The New Year will be here in just a tad over 100 days and most of you are getting geared up for Holiday Sales.  This is an excellent time to sell more green plants and service as you are calling on clients for Holiday.

 Plant the Seeds
  The lifeblood of every ‘scaper is your monthly recurring revenue, not one time and Holiday Sales.  These are just the icing on the cake not the cake itself.  That is why it is imperative that even while you are selling that gorgeous wreath you must also be tilling the soil for regular plantscape jobs.  Best of all, it is still time to give  2008 Green Plant Sales a boost.  What kind of a promotion could you devise to get some interest going?  You’ve got the perfect excuse to call on each and every client whether they already are a Holiday client or not.  Ask about all of their needs, describe all of your services.  Watch and see which one elicits a response and then be ready to sell it.  Go armed with a small, 6" green desktop plant as a leave behind gift.  Make sure your business card is prominently attached.  And, remember, to place followup calls a week later.  And, while you are in their building, checkout the other tenants either physically or by jotting down names listed on the lobby Directory.  Future homework, plus traveling by elevator is much less costly than by vehicle.

But First You Need A Plan      So many calls a day, so many appointments a week.  Set your goals and fill the squares.  It’s important or otherwise all the pluses of October,  November and December will be cancelled out by January.’s slow sales and high replacements.  (Been there, done that).   And, since its getting close to year-end, take some time and review your 2008 Sales Record.  How much did you sell in one-time sales of plants and containers?  How much in guaranteed maintenance annualized?  How much Holiday?  Who did you sell it to?  What percentage of those dollars was to offices, to restaurants, to building lobbies?  Doing this will give you a snapshot of what you’ve done and which market segments have been most successful.  And, its not a bad idea to check out the location of these recent sales.  Is there one area of your city hotter than the rest?  Is there an area you should have been calling on more often?  Do a Post Mortem, just like on CSI.  This information is like having a compass instead of just floating along aimlessly.  It’s a powerful, powerful tool.  Take the time.  I promise you you’ll be enlightened.