A Question of Growth

“For the most part our hardscape customers know what they want,” he says. “We may suggest ideas or some different things. With the landscaping a lot of people just say, ‘We figure you’re the professional; just go for it.’”

“I don’t want to go back and fix little things. I want them to keep on referring us.”

Ryan Jacobs
Ryan’s Landscaping

And, even within the hardscape category, there are differences. For a client who wants something more elaborate, Jacobs will use a computer design program – he says he’s really stressing contours, borders and features such as seating walls right now – while simpler jobs get an estimate by measure.

“We’ll go in and do an estimate, to tell them pretty much what they’re looking at,” he explains. “I also give them the catalogs of materials we’re quoting and let them know if they want different materials the price will be different. I try to give them three different options and let them decide which route to take.”

Currently, Jacobs says the area where money seems to have the most impact with his clients is when it comes to water features. His observation is that it’s often brought up during the discussion, with one spouse or the other taking a negative viewpoint.

From there, it often becomes a back-burner item, left out of the final design due to concerns about cost or maintenance. Consequently, he says he doesn’t push them as much as some of his competitors.

Click photo for gallery“A lot of people think they want them, but they also know there’s some kind of maintenance involved,” Jacobs says. “I try to push pond-less water features, like pond-less waterfalls or fountains. You can get the sound, and it’s not as much maintenance.”

Some of the things that have been big for Ryan’s Landscaping this year include paver patios, retaining walls and fire pits, often with a pop-up grill attached. While he’s seeing more outdoor kitchen work, Jacobs says it’s an amenity that in his area people often find too expensive.

“We give the homeowner the option of purchasing the grill themselves as opposed to buying one that’s customized,” he says. “That can be thousands more, and even if they buy the grill we can build around it.”

Jacobs tries to get his estimate out in about a week. He says he finds estimating hardscape jobs to be easier than for his softscape ones because of the necessity of assembling the plants. Scheduling them can also be easier, for a couple reasons.

“A lot of times, when it comes to the landscaping, when people want it they want it,” Jacobs says. “They often have an event coming up and they want to get spruced up. If they can’t get the job in two or three weeks, they go on to the next guy.”