The sales process often determines long-term success, particularly in services like maintenance or design-build projects. At Envisor Consulting, we have developed a streamlined sales process that focuses not only on winning the opportunity but also on ensuring that each project can be executed smoothly downstream. The first step in our Green Dot sales process is to get the opportunity. The second step is to do something with it, and that involves developing a scope or design.
However, the scope phase is often a stumbling block for many professionals. Whether you are selling maintenance services or intricate landscape designs, underestimating the importance of a clearly defined scope can lead to time-consuming headaches, missed profits, and unsatisfied clients down the line. We’ll explore the key rules for developing a scope that sets you up for success and minimizes costly errors in both the sales and production phases.
Keep Your Costs of Sales to a Minimum
One of the primary goals in the sales process is to keep your costs of sales as low as possible. It sounds straightforward, but many companies fall into the trap of over-investing in the sales process. They spend too much time crafting elaborate designs or tailored scopes for each client before even securing a commitment.
The key to keeping sales costs down lies in efficiency. This doesn’t mean cutting corners, but rather working smarter. Developing a streamlined, standardized approach to scope creation helps you avoid the costly trap of “re-creating the wheel” for every new prospect.
Whether you’re selling maintenance services or large-scale design projects, the more you can standardize, the better. This doesn’t just minimize costs in the initial sales phase—it also helps ensure a smoother, more efficient production process once the job is underway.
Sell Standards, Not Customizations
Customization is often the enemy of efficiency. If you’re in the landscape maintenance industry, a key mistake is to sell a different scope for every client. This can lead to chaos, confusion, and inconsistent results in the long run.
To avoid this, you should develop what we call a “Standard Minimum Scope.” This scope should cover the essential services in your area, such as the number of mows, pruning frequency, edging, and weed control. Essentially, you are providing the clients with what they need based on your professional expertise, not necessarily what they think they need.
By selling standards instead of customizations, you streamline your processes and create a more manageable portfolio of accounts.
Your Standard Minimum Scope should be comprehensive enough that you feel confident standing by the quality of service provided. It should include the basics needed to maintain a healthy and visually appealing landscape. For example, if you’re offering a lawn care package, it should provide enough treatments and mowing services to ensure the lawn looks its best year-round without the need for constant add-ons.
Respect the Downstream Impact
When you’re developing a scope, it’s good to think not only about how the job will look on paper but also how it will be executed. The scope you create has a direct impact on the production team who will handle the work, so it’s vital to respect that downstream impact.
If you’re managing a portfolio of accounts where every property has a different scope, it becomes incredibly difficult to maintain consistency across your teams. This variability introduces more room for error, increases the risk of service lapses, and makes scheduling a nightmare.
Standardizing your scope not only reduces the mental load for your production team but also helps you manage your business more effectively. If the team knows what to expect from each job and has the resources to do it efficiently, they’ll be more productive, and the quality of work will be higher.
Selling Landscape Maintenance
If you’re selling landscape maintenance, sell a standard scope. It’s extremely difficult to manage a portfolio of accounts if they all have a different scope. A uniform scope allows you to efficiently manage multiple accounts, ensuring that each property receives the same high-quality service while minimizing the logistics.
Residential Clients
For residential clients, this is relatively straightforward. Homeowners who request irregular services—like everyother- week mowing or selective pruning—are likely to become problematic customers. It’s hard for you to maintain consistent quality when they choose to cut corners, and when things inevitably go wrong, the blame might come back to you.
It’s best to avoid such arrangements from the outset by offering only a standard package of services. A wellmaintained landscape requires regular attention, and your expertise should drive that maintenance schedule, not the client’s preferences.
There may be a short menu of “additional” services, i.e., additional lawn care applications or seasonal color installations, or other items, but keep it short! Your standard should provide enough service so that you will be comfortable standing by the product.
There may be a short menu of “additional” services, i.e., additional lawn care applications or seasonal color installations, or other items, but keep it short! Your standard should provide enough service so that you will be comfortable standing by the product.
Commercial Properties
When working with commercial properties, you might encounter clients who already have a detailed scope in mind. These scopes are often embedded in contracts or created by someone unfamiliar with the specific needs of their landscape. In many cases, they are outdated or unnecessarily extensive, potentially driving up costs for services that aren’t really needed.
In these situations, we recommend attaching your Standard Minimum Scope as an addendum to their existing scope. Let the client know that your scope offers better value and can be priced the same as theirs (provided the services are comparable). This way, you maintain control over the scope, ensuring it aligns with your capabilities and prevents potential overservicing.
This approach also opens the door to educating the client about what they actually need. Commercial property managers, especially those overseeing multiple locations, may not have the same level of insight into the specific requirements of each property. By presenting a well-structured, cost-efficient scope, you position yourself as an expert, which helps build trust and credibility.
Landscape Design: Concept First, Details Later
When selling landscape design services to potential customers, the key to managing your costs is to focus on selling a concept rather than a fully developed design. Providing a potential client with a preliminary concept, like a visual of a fire pit or a garden layout with a price range, allows you to gauge their interest and budget before diving into the specifics.
For example, provide images of the fire pit feature and let the client know it’s about $7,000 – $12,000 depending on their material choices. This approach helps you to solidify the clients’ interest level and budget.
If they’re excited about the idea, you can then move forward with more detailed plans, refining the materials and exact layout together. This consultative approach also strengthens your relationship with the client. Jumping straight into detailed designs without first confirming the client’s interest and budget can lead to wasted time and effort, particularly if the client decides to back out. Instead, focus on a concept. Selling a concept plan rather than a final plan saves time and keeps your sales costs low.
Standardizing Design Elements: Efficient and Scalable
To further reduce your sales costs and streamline production, it’s beneficial to develop standard build kits for common features. For example, when designing a fire pit, stick to one reliable plan. Define the dimensions, preparation steps, and infrastructure requirements once and reuse them for every project.
The customization comes from the client’s choices in materials—such as brick, paver, or stone—and any adjacent landscaping options, while the core design remains the same. This allows you to estimate more quickly, build more efficiently, and avoid unnecessary complexity.
Streamline for Success with Envisor
Scope development is a pivotal part of the sales process, and getting it right sets the stage for a smooth project from start to finish. Develop processes that keep your cost of sales minimized, standardize your offerings and keep the downstream production consequences in mind.
At Envisor Consulting, we believe that creating a scope not only benefits you as a service provider but also ensures better results and more satisfied clients. Contact us today to learn how we can help you develop the process you want for your business.mind.
