Whether a retail center, hotel, or office complex, your commercial clients want to know they’re getting good service for their investment in professional landscaping. But a key to ensuring they are satisfied with the results is helping them to avoid some common mistakes that could deter from the finished look.
At Yellowstone Landscape, we only serve the commercial market. And we have found that clients don’t always know what landscaping choices will serve them best. They look to us for that guidance. Property managers are often very busy handling all aspects of the commercial property's care.
They want to be able to rely on their landscaping partner to guide them toward the best choices and avoid mistakes.
Here are three common mistakes that we see commercial properties make when they aren’t properly guided by their landscaping company.
1. Failing to invest enough in the entryway
The entrance to a commercial property deserves plenty of attention. But when commercial property managers overlook this area, they will miss an important opportunity to get the most out of their investment in professional landscaping. That’s because first impressions are absolutely critical at commercial properties.
It can be helpful to your clients if you have suggestions for front entranceway upgrades. They don’t have to be complex. Adding more color is probably one of the best ways that they can increase wow factor. An annual rotation with bright and beautiful blooms is always a winner.
While flowers are going to give a pop of color and make a dramatic first impression, they’re not your clients only choice. You might also suggest using rock such as large boulders or even decomposed granite to help fill in space at the front entrance and around signage. We have found that patterns of different sizes and color decomposed granite can add wow factor without adding maintenance for our clients.
Landscape lighting can be a more costly but more powerful upgrade that should also be considered if your client has a lack of lighting. This can help ensure that the entrance sign and any landscaping around it can be appreciated at any hour.
2. Overlooking trash and debris
For commercial properties that get a lot of foot traffic (such as to and from a parking lot), trash and debris are a likely problem. Unfortunately, trash discarded from vehicle windows or dropped in plant beds can really take away from the overall appeal of the landscaping.
That’s why we encourage our clients to invest in a portering service.
Many of our clients do handle this service in-house through their custodial department. But oftentimes, the custodians tend to focus on the interior of the buildings and the parking lots, plant beds, and walkways can get overlooked.
That’s why it might make sense to encourage your clients to pass this service off to you. Offering trash clean-up and removal is an added value that you can offer your clients and it will help keep them happier with the results of their landscaping. That’s because even the best landscape is going to look subpar if it’s littered with trash.
3. Failing to trim overhanging branches
Finally, overhanging branches on commercial properties can be an eyesore but also pose risk. It’s important to point these out to clients, even if it’s not assigned in your scope of work. If these branches fall, they could injure a person or damage property. Overhanging branches can also block signage, landscape lighting, or even security cameras. Your clients will see the value in you pointing out these concerns which might not be on their radar.
In general, as a landscape professional, you can bring a lot of value to the table by informing your client of areas that could use improvement or that could be made safer with landscaping upgrades or changes. If you position this in light of helping your clients, they’ll begin to see you as a valuable resource.
