Promote perks of professional work to homeowners

Photo: © 1Photodiva | iStockphoto

Search Pinterest for "outdoor living" and instantly thousands of enticing patios, pergolas, fire pits and perfectly appointed landscape beds populate the screen. Scroll down, keep scrolling. Click, save. Click another. Now, pull up Houzz. Oh, that furniture could belong at a resort! Click, save. Now wait – is that a how-to video on YouTube? Nice.

This is your inquisitive client: hungry for information and finding all the trappings of an ideal outdoor experience on a mobile device, including the instructions for building it. If HGTV sparked a DIY craze, then social media started a raging bonfire.

As a landscape professional, how do you talk to clients about making these outdoor dreams a reality? What conversations are critical to include in your meetings with prospects who bring their Pinterest “likes” to the table? And, for the DIYers, how do you explain the meaning of a qualified professional?

Read the full story from the November issue here.