Landscaper Grows by Sharing His Turf
Daryl M. Hosta started his own landscaping business when he moved to Southern California 25 years ago. He found his first clients by posting index cards on supermarket bulletin boards. In the early years, his clients were happy to leave the design and plant decisions up to him. But over the last decade, he says, his clients’ sophistication has grown and he has learned to bring them into the design process. Hosta was interviewed by freelance writer Karen E. Klein.
When I first started, my clientele was not very sophisticated. They basically wanted “greenscapes”--junipers, ivy, the most simple and basic plantings. But since the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, people’s tastes have changed. They want more than palm trees.
As I saw what was happening, it became of paramount importance to me to help my customers with the selection process. So I developed the idea of taking clients to nurseries and to stone yards--to the wholesale places where landscapers buy things--so they could personally pick out the plant types, sizes and shapes for themselves.
Since the recession of the early ‘90s, people are much more conscious of what they’re getting for their dollars. Nowadays, people don’t want to leave it up to the decorator or the painter or the landscaper to do the design. Anyone in the trade business will tell you that customers are much more involved today than they’ve ever been. There’s no such thing as leaving it to the experts anymore.
People also want to put their own stamp of originality on their gardens now. They are interested in a variety of landscapes, and they are trying to be more assertive and show their own taste.
My policy of letting the customer do the selection cuts down tremendously in the amount of confusion that can occur once I start to plant a site. Once the plants arrive on the job, very little arguing occurs because the client knows exactly what is going in. You know you have a product that is going to appeal to your clients rather than offend them.
I remember before I took the customers with me to purchase the materials, I used to sometimes bring in substantial-sized trees, plant them and then when the customers came home they’d decide they didn’t like them and we had to take them out. That kind of thing cost us a lot of time and trouble and money.
Some designers send the customers out to nurseries on their own and tell them to decide what they want. But I’ve found that’s counterproductive. Either the customers will not take the time to go out by themselves or they go out but know very little about what they’re looking for and they feel reluctant to ask.
Another advantage I’ve found in taking customers to the nurseries is that the buying trip can expand my sales. The customer looks around and starts picking out this plant and that one. If you don’t take them with you, they don’t know these choices exist.
The shopping trips are included in my overall job price, and they are a good selling tool. I’m seeking to please the client, and making them feel that they’re included in the selection process helps do that.
When customers are happy at the end of the job, they tend to refer us to their friends and business associates. We boast one of the most impressive client lists in the city and almost all our jobs come through referrals.
In the course of a year, I figure probably 3% of my clients are simply not going to be pleased under any circumstance. You can’t please 100% of your clients all the time, but you can try and get it right as often as possible.
You have to be patient and understanding. If you’re not, in these times and in this type of business, you will be hopelessly lost.
Karen E. Klein will be featured at The Times’ Small Business Strategies Conference Oct. 17-18 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. If your business can provide a lesson to other entrepreneurs, contact Klein at the Los Angeles Times, 1333 S. Mayflower Ave., Suite 100, Monrovia 91016 or send e-mail to kklein6349@aol.com. Include your name, address and telephone number.
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At a Glance
* Company: Daryl M. Hosta Landscape Design Inc.
* Owner: Daryl M. Hosta
* Nature of business: Landscape design and contracting
* Location: 448 Euclid St., Santa Monica 90402
* Founded: 1973
* Employees: 7
* Annual revenue: $1.1 million
