How would you like to get a commitment from your client to move forward with construction services even before you have a construction contract? Tim Thoelecke of the American Academy of Landscape Design does exactly this by utilizing his "Pre-Contract Agreement" during the design phase.

Here's how Tim explains the concept:

"It's an agreement to proceed. It states that the client has approved the Concept Plan and the Budget Study (or an agreed portion of each for a phased installation). They advance us a deposit on the project. In most cases, we collect $5,000. The reason is that, if they change their minds, this is enough to cover the time we have in it. Other than that, it's an arbitrary number."

This agreement and small deposit is collected BEFORE Construction Documents are drafted and before bid procurement.

This is a win-win all the way around. For the client, they are put on the schedule immediately and do not have to pay for Construction Documents. For Tim's company, they can proceed with the CD's knowing the project is going forward, the chances of the client bidding out the plan are now slim and his subcontractors are happy because they know their time is not being wasted pricing the work. Plus he gets a little extra cash flow.

I'm seriously considering adding this strategy to my design and sales process. I lost a very large project earlier this spring when my client decided to get their own bids right before construction was to start. I'm convinced that had I had a pre-contract agreement and small deposit of $5,000-$10,000,I would not have lost that project. Live and learn :-)

This "Pre-contract Agreement" is part of Tim Thoelecke's 10 Step Design Process. It's #7 in fact. He's still giving away his e-book "The 10 Step Design Process" for FREE. You can get it here and learn more about this PCA:

http://www.landscapeleadership.com/public/203.cfm

Tim has also put together an extensive and valuable downloadable package of 14 documents that he personally created and utilized in his successful design firm Garden Concepts. His actual Pre-contract Agreement is part of this package, as is his Budget Study, design and construction contracts, phone call scripts and a ton more.

Tim is selling this package for $47 right now (I told him this is too cheap), but will be bumping up the price to $97 on July 4th. This is a great opportunity for you to implement some of Tim's best practices. I'd recommend downloading Tim's free ebook first and learning more about his design process. Here's the link again:

http://www.landscapeleadership.com/public/203.cfm

If you want to purchase his actual documents, you can do that on his website here:

http://payloadz.com/go/jump?id=769954&merch_id=91382&aff_id=3350365

If you're implementing a similar process in your business, I'd love to hear about it. Maybe I could share it with readers in a future edition of the "Profit Tip of the Week".

All the best,

Chris Heiler, Editor

Visit my blog- http://www.fountainheadgardens.com/blog

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