I just talked with Steve Wilhelmi, product sales manager at John Deere, about the company’s latest rebate program, GreenFleet.

Unveiled this season, the program offers a rolling 24-month window for purchasing discounts, special financing offers and other benefits if you buy enough green (or gold) equipment.

The biggest change, he told me, was that GreenFleet is open – meaning contractors and dealers both know what the discounts for purchases are ahead of time.

“Our program in the past was not as customer-facing as it is today,” Wilhelmi said. “(With) this program, we’re much more up front with customers on what they’re discount can be. They know what they’re getting … that wasn’t always the case in the past.”

The green glasnost has been a hit with customers (commercial mowers, landscape contractors and the homeowners-with-acreage) as well as dealers, he said. It’s no longer a mystery what the benefits of a purchase will be, which allows better cash management and budget planning.

I’ll have more on this story in an upcoming issue, but in the meantime, check out the program details here.

Love these new commercials for John Deere equipment – the first such campaign for the guys in green in 175 years. A great example of sharing a powerful message in a short time.

Here’s your weekend reading list. Enjoy!

• Olympic landscaping.
• Job openings are at their highest levels in four years.
• A dealer on what Tier 4 means to you. (via @johndeere)
• Broadleaf weed primer. (via @fmcturf)
• How to get the most from your home and garden show exhibitions.
• Related: How to work a trade show.
• Above: D&K outlines its quarterly gardning srevices for the southwest.

I had the chance to visit John Deere’s Turf Care Factory in Raleigh N.C. as part of customer fly-ins the company does. And I learned a lot about the products and had a chance to meet landscapers and talk with them about the industry. But it was one little sign that really caught my attention. You can read the sign for yourself in the above photo.

Now, I don’t recall John Deere being especially preachy or over the top when it comes to being green, but I thought it was great that a company that makes products for the green industry is trying to be green in as many ways as possible. And if that means asking people to use revolving doors, then that’s a request you should take into account. Besides, why do you have to ASK people to use revolving doors. They are some of my favorite doors to walk through.

Here’s our latest digest of educational, informative and interesting stories from the web. Enjoy!

• How colors make us buy.
• 2011 foreclosures at lowest rate since 2007.
• Don’t just work harder. Work harder on the right things.
• The Oracle of Omaha could (but probably won’t) buy John Deere.
• Leadership lessons from Genghis Khan.
• Write better press releases.
• Above: Marshall Horsman, technical manager for Harrell’s, on how to best fertilize palms.