Becoming a Gardens Consultant – A Virtual Seminar
Session Five – Marketing & Networking Your Own Consultancy Business
(As with the previous Sessions, please start with Session One, as it is a progressive ‘Seminar’)
The journey to becoming a Gardens Consultant is, of necessity, a long one. Simply being very good at one subject may well supply you with your Unique Selling Point, but that specific skill may not be enough to provide you with a sound business. For example, a specialist in natural stone will greatly increase the chance of gaining a consultancy commission on the strength of their knowledge of the materials, but that will merely provide them with a short visit or consultation. However, combine that talent with an in depth working knowledge of laying techniques, pointing methods, sand selection, uses and limitations, porosity, durability, crushing strengths, density etc, will afford much greater scope for a fully detailed and useful document.
That knowledge becomes CAMPAIGNABLE and will attract customers to your Consultancy business, as well as your ‘main’ job.
It will also open up a far wider field of enquiry, and it is this ability to offer a complete package that will help you to establish yourself as THE consultant when it comes to commissioning a report. Your skills are of no use unless you can produce a fully detailed report, specific to that site. All too often, seekers of such information rely far too heavily on the internet to provide solutions, only to find that the techniques recommended are too generalised to be of any use to them. There is a lot of good, sound, information available via social media, but even the best is not enough if it is not site specific. This comment goes right across the board, from working practices, material selection and site conditions.
If all you had to do was Google an answer, we would all be redundant! There would be no need to gain experience by spending years learning a trade, if all that is required is the click of a button! But at least once a week, I have a call for help because of confused and mixed messages people have obtained via the media………………..
I learned a very valuable lesson from Peter Hamer (see Session One) who, as a Horticultural Consultant, was extremely knowledgeable, with many years of practical experience under his belt. (This was during the late 60s and early 70s, long before the Internet or any other form of ‘instant’ information). Peter was commissioned by major firms such as ICI, Murphy, May & Baker etc; all of whom were taken over by other companies many years ago. Commissions included Cabbage Root Fly damage (which involved washing and examining 5,000 cabbage roots), Gleosporium damage to stored apples (involving checking and weighing hundreds of individual apples on a daily basis), plus many other in depth analysis methods. Peter taught me that if you did not know the answer to a problem always ask for assistance.
When I worked with him (as a Lab assistant), I saw that he would not be afraid to seek the opinion of others. A major part of being a good consultant is in knowing WHO to ask for advice. That person would contact Peter and ask him for HIS advice should it be needed. This openness in exchanging information has always stayed with me, and I have sought to do the same throughout my career. NOBODY knows it all! By knowing who to consult with, and the right questions to ask, you will gain so much more information and credibility.
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As your career develops, and you find that you are particularly skilled at, or enjoy (often one and the same thing) a particular job, you will find yourself trying to attract more of that type of work. This is such an obvious statement to make, but most of us find that we have to take on a wide range of contracts, just to stay in business. However, by running your favoured type of work in tandem with your other jobs, and gradually split the ‘specialist’ projects from the norm, you should find that after a period of time, you will become well known for the former. You will begin to develop your Unique Selling Point. It is at this stage that you need to really concentrate your energy of gaining as much experience and information as possible about your chosen subject.
I have already covered a range of different types of Consultancy. The task now is to set about selling your skills. It is very important to remember, that as a Consultant, all you have to sell is your time and knowledge. Unlike a normal contract, where you will make money on your labourers, material mark-ups, profit and overheads, early completion on a priced contract etc – as a Consultant, all you are selling is YOURSELF. Therefore you need to charge accordingly. I recommend a Day Rate, with perhaps a Half Day Rate, which should be 60% of the Day Rate. This rate should be in the region of £250.00 per day upwards, PLUS expenses.
Expenses include travel (however you wish to work that out: fuel, mileage, fares etc) and all time spent on the project INCLUDING office time, telephone calls etc. You need to think and act in a thoroughly professional manner, much as a solicitor or mechanic, dentist or repair man. Keep a detailed log of everything you do on the commission, and submit the document as part of your invoice. I appreciate this will be alien to many of you, but it is expected of you, especially when working for professional companies. It is also why, when agreeing your Terms, these matters are all placed in writing.
You may well have to commission experts of your own, obviously by prior written agreement, and their fees will need to be included with your detailed invoice.
Outside experts may include specialists in Site Surveying, Drainage, Soil Mechanics, Irrigation, Lighting, Environmental matters and a host of other professionals.
Should you find yourself working for a Company (more often than not), they will be doing the same thing, further on down the line, by employing you!
WHAT HAS ALL THIS TO DO WITH MARKETING AND NETWORKING?
Selling yourself as a Consultant requires a different style of advertising. Many people call themselves ‘Consultants’ when in fact they are offering an adjunct to their normal business, as in Garden Design & Consultancy, Landscapers and Consultants etc. This is fine, and will perhaps attract domestic customers, with the accent being on the main business – design or landscape – and the consultancy element adding kudos to the company. Some companies of course do actually specialise in Landscape Consultancy – Landform Consultants Ltd springs to mind, and such firms do indeed, offer professional consultancy (and charge for their Consultants time as a stand alone commission). This Virtual Seminar is not aimed at those established companies, but at all who wish to develop their talents and begin to earn a living by their brains as well as their hands!
In this instance, marketing and networking are one and the same – or at least, they are so closely related that one becomes an integral part of the other. Making your mark, setting out to establish yourself as a Consultant requires a great deal of research. If we take it as a given that you feel sufficiently competent to charge a relatively high rate for your time, confident that you have the ability to produce (even with help from others – we are not all able to use high tech typing machines!) well written reports, to the standard demanded by the client – you will need information.
Information that should be kept as a record, with an index and catalogued in such a way that you hold detailed accounts for a very wide range of other specialists that you MAY need, even on rare occasions, to get information and advice from. As I have mentioned, I have in depth notes on well over a hundred different individuals and companies, kept up to date and close to hand. Anybody whom I think I may need to know, or have knowledge of. Despite the fact that you are operating as a Specialist Consultant, with your own Unique Selling Point/s, you will need to have as wide a range of ‘outside experts’ as you can think of. The information you require is that of individuals, not simply company names. You will need the name of the Marketing Director, or The Senior Biologist, and talk to them as themselves, even though they represent the company. One to one dialogue discussing an issue in depth creates a great rapport.
The list may include; Drainage or Irrigation experts, Lighting and Gardens Electricians, Pool Engineers, Local Environmental Agencies, Local Authorities (especially Engineers, Planners, Open Spaces etc), Soil Mechanics, Agronomists, Garden Historians, Rose/Shrub/Tree experts/growers, Paving manufacturers and Suppliers, Radio and Television Producers (who LOVE good stories), Historic House Associations, National Trust, English Heritage, Land Agents, Estate Agents (larger properties), Garden Antique specialists, Timber suppliers, Turf Companies (especially their science/technical directors), Bioculture specialists, Arborists, Insurance Company Directors, the list goes on and on……………..
THIS NETWORK OF PEOPLE ARE YOUR MARKET PLACE.
As much as you need to know about them, they also need to know about you. Once you feel ready, and have a clear idea of what it is you are selling as a Consultant – something THEY DO NOT HAVE – but well may have need of (remember, in Session Three – Countryside Consultancy, the tale of the clay lined dew pond), then you become part of THEIR network! Simply introduce yourself by means of a letter, with a request that they hold your details on file should they ever need your particular skill. Perhaps enclose a couple of examples of your ‘work’, at the same time ask permission to recommend them in a reciprocal manner. If they agree, keep in regular contact with them (perhaps every few months?) and ‘follow’ them via their websites.
If anything of keen interest comes up, congratulate them on their success. Similarly, new product ranges offer you the chance to comment favourably to Paving manufacturers, or a new design in irrigation could result in a request for technical information from their boffins, each time will be a reminder of your existence…………this contact may well result in you being invited to become involved in the production and marketing of a particular product. I had SO MUCH work from companies such as Do It All and Bradstone for example, as I was the first person that sprang to mind when they were asked for an industry opinion. It is no good simply writing to introduce yourself as a Consultant. You need to build up that relationship, nurture and develop those people and projects that excite you.
Much of my work – even perhaps the largest part of my consultancy commissions come via other Consultants, or Managers/Directors of specialist firms. This week I have already had two enquiries, one from a major firm of Agents in West London in need of a site assessment, feasibility study and audit, the second from a London Council seeking advice on planning a new routine for improving productivity (something they are not able to handle ‘in-house’ for reasons of policy)
Even if you want to develop your consultancy business to exclude working with professional companies, and wish to remain in the private sector, you will still need to have the information available via your chosen network. Once you become involved in dealing with matters such as waste sludge from a pond, water run off from a lake, Japanese knotweed, soil problems, drainage, etc, – anything that may involve environmental issues, you may need your ‘team’ of outside experts for comment and advice. Once a question raises it’s head, you need to have an answer, and it will need to be the right one, no matter where you find it!
Bear in mind too, that many of these people – Insurance Company Managers and Directors for example, will be some of your main customers. If you always expect the unexpected when answering the telephone, you will be able to deal with anything – or at least know who to call for advice!
There is currently no National Register of Gardens Consultants (as far as I am aware).
Certainly, there are lists of Experts, including those held by The Garden Media Guild, whose members register their specialisms; The Association of Senior Garden Advisors (who offer their services as a team of consultants, mainly ex Head Gardeners, not Landscapers or Designers), and no doubt, a call to the RHS will result in an enquiry to someone, somewhere. But there is no National Register that anyone, private or professional, can call for details of their local Specialist Consultant. No one body that would immediately come to mind when seeking help with some quite profound matters.
Becoming a Gardens Consultant is a natural development to a career in Gardening. I differentiate between ‘Gardening’ and Horticulture, as the latter is such a massive field, with too many disciplines to begin to list in this article. I hope that at least some of you will feel sufficiently empowered and interested enough to follow the path set out in these Five Sessions.
You may have noticed that, even after 10,000 words, I have made no mention of HOW to produce a report, or WHAT to look for as a Consultant. Even if this Virtual Seminar was a real seminar in a College classroom, I would still not have divulged my methods and consultancy techniques………….I have to earn my living using my own Unique Selling Points, and not give EVERYTHING away for free!
(Seriously folks, if anyone is interested, I may well be up for running a Virtual Workshop at some stage, on a very specific topic to avoid going off at tangents. There will be no charge!)