Contrary to what you might assume, more information doesn’t always automatically lead to better understanding. For example, let’s say you’re creating a landscape proposal to share with a potential customer. If you prefer an itemized landscape proposal approach, you might be used to giving customers a long, detailed estimate that breaks down exactly which materials you’ll be using, and their exact price tags.
It’s not a bad instinct to want to be as transparent as possible with customers and show them where the money they (and you!) are spending on this landscaping project is going. But when a landscape proposal shows every single material and labor cost associated with a job, customers can get bogged down in the numbers, and start comparing numbers instead of actually focusing on the work you’ll do for them. Sometimes, less really is more.
In this article, we’ll talk about why your company might want to consider simplifying its approach in your landscape proposal descriptions on your line items. We’ll discuss how a shifted approach can help you build trust, avoid price shopping, and stay in control of the sales process.
Itemized Proposals Make It Easy to Shop You Around
The general idea of an itemized landscape proposal is that it breaks down every nut, bolt and screw, per line item. That includes the amount of labor hours a job will require, the materials, what those materials will cost, exact product and brand names, etc.
We Get the Appeal….
It makes sense that some contractors default to providing customers with an itemized landscape proposal. Many believe it fosters a feeling of transparency and trust. Plus, it can be easier to justify to a customer why a job costs what it does when they literally have a document that lets them see exactly where the costs are.
…But Sometimes, It’s Just Not Worth It.
The thing is, though, that an overly detailed landscape proposal makes the conversation more about money and about cost than about actual results. By giving clients a line-by-line estimate, you’re basically giving them a shopping list that they can take to the next contractor so they can ask for a better deal.
Instead of focusing on the specialized service and highly skilled labor you’re providing, you’re opening yourself up to uncertainty, doubt, and objections about certain list items and what they cost. When customers get too lost in the weeds nitpicking individual parts, they lose their excitement about the whole.
This also leaves you in the position of having to field questions and justify your methods, your materials, and your technical approach. The more you have to explain, the less confident you’ll seem. And the real kicker is that unless your customers have a great understanding of how landscaping works, those explanations won’t actually help them much, anyway.
A Simple Landscape Proposal Keeps the Focus on What Matters
To keep the proposal about the actual job, we recommend a more straightforward, scaled-back landscape proposal description. Most customers don’t want to pore over individual nuts and bolts; that’s your job, not theirs! You’re the expert, and that’s why they hired you. They just want to know that the job they’ve hired you to do will be done right, and will look great.
To achieve this, create a landscape proposal description that lays out what the job is, how you plan on doing it, and the expected lump cost for that job or work area in the job. Focus on showing customers the big picture of what they want and what that will cost, without distractions. This shows the customer that you know exactly what you’re doing, making it easier for them to say yes without getting bogged down in tiny details.
A clean, high-level landscape proposal makes it easier for you to sell the job, and it also makes it easier for you to manage it. The thing about proposals is that if you’re not careful, they can be pretty time-consuming to make! With a simpler landscape proposal, you don’t have to spend time creating, editing, or defending a quote bogged down with small numbers. Instead, that energy can go into helping your customer ensure that the scope of work in the proposal achieves their vision, the thing that really matters.
For contractors, this gives you more freedom to manage changes made over the course of the job without having to explain every adjustment or reprice everything, reducing delays. For your customers, they don’t have to study a lengthy itemized list or spreadsheet, and you don’t have to rewrite it for them every time a small detail gets changed.
How to Handle Customers Who Ask for a Breakdown
Let’s say you do decide to prioritize a simpler landscape proposal method instead of using line itemization. You’ll still get the occasional customer who will ask for a greater level of detail, but usually this doesn’t mean they’re trying to undercut you or your experience; they just want to feel confident.
So when this happens, start by asking that customer where their concerns lie, instead of immediately jumping into explanations or defenses. If a customer asks you to be more specific with your landscape proposal, ask them, “Is there something specific you’re wondering about?” Most of the time, customers don’t actually want to see everything, they just want to know that the end result of a proposal will achieve their goals and that they’re not being overcharged.
To foster transparency and help them understand where your numbers are coming from, offer to break things down into general work areas—planting, landscaping, lighting, etc.—instead of pulling out a full item list. This should help give them a better sense of the cost and scope of your work, without giving them numbers for nuts and bolts to pick apart.
Presenting the project this way helps customers make informed decisions about what to include, what to scale back, and what to postpone, such as whether to move forward with both the patio and the lighting, or start with just the patio. Stay open and responsive to any questions or concerns the customer may have, while standing firm in the knowledge that you’re the professional, you have a process, and you know what you’re doing.
Easy, Professional Landscape Proposal Creation with SynkedUP
When it comes time to create a landscape proposal for a customer or potential customer, showing every detail and individual cost in that proposal may seem like the fair, transparent thing to do. In practice, though, it usually leads to more questions, more confusion, and more lost jobs for you. A simpler landscape proposal helps you keep the conversation and the focus on what matters most: delivering great work and a great customer experience. The wrong details can kill deals.
If you’re ready to level up your business’s landscape proposal approach, SynkedUP has the tools for you! As a software solution created by contractors, for contractors, we know how important it is to make a good impression when delivering proposals to customers. That’s why our landscaping software makes it easy and intuitive to price, estimate, and create accurate and professional proposals for clients.
SynkedUP uses automation and real job data to help users deliver accurate production rates, track time, and make estimating into an easy, repeatable process that takes minutes, instead of hours or even days. With our software, you can take those estimates and transform them into interactive, professional proposals. You also have the option of creating individual line items, in case you want to give clients a higher degree of choice, or upsell them on additional work or add-ons.
Create a hard copy PDF of your proposal, or send it to customers using email or links. Once a landscape proposal has been sent, SynkedUP has automatic notifications for when it’s been received, viewed, and approved. The software also provides automated reminders to follow-up on proposals, so you don’t have to rely on just your memory and willpower to chase cold leads and close deals. You can put more time and energy into the things that matter, knowing that you’re covering all your bases without overextending yourself.
We know that change can be tough, so SynkedUP makes onboarding new clients to our software a fast, painless, 3-step process. We offer on-demand videos that explain everything you might need to know, and a live chat to answer any questions you may have.
To learn more about SynkedUP and what it can do for your business, contact us to schedule a demo today!
