[mrusk]

Call comes in. Customer just bought a new house. Wants walkways, patios, plantings, etc.

Do you draw up a plan for free? Tell them to call a LA? No plan just blurt out numbers? Charge them for a plan?


This is not about how I do things. I am curious to see how others handle situations like this that NEED a design to estimate from.

Matt

[Stonehenge]

If it's not about you, who is it about?

What are you hoping to learn?

[mrusk]

I want to learn how others deal with situations like this.

I do not have a set procedure. I seem to do a different thing each time depending on the circumstances.

[jwholden]

Let's start with how you handle a situation like this. I notice you have no set procedure. You must have some starting point.

Can you describe what circumstances lead you to do things differently? How have your results been using different apporaches? How did you click with the client?

Do you have any pictures of a job you installed that we can use as a reference for the type of project we are talking about?

[Raj Venugopal]

Ask them what their budget is, and how/why they got your name.
In that order.

[mrusk]

ok.. First off i might only do 8 or 9 jobs a year.

The big job i signed this year i worked my butt off to get. I spend hours upon hours on my computer program designing the pool/hardscapes. I came up with something that really got the customer excited. I gave them some numbers, with ballpark numbers for plantings since i can not design them myself.

Customer decided they could only do the front of the house this year so they gave me a 10k deposit and then i paid a LA 1k to draw up a plan.

Next job- I met with the people and said we can do a walk, plantings, etc for x amount. Come look at my jobs, if you want to detailed proposal and plan i need a 1k retainer. They were talking to 1 other landscaper. I called them every 2 weeks for 2 months to see if they heard back from the other guy. The other company kept on stalling them on giving them prices. After i followed up so many times, they gave me the retainer no proablem. Then i paid the LA to draw the plan up. Final project came in at 62% over inital discussed budget.

I am working on a string of estimates for other fronts right now and i just can not seem to push myself to ask for the retainer. Because i know the people will object to it, since all my compeititors seem to give plans for free.


I am acctually paying the LA to draw up 2 plans out of my own pocket. I am not going to leave these plans with the client. If i do not get these jobs its not a total waste, chances are i will be able to just reuse them on another house by the same builder.

The times i got the retainer i had several meetings with the client first to build a relationship. On the smaller jobs i do not have enough time to to form a relationship or build trust with the client. Nor do i have 20 years in business like many of my compeititors.

[Raj Venugopal]

We're small like you, but our jobs tend to be quite involved and big jobs. The difference is, all our design work is done by my wife and I. Keeps everything under one roof. The only thing we sub out is heavy machine work, which keeps overhead down and lets us pick and choose prime jobs without worrying about taking crappy jobs to subsidize machinery. That's another story though.

If you want to smooth things out, it sounds like you may have to start getting more comfortable with designing your own work, if that's something you can do. This will give you a degree of independence, and it will also lessen your liability to LA fees that have no return on investment.

Subsidizing homeowners design plans is bad business. We've been there, and it's bad enough having to tuck our own designs into the portfolio for later use after spending days on one plan.

Hope there's something in all this somewhat useful!

[schleng]

mrusk,
If I can make a suggestion....find a great freelance landscape designer...the client is to pay the fee for the design.

You are going to always have problems going about it your way without a plan. (That's a plan for yourself, not a landscaping plan )

If you don't have a plan, you can't estimate correctly.
If you pay an LA, that will always be money out of your pocket that you may lose.
If you create a plan and it is not your strong point, there will be others out there with better plans.

I used to live and work in New Jersey, where I see you are. I worked for a Design/Build firm in northern NJ...actually I was a sub-contracted designer. He met with the client, gave them some exciting visual ideas, and then told them to get a professional project, they MUST have a plan. He went on to rave about me (to get the job, I am sure) and I am sure he sold just as many jobs as the typical landscaper, if not more. He had the client pay for the design. Nothing out of his pocket. If the clients are going to spend money on a project, the design is just a small percentage.

Hmmm..what do do about those landscapers who did a design for free. I remember them well. Ignore it. Be a great salesman. It will happen sometimes, and other times the client will see the value in a design...if you sell it that way and believe it. A design that has to be paid for will be of such detail and quality.....well, that's what you say.
Bring one of the designs along (one of the great designs that will wow them).
Susan