Posted on June 28th, 2008 in General, Grow Your Sales, Competitive Advantage | 
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At the Grocery they call them "loss leaders". Other marketers call them "freebies". For most of us it is the perception of getting something for nothing. Whatever you call them, these freebies or loss leaders are incentives. A reward to take some action.
For Interiorscapers the actions we want to incentivize may be signing a contract, renewing a contract, going for a lease option rather than a purchase with service, or agreeing to some other action. Incentives for our industry might be First Month Free, Second Month Free, Thirteenth Month Free, Percentage Discount, and so on. At first glance, all of the above may seem equal. Not so. I contend that if I am going to give away a free month of service that the most beneficial to me, the interiorscaper, is the Thirteenth Month Free, then the second month free and lastly, the first month free. Why? Because the thirteenth month free means that they are signing a second year of service and this puts us in the position of giving away one twentyfourth of the contract not one twelveth as the first or second month situation does. And the second month free is better for us than the first month becauseat least we would have one month cash flow in place and it gives the client a time frame to set up the bookeeping.
Other incentives might include an extra ongoing blooming plant. Nice touch. Not terribly expensive and very showy. Another incentive is to charge the client an up front fee for, say design, and then mark your proposal with the statement that the design fee is negated if you are the successful bidder. Not easy to pull off for smaller jobs but seems to work more often for large scale projects. I bid on a Shopping Mall once and the design specs were written by a large IP company. They stated that their $3,000 "design fee" would not be charged IF they were the successful bidder. Wanna guess who got the job? Yep, they did.
The worst incentives are Percentage discounts UNLESS you have marked up prices in advance and then discount to return to the appropriate level. In the world of Percentage Off, discounts off of a one time Sale of Plants/Planters is far better than a percentage off of a monthly recurring charge like guaranteed Maintenance. With a percentage off a one time charge you have only shot yourself in the foot…..once. If you discount a monthly recurring charge, you have shot yourself not once, but 12 times that year, 12 times the next year and so on. And, since we tend to keep clients for several years, this could well end up costing you tons of dollars. And, try to avoid at all costs taking a fixed percentage off of everything in one fell swoop. Start with the discount off the one time and so on.
So, incentives can be a bad thing, a good thing , or a great thing. It’s all about how you structure it and your upfront understanding. Lay your options out on paper and choose the one that does the least harm to YOU. And, last of all, keep it simple. Incentives are not like Chocolate. Six are not better than two. Sometimes we get so carried away at our cleverness we go way overboard. So, Keep It Simple. No more than two incentives to a customer please.
Now get out there and get ‘em, Tiger
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Posted on June 23rd, 2008 in General, Grow Your Sales, Green Plantscaping | No Comments »
There’s a new word in the lexicon. It is "Greenwashing". Nope, it doesn’t mean washing your veggies and friuts to rid them of pesticides, nope, it refers to the practice of some manufacturers, builders, and others to make "Green" claims that are false. The problem is that you the consumer, have practically no way to verfiy claims.
The real problem is that because Greenwashing exists, some people use this as an excuse to negate everything "Green". This is equvilent to throwing out the baby with the bath water. A big mistake. Going Green is a journey and everyone is traveling this road. No one is 100%, perfectly Green. But we are all at different points along the trail and learning as we go.
In a few years there will be agencies that will document and verify every product and service as to its "Greenness". Yep, at some point every product will be certified as to how much of its composition comes from recycled origins, is recyclable, is from sustainable materials and so on. It will read much like the Nuitrition Code on Packaged food products. Remember, this is all new and kinda new and it takes…time.
Until then, just keep learning and keeping up with all the changes.
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Posted on June 16th, 2008 in General, Grow Your Sales, Competitive Advantage, InnerCircle | 2 Comments »
If Labor, driving time, vehicle costs and fuel are 4 of the largest costs your business has, then it is obvious that extending the time between visits, or lowering the number of people that go to the account, will have a huge impact on your bottom line. True, most companies visit accounts weekly. That is the way the system was originally set up some 60 plus years ago. Why was every 7 days the magic formula? No one seems to know, but the first company did it that way and everyone from that day on followed suit. Even after the first subirrigation product s showed up, the majority continued to go weekly. Over the years, I’ve tried to get companies to look at this practice. Most argue that if they switch there will be dire consequences. Oh, I’ve heard all the arguements.. "The clients expect to see me every week, the techs think they’ll have their hours cut back so they argue against it, every week service is what the clients are paying for, there will be higher plant death, clients complaint calls will skyrocket with the extra yellow leaves", and so on and so on. Yep, I’ve heard it all before and then some. But, truth is, there is nothing else you can do to make/keep more money than to lengthen the time between or spend less time on visits.
The Plants. Truth is more plants are killed by overwatering than underwatering, so those every week visits are not only not needed, but hastening your foliage to an early demise. Every other week is just fine. Saves Gas and saves Plants.
Teach Anticipation. You do have to teach your techs to "anticipate". If a leaf is yellow on the tip, trust me, it will not turn green in 11 days. Pull before not after. Once techs start doing this, they get really good at anticipation and client calls are negligible.
There are lot of other tips on 2 Week Maintnenance Strategies. Inner Circle Members will find them all in their next Inner Circle Newsletter and we will discuss when next we have an Inner Circle Conference Call. Its all in how you implement and how you manage the expectations of your client. Now, Go Out There and Get ‘EM, Tiger.
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Posted on June 2nd, 2008 in General, Employees, Competitive Advantage | No Comments »
What Will We Wear? Most small interiorscape companies wear coordinated outfits. These may consist of no more than a "golf" shirt with a name tag or company name and logo on front or back, or they may be a fabric shirt with a collar. Usually the bottom half sports khaki or navy slacks. Jeans may be permitted but make sure they are clean, unstained, and have no rips or tears.
Other Options Some companies make a statement by wearing brightly colored tropical shirts. These can still have name tags and logos on them. Everyone in the field wears the same shirts and they become a visual "icon". And, in areas that have cold, colder climates, employees are provided with an outerwear jacket in a coordinating or matching color so the "uniform" look is carried through completely. Make sure these items are well made and provide adquate protection from the elements.
Never, Nevers Regardless of the climate, sleeveless shirts are never appropriate and low cut tops the same. Keep your look clean, identifiable, and professional. I have always like the short or long sleeved cloth shirt with epaulets on the shoulders.
The Agony of Da Feet One of the areas usually overlooked is the shoe. Yes, sports shoewear is OK as long as it is clean and not falling apart. Flip flops or open sandals are a bad thing not just from an appearance standpoint but also as a safety issue.
Summing Up One company I know, keeps a full length mirror next to the warehouse facility door that most techs use when exiting. As a matter of course, everyone passes it a couple of times a day. Not a bad way to reinforce company policy regarding the non uniform uniform. Now go out there and get ‘em tiger.
Now Go out there and get ‘em Tiger.
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