Landscape Management, September 2013

PROFITINGFROMDESIGN JODY SHILAN Shilan is editor of FromDesign2Build com Contact him at 201 783 2844 or jshilan@ gmail com The site visit proposal Q Were a smaller landscape design build company Most of our projects are between 2500 and 5000 and rarely get over 10000 so selling design fees is really tough in our market Any suggestions on how we can improve our closing rates without a plan Jonathan Chaseman JC Landscape Construction Gresham Ore A s much as all of us want the glamorous high end design build jobs many of us dont work in these markets or have access to these types of clients Or maybe you do work in prestigious areas but still have to go out on calls that are not design worthy although theyre still potential oneor two day moneymakers Whatever the reason you need to create a preprinted proposal form that will help you land these smaller less prestigious projects or what Im now officially calling estimate build work right then and there I call these forms site visit proposals SVPs because theyre designed to help you close the deal on the initial site visit or meeting Are we embarrassed to admit we do low end work Will our peers look down their noses at us for admitting we do smaller installations Well Ive got some news for you Mr SnootyScapes Landscape Design Smaller or low end projects can be just as profitable as those negative edged maturely planted hardscape dominated high end landscape installations and they can be just as interesting OK that last part is a stretch Still the profit generated from the 1500 to 5000 projects isnt any less green than that of a so called high end project Think about it If you sell enough 5000 installs before you know it youll have 25000 worth of work which is pretty decent for anyone For smaller companies this can provide you with two weeks of solid work For larger companies you can turn your B and C crews or enhancement crews into profit making machines You know what else By selling smaller or low end work your newer designers and salespeople will gain the experience and confidence they need to eventually start selling larger work in the future Anatomy of the SVP So lets discuss how the SVP works I created the SVP because like many of you Id go on leads that were smaller and didnt require a design but still could make money At the end of these appointments Id tell the prospects I would put together a proposal and get back to them in a few days The reality was that once I left these calls and started getting busy with paid clients and checking on projects under construction these estimates slowly started working their way to the bottom of the to do pile Time would pass and frustrated potential clients would call the office looking for their estimates Id apologize to them saying how busy I was and tell them I would get it to them that day which oftentimes never happened One winter I decided that enough was enough and I created a mini proposal the SVP that I could complete right on site Its a professional looking document thats a hybrid between a blank triplicate NEBS form and a formally typed proposal The SVP includes three sections site work landscape planting and miscellaneous considerations plus materials and labor cost breakdowns for each The next year instead of leaving these types of appointments with a false promise that Id get back to the prospects with a design I wrote up a proposal right then and there Naturally the homeowner couldnt be happier nor could I Since my SVPs are triplicates I gave the client the white and yellow copies with a self addressed stamped envelope and I kept the pink copy for my records If the clients wanted to do the work they just sent in their signed copies with a check for a third of the price If not I knew I did my job and responded to them in a timely fashion Using my SVP I sold more work got fewer complaints and slept much better To submit a question for Profiting From Design please contact Shilan at jshilan@ gmail com WEB EXTRA Download a sample SVP in the September Web Extras section of Landscape Management net LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET SEPTEMBER 2013 38