Landscape & Irrigation

March 2011

Landscape and Irrigation is read by decision makers throughout the landscape and irrigation markets — including contractors, landscape architects, professional grounds managers, and irrigation and water mgmt companies and reaches the entire spetrum.

Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/26892

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 19 of 27

Irrigation and Water Management By Lynette Von Minden Making the (Up) Grade Generating more business through irrigation system retrofits and upgrades T he past few years have been challenging for most land- scape and irrigation contractors. Many contractors who once relied heavily on revenue generated from new irrigation system installations have had to adapt to stressful market conditions and reevaluate their business mod- els to survive. New construction starts dipped to such low levels that there was no longer enough new installation business to go around, and many landscape businesses that focused on new in- stallations struggled or went out of business. Now, the economy is beginning to show signs of improvement and new construc- tion starts are trending upward in many business sectors. Still, contractors must remember the lessons learned over the past few years and remain creative in finding new revenue streams to improve cash flow. For many contractors, the best way to ac- complish this task is by encouraging customers with existing ir- rigation systems to invest in upgrades. Success in landing irrigation system upgrade business re- quires a proactive approach and a keen eye toward water effi- ciency. It also requires convincing customers who may be completely unaware that their irrigation system is wasting copi- ous amounts of water that an investment will improve plant health, save water and, ultimately, save money in the long run. Finding the right solutions, and convincing customers to invest isn’t always easy, but there are a few key focus areas that can im- prove the likelihood of successful proposals. Inspecting the site According to Greg Palumbo, Rain Bird’s product manager Photo courtesy of Rain Bird 20 Landscape and Irrigation March 2011 for sprays, the spring season offers landscape and irrigation con- tractors an invaluable opportunity to evaluate an irrigation sys- tem and develop proposals for repairs, preventative maintenance and upgrades. Contractors who spend time evaluating their cus- tomers’ irrigation systems in the spring and creating successful proposals can quickly generate revenue after a long winter sea- son, and, in many instances, gain a competitive edge. “Contrac- tors who excel at this process can get a head start on their competition and enhance customer loyalty by providing supe- rior service,” said Palumbo. “This head start can also help con- tractors justify adding seasonal employees earlier in the year, allowing them to choose the most talented and productive workers before their rivals even start the hiring process.” Because irrigation systems are turned off for at least a portion of the winter season in most parts of the country, the spring sys- tem start-up provides an opportunity for the contractor to focus on the irrigation system. “Often the current maintenance con- tractor is not the contractor who installed the system,” said www.landscapeirrigation.com

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Landscape & Irrigation - March 2011