Extreme Sales

Charter boat captains possess a certain mystique. They don’t offer credentials that prove they know where all the good fish swim, yet people trust them to steer the boat in the right direction and pay them for their knowledge on weather, location, tides and lures.

Just as fishermen trust charter boat captains to provide vital fishing facts, clients should respect design/build contractors for their horticultural knowledge, said Gary Kinman, president, Kinman Associates, Dublin, Ohio. Contractors also must learn how to use the right bait to catch the right clients – similar to how fishermen discover with experience that fresh mackerel can snag them more snappers.

“The majority of the industry is casting blind into the big landscape pond,” Kinman remarked. “If a charter boat captain can take you to a specific spot in a big, wide ocean and help you catch the fish you want, why can’t you fish for jobs in a pond that only has the jobs you want in it? You have to ask yourself, ‘Is your business on a charter boat or are you going it alone?’”

When landscape businesses are on charter boats, sales resources are not wasted and greater value and profits result from the increase in satisfied clients, Kinman said. With the right visual bait presented in a professional manner and packaged with a little landscape education, design/build contractors can bring home a charter full of clients.

A SCHOOL OF CLIENTS. To steer the sales charter in the right direction, contractors must select jobs that complement their skill sets. They must establish their market niches and identify the types of clients they fancy.

“It’s like the fish,” Kinman said. “You can’t go out there fishing for sharks and all different kinds of red and yellow and blue fish – you’d never be in the right spot at the right time to catch them all. Instead, you have to pick the jobs that match you. And then weed out the interference from other types of jobs that don’t match. You have to distill the client pool.”

Once contractors distinguish their clients from the rest, they can track their general locations, spending habits and hobbies. “Now you can drop your fishing hook in front of the jobs you want, wasting little marketing and sales efforts on dead-end jobs,” Kinman stressed.

Then, fostering relationships becomes a crucial design/build sales component because “in the design/build business, you live and die by repeat sales and customer referrals,” stressed Charlie Bowers, president, Garden Gate Landscaping, Silver Springs, Md. To maintain these repeat sales, design/build contractors need to constantly pursue sales, added Tom Lied, president, Lied’s Landscape Design & Development, Sussex, Wis. “Every time you finish a job, you need to sell another, which is why design/build contractors must constantly focus on the sales process and client relations,” Lied said.

Unfortunately, the initial sale precedes the repeat sale, and requires client rapport. A successful relationship, like a friendship, takes time and many positive exposures, explained Joe Skelton, former owner of LifeScapes, Atlanta, Ga., adding that the standard sales spiel won’t work. “People can smoke out a cheesy salesperson in a heartbeat,” he said. “There are givers and takers in a relationship and it doesn’t take long to tell who is who.”

Skelton recommended contractors assume the “giver” vs. “taker” role in these relationships, being a volunteer and offering time and knowledge to connect with potential clients. “But be careful not to sell yourself or your business,” he warned. “If someone likes you, they’ll ask you about it because they are genuinely interested.”

The best way contractors find and build relationships is by enhancing awareness of their surroundings whether they are at work or at play. “Remember, the person you meet is not necessarily the person who will become your customer,” Skelton stressed (for Skelton’s list of best places to find and build relationships, see Relationship Central on page 90). “Relationships can begin almost anywhere and are much more successful if they are built around mutual interests rather than around your business.”

Once a rapport is formed, patience is essential. “Some relationships develop quickly, but more often it takes a long time before you see any real results,” Skelton said, adding that he can name five relationships that, over time (in one case, four years), resulted in more than $14 million in design/build work, not including the maintenance afterward that pushed that number to more than $20 million. “Stick with it and don’t quit if you don’t see work right away.”

Meeting the right people is part skill and part luck, Skelton added. Practice improves results. “The more hooks in the water, the better chance you’ll catch a fish,” he said, building on Kinman’s fishing analogy. “The more people in your company who are out there making relationships, the more likely you’ll find some that really pay off in the future.”

And when there aren’t enough association or church meetings to attend, Bowers suggested contractors schedule events of their own to meet people and build relationships – “maybe an open garden tour at a few of your best clients’ homes,” he advised.

To track success, Bowers recommended contractors measure what works and doesn’t work. Then, reward those who refer business. “Personalize letters and notes to people thanking them for their referral – never send a form letter, it’s impersonal,” he said. “I also try to give gifts for referrals, whether it’s flowers, subscriptions to Southern Living magazine or a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant. It’s a nice way to say thanks and show the person you value the relationship and want to keep it.”

But while building relationships, contractors should remember that client connections alone cannot sell the work. “Even the best of friends won’t do business with you unless the quality and value of your work speaks for itself,” Skelton maintained.

To sustain long-lasting associations, contractors must exhibit a high degree of professionalism, be dependable and reliable, and constantly build client trust. “You cannot fail in your commitments,” said Bill Lincicome, president, HighGrove Partners, Smyrna, Ga. “You cannot have a bad reputation of not showing up or not doing what you said you were going to do.”

BAIT 101. Once relationships lead contractors to potential sales catches, clients – like fish – need to be enticed. Design/build contractors must lure them to the sale by dangling a desirable landscape vision in front of their faces, tempting them to bite.

To do this right, contractors should whisk clients away from common distractions, like work, children and phone calls, by inviting them to their office for initial meetings. A design/build contractor’s environment should have exterior and interior nooks that flaunt landscape features through framed job photos and actual hardscape and garden elements around the workplace. A professional office is essential for successful meetings, stressed Rick Doesburg, president, Thornton Landscape, Maineville, Ohio.

Kinman echoed the importance of office presentation. “Our job is to create pleasing, fun environments for people,” he pointed out. “So, use an out-of-the-box approach and make your office like a studio environment where clients can get ideas and inspiration.”

To kick off a well-planned meeting, contractors should welcome clients. “Put a sign at the front door that says, ‘Welcome Mr. Client,’” Doesburg advised. “Then, be sure your secretary knows your clients’ names and when they will be coming so she can greet them properly.”

After the preliminary greeting, Doesburg takes clients into an exterior garden on his office grounds to explain the company history and philosophy. “I highly recommend you make an investment in your office area if you do design/build,” he said, describing the numerous water features and other hardscape elements displayed in the company’s garden retreat. “You can bring people to it to show them what you can do, and it pays off.”

While seated in the garden, Doesburg said contractors should take advantage of the scenery and ask clients to list their landscape wants and needs. “They are now in a beautiful garden so their original ideas may already have changed because they are inspired by the surroundings,” he said, adding that the meeting should be relaxing, but not too long – maybe 15 minutes.

“Then, bring them inside to a conference room with designs and photos plastered on the wall and give them a before and after slideshow, showing them the work you’ve done,” Doesburg said. “Change images quickly so they don’t get bored. And have an extra projector set up in case they want to see images of specifics, like certain lighting elements or retaining walls. That way you can instantly provide visuals.” The slideshow and overall service education should not take more than 45 minutes, Doesburg advised.

The visual bait adds value to the entire process, Lincicome stressed, adding that he constantly uses simple sketches, photos and imagery with clients. “It gets the process down to details and gives clients a feeling of what we are trying to accomplish,” he said.

Next, take clients on a tour of the facility so they can see design and production areas. “That way they become familiar with what a preliminary drawing is vs. a final drawing,” he said. “And you can explain soil preparation and show them your plant inventory and workshop.”

To end the meeting, return to the conference room to stress company values and restate the design/build process. “You have to give the client compelling reasons to use your company and the design/build approach, build trust and ensure a quality outcome – and not fail in your commitments,” Lincicome commented.

This first meeting places contractors on the same level as other professionals, like doctors, Kinman stressed. To continue to be treated as such, Kinman recommended a few additional tips. “They have to come to me,” he explained. “And we can’t always meet when they get out of work – they have to schedule an appointment during our business hours. And, I charge a consulting fee –$600 minimum. Since my jobs are high-end, this reduces my risk and wasted time greatly. Only clients who know the value of your service will treat you like a professional and come see you when it’s convenient for you and pay for your knowledge.”

From the first meeting, clients should walk away with a better understanding of what design/build jobs entail. This is particularly important for contractors who charge for designs and focus their businesses on high-end clients who want to buy the whole process – from concept to creation.

“There is an unrealized, unfulfilled potential out there because we don’t place value on what we do,” Kinman stated, explaining that some clients still stereotype contractors. “Clients get the idea that design/build contractors sell plants and they just want to buy stuff from us. But we’re not design/plant – we’re design/build.

“And contractors can’t wait to give their services away and are willing to allow customers to dictate projects,” Kinman continued. “Instead, contractors need to educate clients on the outdoor landscapes they plan and build. They need to explain that a design/build project is more like a form of art, instead of a commodity.”Doesburg agreed. “Plants are only a tool – the wrapping on the package,” he said. “We design and create spaces and we work with texture and color and contrast to do so. If clients are not here to buy the whole process, then they can go get their red sunset maple somewhere else. The value lies in the total process.”

If the first meeting is successful, contractors should schedule a second appointment at the client’s home before they leave, Doesburg said, adding that this meeting should excite clients even more. “When you’re at the client’s home, bond with the client and make it an enjoyable, fun experience,” he said. “Review their needs and interests and don’t be afraid to disagree with them when they suggest ideas that won’t work in their yard.”

The second meeting is also when budget should be discussed. “Once you know what they are interested in and you have the details to know how much it’s going to cost, set a budget and ask them how that sounds – then, shut up,” Bowers suggested. “A lot of times, clients have no clue what something is going to cost so they don’t know how to set a budget. And the reason you keep quiet after you state your recommended budget is because you don’t want to go screwing it up by downplaying services or justifying cost. Be confident in your offer.”

For clients who seem shocked at the initial budget, James Martin, president, James Martin Associates, Vernon Hills, Ill., said contractors should be prepared to show clients other concepts that illustrate how much a project could cost – whether more or less than the original stated price – based on various design changes.

However, contractors have to be careful with this approach, warned Steve Pattie, president, The Pattie Group, Novelty, Ohio. “Sometimes multiple concepts confuse clients,” he said. “So, we will show them different options initially and then one idea always seems to stand out as the main one they are impressed with. Then, we stick with that.”

But this isn’t the end of the sale. There are other tools – preliminary drawings, phased implementations and design fees – that can be used during the sales process to lure clients. See the June issue of Lawn & Landscape for the sequel to Extreme Sales.

The author is Managing Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine.