Interior Plantscaping Florida

What do you do when a client asks you to provide a new service? Without expertise, the logical thing to do would be to bring in a subcontractor. The other course of action would be to develop expertise and provide the one-stop shop your client is looking for.

This scenario arises daily for commercial lawn maintenance contractors who are asked to maintain irrigation systems, install plantings, renovate turf and remove snow. Some are even asked to install and maintain interior plants every now and then.

More than a decade ago, McCaren Designs Inc. in St. Paul, MN, was presented with the opposite dilemma. "We were asked by several of our commercial interior plantscaping clients to provide exterior maintenance services," relates company vice president Cindy Peterson, CLP. "After doing some research and setting up a business plan, we began to offer that service. Today, many of our clients rely on us to install and maintain both their interior and exterior plants."

Opportunities

McCaren Designs has offered interior plantscaping services for 30 years. The two biggest opportunities for providing both services, Peterson explains, is being able to satisfy customer requests and, at the same time, grow your business with them. It's costly to find new customers, and keeping other contractors, interior or otherwise, from entering a client's door is a good way to minimize competition.

"You're also interacting with the same contact person, usually the property manager," Peterson adds. "By offering interior plantscaping, you give clients another means to attract tenants to their properties. The many benefits of interior plants are well documented and provide marketing opportunities for both you and your client."

Like any new opportunity, contractors need to research it and develop a business plan that includes a marketing strategy. In many ways, the two disciplines, interior and exterior maintenance, are alike. Knowledge of horticulture is a necessity, though providing a new interior service will not strain an equipment budget. A small truck or car with signage, pressurized watering machine, ladder and small hand tools, including pruning shears and a pole pruner, will likely satisfy most applications. As is the case in maintenance, contractors will need to be licensed to apply pesticides.

Differences

Peterson, a former president of PLANET's legacy group ALCA and 26-year veteran with McCaren Designs, points to three major differences between the two service offerings:

• Interior technicians work in closer proximity with clients and their customers
• Providing the service usually requires exceptional coordination
• As a general rule, plants are guaranteed for the life of the maintenance contract

"The truly big difference between the services is that the interior plantscaping technician is in the client's physical space, and is much more visible than members of an exterior maintenance crew," Peterson emphasizes. "Technicians spend their time in reception areas, in CEO offices, in malls, and in just about any place where people and plants share space. Hence, they need to have people skills and the ability to converse amiably with just about anyone. They also have to be neat and in uniform, and they often are required to wear a badge or other identification."

Since 9-11, coordination has become an issue, too, Peterson adds. "Technicians are not allowed to gain entrance to a building or roam freely around an office or mall without first checking with security. Service days and times also have to be cleared in advance."

The lifetime guarantee is something that has been an industry standard for years. Since interior plants are not subject to the vagaries of Mother Nature, and contractors are maintaining them instead of growing them, clients expect them to last the lifetime of a maintenance contract. Still, Peterson notes that the guarantee can be challenging in more hostile environments such as heavily trafficked malls.

Other challenges

Interior maintenance is more sensitive to a down economy than exterior maintenance. "Interior is usually the first to go during a budget crunch," Peterson emphasizes. "Commercial properties need to have their lawns mowed and plant beds maintained, but clients don't always perceive the need for interior plants."

"All clients are not alike, either," Peterson adds. "Just as they differ in exterior maintenance, they differ in interior, as well. Yet in interior, this difference is even more pronounced when servicing residential vs. commercial clients. In homes, you're talking about working in customer living spaces; areas where tracking in dust and dirt is never accepted. Residential interior work is an entirely different animal—one that needs to be carefully considered before jumping in."

Helpful hints

Before providing this service, Peterson advises exterior maintenance contractors to do their homework and seek outside help. The Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) has several resources designed to help new entrants into the market. Also, its mentoring Trailblazer program is a good way to gain inexpensive council from industry veterans.

The Plantscape Industry Alliance (PIA) headquartered in California offers educational opportunities for technicians, and sponsors a West Coast trade show for interior plantscapers.

The Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association (FNGLA) sponsors a major interior plantscaping trade show. The Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition (TPIE) is a good place to meet plant and container suppliers. Many of the state and regional associations also have resources for interior plantscapers.

Peterson also encourages all interior plantscapers to support Green Plants for Green Buildings, an organization that promotes the value of interior landscaping to end-user customers.

The interior market is not nearly as big as the exterior market. There are fewer customers, fewer suppliers, and, of course, fewer competitors. The market, however, offers opportunities for exterior contractors looking to expand their service offering.

Being successful in the new venture requires doing some research, putting together a plan of attack, and becoming well-versed in a service that is similar, yet different, from the ones you're currently providing.