As landscape designers, whether or not we admit to it, we do create emotional responses from our clients.

In a sense, we are constantly stimulating emotional responses from our clients as we meander through a myriad of options, ultimately arriving at  a place and time that is satisafying to all - form and function, environmental and economic. When we succeed, we manage to tap into our clients emotional experiences and transport them along with the design and when we fail, somehow we have not created that emotional bridge that is a conduit between the clients past and present and where they want to be in the future.

The first thing I do when meeting with clients, is to get a sense of the things that are important to them- aesthetic as well as non-aesthetic. This begins with a casual exploration of design elements that have  positively  influenced choices they have made from early childhood through the adult years. Art, furniture, music and yes, even the cars they drive can and do tell you a lot about stylistic preferences. There were certainly elements from my childhood years growing up in South Africa that evoked strong emotions in me- the smell of the land after a hard rainstorm, the lashing winds off the sea and the sea swept beaches, beautiful vegetation and animals- all of which I still experience to this day even-though I have not lived there for 28 plus years. As designers, we need to be intuitive and try and take advantage of our clients emotional memories from childhood through the adult years and create design elements that emphasise these positively.

It is true that we have to design with our eyes, but I advocate that in addition, designing from the soul of the heart will unveil a unique connection between you and your client and result in a collaborative landscape design that is an overwhelming success!

Early on in my career I learnt that you cannot teach passion.

You either have it or you don’t.

While it may not guarantee success in business, the odds of success increase dramatically when you sincerely believe in what you are doing. Passion is fairly easy to convey when it is genuine and heartfelt; just as when it is not, most people will understand your true sentiments, sooner or later.

Firms that emerge from this economic downturn in solid shape will no doubt have tapped into the passions of their associates, partners and ultimately their clients. This business, like all for that matter, drives its everyday cash-flow with basic, everyday concepts- listening to the needs of clients and offering creative, innovative and functional landscape designs that conform to  budget parameters identified by the clients. Now is the time to strive to reach new heights with inventive and creative marketing ideas and affordable options when it comes to implementation, albeit in a toned down iteration.

We offer the clients- our consumers- a unique opportunity to indulge their personal passions, be they for relaxing, entertaining, eating and imbibing. An opportunity to divert the everyday stresses, kick back, unwind and enjoy with all the senses of their collective being. Most of the time, passion can trump price as well. Small, incrimental improvements can and do make a difference. Perhaps not the master plan, but phase one. That’s okay as well.

Appealing to the passions of our clients requires an equally compelling and passionate approach by us,  the landscape professionals. Perhaps it is true that we cannot teach passion. What we need to do is encourage our colleagues to learn about  what stirs the passion in others. In our profession, there has never been a more important time to unleash that passion.

Try it- and watch it make a difference!