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Welcome to our new subscribers this month, many of you have just completed your design courses and are now taking those first steps to establishing your business.

You're in good company - you'll find that your fellow subscribers are incredibly generous with the advice they provide, so please do use this opportunity to tap into their experience and wisdom. Do send any questions or comments by email to . Any replies to requests for help that you send are forwarded straight on to the person who asked the question, and then published in the next edition of Trellis News.

Letters Page -
Your opportunity to have your say, to ask questions, look for resources.
In the last edition, Simon Groom asked for your opinion - here's his letter again as a reminder:
In these days of the TV makeover shows, what approach do you take with clients about what size plants you supply them? I have found that clients expect the garden to look 'full' with plants straight away and don't seem to have the patience to wait for them to grow and develop. This is OK with a small plot with only a few major plants, but in a larger plot, with the price of full sized specimens, I normally give them the choice of a) go for smaller plants now that will fill out over time, and the cost will be x, or b) have full sized plants now and the cost will be 20 times x. It seems to me that some clients would just prefer plants that don't grow at all!

Ivan Hicks has some words of wisdom to offer in reply:
I tell clients early on that they have to give themselves a realistic budget as they would for any other room in the house. How much did they spend on that carpet, sofa, lighting etc? £100 pounds worth of plastic technology will be landfill in a few years yet a specimen plant could give a lifetime of pleasure and correctly chosen and placed could add property value. As for the price of the plants, you pay your money and take your choice, show them a 5L and a 25L bamboo (a photo would do), point out that pot size is largely the determining factor vis a vis cost. Have a seperate budget for plants, you are shopping for your client (but dont take them with you!) and it's up to you to choose and spend wisely. A Makeover is just that and will cost arms and legs - how many do you have? Ask your client - How long do you intend to live here? Are you doing this to resell soon?

Gill German gave this advice:
I usually advise my clients to have a variety of specimen and smaller plants unless they insist on an instant garden. I explain to them that the plants will establish themselves much more easily and that the death rate is much lower e.g. A 3 yr old tree will get established much quicker and soon catch up a 5 yr old tree. I use specimen plants only to give the garden areas of maturity – it seems to give a more natural effect and my clients like to see their gardens grow. They just need telling that they do!!

Sally Turner's take on this was:
I think he is right in as much as clients would love to have instant full sized plants that don’t grow. It is not just the TV makeover shows that give people these ideas, it is also seeing flower shows like Chelsea. People see an instant garden, not the fact that the plants are all still in their pot, jammed in impossibly close and even flowering at the wrong time. Many, if not most, people believe these are proper gardens, capable of growing that way. When discussing planting I explain about plant size, growth rates and establishment right from the start. I have not been working for myself long but what I have found is that if you explain yourself confidently and in a non-patronising way most people will take your advice. For those that are insistent on having their way regardless, as long as you make it clear that you can offer no guarantee of success, they have no come back on you should it all go wrong. Let’s face it, if someone is insistent upon throwing money away even after being told the likely outcome then that is their choice. Just make sure you cover your back first.

Amanda Abbitt's response was:
Plant sizes are a problem. What I try to do is to find out from the client what they think they want, and act accordingly. I have started to use pictures of newly-planted gardens (which are designed to mature over 3 to 5 years) to set expectations. I also try to do a follow-up call to make sure things are growing as I would expect. If a client asks for a 'mature' garden I always point out the cost implications - but if they're happy to spend the money, I'm happy to supply. I have certainly had clients add more plants after I've left, but it is their garden after all! The one area where I do think 'small is usually better' is trees. I do try to guide clients towards smaller trees which have much more chance of establishing quickly.....

And the final word on this topic goes to Stephanie Hickish:
I always tell the clients that the budget for plants is separate to the budget for the design and the landscaping. Once the landscaping is complete we then discuss plants. Often they will agree to buy a few specimen plants and fill in with smaller perennials. In the first year they can always add fast growing annuals such as Nicotiana, Verbena bonariensis etc for instant height. I always say that you can spend as much or as little as you like. Take them to a nursery and show them the price and size of plants they may expect. In the end, it is the same old story, Communication, Communication, Communication.

A follow up from James Alexander-Sinclair to last month's article, "I know exactly which clients I can help the most and why." James wrote:
The most important thing about choosing clients is that you should never, ever work for somebody you don't like. That way lie tears and sleeplessness.

Do you agree with James? - When you were building your practice, did you make the choice that it was more important to build your portfolio rather than to worry about whether you liked the client, or even what they wanted you to do for them? If you did, did there come a point where you changed tack?

Writing this reminds me of a man who came on a course I was running who had an acre of beautiful woodland surrounding his house, with a little stream meandering at the end of his lawned area - and he was insistent on building a rockery complete with garden gnomes in front of the stream. If he was paying you to turn his dreams into reality, what would you do?

Please send your responses to this and any other questions you'd like to raise with your peers by email to for publication in the next edition of Trellis News.

Article

(This article is drawn from our Attracting Clients 10 part eprogramme)

Step 3. I can explain the benefits I offer clients succinctly and memorably to people I meet
Taking the principle that anyone within a one metre radius of you at any time is a potential client for your services, it's vital that you are able to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself to let people know how you can help them. To do this, you need to have a short verbal logo that people will register and remember.

Attraction in Action step 3:

1. Write your verbal logo to make it as memorable as possible - my favourite belongs to an architect I know, it's "I draw buildings". However, you may not be able to make yours quite as succinct as that and get your message over successfully. The following formula is a useful starting point:

I ........................ help/work with/make/design/write - whatever is appropriate
PEOPLE ................. label your target group, eg "busy professionals", "creative entrepreneurs", "retired couples"
WHO ................... describe your client's desire or pain here, the reason they would want to spend their money with someone like you
SO THAT............... and here's where you insert the most appealing benefit from the list you made in step 1.

So mine reads: Annie Meachem helps creative entrepreneurs attract clients so they can spend more time doing what they love and less time marketing.

2. Test it out on friends and colleagues and adjust it as necessary.

3. Learn your verbal logo off by heart.

4. Use it at every opportunity.

If you found this article interesting, why not sign up for the full Attracting Clients eprogramme. It's delivered over 10 weeks by email at no charge - to subscribe, click here or email us directly, .

Imagine a constant stream of ideal clients
Would you like to be able to only work with the people you like, doing the projects that you really enjoy? What would that give you? Fulfilment? Job satisfaction? Reputation? Financial success?

It is our aim to help you achieve this, and our Attracting Client programmes are designed to enable you to attract all the clients you need.

We have a variety of formats to suit your learning style and your budget -
you might like our Attracting Client's 1 day workshops.

This is a 1 day intensive workshop from 9.30 - 5pm, working through the practical steps that make up the Attracting Clients programme (step 3 appears above). With a minimum group size of 6 and a maximum of 12, the approach is coaching, rather than lecture based, which allows you to focus your efforts on those areas of marketing that are most challenging to you.

How much does it cost? The workshop costs £120 per person. To enquire about a group in your area, do contact us, or why not get a group of 6 together and we can arrange to run the workshop in a venue near you..

For a course outline, click here .

"I have been on several business courses, and read many books about marketing, most of them just repeats of the same advice or just too complicated to understand and apply - however, your Attracting Clients programme was exceptional in several ways. Firstly, I really engaged with the spirit of the programme and found doing the exercises very powerful in the way they have moved me on, secondly I found every exercise entirely practical and every bit of advice full of commonsense. And thirdly - I really have started to attract the results I want in my life! I have recommended your programme to several of my business colleagues - so that we can start to create a life we love." Lisa Rossetti
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End Piece
I would like to say a huge thank you to Deborah Lewis and Carole Bailey for their help with my hunt for "Flowers of South-Western Europe". Deborah suggested Ebay as a source, which now that we've finally got broadband installed out in the sticks of Sussex, is a really good way of buying and selling the most amazing range of stuff! And Carole suggested trying Martin Finch who runs a bookshop with a postal service called Wadard Books in Eynsford, Kent. He specialises in Gardening, Cookery and Local History books and she says he seems to be able to obtain the most unusual and rare books. His email address is martin@courtyardstudio.demon.co.uk, phone number 01322 863151. We're off to Portugal again next week, so dependent on how I get on with my plant identification armed only with the "Flowers of the Mediterranean", I'll contact Martin and report back on my success.

And I'm plant hunting in earnest this time, having been asked by Marney Hall to bring her back some seed of our wild flowers and grasses from our land for her to grow on for her show garden at Chelsea next May. I'm delighted to help with this! I just hope that our mobile grass cutters, the herd of cows I mentioned last time, haven't eaten everything....

Until next month,

Best Wishes

Annie Meachem, ACC

Trellis Coaching
0845 456 9382
+44 (0) 1243 545010 (from outside UK)
email

"I help designers and entrepreneurs grow their success - who do you know who's serious about being effortlessly successful, and is willing to invest in themselves to achieve their dreams?"

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Copyright © Annie Meachem 2003/4. Copyright in this document is owned by Annie Meachem. All rights are reserved. This document may not be copied or distributed without the prior written consent of the Copyright owner.