What makes a “Difficult” landscape lighting client part 1

25 Mar What makes a “Difficult” landscape lighting client part 1

By Mike Gambino

First we should talk about some of the reasons why a client could become difficult to deal with and then next week’s blog article will cover some of the behaviors which make them not very pleasant to work with as a result of these emotional feelings that go unchecked.

What makes a client Difficult :

1- Homeowners are emotional: Experienced contractors realize a home improvement project is an emotional time for homeowners.  Good landscape lighting experts expect this.  They gear their efforts towards reducing homeowner fears, and dealing with the inevitable upsets.  Emotional homeowners are not the exception-they are the rule. It comes with the territory.

2-Money: Homeowners don’t understand the real cost of landscape lighting systems that are designed and built to perform and last.  They are afraid of the costs.

Most homeowners underestimate the true cost of landscape lighting.  They don’t realize that in order to get a landscape lighting system that is going to exceed their expectations and even more importantly going to be lower maintenance, not problematic and long lasting then only the highest quality materials must be used. But that’s not all, the best most experienced people building it must be used. Neither ever come cheap.

3- Fear of being Disappointed: After extended design build time, and a lot of money, homeowners are afraid: “It’s not what I wanted!”

In working with hundreds of homeowners over the years, I’ve made a very important discovery: Homeowners can work with a set of plans for months, but with just about all of the homeowners I worked with, they did not fully understand what their project would look like until the lights started going on.  The 2 dimensional reality presented on building plans is not enought for homeowners to truly visualize what their project will look like when it’s done.  Most homeowners fear, that after spending all that time and money, they won’t have what they wanted.

4- Control: Homeowners fear losing control of both their home and finances during the landscape lighting system build process.

Due to the factors I’ve reviewed above, many homeowners express the fear that once their landscape lighting project begins, that the all the unknowns involved leave them with a feeling of “being out of control.”  This is a very fearful time for many people.  Their home is usually one of their biggest investments, and they’re spending a lot of money.    They have to trust their designer/buillder.

There are some things a good landscape lighting designer builder can do to help a homeowner through this process:

1- It’s a process, not a product: A good landscape lighter understands they are not just selling a product-they are also selling a process.  The best ones understand they must manage the process, as well as manage the project.  Homeowners need to be guided through the landscape lighting process, every step of the way.  They need to trust that their designer builder will always be there for them, no matter what.

2- Manage Disappointment to Guarantee Satisfaction: As a company, when client satisfaction is of number 1 importance you make sure that homeowners are involved and are allowed to exert a level of control over the end result of the project. The way my company, Gambino Landscape Lighting accomplishes this is follows. We install all of our fixtures, transformers etc. in the locations we think will illuminate the landscape the best. Then we lay our power cable on top of the ground, connect every fixture and power cables to the transformer . We then load balance the system so every fixture will perform per specification and adjust for optimum brightness and light beam spread. Then we light the system for the homeowners to see in its entirety. If there are any additions, alterations or adjustments needed we will make them before we finalize the installation by digging trenches, putting cable inside conduit, waterproofing connections and burying everything in the ground. This way total client satisfaction is assured before the system has actually been completed.

3-  The 4 elements of trust:  Homeowners desperately want to trust their lighting design build contractor.  If a contractor understands the 4 elements of trust, and practices them honestly, most major problems will be avoided.  The 4 elements of trust are:

• Consistency:Landscape lighting designer builders need to set, and follow, consistent routines.
• Honesty:Tell homeowners what’s going to happen each step, and acknowledge mistakes.
• Promise Keeping:Contractors must keep their word.  They must fulfill on the promises they make.
• Reassurance:Good design build contractors reassure homeowners on a regular basis.  Homeowners want to know their contractor will be there for them every step of the way.

 This 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 .

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