Consultation Planning and design procedure

[Marcus Montes]

Hi! I am confused with the landscape design and plan procedure… If the client requested for a design should I ask for a formal purchase order first before I do the design? or Should I design first and present the design then ask them if they want to buy the design or not? A client is requesting for a design… If I make a design does that automatically charge them regardless of whether they like the design or not? help me because I am so confused… should I present a design first? or should I ask for a contract or purchase order first before doing a design?

here’s my idea… I will create a design and then I will ask for a meeting date to discuss my design proposal but I will not leave the designs with them after the discussion.. I’ll just leave a letter and a quotation for the design and let them contact me if they want to buy and use my design.. Is that okay? or is it impolite not to leave a copy of the design to them after a meeting? How am I going to say that If they like the design contact me or send me a purchase order in a polite or professional way?

[Rob Halpern]

I think your position of what if they do or don’t like the design is part of the problem. You need to work with the client to produce the design they want. There need to be interim presentations and review so that before you get heavily into final details the client has given you the green light to complete the design they have approved. Your fee should take into account that some revision of your initial concept may be required. But the challenge here is to understand what they want and to make sure you and the client are thinking alike before you go too far. Design is a conversation

[Brett T. Long]

Hello Marcus.  It is not customary for potential client to ask for a design without a proposal or contract. Typically I am glad to meet with the potential client and gather necessary information to prepare a proposal based on an agreed scope. Design competitions and charrettes are different and the possibility of being awarded larger projects may outweigh the risk of lost time and costs.  Asking designers to provide free designs does seem inappropriate.  The client may be under the impression that the design is included in a design build project, but it is still inappropriate to request a design without a contract or as a basis for selecting a landscape contractor. 

[Marcus Montes]

in a landscape design bidding… does everybody get paid for the design or just the winner? if you were invited to bid to design a project do you get paid automatically for the design that you will submit?

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

We are all in different places in our careers. One thing that does not change is the reason that someone hires a designer. It is to remove the doubt from the outcome of the project. As the value of removing that doubt increases the willingness to pay for design increases. Scrutiny of the potential designer increases with that value as well.

 

It works in revers as well. If a prospect is looking at inexperienced designers it tells you how much they value design for this particular project. The dollar amount will match that.

 

Where are you in your career and what do you value to get out of this job? You list yourself as a contractor, so one value you can strive for is to sell plants, materials, and labor from this endeavor. The second is more likely to gain some experience both as a designer and of the design business in the process.

 

My suggestion, based on your circumstance, is to charge minimally for design in order to gain the experience and sell the build portion of the job for your pay day.

 

I concur with the others that you need to sell the design service before pencil meets paper, even if it is only for $50. The thing that you need to establish is that the client has SOME value for your design at best, and that YOU value your design work at minimum.

 

You have plenty of time to gain the experience and reputation to have greater value in removing doubt from the outcome of the project. Right now, you don’t attract those who hold a lot of value in design. Potential does not count in the design market, a fact that aspiring designers are completely oblivious to.

[Rob Halpern]

If it is a straight out bid or RFP process, then you are submitting a concept at most, not a design, and only the selected firm gets the job and gets paid.

If you are invited to bid, then read the invitation carefully to be clear on what is required. If it is a full executable design then consider whether you are willing to give yourself away in that manner

[Marcus Montes]

Thank you so much for your answers! I am enlightened.. One last question… How much do you charge for a design  and consultation? how many percent for a ‘per project cost’ basis? is it okay to make the design and consultation free if it’s a design-build deal?

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

The first thing that you’ll have to understand about design/build is that pricing is not standard. You don’t command the same price that someone else does because you are in the same profession and they don’t get paid based on your ability either.

 

If you are starting out in design/build, the first thing you need to worry about is making a living. There is no doubt that if you are do a good job in designing a landscape, the client is likely to stick with you through the build if you have built landscapes in the past.

 

The biggest danger in free design is that you don’t know if the prospect is committed to you or has six freebie designers dancing for him all over town. You also don’t know if he is committed to the project at all or just entertaining himself with “what if” possibilities. This is why you need to get some type of financial commitment, even if it is little.

 

You can meet and talk about the design for free to get that part sold, but you need to be pretty sure that you are the only one involved before putting pen to paper. He is unlikely pay three people at the same time no matter how small the fee.

 

A percentage fee is more often for project management than for design. You charge for design, then you present the option to manage the project for a percentage of the overall cost of the build. Project management is tough work, a huge responsibility, and takes a great deal of experience. No one is going to hire a newbie for that.

 

If you are looking to build landscapes yourself, it is still easier to sell the design first, then price the job when the design is complete. This allows you to deliver everything they ask for in the design prior to pricing. You will show them what it could be which then gives them the chance to increase the budget if they want it all, or they will have to choose what to cut back to bring the price down. This increases your ability to upsell, keeps you from crunching numbers the whole time you are trying to design, and keeps you from disappointing them with a design that falls short because you made decisions to cut back in order to meet budget.

 

Others said that you will jeapordize the pricing of others if you work cheap or free. That simply is not true. There are plenty of free and cheap designers out there and there always has been. Those of us that are able to charge for design work do so because we are valued enough to get paid. I don’t compete with freebies and they don’t compete with me. We have different clients. You won’t take mine at this stage in your career and I don’t want yours. It is the same for all of us. We only compete with people a little ahead of us and a little behind us. It is a diverse business and few people or firms span very broad reaches of it.

 

There is no going rate. You’ll have to find a way to get people to pay for your services. Getting a degree, or hanging a shingle, or even getting licensed does not set your rate. You have to demonstrate value to be valued and you need access to those who value what you do. None of that comes easy.

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