Forum

Once a decision has been made by anyone to hire a landscaper, a client sets about finding the right one to do the job.

A hiring processes isn't always a smooth ride. Most people reading this will have been in the position of consumer many times before and will know how personal and stressful the process can be?

It does not matter if it is a garden design, full landscape or a garden maintenance contract that a prospective client is planning, they will have a desire to hire the right person or company to do their job.

Interviewing a client

If you are one of the contractors who gets the call - what minimum criteria do you set when deciding if a client is right for you?

Being one chosen to pitch is often a pretty tough position to be in so try to imagine that you are the one who is interviewing the client and not the other way around.

Some prospective clients, whilst initially likely to be polite, can often be tense and sometimes standoffish. After all, they are potentially about to embark on a process that will more than likely result in them committing to hundreds, if not thousands of pounds to a project that has not been designed or built as yet, and they are anxious to hear from you how you'll tackle it; they need to get the entire process right.

Being grilled by prospective clients can be difficult and on occasions unpleasant. Whilst the majority of clients are balanced and rational in making their choice, others are defensive, rude and sometimes nasty.

It may seem that they need to be in control of you and it must be stressed, once they've signed on the dotted line, personalities can change even more, making it feel like a 'them and us' situation - some clients will demand more than a pound of flesh.