Gambino Landscape lighting gets paid for our Time and Expertise

Gambino Landscape lighting gets paid for our Time and Expertise

By Mike Gambino

I think it’s time to republish this blog article once again with some updates to make things more current.

The call comes in. The lighting system is a dilapidated nightmare and has been for some time. Or something is broken or not working whatever the issue may be. Sometimes I am even asked to diagnose a problem for free over the phone sight unseen by people I don’t know and have never done business with.

Some would go out, spend their $4.45 gasoline or $4.25 per gallon diesel fuel to give a ‘free’ estimate or worse spend time and expertise diagnosing, digging into the system to prepare a plan and cost to fix the problem only to hear “Wow! That much, huh? Let me think about it I will get back to you,” the homeowner says and then disappears into the house to go about their day.

Who won? No one did. The homeowner still has a bad lighting system, and the service provider just spent $60 in vehicle expenses and no compensation for their time or expertise. While there, the homeowner picked their brain with enough questions and were given enough answers so they can muddle through it on their own or attempt to get their gardener, handyman or other lower cost service person to do the work.

The site visit lasted for one hour plus 1 hour 30 minutes round trip drive time. This means they spent 2.5 hours and made $0. That 180 minutes of time could have been spent productively working on your website, studying, networking with others, spending quality time with the wife or attending your sons baseball game.

Although I love my profession and what I do for a living is my true passion in life. Gambino landscape lighting is not a hobby it is a business.

Frankly I have no desire to work with people who have no problem wasting your time if it does not cost them anything. I want to work with those who are seriously interested are reasonable and do not mind paying to have their problems solved the first time and to their satisfaction. Here is what I send to potential clients who email me, or ask I semi-quote or “ball park” it on the phone when they call me looking to pick my brain:

Fixing an existing landscape lighting problem is like taking your car to a mechanic and attempting to get a free diagnosis by describing the weird noise. The mechanic will plug it into a machine and read the codes or put it on the lift for a physical inspection for a fee.

At Gambino landscape lighting, our diagnostics machine is our years of experience and our ongoing experience working with landscape lighting everyday of the week designing, installing or servicing it.. Every day we work with these systems so we can correctly assess your landscape lighting problems with the most up-to-ate information available. We charge a fee to cover our costs and to make a modest profit, and we allow the cost to be applied to any subsequent service we provide as long as it meets our minimum job cost.

Below is a photo of a project that is typical of the highest possible quality that we put into each and every project.

Carieri patio

We let callers know that we cannot give a price without a proper assessment of the existing system. Some will say no problem how much and when can we schedule an appointment? Others will ask why they have to pay when they had called others and they offered free estimates. If that’s what they are looking for then go for it. Either way the caller knows where I stand and there is no waste of each others time.

Note: I do also charge for new construction quotes, but before I go out to the jobsite, I ask prospects to look at my website and find out what appeals to them. After some conversation, I give them a general idea of cost and ask them point-blank, “Is this in your price range?” The last thing I want to hear at a site meeting is, “Wow! That much, huh? Let me think it over and I will get back to you.”

Facebook-iceThis landscape lighting blog is published by Mike Gambino of Gambino landscape lighting inc. all rights reserved. Mike is a professional landscape lighting system designer/ builder and has been designing, installing and maintaining landscape lighting systems for more than 20 years. Mike resides in the Los Angeles area with his wife and 2 sons. To visit his website go to www.gambinolighting.com . To inquire about hiring Mike please click here .

Blog articles may be published with permission on other websites without editing or removing links.

 

 

 

2 Comments
  • Mark Carlson
    Posted at 00:28h, 26 April Reply

    You are absolutely right, Mike. It’s well past the time where people should understand that we are professionals, just like they are. We cannot give away our time or anything associated with such expenses….it makes absolutely no sense. This is all part of how we are seen or classified in the public’s eye…there needs to be a better understanding of this not only by the consumer market, but by other trade professionals.

    Thank you for posting this again.

  • Mike Gambino
    Posted at 01:39h, 26 April Reply

    Thank you Mark. Much of the problem lies with fellow colleagues who set low standards by giving away their stock in trade for free.
    Many don’t last long in this business but there are always more to replace them.

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