Question?                                                                                                                                                This year and in this market, how are you going to successfully sell               
landscape construction and planting services to your customers?

Answer:     Start with good design.

The Lehmann Design Group, Inc. specializes in providing reasonably priced high quality landscape design services to landscape contractors like you.

I’m Mike Lehmann, the creative talent behind the Lehmann Design Group, Inc. and  I know this---I can help you sell more landscape work this year.

That’s right---good design is the key to selling more work…. and more work per job.  How do I know that?  As a professional designer, I’ve been providing landscape design services to landscape contractors just like you for more than twenty years.  Before that, I spent seven years as a design/build contractor myself.  I have also been a hands-on project manager for more than twenty years.  As such I am one of the most experienced landscape design professionals in southeast Michigan.  Good design--- that’s what sells landscape construction.

How do we work together to do that?  Well, that depends upon your needs, your budget, your client, project size and other factors, so flexibility is important.  The following thoughts and ideas will give you a taste of what’s possible---these are some of the ways we might collaborate to help you “bring home the bacon” this year.

Sales help.  I’ve been selling landscape design services for more than twenty five years.(Yes, people will pay for design services!!)  I come across with a lot of authority---ie. as a designer, I know what I’m talking about.  How does this help you?  Well, I could come with you to that all important sales call or even instead of you as your salesman.  The same goes for design presentations:  I could go with you, I could present myself as your independent design consultant or even as part of your “design staff”, as you choose.

Field work and layout services.  Depending upon you client’s needs and your budget, fieldwork could be as minimal as you emailing or faxing me a mortgage survey,  perhaps with a few paced off measurements penciled in, to extensive fieldwork leading to a truly engineered landscape masterplan, or anything in between.
 

Take-offs and cost estimates.  Once design work has been completed, I can do this “nuts and bolts” work for you, in whole or in part.
 

Sizing and sourcing plants and other materials/specifications.  I can work with your existing sources and suppliers exclusively or potentially introduce you to other sources both local and non-local.  I’d be happy working with your companies’ distinctive signature look if that is important to you, or, with my extensive horticultural and design background, create a signature for you.  Once again, it’s your call.
 

Why burden yourself with in-house design/sales staff?  In some cases, it’s much more cost effective to purchase experienced  design talent on an as needed basis.  I can function as your design sales department, freeing you of payroll and payroll taxes, possibly health insurance and training costs---a huge benefit.  A huge savings.

Doing design work yourself, on the run between appointments, late at night, or at the last minute?  Many landscape contractor/owners do this but by not giving design the proper time and creative attention it deserves you are, in many cases, lowering the quality of your work, mortgaging your reputation and losing valuable sales.  Don’t let that happen.  Don’t shortchange yourself and your business.  High quality design services are the key to higher construction and installation sales.

If your company targets mid to upper end residential and commercial landscape construction customers, or you hope to do so, you can not afford to overlook good design as the number one stepping stone to maintaining then increasing sales growth and profitability in the challenging economic climate we now face in southeast Michigan.

Right now, it seems as if people either have very little, if any discretionary income, or plenty of money.  The catch is that those who have money are demanding customers.  They insist on excellent service and high quality.  They are also perfectly happy to pass you up and hire the next guy if you’re not providing the level of service and quality they expect and feel they deserve.  Often price is not the most important factor, service, experience and design excellence is.

A high quality design service, properly sold and properly presented is the surest way to get your foot solidly in the door and stay there.  This is what the Lehmann Design Group will help you do.

As April fades to May and the weather starts warming up and your first calls start coming in, keep us in mind.  The Lehmann Design Group will work with you, do whatever it takes, to help you provide those all important customers with the knowledgeable sales help and expertise, design excellence and high quality, timely service you’ll need to make 2009 an excellent year.

Don’t delay any longer, call, and let’s set up a time to plan a strategy.

Sincerely,

Michael R. Lehmann,  RLA, ASLA

P.S.  If you already provide your customers with very high quality landscape construction services, bringing experience, construction know-how, flexibility, sophistication and teamwork to every job you do, I’d like to talk with you about joining a very select group of contractors installing projects for the Lehmann Design Group.