03 Apr Why price shopping custom landscape lighting system buyers have some of the worst landscape lighting around
By Mike Gambino
First of all there is no Landscape Lighting Industry standard pricing there are just too many variables to consider. Every system is unique in its own way and every service provider varies in their talents, client experience they provide, products they use, warranty they provide and several dozen other important aspects that are a part of a landscape lighting system design build project’s cost.
Too many landscape lighting buyers are hung up on pricing instead of focusing on hiring the best service provider with the most experience and the best products who will be around to service their system long after it is built.
Most quality landscape lighting designer builders I know including us will avoid working with price shoppers and those fixated on making sure they pay the lowest price for the following reasons:
Buyers that ask for itemized breakdowns of pricing for labor and materials literally requiring what every product and service costs:
This can be used for comparison reasons and as previously stated comparing price alone when selecting a service provider is impossible as the serviced itself has yet to be performed and no two will ever be the same it is an intangible.
This “Chinese menu” approach subtly implies that your services can be ordered “a la carte” and that clients can pick and choose what they want. This is never ideal when it comes to creative landscape lighting projects. The client isn’t the expert — the professional is and are the ones who know what is needed and what does or doesn’t go together.
Plus, when you itemize, you’re giving serious buyers too much info (that they don’t need). It actually lessens value rather than increasing it. I suspect some professionals itemize as a way to justify their price — maybe because they don’t think the clients will see the value they bring to the table otherwise. (That’s a marketing problem, not a pricing problem!)
We never give an itemized estimate/proposal. We do however give a very good description of everything we are proposing to furnish/supply to the Owners for a given project. Never do we give the hourly rate we pay an employee, our cost of any materials or other expenses because it is none of their business. Many Buyers seem to think that Workers should never be paid more than $12 to $14 per hour. They think Contractors should not charge more than actual cost of any materials. Sorry but money needs to come from somewhere if we are to stay in business and be around when they need us.
The problem with [Chinese menu] pricing is that everything becomes a cost. Nobody likes to spend more money than they have to, and when you use the Chinese Menu method (a bit of this, a bit of that) then it becomes too easy for a buyer to think: “I’ll have a little bit of this, a little bit of that. I’ll cut out this; I can’t afford that…”. Not good!
When you use the Chinese menu method it’s too easy for buyers to focus on cost. You’re asking them to pick your pricing apart. There’s no perceived value and the project suffers greatly as a result of it.
There are situations where the service provider is not being considered at all and a proposal is being used for comparison purposes against another who has been hired already or is to be hired
Not all requests for proposal are sincere or legitimate. Preparing a landscape lighting quotations is time consuming and costly to the service provider. There must be travel to the project site with a meeting with all concerned individuals. A discussion of the wants and needs of the buyer and hopefully budget is established. Scheduling and other aspects of the project must be considered. Even more time consuming and involved if every detail is to be listed. No one wants to waste their time (which equates to money).
Listing every product to be used leaves the service provider vulnerable
Shocking but true. Some buyers are not buyers of custom landscape lighting design build services at all but do it yourselfers in secret that call on design pro’s to pick their brains for ideas and a materials list so they can try to create the project on their own. This is a cheap but unethical way of getting design ideas for cheap or no cost to the property owner. I wouldn’t be truthful if I said I haven’t been the victim of this on more than one occasion.
Can’t Get excited about the project
Not much kills the enjoyment of working on a project more than a client who makes it apparent that cost is of such primary importance that they allow it to get in the way of being able to optimize all of the opportunities a site has. In other words the client will not make the financial commitment necessary to get them the project they want.
We find the best way to work is with a fixed price contract which works both ways – if the cost is higher than estimated, the contractor eats the difference. It’s far more likely that a contractor will underprice his work than overprice it. And any quality contractor will specify the materials he’s using in the project and use them.
The worst possible way there is to pick a designer builder to do your work is based on price.
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