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How well can you “read” your customers and/or potential customers? I recently had a hot lead put in my lap that I referred immediately to one of the better lighting installers in the area. I had very little information about the project, other than the fact that the client recently purchased a spec home with existing landscaping and a very rudimentary lighting system. I explained to the contractor to whom I had referred the project that I had no idea what the client was looking for in the way of a lighting system, nor an idea of his understanding of low voltage lighting, including possible effects and associated costs. I strongly urged the contractor to ease into the project slowly, feeling out the client in incremental steps so as to minimize the possibility of sticker shock and possibly loosing the project all together.

The contractor made contact with the client, via phone, and arranged for the contractor to come by the property to design “what he thought needed to be done” (client’s words).

To make a long story short, $14,000+ later, the client is looking elsewhere, and the contractor is scratching his head wondering what happened.

I’ll tell you what happened: The contractor completely skipped the “discovery phase” of the sales process. The contractor never asked the right questions to discover where the client’s head is at and what his needs are.

• “Have you ever owned/purchased a professionally-installed lighting system?” This gives you some insight into the level of understanding the client has with lighting. If they say “no”, then ask if they ever bought and installed a box-store lighting kit.
• “What effects are you trying to achieve/what impact do you want to make with your low-voltage lighting system?” This gives you an immediate idea of the scope of work and tells you right away what elements of the landscape to light and where to stay clear of. If the client says he/she just wants to show off the front of the house to show off to neighbors and passer-bys, then stay the heck away from the backyard!
• “Do you have an idea of what a professional system costs?” A great question that eases into the often uncomfortable subject of budget. Gotta ask this. If he answers “no”, then respond in such a way that won’t catch him off-guard. For example, “The majority of the work I do falls into a range of $x and $y, though it can go way up from there. From the little bit of information that I’m gathering from you now, I’d say a project like this will fall somewhere in the neighborhood of $a and $b”. And that’s it. Don’t be apologetic, don’t get arrogant. Just the facts. At that point, simply ask if that sounds good to them.

Of course the dialog can go on and on. The point here is that without asking questions, you’ll never know what your potential client wants. If you don’t know what your client wants, how will you know what to give him?

One of the key ways I used to grow my lighting business was to find ways to stay on the minds of my existing customers. Doing so increased the chances of referral business along with the increased opportunity to upsell to those customers that I stayed in front of.

One of the best ways to do so, and make additional income along the way, was to offer an annual lighting maintenance program. The key to this maintenance program is the use of a site visit report that was left with the client following each visit. This report contained such information as date/time of the visit, what actions were performed and anticipated date of next visit. But probably the most important element of the report is the section simply called “notes”. It is in this section that I pointed out suggestions (opportunities) for new lighting, along with ways to improve the existing lighting. On almost every project, there are elements that were left unlit during the initial installation, so rather than try to do it all at once, possibly pushing the client’s budget, I concede those elements and simply recommend them later on, as I returned to the property for routine maintenance visits.

Staying in front of your existing customers is one of the keys to growth. Most industries would agree and do some pretty cool things to do this. Take a lesson from real estate agents. They, on at least a monthly basis, stay in touch with their customer base with letters, notecards, even recipe cards and local sports teams schedules on a magnetic calendar. By keeping this front-of-mind awareness, you greatly increase the chance for additional work, either in the form of referrals or up-sells. And during these tough economic times, this may prove to be the most successful way to grow your business.

So here it is, my first post of my first blog. My goal is to bring an increased awareness to one of the more fascinating elements of the landscape: low-voltage outdoor lighting. From here on out, I will be posting thoughts, ideas, commentaries and more that are designed to help the lighting professional. Whether you are a designer/specifier, an installer or a bit of both, this blog is for you.

I travel the country meeting with all types of lighting professionals. I see lots of things-good, bad and great. My hope is that this blog will give you the inspiration and guidance to build your outdoor lighting business.

One of the biggest challenges I see for the lighting professional is the ability to convey to your clients the features, advantages and benefits of creative, energy-efficient lighting designs. Often-times, lighting is presented as an “add-on”, or even better, the “icing on the cake”. However, the most successful lighting professionals that I come in contact with treat lighting as something more: as an integral part of every landscape. Rather than the icing, it is one of the key ingredients.

From time to time, I will be posting suggestions on how to shift your thoughts, and the thoughts of your clients, about outdoor lighting. One will never reach their potential in the arena of outdoor lighting design and installation without first experiencing this shift.

How, and at what point in the sales process, do you present lighting to your potential clients? Do you wait until they ask? Do you suggest lighting only after the rest of the project has been finalized? If your proposal exceeds your client’s budget, is lighting one of the first things you axe?

These are all questions that will be addressed here. Not to mention, desing theory, installation tips and tricks, promoting and selling energy-efficiency, emerging technologies, especially LED, and more.