It’s happened to all of us.  We get a call from a new client.  They have a small office.  They need 6 (count ‘em 6) plants.  You have a minimun charge of $100 per month.  This job is way under that amount at $50 per month.  The client doesn’t want to spend over $50 a month.  Where does that put you?  In the dreaded 6 plant dilemma.

What Do You Do?
Accept the job even though it is below your minimum?  Respectfully decline?  Or, how about coming up with a creative solution to do the job?

First, ask some questions. 

• Is the client planning an expansion at some point?
• Do they have other offices in the area that could also use plants?
• How about a Rental with Service?
• Do they also need Holiday?
• Can the job be subirrigated and seen every other or, even, every third week?

Next, check out the other tenants in the building.

• Are any of them potential clients? Three $50 a month clients in the same location equal a $150 per month job

We all have stories about the $50 a month job that turned out to be a couple of thousands dollars a month as the client added floors then buildings and just grew and grew.   Hey, it happens.  Happened to me, in fact.  One job started out at plants for one floor.  Then the  Company added 4 more floors the next year.  They added another building the following year and another one two years later.  Somewhere in all this they added Holiday both in and out complete with exterior trees being lit.  That tiny one-floor, $50 a month job ended up being a $3,700 a month account plus $60,000 a year Holiday account and the client is still a client!

Do Your Homework
The main idea is to do your homework, get as many facts as possible, and apply some creative problem solving. 

Be Willing to Let It Go
If, after all your work, the job still doesn’t meet your needs from either a logistic or monetary viewpoint, be willing to let it go.  However, still keep half an eye on this "fish".  It may not meet the posted weight limit today but revisit it a year from now.  Why?  Well, just like a fish, it may grow up to be a keeper and the very last thing you want is to regret the "one that got away". 
Good fishing.

It is Thanksgiving Weekend and everywhere you go you see signs of the Holiday Season.  Christmas lights are going up, Holiday music is on the radio, and everywhere there are red, white, and pink poinsettia, but mainly red.

For Some, Poinsettia Have Always been Part of the Holidays
Yes, the red poinsettia has been as much a part of Holiday as Turkey for Thanksgiving but it may surprise you to know that it wasn’t always.  Not until a very savvy horticulturist, Paul Ecke, Jr. by name, was determined to "put 2 poinsettia in everyone’s home" and, then, did so.

But Not for Others
If you were to travel to Australia you might find it a bit offsetting to see red poinsettia used at Shopping Mall and Office Lobby alike in the middle of June.  There, the poinsettia is just another blooming plant and has not much to do with Holiday. 

So How Did Paul Ecke, Jr. Achieve His Goal?
By taking advantage of the great new, must have, entertainment product that was a must in every American home in the 1960"s–the color television set.  Paul offerred national tv shows like the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson and the Today Show, hundreds of live poinsettia for their sets.  They loved the idea and accepted his gift.  So it was that each year millions and millions of Americans switched on their televisions and for the days before Christmas had all these beautful, red, plants in front of them. 

"Gimme One of those Red Plants I Saw On the Today Show"
What the Public saw, the Public wanted.  They asked for "that pretty red plant" at their grocery, their florist, their garden center.  Within just a few years, the poinsettia had become the Holiday plant.

We Owe Paul Ecke, Jr. a Great Deal of Thanks
For most interiorscapers Poinsettia are a pain in the neck.  Easily damaged, finicky about water and temperature, by the end of the season we are happy bto pitch them.  But let us not forget, it is because of the Poinsettia that most interiorscapers got into the Holiday business in the first place.  Your client saw you bringing in the points and said, "Hey, by the way, can you bring me a wreath for the front door?"  And, so your Holiday Business was born. 

Paul Ecke, Jr.  Inducted Into the Hall of Fame in 2006
It is fitting that Paul Ecke, Jr. was inducted this year.  He was a visionary and we, interiorscapers, have a great deal to thank him for.  He was the man who put  two (2) Poinsettia into the home, and office, of every American.

For more about PaulEcke Jr. and the Ecke Ranch, log on to www.ecke.com.

We have a Janitorial service at our office.  Every afternoon around 5 o’clock a guy comes in, empties our trash and then returns after 5 to vacuum.  Each evening he asks "how we are" and wishes us a "good evening".  The exchange takes all of 2 minutes.

Is this considered Customer Service?
I think about him often.  I equate his visits with that of our hort technicians.  He’s there for just a minute, exchanges pleasantries, and does his job.  The question is, "Does this brief encounter impact whether or not we’d switch to another less costly service?"  I think not.  The brief exchange might be seen by the interiorscape company as establishing a relationship, the client does not.  No great bond is established.

There has to be something more
We interiorscape companies have to differentiate ourselves from others providing the same service.  What could the cleaning service do along these lines?  Well, in our particular office situation our building is one of four buildings housing over 100 tenants-everything from a driving school to lawyers to TOPsiders.  Every month the property management company hosts a "Lunch and Learn".  People who work in the buildings show up at a small auditorium at noon with a sack lunch and listen to someone (usually another tenant) speak about something of interest.  Example, the massage center talks about stress reduction.  It’s good for the attendees, good for the massage center, and is a positive thing for the property management company.

What could the Janitorial service do?
What if they gave a presentation on how to clean your home faster and better with lots of "secret" tips?  What if they gave away 2 or 3 cleaning kits as a door prize?  Would their client (the property management company) appreciate this additional service?  Sure would be a good thing when the contract renewal time came around.

How about the interiorscape company?
What if you were to give a presentation in the Fall on "Bulbs, what to plant and how to plant them?"  "Holiday for the home" is another good topic.  Or how ’bout 45 minutes on which tropical plants do well in the home and some basic care tips?  And, don’t forget to give away  or raffle off a few plants or bulbs.  You could even offer a free consultation for their offices and a coupon good for 10% off the initial installation (not the maintenance).  You will have endeared yourself to the Property Manager, differentiated your company from the rest of the pack, and, possibly, even picked up a small office job in a building you are already servicing.

Spread the word
A couple of weeks prior to the presentation, make sure to post flyers on lobby bulletin boards, on the glass doors both front and back, and, even, go door to door the day before or morning of the presentation.  Now, that’s what I call thinking strategically.  Interaction far more meaningful than a quick , "How are you-have a good evening" exchange.  Definitely food for thought.

Holiday Decor as a Profit Center for Interiorscapers has been around since the 80’s with most companys doing poinsettia and a wreath or two.  Holiday continued to grow as trees, wreaths, and garland were added to the mix.

In the Begininng
Lighting relied on the C-7’s of the 50" and 60’s, to the ubiquitous white "minis" of the ’90’s.  Lighting was a skill and took time.  Most ’scapers avoided Holiday mainly because of the lighting hassle.  Then, the importers started offerring "Prelit" products.  It was an industry changing innovation.  Holiday as a Profit Center took off.

The Prelits Expand to the Consumer
In just a few years the prelit product was not only available to the professionals but to the Box stores and Garden Centers as a retail product.  Consumers, also frustrated with lighting and relighting jumped on the prelits.  In some instances this took away the interiorscapers appearance of "design expertise" but still jobs kept coming.

Props and Themes Rule
By now it took far more than just a big tree or lots of lights to make a design stand out.  Props and Themes became part of the Decor.  Winter Wonderland, Father Christmas, Fairies and Bunnies and Bears started showing up in lobbies galore.

The Next Question
And that’s where it stands in the Year 2006.  But what does the Future of Holiday look like?  How can you stay one snowshoe ahead of the pack?  Check out Lighting again. 

The LED’s are Coming.  The LED’S are Coming.
The’ve been around for a few years now.  LED lights that last 100,000 to 250,000 hours.  That give off no heat.  And that use far less wattage than a typical Holiday bulb.  The problems to date have been discrepancies in color particularly the white, clear bulbs but each year they get better and better.  It’s obvious that , not too many years from now, they wil be the product of choice.

Think of the Possibilities
Trees that never have to be relit, 10 and 15 year replacement rates when material is handled properly.  Exteriors of buildings outlined with LED light strings that only need 1 time Installation, can be left in place unlit for the remainder of the year only to be turned on again the next November, and that use up so little power that they are as "green" as grass.

The Question is Not If but How Soon
Get ready ’scapers.  Keep checking with the GKI’s and Creative Displays of our world.  It’s a Bright, Bright, Bright Future.

Because I have a bad back, I’ve become an expert on mattresses.  I even have one of those adjustable beds you see on T.V.  Still I wake up stiff and sore and in a less than pleasant mood.  Finally, last week I’d had enough.  Time for a new mattress…again.
 Now, like you, I’ve seen the Sleep Number Comfort ads 7,965 times so I went to my closest Mall Showroom.

And Along Comes Bob
It was the dinner hour so Bob was the only person in the showroom.  Immediately I was perplexed by his appearance.  Bob was very heavy, his dress was, shall we say ,casual and he was missing two front teeth.  OK, I said to myself, we’re out of here in 10 minutes, tops.  Then Bob started to give me his pitch.  He began by asking me questions and not just any questions.  They went right to my needs, my current situation and so on.  When I told him about my automatic bed at home, he showed me how I could still use it with a new Sleep Comfort mattress and this would save me about $800.00!  Point for Bob.  Next he had me lie down on the mattress he was recommending, showed me how to work the control and find my "sleep number".  As he did this we both could look at a screen that showed a thermal "map" of the pressure points and we adjusted until I felt great and the thermal map showed optimum firm/softness.  By now I was half way sold.  Then Bob went to the next level.  He told me that he had been in the bedding business for over 30 years (Score Point 3), and that he’d sold the adjustable beds for almost that long. (Point 4). Did I know how to adjust it for maximum comfort?  I did not and he showed me how.(Points 5, 6, and 7).  Bob was getting better looking by the minute.

The Sale Was Made
Once he explained I had 30 days to make a final decision once it was delivered, I was sold.  He even saved me another $50.00. (I stopped counting). He gave me paperwork and numbers so I could track delivery once they had called me and set up a time at my convenience.  It was painless.  I left the Showroom with a smile on my face and absolutely no "buyers remorse". Without a doubt, it was the easiest purchasing decision I’ve ever made.  That night I tried Bob’s suggestions and, they worked!  So, am I cancelling my purchase of his mattress?  Nope, I believe the new mattress will be even better and I am grateful Bob didn’t want me to be uncomfortable even for the few days until the new one arrives.  I have no doubt that the new mattress will be the best because I trust Bob, the best saleperson I’ve ever met.

What We Can Learn From Bob

• Bob asked great, pertinent, questions
• He identified the problem(s) and gave sugestions on how to correct them.
• He gave me ideas for my current situation "until the new mattress is delivered"
• He saved me $$$ not once, but twice. 
• The Company had a set format and both literature and visual aids, cutaway of the product, hi tech thermal imaging and so on,  to demo the Product
• Delivery and Installation formats were both convenient (I  had a choice of dates and timeframes) and they would remove the old mattress or put it anywhere I wanted it.
• They also had high end bed linens displayed in the Showroom (add on Sales)available.
• I had a "guarantee" and generous right of return

Yep, my hat is off to Sleep Comfort and to the best salesperson I ever met, thanks, Bob.

PPS.  It is now three weeks since I posted this.  I am thrilled to report that my back no longer hurts!!!!!!