Articles written by guest contributors
Water features are becoming prominent in hardscapes. Bill's display area includes 5 water features.
How we use our outdoor showroom
Having an outdoor showroom of your own offers a lot of advantages.
Bill Gardocki
As you might have figured out from past articles, I make many of my business decisions based on lifestyle choices. For example, the 4-day work week, taking a teaching position at the University of New Hampshire, equipment purchases and declining jobs when I don’t get a warm and fuzzy vibe from the potential client.
One of the biggest choices we made 33 years ago was to operate our business out of our home. This can be very difficult, but for us it has worked out well. We have a 10-acre site, with about 2 acres dedicated to our home and about 8 acres for the business.
Built-in outdoor grills and fire pits are part of Bill's up-sell pitch to clients who visit his display area.
We have separate entrances for each, and our landscaping is done in such a way that we don’t see any of our 2,000 sf shop or storage areas from our home. I love my commute. To read more about how we handle the challenges of a home business, check the April/May 2013 issue in the HardscapeMagazine.com archives.
An important part of our facility is our outdoor showroom. In 2004, we installed our first display of patios, walls, and walkways by our shop. Today, we have 8,000 sf of patio and walkway displays, 1,000 face feet of wall displays, 12 pillars, 5 fire pits, 60 lighting fixtures, 7 seat walls, 1 putting green, 5 water features, decorative stone beds and granite steps and stoops.
Why have we invested our time and effort into a showroom?
- Convenience – All of my clients set up appointments to meet me at my showroom to pick out their materials. It’s on my schedule, and I don’t have to travel to a dealer to meet them.
- Up-sales – Last year we tracked our up-sell percentage. 18% of our clients purchased an up-sell item after seeing it in our showroom. Seat walls, fire pits, pillars and night lighting were our biggest up-sell items. As I have said before, I include pricing for these up-sell items on every quote I do.
- No sharing – I like having my clients to myself. Whenever I’m at one of my dealers’ locations, there are 5 other contractors’ trucks in the yard. When I’m meeting with a client at my showroom, my name is the only name they see.
- I sell labor – I’m very loyal to my 3 dealers. They each represent 2 manufacturers. I’ve chosen to display all 6 manufacturers’ products in my showroom. My clients can stand in the middle of my 2-acre showroom and see all of the products from these manufacturers. It saves them from having to visit 3 locations. I say, put it all on display, let the chips fall where they may, and let the best manufacturer win. I sell labor and let the product speak for itself. At the end of the year, all 3 dealers are always happy with my season’s purchases.
- Flexibility – I can show my clients a variety of product mixes, colors and styles the manufacturers offer. Many of our jobs have a mix of manufacturer products. This does make it tough getting our jobs into manufacturers’ catalogs, but one of our jobs was on the cover of the 2013 Techo-Bloc catalog. Having flexibility also allows me to show sealed and non-sealed products, polymeric sand in place, the use of edge restraint, and all of my ICPI specified base material and bedding sand.
- Consumer confidence – I cannot tell you how many of my clients, at some point during the design and construction process, comment on how the professional look of our showroom helped close the deal. It showed them we are a highly skilled, professional operation that will be here for years to come.
Think about the pros and cons of having your own showroom. Talk to your dealers and manufacturers. If it looks like it may benefit all parties, then give it a try.
Bill Gardocki is the owner of Interstate Landscape Co. Inc. in Londonderry, NH. This year he celebrates his 40th year installing hardscapes. Bill has taught over 100 classes as an NCMA and ICPI certified instructor. He also provides hardscape seminars for dealer/contractor education days, and this year became the Landscape Construction instructor at his alma mater, the University of New Hampshire. Contact Bill@InterstateLandscapeNH.com
Last year, Bill added a 1,000 sf permeable paver area to the display.
Seat walls, pillars and natural stone are all on display.
