Selling landscape design services and products can be challenging because prospects can easily let their long-term dreams interfere with their willingness to buy a smaller project today. This can be particularly true of those prospects whose personality tends to give them strengths in planning, long-term thinking, and a focus on the future.
Example:
Maria and Steven need a retaining wall on the rear of their lot to raise the elevation behind the retaining wall to prevent water runoff from their neighbor's property from entering their backyard and causing excess water from entering their property. A properly designed retaining wall would divert runoff along the property line and out into the public street. A secondary function of the retaining wall is the creation of an area in front of the retaining wall for a future patio which would be visually framed by the curvilinear retaining wall.
Maria and Steven both have a bent towards future thinking. As a city planner, Steven was drawn to this line of work because of his interest in creating urban plans that will create a well-functioning community in ten or twenty or more years. Maria is an attorney. When in college, she knew that her many years of education would pay off financially in the future and was willing to make required sacrifices for future benefit. She now helps her corporate clients create business operations that will reduce product liability in the future.
Moving ahead on the retaining wall project now would be fairly easy for these prospects. They can afford the project, and they have a clear need for it. But during the design consultation, Steven keeps talking with the landscape designer about his desire to have a long-term plan for their yard. Maria echoes these sentiments. So what should the landscaper do in this situation?
Here are suggestions for this scenario, listed in order of priority:
1. Create a plan for the prospects at your hourly rate or for a flat fee.
Long-term thinkers are often easier to sell this to than are other prospects who are simply overwhelmed or tend to be procrastinators. Explain clearly what the benefit of such a plan will be, and why you need to charge the prospects in a different manner. They need to understand that you are now providing a valuable service above and beyond the immediate project. Many reasonable people would understand that you need to be compensated for the creation of this design.
2. Charge your hourly rate or flat fee, but offer to rebate this fee back to the prospect upon completion of the entire project.
Some projects take several years to complete. Some are never completed despite the good intentions of both the prospect and the service provider. Adding a rebate incentive can provide motivation to get the entire project completed. If a 100% rebate isn't appropriate, you could offer a percentage of your design fee as the rebate amount.
3. Tell the prospect you will do a long-range plan, but not until the first phase is complete.
If you can't sell the prospects on #1 or #2, maybe you agree to do the plan after the first phase is complete and paid-in-full. The plan could then be done at a discounted rate, or at no charge. But if you offer the design for free, try to get the prospect to wait for it until your slow time of year, if you have one in your location.
4. Do the design, but only if it makes business sense.
Landscape designers and sales representatives can easily waste away many, many hours because of their love of the process and their belief that if they provide a high quality design they'll be able to close the deal. But beware of investing time that will not see a return on your time investment. You're agreeing to not only propose and price a project, you're agreeing to do design work for free.
I believe any professional designer (this also applies to architects, interior designers, graphic designers, closet designers, etc.) should be very wary of this thinking. It's true that you can close business by providing excellent service and an excellent design, but it's also true that many prospects will take any free advice they can get, and then get out their shovels and work gloves and commence on their do-it-yourself project using your expertise and effort as the foundation for it. That's an unfortunate situation, but one that can often be avoided.
If you like this post (or don't) please leave a comment. Skip Anderson is the Founder and President of Selling to Consumers Sales Training.
He works with companies and individuals who sell to consumers in
B2C, retail, in-home selling, and the financial, real estate, and insurance
markets.
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