Emotional Rescue

Purchasing a backyard aquascape is an emotional time for consumers. Here's how to generate excitement, calm fears and close the deal.

But as prospects look for the right pool builder, the decision process can be laced with other, more negative emotions that could ultimately quash a deal: anxiety, fear and confusion.

Being aware of those emotions, and knowing how to deal with them, is key to making a sale and ensuring a smooth project, according to sales consultants Ray Leone and Thomas D. Phillips. “People buy on emotion and justify their decision with logic,” says Leone, president of Leone Resource Group in Charleston, S.C.

“One of the many laws of selling is that there is no such thing as a rational buying decision,” says Phillips, president of Sales University Inc. in Round Hill, Va.

When you talk about a pool or spa, emotions play an even larger role than with most purchases, says Leone. “Everything’s an emotional purchase,” he says. “But when you’re talking about your own backyard — your own kingdom — it’s very personal.”

Unfortunately, the pool and spa industry has yet to acknowledge this, says Leone, who sold pools before becoming a consultant. “Typically, we sell to the logic, but that doesn’t get it where we need to get it,” he says.

Pool psychology
Pool builders need to reach a place where fears are put to rest. But before you can do that, you have to understand where that fear is based. Generally, it’s in the loss of control that a pool project represents, say experts.

Many anxieties originate from a feeling that clients have no control over the situation: Someone else designs the pool, then upends their backyard to build it. And the end result is very difficult to change.

Because clients can’t see the pool before it’s built, some worry that they may end up with something they don’t like. “The anxiety is different there than with a portable spa,” says landscape architect Kathy Marosz, president of Enviroscapes in San Diego. “A portable spa is there — they can look at it and touch it. They can measure it and see what it would look like in their yard. What I’m selling is not a product, but a service. It results in a finished product, but they can’t see it because it doesn’t exist yet.”

What they end up with won’t go away — an additional cause for anxiety, says Ron Aveta, owner of Creative Pools in Franklin Lakes, N.J. “We’re ripping up their whole backyard and will be giving them a whole new environment.”

Then there’s the money. “It’s like a marriage,” says landscape designer Michael Cartwright, president of Yard and Garden Associates in Houston. “Money problems affect everything in a marriage. It’s the same on a project.” How much will it cost? What about changes? What about unforeseeable issues such as poor soil conditions a couple of feet beneath the surface?

The more on edge that clients are about the money, the harder the whole process will be, says Cartwright. “If you reach or exceed your client’s pain threshold, your pain on the job will increase two or three times,” he says.

Who’s in charge?
The challenge for designers and builders is to eliminate these anxieties so customers can put their concentration where it belongs — on the fun, healthful, life-changing aspects of aquascape ownership.

To help clients reach that place, builders use the following tactics:

• Give honest scheduling estimates.
With consumers so used to purchasing products off the shelf, they often don’t understand the work and time involved in a construction project. Type A personalities in particular, such as the stockbrokers who make up a large portion of Aveta’s clientele, want quick results.

To make sure expectations and results merge, Aveta prepares his clients at the very first meeting. “In this area, everything is fast,” he says. “Our biggest problem is teaching them that this category of pool isn’t something you buy off a shelf. But [we have] to teach them that these are large projects and that they have to be patient.”

Most people work in a very controlled environment, such as a factory or office, so they don’t always anticipate how construction projects work, says Aveta. Builders should point out that construction involves uncontrollables such as weather, unexpected soil conditions and other indecisive customers, who can put later projects behind schedule.

“Right from the beginning, we tell them we’re an ultra-custom pool builder and that to deal with us, they have to deal with the changes that the clients before them make,” Aveta says. “We tell them there will most likely be delays in the start of the pool, but once it’s started, it’s finished quickly.”

With this education, clients begin to realize the scope of a construction project. “That’s where you build the confidence and that’s where they begin to appreciate what they’re going to get in their backyard,” Aveta says.

• Lay out all their choices.
To help clients make the right choices and appreciate what they get for their money, builders should let them know all the different product, construction and design choices available, says Bob Wason, president of Gym & Swim in Louisville, Ky.

Wason’s company developed a CD-ROM that provides customers with this information. It covers the types of pool and hardscape construction the firm offers, what products it can include with the project and a photo gallery of finished products. Customers can review it at their leisure and pass it on to friends who may call Gym & Swim in the future.

• Talk about yard disruption.
By its very nature, construction will disrupt an existing backyard and possibly even the client’s home. This pushes a number of emotional buttons, so builders should prepare customers in advance, says Wason. They should know that not only will you dig up their backyard, but may accidentally cut into utility lines if authorities mismarked them.

“There are certain things that really mess with their minds,” Wason says. “Probably the biggest one is cutting the cable or knocking the satellite during football season or cutting the sewer on Friday afternoon without realizing they did it. But they can handle a disruption if they know it’s coming.”

You can give these clients peace of mind by reassuring them that planting beds can go back down, fences can go back up, and that your company will do everything it can to minimize the mess, Wason says. “We find one of the best ways to keep everybody happy is to keep a designated path into and out of the construction site so trucks don’t wander all over the yard simply because [boundaries] weren’t well-defined.”

Of course, it’s always a good idea to help clients keep their eyes on the prize.

“You have to convince them that the finished product is worth the agony,” Wason says.

• Give them an out.
Marosz says many clients get nervous working with a designer for the first time, especially one who charges separately for the design. “I think the biggest [problem with purchasing a pool] is that it’s something they can’t see,” says the high-end landscape architect/contractor. “If they have not yet dealt with designers in their life, it’s difficult to grasp that you have to pay for something [when] you may not like what you’re paying for.”

“One of the questions that’s asked is, ‘If I don’t like it, do I still have to pay for it?’ And the answer is, ‘Yes, because this is a service.’”

Marosz finds out roughly what the prospective client wants and estimates how much the design will cost. But she also gives her hourly cost and explains to the client that if they don’t feel she is connecting with them, they can stop the process at any point, pay for her time and send her on her way.

• Let clients work with you.
More than a few clients think they have very little control over the design process, but they need to understand otherwise, Marosz says.

While some designers may try to force their ideas on a client, Marosz says, she tells the client that she understands who works for whom. “I explain to them, ‘You’re hiring me to be your tool. I’m the one who had the training [and] experience, but you’re the one who has to live with the finished project. So I want to try to pull out of your brain the kinds of things that make you happy. Once I have gathered that information, I can put that together with my experience and training and draw you a picture of some possibilities.’ ”

Marosz pulls even more from the client when she has them draw with her. “Sometimes we sit at a table with a site plan and a tissue paper overlay and everybody has a pencil and we’re all drawing on it,” she says.

• Assign homework to disagreeing couples.
On some design calls with spouses or partners, Marosz discovers each spouse wishes for something slightly different. “I’ve actually had them almost duke it out in front of me,” she says.

The designer will have the couple try to talk it out until they’ve reached an impasse, or it’s just taking too much time. “[Then] I try to reschedule a meeting and give them a ‘homeowner assignment,’ so to speak. I tell them, ‘These are the things you have to decide to make this thing go forward,’ ” she says.

• Offer full disclosure on costs.
Unfamiliarity with the construction process can combine with the sometimes bad reputation that the construction field faces, leaving some clients worrying that they won’t get their money’s worth. To allay such fears, Cartwright offers to show them everything.

“We do absolutely, 100 percent full disclosure on costs,” he says. “My clients see everything. But they understand that I have to make money. And there’s never a question, and no one’s ever complained. If you’re willing to open your books...it’s not like the client gets the feeling you’re trying to beat them out of something.”

He’ll send his clients itemized breakdowns of the cost, as well as receipts from vendors and subcontractors if the client requests it.

• Tell them to call any time.
To help give clients a feeling of control, Wason advises an open-door policy. “We don’t have a problem answering questions,” Wason says. “We tell them not to go to bed with a question on their minds.”

• Assume the control you’re due.
In the end, Cartwright says, his clients truly respond to his confidence and control over each project. Knowing that they’re in the hands of an expert who can manage the situation puts most clients’ minds at ease.

“I know the more you take charge with the client, the more comfortable [they are],” he says. “You need to be sure about yourself and what you’re doing, and the only way to do that is to make sure you’ve done your homework.”

MORE INFORMATION
Putting spa shoppers at ease
A spa shopper often has anxiety over the purchase, which a successful salesperson must address carefully.

The psychology of selling safety
Salespeople must often walk a tightrope when selling safety.