How much information should be on a landscape design? Part Two:

Design Presentation

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. 

This question has different answers for different people. Boy, now I sound like a politician. Bear with me, I’m not copping out. What works for me might not work for you. You first have to ask yourself 3 simple questions.

• What does the landscape design accomplish for you and the client?

• How much time do you have?

• What is your UCA (Unique Competitive Advantage)

A simple answer to the first question may sound something like this: “The design shows the client what we are doing.” True, but not really. Some companies use the design to sell the installation, while others start by selling the design. The design process should be your first step to win the client. This starts before you ever come up with an idea. Your questions and follow up questions will quickly inform the consumer on how well you connect. Your questions will also demonstrate how much you know and care. Show you are the professional by how you approach the project not by saying how good you are. Does the design process get your creative juices flowing? Does it get the client excited? The more information you can get from the client the more you can apply to the design.

How much time you have should be looked at from 2 angles. First, how much time do you have to create the design? Even if you don’t have much time, make sure you know what you are creating. You can’t have an accurate estimate without a good idea of what you are creating. Believe me this will cost you more than just time. The second is even more important. Secondly, how much time do you have to oversee the project once it has been sold? How many times have you said we can figure that out on site? Where is the designer when it is time to figure it out? He or she is trying to sell another job, picking plants at the nursery, on vacation, at the gym, etc. The more time you spend up front the easier it is to pass off to production. This will leave the production staff with less questions and more time for the sales staff to sell.

Thirdly what is your Unique Competitive Advantage? If you don’t have artistic skills you have options. You can always capitalize on technology. Technology won’t make a bad design good, but it can make a design look professional and attractive. Your other option is to down play the design process. In order to do this you will have to be a good communicator. You still have to establish consumer confidence. This can be done by having a strong portfolio to back what you are saying. Also you may have to rely heavier on referrals. If you are artistic, make sure you express that through your designs. This will create immediate consumer confidence. The reality is all consumers are different and so are we the providers. Remember you are the only thing your competition can’t offer, leverage it!

How much information should be on a landscape design?

This question has different answers for different people. Boy, now I sound like a politician. Bear with me, I’m not copping out. What works for me might not work for you. You first have to ask yourself 3 simple questions.

• What does the landscape design accomplish for you and the client?

• How much time do you have?

• What is your UCA (Unique Competitive Advantage)?

You should have a clearer understanding once you answer these 3 simple questions. I find most people are somewhere in the middle. Next week I’ll follow up with each of these 3 questions in detail.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The best landscape designers don’t use perfect plants, pavers, or products!

The best advice I can give any designer is to go back and critique your work. I have been doing this for over 20 years. Although it is not always flattering, it has made me the successful designer I am today. The best designs are those that comes the closest to meeting your client’s wishes. It took me about 10 years to realize the properties that look the best are not the ones that are maintained the best, but the properties that have lack of maintenance designed in.


This discovery has made me search high and low trying to find the perfect plant, paver or product for a designated area only to come up empty. It’s not because I don’t know the materials that exist. The reality is the perfect, you fill in the blank does not exist. Successful designers realize this and search for the best plant, paver, or product. Knowing the weakness of the material and how it will decline over time is crucial. When designers don’t understand this, it results in a disposable landscape. This understanding will help you design a landscape that will improve as time goes on and need little to keep it going.

Sales - Speak After Listening Equals Success

It always bothers me when people tell me I could sell ice cream to an Eskimo.  I guess this bothers me because it applies I can trick them into buying something they don’t want.  Being successful at sales, starts with listening.  Most people like to talk about how great their product or company is.  The best sales people understand they are there because the consumer is looking for something.  They never assume they know why.  People buy for different reasons.  The more information you gather from the consumer the easier it is to serve them not sell them.  The salesperson’s role is to educate the consumer, but not just educate.  Successful salespeople quickly identify what the consumer wants to know.  Again the closer you listen the easier this is to identify.  Don’t just hear what they are saying, but listen and understand them.  As the salesperson educates the consumer he or she is adding value to the product or service.  Most fail to realize this also adds to their value. 

I still remember my first lead after starting our business.  The client had a walkway going down their property line to the neighborhood park.  The first thing they said to me was, they want a hedge the entire way down the path.  At this point I had a choice to make.  I could be an order taker or a design / salesperson.  I ask them, why do you want a hedge?  It wasn’t because I didn’t know the answer.  I wanted them to see the thought process that good designer’s use.  After they told me it was to screen the people walking, I followed with another question.  Would you be open to another suggestion to screen the people?  Of course, they said.  I suggested a naturalized planting that you couldn’t see through.  We also identified that most of the traffic happens in the summer when the deciduous trees have their leaves.  We scattered, hemlocks, river birches, viburnums, rhododendrons, azaleas and an assortment of perennials.  I tell this story because I just didn’t let the client talk, but I tried to understand them.  Listening helped me truly satisfy the client with something they never would have come up with themselves.  In the end the client saw more value while spending more.