Trellis Coaching - Trellis News Garden Design Newsletter & Attraction Marketing Coaching

Trellis News

Welcome to this edition of Trellis News. As I write, I can hear reports on my radio of snow blocking roads and closing schools - is it just me, or does the weather seem quite bizarre of late? Many plants in my garden seem to have come into flower really early, and last years geraniums were still flourishing until this unexpected cold snap has slowed them down. All very unpredictable.

What isn't unpredictable is your enthusiasm for sharing your opinions and wisdom with your colleagues - thanks to all of you who have written in, and if you haven't yet done so, why not make this edition the first one you respond to? Please send your letters to for publication 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, the issue was raised by Claire Cadoux about charging fees for the initial meeting with the client. Here are your responses!

Adam Bailey said:
I had to smile when I read Claire's reply re the question of designers charging for the first visit - she said "I am now mystified about how a designer could do a brief taking meeting and ask if the client would then like to go ahead for nothing at all."

Speaking from a purely personal point of view and as a practicing garden designer with a First Clas Honours degree in GD, many years experience and current portfolio of over half a million pounds worth of project work, I must say that I do not charge for the first visit unless the client is some 40 miles plus from where I am based in Kent.

From a more general viewpoint I am also current Chairman of the Guild of Landscape Designers and I can state for the record, none of the Guild's other members charge for the first visit either for work obtained as a result of their Guild membership status. At a recent Guild meeting we had a show of hands and of all the members not a single one charged for the first visit except for the mileage mentioned above (some started at 30, others at 50 miles, but 40 seemed the average). And remember these are all professionally qualified degree graduates, quiet a number with many years experience/ prestigious projects to their names.

Another point Claire raised was, "Professionals in most trades charge a call out fee." Most tradespeople who charge a call out fee are engaged for work which generally lasts for a few hours or a day at most e.g. locksmith, plumber, etc. Designers who expect to be engaged on work lasting weeks, months or even years do not generally fall into this catergory. For example, if designers like myself ask a survey company to visit a property with a view to carrying out a survey for the client, they don't charge me or the client for the visit! If a landscaping company visits a client's property to offer a tender for a project I have designed - and even if that tender takes them in the region of 40 hours plus to compile - they still don't charge for the visit. I think the 'call out fee' idea is a bit misleading when a designer can potentially be making many thousands of pounds from a project - designs, project management and so forth - and even be engaged for the best part of a year or more on occasion. And of course it should be remembered that a designer's fees can include that first visit if they so wish - unless they don't expect to be called back, that is.

I also smiled when Claire said, "Some designers balk at this, saying 'the market won't stand it'. Usually I then hear that actually, the designer cannot provide evidence of that reason." Actually, I have evidence to the contrary as provided by the people who know - my clients! Even those spending in excess of six figures. One recent example - I was called to a client's property last year and unbeknown to me four other designers (including SGD members I was informed) were also asked to visit at different times. My first visit was not charged for, the visit took about 2 hours and the design brief ran to some 12 pages long! I was not, of course, foolish enough to give away too many ideas on that first visit. However, I received a call a few weeks later to say I had been chosen from the list of five and I am now engaging contractors on a six figure project. Sure, there is a small element of risk in such a strategy but I'm sorry, all successful businesses run a certain element of risk. Three of the other four charged (one did not). Fine they got paid their £100 fee or whatever it was, but they didn't get the job.

It's also worth noting that my own design fee takes into account the first free visit and also (as it must do in order to survive in business) an element to counterbalance those "£60 plan drawing" clients that Claire mentioned. You'll always get a certain percentage of 'time-wasters' but your fee should account for that anyway, after all you can't charge for doing your VAT return but that time still has to be billed in your fees somewhere!

Another example - one of my clients recently informed me I was not the first designer she had approached, she had contacted another designer who charged £150 for a first visit which only lasted for a few hours. No graphical design work had been undertaken and when I enquired as to why she had agreed the cost, she simply stated that she had been expecting far more than the designer had produced for the initial fee. I quite understand it's impossible to generalise about other designer's practices but needless to say that particular designer didn't get called back.

I also regularly read the Garden Design Journal, amongst other trade journals and was interested to see not only their debate on whether to charge or not for the first visit, but also their survey a while back on what designers charge for a hypothetical 200 square metre plot. Apparently my own fees are dead in the middle, neither cheap not expensive. If designers feel they need to make a living by charging for the first visit, then by all means they should carry on doing so. I can only speak by what I know from experience and from client feedback.

A word of caution however - garden design has been a very prolific market for up-and-coming graduate designers over the past few years. The competition is getting stronger and whilst many designers can charge for the first visit, that may change over the years to come... No doubt this debate will run and run!

Sally Turner endorsed Adam's view:
It is my policy not to charge for the initial visit, which is after all just a glorified hand shake. You and the client are getting to know each other and you are finding out what the job involves. There is no commitment on either side at this stage and no actual service provided so how can we justify a charge? Admittedly there might be a travelling charge if we need to travel over a certain distance. Most of us only charge this if the distance is over 30 miles.

So, now that you've read both sides of the arguments, what's your opinion on charging? I wonder if the laws of supply and demand apply here, as Adam said - if there are many more designers competing in the same market, are the clients becoming choosier and shopping around more? Or does this view 'productise' garden design instead of it being an art form?

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. Any replies to requests for help that you send are forwarded straight on to the person who asked the question.

Article

Making marketing easier: Work with 'Centres of Influence
by Annie Meachem

A "Centre of Influence" is someone who seem to know masses of people and is always willing to connect people they meet with others in their networks. Building a relationship with someone in this position can lead to many new contracts, often easily won. I'm sure if you already know a Centre of Influence (COI), you'll appreciate the benefits of the relationship to your business in referral terms.

So how about setting out to cultivate several different COIs so that you can then spend less time marketing and more time doing the work you love? The following steps will guide you:

1. What sort of people are your COIs likely to be?
Who already has contacts with your potential ideal clients? Maybe interior designers, architects, house builders, or estate agents? Write down a list of who could help you grow your business.

2. What can you offer them?
What resources, information, skills or contacts do you have to exchange? For instance to an estate agent: "I've recently helped Bloggs Estate Agents sell two houses at 10% above market value at no extra cost to them - I believe you know John Smith who thought you'd like to know how I achieved this." Be clear on what you're offering them and what you want them to do for you.

3. Where can you meet them?
What type of groups do your COIs belong to? Where do they do their networking?

4. Who do you already know who has connections to these people?
There's a theory that we're all only six connections away from anyone else in the entire world, so your COIs are probably closer to you than that!

5. Ask your current contacts to introduce you
They'll know the best way to approach the COI, and it's always easier to contact someone if you can name a mutual friend.

6. What can you invite them to?
COIs are by nature great networkers, so could well welcome opportunities from you to make new contacts.

7. Work out how to stay in touch
Your aim is to build up a long term business relationship, rather than to milk these contacts and move on. Choose how to develop their trust in you and your credibility - maybe face to face meetings, telephone calls, a newsletter?

8. Thank them
Once they've sent you a lead, it's vital to thank them and to not take their assistance for granted.

One word of warning though: these people are very proud of their reputations and credibility, and will not tolerate any shoddy workmanship from anyone in their networks. However if they keep getting good feedback, relationships with just two or three Centres of Influence can be one way of attracting as much business as you want.

WORKSHOPS:

Attracting Clients: Imagine a constant stream of ideal clients

April 16th 2005
9.30am - 4.00pm
Arundel, West Sussex

Cost: £199 if you take advantage of our EarlyBird offer and book before 16th March - after that the full price of £249 applies.

Would you like to be able to work only with the people you like, doing the projects that you really enjoy? What would that give you? Fulfilment? Job satisfaction? Reputation? Financial success? Would you like to have a constantly full order book?

The “Attracting Clients” worshop shows you step by step how to develop your personal Attraction Marketing system, where clients find you, rather than you striving to find them. It involves a unique combination of marketing, motivation and a personal energy management system that we know works to attract what you want.

What you will get is:
1. A full day Attracting Clients workshop
2. A one-to-one coaching call over the phone within two weeks of the workshop to enable you to implement what you have learned and to ensure that your attraction marketing system will work for you
3. A copy of “Attraction Marketing: How to Attract All the Clients You Want” by Annie Meachem, published by Lean Marketing Press @ £12.99 (visit www.bookshaker.com for a preview)
4. Lunch in the beautiful setting of the Arundel Wildfowl & Wetland Trust, West Sussex, and free access to walk in the grounds during the day.

Do email me to reserve your place or for further information by clicking here:

*****************************************************
If you're interested in a new approach to marketing but can't come on the workshop, why not just buy the book?

My book's called Attraction Marketing: How to Attract All the Perfect Clients You Want and is published by the Lean Marketing Press - you can both read the first two chapters of the book and then buy it directly from their website, www.bookshaker.com where it is currently available as an ebook for £12.99. The paperback version will be published shortly; there have been a few technical difficulties that have pushed it back from the original date.

What's it about? Here's the publisher's blurb:

"Imagine being able to attract all the perfect clients you need without having to sell... Leading UK attraction coach, Annie Meachem, shows you how by working on yourself and your business first you can build a profitable and rewarding business that draws clients to you effortlessly. Attraction Marketing shows small-business owners how they can attract the exact number and type of clients they want while still having time to play, learn and grow. It blends proven marketing approaches with practical exercises that draw on the increasingly popular Laws of Attraction. This book is a must-have for anyone who's ever wondered how they're going to get clients when they don't like selling!"

End Piece
Our Portuguese house rebuild is progressing, and I'm excited about visiting it at Easter. It will be interesting to see how dry the land is out there, as I gather they haven't had much winter rain for the second year running - is this another sign of global warming, which will mean southern Portugal becoming a desert whilst southern England becomes more mediterranean?

For anyone interested in buying property abroad for really silly prices (like £5000 for a 4 bedroomed house) in wonderful countryside, how about Bulgaria? My friend Jo Losack has done just that, and I'm hoping to go out with her on one of her next trips to take a look myself. Her website is www.themagicofbulgaria.com

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?"

Important Notes - (the small print)

- You can unsubscribe at any time by sending a blank email to

- Trellis Coaching will never release, sell or give a subscriber's name or e-mail address to any other party or organisation without your permission.

- As Editor, I reserve the right to select and edit items submitted for the newsletter.

Top Home Contact Us

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.