Part Two: When do you say no to a lead?

I trust everyone had a great week and is looking forward to an even better one. Spring is here in south central PA. The phones are ringing off the hook. I don’t have time to follow up on all the leads. What do I do? Sound familiar? Obviously the past few years have been tough on our industry. Most people built there companies up and then struggled to feed it. Everyone is trying to use their resources more wisely, which brings us to part two of “When do you say no to a lead?”
In part one I asked you to answer one question.

          Do you want more leads like this one?

Hands down we all say referrals are our best leads. After you knock their socks off, everyone will be calling you, right.  Let’s take a step back to see who this people will be.

• Your Facebook and website groupies because you will post a picture of this job on Facebook or Website?

• The client’s friends and family because they socialize with your type of clients.

• The client’s neighbors because they live in a neighborhood you are targeting.

• People that are will to pay your price because they understand and appreciate the value you bring.

If this job does not bring you referrals you will be left casting nets hoping to put food on the table. This week we focused on the positive of a good lead. Next week we will look at the negatives of a bad lead.

Enjoy.

When do you say no to a lead?

We all have run across those obvious leads that we run from. Mine was just last week. A general contractor called me and was trying to find a pool contractor for his client. I asked what the client was looking to have. His response was a 750 sq.ft., natural shaped pool. Can you make it 3’ in the shallow end and 5’ in the deep end? I tried to get more questions answered like: Do they want concrete or liner? Do they know the advantages and disadvantages to each? Do they want any sun shelves? Spa? It was immediately clear I was talking to the guy that gives all contractors a bad name. I obviously said sorry we can’t help you without drawing a plan to meet the client’s needs and desires. Then we can price out the job. We parted ways.
Again we all ran across the obvious ones, but how do we decide on the not so obvious leads? This goes back to your core values and vision for your company. Where are you going and how are you getting there? You only need to answer one question.

              Do you want more leads like this one?

Remember this is not a paying customer yet? What does your sales systems look like? Do you believe in your system? Do you have a system? There are many ways to address new leads. What works for one company might not work for you. Remember you have a goal, a destination. How are you getting there? Does your current sales system help you get there? What would you change if you could?

The only thing worse than having no leads is have bad leads. Bad leads often drain your most valuable resource – TIME.

I’ll follow up next with part two of this post.

Enjoy the week.

How much value does a professional design / landscape add?

I’ll keep this short and sweet. If I had to do some home improvements and personal care it would look something like this.


Issue with Heat Pump:
$65 - $85 service charge to show up.
Due upon arrival of technician.

Issue with leaking dishwasher:
$85 - $100 service charge to show up.
Due upon arrival of technician.

Oven keeps blowing a fuse:
$65 - $100 service charge to show up.
Due upon arrival of technician.

Health issue:
Approx. $120 Doctor’s visit to tell you want is wrong.
Prescriptions extra.

Landscape Issue:I have a drainage issue, need a patio, screening of my neighbor, outdoor kitchen, irrigation for when my lawn burns out in Aug., and a swimming pool:

Free Design with unlimited site visits before signing any contracts.


Do you have a professional design / sales system in place?

Let me know if you need help.

Brad@rivervalleylandscapes.com

If a plant out grows its space, is it the designer's or home owner’s fault?

As designers we like to blame the home owner when our designs don’t look good. I do realize there is care to keep any garden look well, but I’m referring to the situations below.

What if a designer proposes a Hinoki Cypress, but it looks awful when it gets 10’ tall? Or when a Lilac that looks like it is taking over a space at 8’ tall? Don’t we know these plants will grow to these sizes? If the designer thinks the space needs a 4’ plant, aren’t there plants that mature at 4’?

I also realize there are clients that are very opinionated and want what they want. I myself have had clients that didn’t care about tomorrow and just want it to look good for now. How do we handle these situations? First we need to learn more about the client. Maybe they are moving soon or are older and simply don’t want to wait. Educating our clients is all we can do in these situations.

If we are honest with ourselves, most times our clients are taking our recommendations and the results are ours to own. If we want people to respect our profession, we need to respect the client. We need to deliver what is right and not always what is asked for. Our clients are simply asking for what they are seeing. I challenge you to drive down your street. How far did you have to travel to find a really well thought out landscape?

Let’s all raise the standards of design.

Super Bowl Sneak Peak

If a plant is over growing its space, is it he designer or home owner's fault?

Post coming tomorrow...