Let’s start with a quick story…
A few years ago we were awarded the landscape maintenance contract for a large townhome community. As the board president was signing our contract, he told us that he had voted for us because we were more than just “mow, blow, and go”, like his previous landscape providers had been. He scheduled an initial walkthrough with us to “have a look at some areas that could use a little extra help”.
Excited to start out on the right foot, we showed up for the property walk with notebooks and cameras ready. We spent 3 hours walking around the community, listening to him talk about all the things he felt his previous landscaper did wrong. He also talked about all the choices he would have made, if he had been to one to select the plant palette for the community when it was built. He then asked us to come back to him with a plan for how we were going to attack the areas he’d pointed out to us.
We came back to him a week later with renderings of the beautifully reimagined landscape that could be his. It was like a work of art we were unveiling to him. The drawings incorporated the exact plant materials he had told us he preferred, and we expected to hear nothing but praise for how well we’d paid attention to his needs.
Instead, he was just embarrassed.
“It’s absolutely beautiful. But we don’t have the money for all this. We just want you to do what’s in the contract we signed with you. If you do a good job, maybe next year we can talk about doing a little something extra.”
Sometimes clarifying the client’s expectations is the most difficult part of what we do. Serving a client well often starts with helping them to define what they expect from us. Then, we have to delicately balance their expectations with their budget.
We can design a beautiful space for a client that would rival anything they’ve ever seen on Pinterest, but if they can’t afford to install and maintain it, then we’ve failed to serve that client well.
This is the challenge we face when working with a lot of new clients. It’s easy to look at other properties’ landscaping and say “I want that”, without understanding the level of investment is to get “that” particular look.
Here’s something we like to remind our clients - landscapes are living things that are in a constant state of change. With the help of trained Landscape Professionals, they are constantly improving, becoming healthier and more beautiful. And the client’s vision of what their landscape should look like won’t happen overnight, no matter how much they spend.
Improving and enhancing a landscape takes time, and many of the things we do will not be immediately apparent. In fact, if the client is serious about making a dramatic change to their landscape, it will often require making it look worse before it gets better.
But over time, the client’s expectation will become their reality. Turf will get greener. Shrubs and trees will look healthier and more full. Flowers will be more vibrant.
As budgets change, the key to serving a client well is to help them define and adjust expectations accordingly. With consistent communication and planning, their budget and their expectations can be aligned.
Are you searching for a new commercial landscape partner? One who will take the time to understand what you really expect from your property’s landscape.
Request an appointment to meet with your local Yellowstone Landscape Professional today. You can afford a more beautiful landscape.
