06/08/2022
“How to take your design/build projects to the next level” -- Landscape Management cover story featuring SouthernEEZ Landscaping.
Nate Negrin recalls being in college with a dream of working in the landscape industry. But while at Cornell University he drifted away from that goal and went the business management route. He worked in the financial services industry for more than 10 years, focusing on the agriculture and farming sectors.
Seven years ago Negrin decided it was time to get back to his dream. He bought a landscape company and now he is the owner of SouthernEEZ Landscaping, serving the Charlotte, N.C., area. “Here I am,” he says with a smile. “There have been a lot of challenges, but it’s been a lot of fun.”
One of those challenges is helping his customers navigate exactly what it is they want. SouthernEEZ does 60 percent commercial and residential landscape installation projects and 40 percent landscape maintenance. His company is growing fast, and to make sure his company and his clients are on the same page, SouthernEEZ meets with clients early on to discuss the client’s vision.
But Negrin has learned, sometimes the vision can change after ground is broken.
“You’re standing at the top of the mountain, it can either go down or on to the next peak,” he says. “A lot of our clients are referrals. They come to the project in different mindsets. Some of them are like, ‘Here’s the plan, the budget and we’re going to stick to that.’ Others, every step of the way, they’ll write a check for an upgrade because they’re going to do this once. Let’s get that retaining wall, let’s do this right, right now.”
Negrin says he isn’t much of a salesman but he does express to his clients that there is a cost associated with getting his team on-site. He’ll explain to a client that there are upgrades he would spend money on and things he wouldn’t spend money on.
“It’s an investment, and they’ll never have to make the investment again,” Negrin says. “We’re borrowing from the bank once, so let’s do it.”
Read more here ... https://southerneez.com/how-to-take-your-design-build-projects-to-the-next-level/
