands. LMN’s bulk scheduling feature requires definitions for every year/date range separately, which can be a disadvantage in a fluctuating market.

Accelerate's intuitive scheduling board

LMN Alternative In-Schedule Adjustments

Accelerate allows for the easy shifting of the schedule to meet unexpected on-ground situations (e.g., bad weather). This feature is relatively difficult with LMN, as it requires multiple clicks to move the schedule forward.

Book a personalized demo with team Attentive.ai to explore how Accelerate can help your landscaping business

Schedule Duplication

The ability to duplicate a week’s schedule in one click is a feature that underlines Accelerate's understanding of the landscaping business's cyclical nature. LMN allows duplication but requires more manual input & time, increasing your chances for error.

LMN Landscape Software vs Accelerate: Effective Utilization of Resources

How to choose the right landscaping BMS LMN alternative
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Hour Tracking

Accelerate enables the easy tracking of available versus scheduled hours at a day/week level for each crew. This leads to optimal resource utilization and prevents the common pitfall of overtime or under-scheduling. With LMN, visibility on when you will start hitting overtime is limited, which means that it becomes difficult to prevent beforehand.

LMN Alternative In Smart Warnings

Smart warnings to avoid incorrect scheduling are part of Accelerate's intelligent design, ensuring that schedules are optimized and realistic. The absence of such a feature in LMN can lead to inefficiencies and the potential for overrunning project budgets.

Accelerate overtime crew management

The production planning & time tracking features of Accelerate are evidently designed with the understanding that landscaping management requires flexibility, ease, and real-time data. 

It's evident that LMN lacks in these areas, which can be crucial for businesses looking to streamline their operations, reduce manual labor, and increase efficiency.

LMN Landscape Software vs Accelerate: Sales and Estimation Automation

Accelerate shines in sales and estimation precision, offering deep integration with takeoffs and a workflow tailored for both maintenance and construction. Features like a user-friendly Kanban view for sales metrics and customizable proposals provide a clear advantage over LMN’s restrictive list view and limited options to customize the proposal look and feel. 

Let’s see how.

LMN Alternative in Visibility into Sales Metrics

LMN offers a restrictive tabular view, which leads to inefficiencies in identifying bottlenecks. On the other hand, Accelerate equips your team with user-friendly Kanban view with live pipeline tracking and immediate bottleneck visibility.

Landscaping sales Kanban view on Accelerate- LMN alternative

Blueprint Data Integration

Unlike LMN, Accelerate can pull data directly from blueprint plans, ensuring precision in your estimates.

Landscape construction takeoff with Attentive.ai
Landscape construction takeoff with Accelerate

Customizable Proposals

Accelerate offers flexible, editable proposals that adapt to your client's unique needs, a feature not supported by LMN.

Detailed landscape estimate & custom proposals with Accelerate to bid on landscaping jobs better. LMN Alternative for flexible proposals
Detailed landscape estimate & custom proposals with Accelerate

LMN Alternative Comprehensive Feature Set: Beyond Landscape Maintenance to Construction

Accelerate offers a robust feature set for both landscaping maintenance and construction. From AIA format billing to automated processes and inventory tracking, Accelerate equips businesses with comprehensive solutions for streamlined operations and scalable growth.

Additional Read: Does your business management software serve your landscape construction division?

Unlike LMN, which lacks support in several key areas, Accelerate offers:

Construction AIA Format Billing

Accelerate supports AIA format billing for construction, ensuring compliance and standardization in your financial processes, a feature not available with LMN.

Invoice and Payment

LMN Alternative In Automated Processes

From blueprint takeoffs to invoice generation, Accelerate automates processes across all divisions, saving you time and reducing human error.

Purchase Order and Inventory Tracking

With Accelerate, you can track every aspect of purchasing and inventory management, ensuring that your materials and services are up-to-date and accurately reflected in your costs.

Over to you: LMN Alternative Software = Accelerate

Choosing Accelerate as an LMN alternative is a strategic decision for landscaping businesses aiming for efficiency, accuracy, and scalability. Accelerate's advanced features and flexibility support business growth, making it the superior choice for those seeking a comprehensive management solution.

When you opt for Accelerate, you're not just selecting software; you're choosing a strategic partner dedicated to the success of your landscaping business.

Book a personalized demo with our team to explore how Accelerate can help you build automated, scalable workflows for unparalleled business growth.

Disclaimer: This blog is intended to be a source of important information to consumers and assist them in making rational purchase decisions. All trademarks, copyrights (if any), and other intellectual property used herein and not owned by Attentive Inc. belongs to their respective owners or licensees (as applicable), and Attentive Inc. makes no claim of owning or having rights to such trademarks, copyrights or other intellectual property that is not owned by it or validly licensed to it.

FAQs

What is Accelerate?

Attentive.ai offers landscaping industry’s first-of-its-kind AI-powered end-to-end business management software, Accelerate that automates your sales, operations, crew management, and back-office functions for maintenance and construction businesses. 

Is Accelerate a CRM?

Yes, Accelerate functions as a CRM with a sales module that offers a visual, Kanban-style representation of deals by sales journey stages. It allows for efficient tracking of opportunities, identification of bottlenecks, and performance tracking, including deal values, win rates, and deal management accountability. This setup not only streamlines weekly review processes but also facilitates a smooth transition to production planning by clearly indicating when deals are ready for initiation.

Is Accelerate a good LMN alternative?

Yes, Accelerate is considered a strong LMN alternative, especially for businesses looking for enhanced operational efficiency, sales automation, and comprehensive features supporting both landscape maintenance and construction. It stands out for real-time data access, user-friendly scheduling, and advanced integration capabilities, making it a robust solution for companies aiming to streamline operations, reduce manual labor, and increase efficiency.