12 Feb Trusting Your Instincts When Hiring a Landscape Lighter
Keep your project on track by asking yourself these 5 questions.
By Mike Gambino
You should always listen to your instincts.
Nothing is more important for your project than hiring the right landscape lighting design builder. It’s the single biggest most important decision that is to be made and will dictate whether your project is a success or failure. When property owners entrust their property, it’s the service providers greatest responsibility as well. Be open with your needs and convey any concerns and reinforce them regularly.
Instincts are also very important when you’re hiring a new service provider. Even if your potential landscape lighter has a wealth of experience, sterling recommendations and everything looks good on paper, listen to your inner voice. If it’s telling you something is off, trust it!
Learn more about instincts and what to do if you feel something isn’t quite right. Experts weigh in on five key questions you should ask yourself about instincts.
- Can You Trust Your Instincts?
Kathy Kolbe, an expert on human instincts and author of “Powered by Instinct: 5 Rules for Trusting Your Guts,” says that our “instincts are rarely wrong.” Your initial impressions should have a greater impact on how you react to a person or situation.
“Instinct is not a myth or simple phrase, It’s a scientific fact and exists in the real world for a reason. If, when discussing your project with a prospective landscape lighting design builder, you feel that something is ‘off’ or not right, don’t ignore it — this is your instinct kicking in to protect you.”
2. Why Do So Many People Second-Guess Instincts?
Kolbe notes that it’s difficult to distinguish between internal, instinctual messages verses messages that have been pounded into us from childhood. “That internal voice is often replaced by the recording of messages that were drilled into us often from a young age,” she says.
Another reason many people don’t listen to the inner voice is that a fear of looking foolish, judgmental or rash overpowers the drive to act. Dr. Ramani Durvasula, a professor of psychology at California State University, Los Angeles, notes that, “Far too often, we ‘talk ourselves out’ of our instincts — feeling that we are being ‘too critical, too judgmental’ — and those are often famous last words. Our brain’s ability to filter out harm in the environment can be quite prodigious.”
3.Should I Ever Hold Back From Trusting My Intuition?
“By and large, instincts are a wake-up call that something doesn’t quite feel right — and I have yet to meet a person that said ‘Wow, I wish I hadn’t trusted my instincts, ‘”Dr. Durvasula says, adding that “where important decisions are concerned, erring on the side of conservatism — of being overly cautious, is just good sense. You could do all of your homework on someone, but if your sixth sense says, ‘This doesn’t feel right,’ then not only is communication critical, sometimes you just need to jump in.”
That said, if you find yourself continually turning away service providers and being overly suspicious of everyone you come across, you may need to evaluate your reactions.
“Start by asking yourself if it is truly instinct about service providers or a true conflict about something else,” Dr. Durvasula suggests, those instincts tell us something — so trust them.
4. How Should I Respond to Gut Reactions?
“Some of these feelings arise when you’re interviewing a service provider because of an answer they may give or the way in which they delivered it,” says Perera-Lunemann. During the consultation process be sure to be thorough. Ask follow-up questions and prompt for further explanation if you don’t fully understand an answer or approach.
If you’re still uneasy after asking questions and communicating, trust both your head and your feelings. If your gut says there is something wrong, don’t hire and/or continue using this person to design and install your landscape lighting system.
5.How Do I Relay Lingering Concerns to My service provider?
Communication is key, and you should never assume your service provider interprets your wants and feelings as you do. Spell it all out and write it all down. Stay in regular contact until you are sure your standards are being met. Over time, after you have developed a working relationship, letting go can happen, but initially, too much information and communication is fine. One major point Durvasula emphasizes is never assume. “It is those unclear communication spaces where problems happen. And if something doesn’t feel right, address it immediately, it’s the only way to create lasting change.”
Despite thorough background checks, references or even if everything checks out, if your inner instinct is still waving red flags, you shouldn’t ignore it. After all, nothing will influence more how your project will turn out than choosing the right service provider .
I can tell you that I have come across a lot of skunks in this business. I recently discovered a service provider in another state who had been misrepresenting his work by using photos of my work and passing them off as his own. This was going on for several years before I discovered it and I luckily was able to get him to discontinue without legal action. Can you imagine the poor soles who hired him expecting to get what they saw in the photos only to get something else.
I also recently read an industry message board where a service provider came in and trashed a competitor (interesting thing is he said he never trashes competitors and that this particular company he was trashing wasn’t a competitor). But he goes on to say that he uses the (non) competitors business name in his webpage metatags so his website will come up in the same search when someone is say googling this (non) competitor.
What an unethical practice. Are they really that desperate that they need to deceive to get business? He tries to validate his sleazy tactics by saying he is doing his (non) competitors prospects a favor by saving them from him doing business with him. What a great guy.
I also know of a product importer that does the same dirty tricks to get attention by placing metatags of competitor names or frequently searched landscape our outdoor lighting terms in the metatag data of their website. They also use established slogans others have branded and used for years just so they come up from an unrelated search. How low can one go. Good luck when doing business with companies that have such low moral and ethical compasses.
Protect yourself from these types by doing your homework and by following your gut intuition. It very rarely if ever will steer you wrong.
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