Photo courtesy of Will Hyde with Mile High Landscaping
Landscape Lighting Marketing, Part 1
As in any business, having a well thought out marketing plan can mean the difference between thriving and just surviving. I meet many contractors who love landscape lighting and they tell me lighting is their passion, but they can't seem to get enough jobs to do it full time. This is the same guy that says the only way they market is by word of mouth. This newsletter is designed to get people thinking out of the box with their landscape lighting marketing plan.
Marketing is the only way a product or service will sell. Everyone has done a job that if more people could see how beautiful it looked more people would buy. If people haven't tasted the product, heard about it, or seen it, then how is the product or service going to sell? Landscape Lighting is the same and the only way people are going to buy is by letting people see the beauty and value of landscape lighting. Here are 4 ideas for marketing landscape lighting.
#1 Sales Goal/12 month plan
What is your lighting sales goal for the year? If we don't know where we are going, we will end up in the town of Nowhere, U.S.A. every time. A good place to start is to set goals monthly and ask how many jobs I can do in a month. For example set a goal to do 1 job a week which would be 4 jobs a month and 36 jobs over the course of 9 months. Once the goal of the number of jobs is set, put together a 12 month marketing plan. Strategically planning out a 12 month marketing plan and having it in place now will help with the ups and downs of the season. The plan is in place when business is busy just as the plan is in place when things get slow. Too many times people get off track when things get too busy and have no time to market and then a month later wonder why there is no work.
# 2 Networking
Getting connected with people in your city and letting them know what you do is a great way to market. Many times a good network of people will start doing your work by telling people they know about your lighting company. Get connected with companies that don't compete with you. For example, if you do landscaping and lighting why not get connected with Swimming Pool, Electric, Deck, Security, Builders, Developers, Tree, Lawn Care, Lawn Maintenance, Invisible Fence companies, etc. Refer your customers to non competing companies when they have a need, and most likely those companies will return the referral. Maybe each company can hand you 2 jobs a year. Get connected and it will get you work.
#3 Personal Letters/Flyers/Postcards
People are hard to reach today and a personal letter is a great way to get their attention. Pick 10 homes that need landscape lighting and write a few details about their property and tell how rich their landscape looks. In the letter tell them you will give them a call in the next few days and ask them for a landscape lighting appointment. Flyers are also a great low cost way to get the word out. Have a couple pictures in color of some good night shots and let your pictures do the work. Keep it as simple as possible. Postcards are a great way to get the word out as well. Having a couple great pictures on a Postcard can make you the authority in lighting and the only company people think of in regards to lighting.
#4 Existing Customers
Most contractors have a satisfied customer base that could be tapped into either with new installs or adding onto the existing systems. What about sending a personal letter with a couple of pictures of recent jobs explaining the benefits and value of landscape lighting to an existing customer? Follow this letter up with a personal call and this could be the easiest way to get more sales.
#1 Sales Goal/12 month plan
What is your lighting sales goal for the year? If we don't know where we are going, we will end up in the town of Nowhere, U.S.A. every time. A good place to start is to set goals monthly and ask how many jobs I can do in a month. For example set a goal to do 1 job a week which would be 4 jobs a month and 36 jobs over the course of 9 months. Once the goal of the number of jobs is set, put together a 12 month marketing plan. Strategically planning out a 12 month marketing plan and having it in place now will help with the ups and downs of the season. The plan is in place when business is busy just as the plan is in place when things get slow. Too many times people get off track when things get too busy and have no time to market and then a month later wonder why there is no work.
# 2 Networking
Getting connected with people in your city and letting them know what you do is a great way to market. Many times a good network of people will start doing your work by telling people they know about your lighting company. Get connected with companies that don't compete with you. For example, if you do landscaping and lighting why not get connected with Swimming Pool, Electric, Deck, Security, Builders, Developers, Tree, Lawn Care, Lawn Maintenance, Invisible Fence companies, etc. Refer your customers to non competing companies when they have a need, and most likely those companies will return the referral. Maybe each company can hand you 2 jobs a year. Get connected and it will get you work.
#3 Personal Letters/Flyers/Postcards
People are hard to reach today and a personal letter is a great way to get their attention. Pick 10 homes that need landscape lighting and write a few details about their property and tell how rich their landscape looks. In the letter tell them you will give them a call in the next few days and ask them for a landscape lighting appointment. Flyers are also a great low cost way to get the word out. Have a couple pictures in color of some good night shots and let your pictures do the work. Keep it as simple as possible. Postcards are a great way to get the word out as well. Having a couple great pictures on a Postcard can make you the authority in lighting and the only company people think of in regards to lighting.
#4 Existing Customers
Most contractors have a satisfied customer base that could be tapped into either with new installs or adding onto the existing systems. What about sending a personal letter with a couple of pictures of recent jobs explaining the benefits and value of landscape lighting to an existing customer? Follow this letter up with a personal call and this could be the easiest way to get more sales.
Marketing Landscape Lighting is a must and not waiting on word of mouth to happen. Get organized and focused with a 12 month marketing plan and your lighting sales will go up.
Tim McKay with NightscapingŪ
Regional Field Representative
Colorado/Utah
303-881-9575
tim@nightscaping.com
Tim McKay with NightscapingŪ
Regional Field Representative
Colorado/Utah
303-881-9575
tim@nightscaping.com
Photo courtesy of Will Hyde with Mile High Landscaping
Contractor of the Week _ Will Hyde
NightscapingŪ proudly spotlights Mile High Landscaping as our contractor of the week. Mile High Landscaping is a Custom Design/Build Landscape and Lighting contractor in the greater Denver area. Will Hyde is the owner and is a gifted and much accomplished landscape designer.
One thing Mile High Landscape is famous for is turning an ordinary landscape into an outdoor oasis. I've seen this a dozen times because I'll check out a project before it has started and I will see the finished project wondering if I have the wrong address. Mile High has done some of the most extraordinary landscape projects that I have ever seen. Mile High Landscaping is known for Patios, Retaining Walls, Water Features, Wood Structures, Concrete, New Construction, Xeriscaping, Renovations, Conceptual Planning Design and Install, and lastly Landscape Lighting.
Mile High Landscaping has been installing Landscape Lighting for the last several years and has created many spectacular lighting projects. Will and the other designers at Mile High Landscaping are gifted in Landscape Lighting design and believe that no project is truly finished without it. Mile High Landscaping loves to finish their custom landscapes with Landscape Lighting, and believes' it doubles the value of the investment because the client can appreciate the landscape day or night. Mile High Landscaping has a great friendly staff of highly trained installers. Will is a good friend and NightscapingŪ is pleased to showcase Mile High Landscaping as its contractor of the week.
MILE HIGH LANDSCAPING
1630 Vrain St.
Denver, CO 80204
303.589.8890 Mobile
303.595.0404 Office
413.803.7836 Fax
sales@milehighlandscaping.com
Website: Mile High Landscaping
MILE HIGH LANDSCAPING
1630 Vrain St.
Denver, CO 80204
303.589.8890 Mobile
303.595.0404 Office
413.803.7836 Fax
sales@milehighlandscaping.com
Website: Mile High Landscaping
Photo courtesy of Will Hyde with Mile High Landscaping
Service With A Smile...
When a homeowners association accidentally ordered 40 of the wrong color special order fixture that absolutely had to be installed by a certain date, where else but at NightscapingŪ would you find a sales rep (Kevin Smith) who would leave a project in Albuquerque, NM...fly back to Phoenix, AZ...meet with the distributor at 11:00 p.m. to pick up the fixtures and then leave home at 4:00 a.m. the next morning to drive those fixtures 5 hours to the NightscapingŪ factory to be re-powdercoated?
Who else but that same NightscapingŪ sales rep would work at the factory while this was all happening and then drive the re-done fixtures back to Phoenix the same day...deliver the fixtures early the next morning so that the project could be installed on time? I dare say that you will not find another manufacturer who would even be willing to try to make this happen.
If you do find one, let me know. I think I want to work for them.
Connie Barnes
Tips On Specifying Fixtures
Lipinskiliter - If you are looking for a warm glow of controlled light, try specifying the Lipinskiliter with a xenon wedge-base lamp, a white interior, and a spread lens. Since the lamp will not be giving off a directional beam of light, it will work well on small specimen plants like a Robellini Palm or on an Ivy wall. As the Lipinskiliter is one of our most durable fixtures that comes with a lifetime warranty, it fits well into commercial applications.
If you choose not to finish the inside of the fixture white, the color of the light will be similar to the color of Brass. A warm golden color. Try complementing the raw Brass with a bi-pin halogen lamp.
Artisan - Next time you are designing a project to create the effect of moonlight filtering through large trees, try specifying an Artisan downlight with a moonblue lens and a beam spread of 60°. With an LO2060 (20 watts, 60° beam spread) 20 feet up in a tree, the beam on the ground will be about 23 feet wide, putting out .85 foot candles. The effect will vary depending on the absorption of the surface and its material. Try keeping your wattage low since full moonlight gives off a subtle effect.
Turtle - If you are looking for a durable, adjustable and discrete pathlight or backlight, try ordering our Turtle in Brass, and specify it with a Brass spike and knuckle. Although the Turtle comes standard with a halogen bi-pin lamp, if you are looking for a warmer light output, you can specify a xenon lamp (which will also provide for a longer lamp life). If you are looking for a directional beam of light, specify the MR-16 of your choice. All Brass fixtures ordered from NightscapingŪ are backed by a lifetime warranty.
1705 E. Colton Avenue, Redlands CA 92374
ph:909-794-2121 toll free:800-544-4840 fax:909-794-7292 email:info@nightscaping.com