Every interiorscape company has a face they present to their clients, prospective clients and the rest of the world. Its their logo on the trucks, the uniforms they wear, and the heading on their stationery. There’s another "face" involved but this time its not really a face; its a voice. The voice on the other end of the phone when someone calls your office.

Listen Up
Used to be a real, live human being answered most calls. Today, more often than not an electronic machine does the job, or, does it? Maybe some day in the future we’ll not even remember a time when live people answered the phone but, now, today we do and we miss it.

The Telephone Quandry
 The small business particularly when it is involved in providing service needs to put a phone plan in place. A real live voice is the best way but if that is not feasible, then try to have a message unit and make sure you put your cell phone number in the message. That way the client will not feel stymied and if he should call and your phone is off he will assume you are in a meeting with a client and will then leave the wanted message.

Put Yourself In Their Shoes
Think about how frustrated you’ve been when you have tried to reach one of the utility companies or been put on hold for eons or had to leave messages time and again. Your clients react the same way but now it may be you they are mad at. Figure out a plan to solve this dilemma. Happy clients are stay put clients. And that’s the name of that game.

Often the first contact you have with a prospective client is by letter.  Now, in the world of first contact letters there is "Good", "Better", and "Best".  "Good" is what you might expect, a "Hi, I’m so and so and I’d like to talk to you about our interiorscaping service".  "Better" goes the next step forward and adds to the first info about "who we are", the awards you’ve won or the organizations you belong to. 

Then There’s "Best"
A letter that gives the reader an idea of why they should be talking to you, reasons like saving money, receiving prompt, professional service and so on.  In other words, how they will benefit by using your company.

Attention, Attention
You’ll also need an attention grabbing headline that offers a major benefit and follow up with a paragraph that supports it.  The letter shouldn’t be too long, one page max, easy to understand and to the point.  Personalize your letter by writing in a friendly, courteous tone and include a call to action or state that you’ll be calling soon to follow up, then, do it.

Customize
I recommend having three or four different letters each targeting a different market segment such as Hospitality, Office, Property Managers,Residential, and so on.  That way you can concentrate on the benefits you offer to each group.  Example: Offices?  Your attention to security issues.  Hospitality?  Maybe you have a Floral Division.  You get the idea.

Take A Look At the Letter You are Currently Using.
Does it talk benefits or just brag about how great you are?  Hmmm.  Maybe it’s time to revise them.

There have been meetings before and there will be meetings in the future but, for me, this past Calscape was one of the best.  When you realize that 99% of the work involved is all volunteer you have to be amazed.  The Committee and Board take precious hours from business and family to plan and coordinate this annual "meeting of the tribes".  Attendees came from all over, Hawaii, Nevada, Texas, New York and, of course, California.  The highlight was the Awards Banquet and induction into the Hall of Fame. 

Rich Gaines
Rich originally trained as an architect but his love of plants led him into foliage and interiorplantscaping.  He, literally, wrote the book.  Yep, he wrote one of the very first books on the subject and much of the material was later adopted for use by ALCA and established industry standards.  Along with partner Mike Lewis, Rich operated the successful interiorscape company Plantscape House in Orlando and was always a major contributor to the industry.  I’m proud to say he has been a friend for all these years.  Congratulations.

Paul Ecke Jr.
Inducted into the Hall of Fame posthoumously, Paul Ecke, Jr.  singlehandedly made the poinsettia we take so for granted today, the Holiday icon it is today.  Through shrewd marketing, by sending thousands of red points to the Today Show, the Tonight Show etc., he made what started out as a weed in Mexico the expected, mandatory plant purchase each year.  Wish we could copy his strategy for green plants today.

For Me
The thrill is to see all those faces and put them with the voices I talk to on the phone.

Next Year
Yep, it’s Vegas, baby., September 26-28, 2007.   Sure to be great seminars, wonderful Banquet and Award Program, but, best of all, it will be another Meeting of the Clan.

It’s Still About People
Interiorscape companies are the smallest companies doing business with most often the largest businesses.  I mean, who’s smaller?  The coffee service?  The window washers?  Nope, it’s us–the interiorscapers.  And who can best afford our services?  The real estate office on the corner?  The local beauty salon?  Maybe sometimes but, for the most part, it is the higher end Hotels, Restaurants, Homes, and the thousands and thousands of square feet of corporate office space. 

It Can Get Intimidating
Joe, the Facility Manager for XYZ Corporation has all this power.  One word from him and you’re on Cloud Nine.  Another and you’re in the pits.  And that’s why I find this business so fascinating.  It’s all about dollars, and service, responsiveness and creativity but, bottom line, it’s still about the people.

You Got The Job
We’ve all experienced a time when we got the job even though we weren’t the lowest bid.  In our hearts we knew that we got the job because Joe or Suzy  liked and trusted us.  Somehow we communicated that we were trustworthy, hard working, honest and fairly competent  and we got it. Best of all, Joe or Suzy went home that night smiling that once again, they had made a huge difference in someone’s business life.  They believed in us.

You’re Not Always On the Short End of the Stick
Now, let’s turn the situation around.  In some instances you have the power. In fact, you are in the power seat to your suppliers.  You are their Joe or Suzy.  Your decisions can make a huge difference in their business life.  So, just as you appreciate the loyalty and faithfulness of your clients, so should your vendors appreciate you.  I know I do.

Yes, you need to have sales skills, give great service and sharpen your pencil, but in the end It’s Still About People.
Now go out there and get ‘em, Tiger.

Thanks to Joe Haslett of Innovative Plantscaping in California for the lowdown. Or should I say "logdown"? Try www.menorah.net as the resource for large good looking classic candelabra for the "Feast of Lights" Jewish Holday. And remember, the Holidays, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hannukah, and, even the Chinese New Year, are but a few weeks away.

First Qualify the prospective client or lessor. Are they a Fortune 500 company or a small real estate office down the street? In other words you want to assess their stability. Are they going to be around for awhile or might they run out before the lease is up? If it is a business with a history of stablility then by all means lease. If it isn’t, don’t

. Steps to Calculate
1. Calculate your fee for guarantee and maintenance.
 2. Figure out your landed cost for the plants and planters (or whatever you will be leasing)
3 Calculate the costs for Installation labor and Material
 4. What is a fair interest rate a Bank would charge for the use of that amount of money for one year.

 Next
Take the landed cost, add the installation costs, markup that amount by the interest percentage. The sum of these is your cost. Next figure out in how many months you want to recapture these costs (most companies use anywhere from a 12-24 month recapture). Divide your sum of costs by this number of months and you have your monthly lease fee. Add to this the monthly fee for guarantee and maintenance and you are done. Also, this combined number, one number, is how it is quoted to the client, not teased out as individual line items. Note: While we call it a lease it is really a rental since the client never, never, owns the product. You do. Otherwise if they were to own at the end of a year or two all you are doing is financing a purchase. No gold doing that.

So Why Don’t More Interiorscapers Lease?
 Every plantscaper expects a different profit and some have unrealistic views on the time it takes to retrieve the original costs so many ’scapers price leases unrealistically plus they are afraid of being stuck with 50 planters they can’t resell. Add to these fears the fact that most contracts are only written for one or two years. So, between fear of loss plus unfriendly pricing, most companies book few leases. First of all, I suggest you look at the average number of years you keep clients and not at the length of time the original contract is written. I’ll bet you’ll have a better comfort level when you see that most of your stable clients renew year after year after year. Plus, by prequalifying the client, you should have a better comfort level.
Then, even if the contract is written for only one year, the client, either through inertia or because they really like you, remains your client for years and years. That means that the cost of goods is retrieved after the first 12-24 months and the profit continues year after year. As you can see, a long term lease client is even better than gold, they’re platinum. And, if after five or six years they opt to cancel, so what? You already made double or triple the profit you would have made if they had purchased the material.

 But What About The Planters?
 No place to store them for the next twenty years when someone else will need 50 Puce Green planters? Give them away or deep six them. You’ve already made your money on them

 Leases. A real opportunity once you figure out how to charge for it.