Founded in 2008. The Landscape Juice Network (LJN) is the largest and fastest growing professional landscaping and horticultural association in the United Kingdom.
LJN's professional business forum is unrivalled and open to anyone within within the UK landscape industry
LJN's Business Objectives Group (BOG) is for any Pro serious about building their business.
For the researching visitor there's a wealth of landscaping ideas, garden design ideas, lawn advice tips and advice about garden maintenance.
Replies
Check their credentials.
Good luck with this Rachel - great idea
I'd not thought about the perception that landscape gardening is cheap labour, so I will add something that explains the skills & knowledge involved. I should also explain the difference between a landscaper and a gardener whilst I'm at it.
Actually A & J you make a good point about contracts, I've not covered those yet for designers or landscapers. I think eventually it would be a good idea to a have separate in depth guide to employing landscape contractors, for now though, I think an overview will still be helpful.
If any landscapers want to write a guide, I'll happily include the information on my webiste & a link back to yours...
Thanks for suggestions - keep 'em coming!
What does drive me crazy is when clients say, - can you just....... as the just things always take longer than the rest of the job, and they don't expect to pay you for - can you just... - so I try to get round this by sending an email to say when i'll be there, and saying i'll be concentrating on xxxx , so that they can get the can you just.... in on a return email and I can then let them know if it will take extra time/ rescource.
So I guess what i'm saying is communicating in advance if anything changes in what they want.
Ahead of working with any client I do a paid for consultation when I walk them round their garden, and find out about their likes, dislikes and styles, - I do a soil test and give them loads of info, - then I write up my notes into a report, - the last page of the report is my terms and conditions, and my prices, - so it's all laid out for them.
The cheap labour comment does only pop up occassionally, but enough for it to grind .... I often find that, eg, for garden clearances/general one-off tidy-ups, people expect to pay Geoff from down the road with his few tools in the back of the car for £8 p/hr (no offence to any Geoff's out there!!) ---- which is fine to an extent, but customers need to realise sometimes that you do get what you pay for.
Customers should always feel comfortable working with the contractors they choose, be they landscapers/designers or gardeners -- after all for larger jobs these people are pretty much gonna be part of their lives every single day, and the customer needs to feel they can ask questions along the way if they want to without having their heads bitten off or being grunted at.
Hope this helps
Claire, good points about feedback - I will include those. Good communication is certainly key, you are right.
Thanks for comments Angela, I've included that they need to choose someone they are comfortable with and I've done my best to describe the difference between a gardener, landscaper and a builder - you can all tell me next week if I've succeeded in doing right!
This is a great idea Michelle! I have been enjoying your Successful Garden Design blog posts too. Here are my thoughts:
I feel it is important that customers are aware that any design or drawings pertaining to the prospective project will be chargeable as a service in itself. I understand that different businesses approach this in different ways (be it deducting the drawings price from the build price, or offering free drawings etc) but it will help the sales and preparatory processes across the board if the public know that it is common practice in many situations.
It would help if home-owners take a look at some articles which explain how well executed landscape works will increase the property value substantially (and often much more than the value of the work itself); and also to consider the different funding options: many I find are still unaware that since substantial garden projects come under the banner of home-improvements, they can be funded through the property's equity as a loan or through the mortgage.
I would also suggest that potential customers form an idea of what they want, not from the garden but from the contractor before the contractor arrives for the survey - this relates to the '3 quotes' argument. When I hear somebody say they are gathering 3 quotations then I am immediately dis-heartened about my prospects of winning the project; the reason being that, as a designer, I have come to offer design solutions to garden area and as such, my quotation will be nothing like that of a non-designer's quotation because I will have added value and aesthetic appeal wherever possible which will inevitably cost more. Therefore I am not the correct candidate for the work. The 3 quotes approach assumes 3 like-for-like quotations which are normally based upon the customers dictation of what they want and where, and these decisions made by the customer clearly aren't always suitable or correct. It is the language used that signifies their intentions; if they were to say "I'm getting 3 different designers to come round for a chat and offer preliminary ideas" then that means I must up the ante and impress the customer as much as I can - it becomes more about what I can do for them, rather than what is the best price they can get for their own prescribed works.
Don't take me wrong on the above - I am in no way adverse to price competition, but I naturally want to improve upon and develop the customer's formative ideas rather than say "alright missus - you'll have my quote in 3 days" and deliver a well-built but poorly conceived garden. We can and do of course offer competitive quotes but elect to take the option on which projects we do so.
Perhaps some inclusion could be made about access to water and electricity and toilet. All should be available to contractors and where not suitable or possible then the cost of generator hire and port-a-loo hire will be added to the bill.
Also the clients should be realistic about when they want the project to be built. It is all well and good phoning in February to ensure your garden is ready for the Spring, but in reality this isn't always feasible! The customer needs to decide whether they are willing to compromise on one more Spring and wait a little for that 'dream garden' or perhaps compromise a little on the job by employing a firm that wouldn't normally be within their top 2 or 3 choices.
Do many people here offer a free design if they build the garden? As a freelance designer it's my pet hate because I feel it devalues the design. What are your thoughts on that? I would also feel that someone either hasn't spent enough time on the design or they've worked it into the cost of the build - is that a fair thing to write or should I leave well alone with that one!?
With regards to the last point you made - I have said to phone a designer well ahead of needing them. I've said to allow between 4-6 weeks to get the design back and the quickest a design and build could realistically be done would be in 3 months start to finish but obviously that will depend on availability of designer, landscaper and materials.
Thanks for all your input guys, this has been really helpful.
Rachel - my apologies for calling you Michelle!
As I was thinking about my post I was also thinking about a customer I went to see last week called Michelle - im sorry!! She actually asked if the work she wanted done could be finished by the end of April - her garden was easily 600 sqm and she wanted a design. I had already struggled to get an idea of budget from her and I told her that we were fairly busy but that I would try to find some extra resources; that this would take some time and I would need some commitment before I would do that - I also added that it would be improbable that we would even start before the end of April. She made numerous awkward faces as I was saying all this and then she actually said, "well none of that is really true is it...?", at which point the meeting went flat and ended not long afterwards...politely!
There are those who offer free designs!
Sorry about the name again Rachel - very rude!
Rachel Mathews ORIGIN said:
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next