Meet a Design/Build Revolutionary: Richard Hartman

Meet a Design/Build Revolutionary:
Bob Masters

Richard Hartman

Profile: Richard Hartman, President & Partner with his sister, Robin Hartman, The Plant People Landscaping Inc., Fort Worth, TX

Employees: 10 to 15

Mix: 65% Design/Build, 35% Landscape Maintenance

Years in Landscape Business: 20

Business Focus: Residential landscape design/build, high-end projects. “The economy here is still pretty good and we have clients who want to invest in patios, pools, outdoor kitchens, water features, hardscapes, etc,” Richard says. “We want to build client relationships so that they like us and trust us. Many times, they’ll call us back for other projects. We get a lot of repeat business and referrals this way. We have some landscape management clients who have been with us for 20 years.”

What’s Unique in this Business: Hartman brings in pool contractors to assist with the design and construction. “I like to work as a team. Once the client and I have a pool design, we’ll meet with the pool contractor to go over the details. This gives the client a chance to ask technical questions and gives us a chance to pull together a very functional design.”

Currently, The Plant People are working projects involving three different pools, plus masterplans that incorporate pools, hardscapes and outdoor kitchens.

Design/Build Revolutionary since: 2001

Scariest “Kinman” moment: “When we started to use the Kinman process,” he says. “The first times we asked clients to come to our office and meet we were afraid they wouldn’t. But after we tried it one or two times, we realized: Wow! The clients were going with it, signing contracts in our studio, and writing checks to get work started. This Process really did work!

Takeaway from Kinman Institute:
• “When I returned from my first seminar, I started gathering a library of reference books, developing laminated pictures showing landscape elements, and building a separate design studio. Once I saw what they had done, I was inspired.”
• “Gary once said why should we go to a client’s home at night when the wife is cooking dinner, the kids are playing, the dogs are barking, and the husband comes home tired and grouchy, after we’ve just put in 8 hours on the job? Sometimes when a new prospect calls and asks me to visit with an estimate, I remember how that felt and I ask them to come to my design studio. If I do go to their homes, we usually get smaller jobs. On my turf, I can educate clients and open their eyes to what’s available – things they never imagined when we’re on their porch talking about replacing a few holly bushes.”
• “I’ve recommended the Kinman Institute to a local colleague and sometime competitor. Now, when clients call him and he asks for a meeting at his place, and if those clients then call me, I’ll be saying the same thing. They will come to understand that this is how the landscape industry works.”
• “I’m so grateful for meeting the Kinmans. They’ve changed my professional view and as a result, I’ve changed my business.”

Sixty-five percent of The Plant People Landscaping's business is in design/build.

Hartman works with pool contractors after designing pools with the client.

2009 Destinations:
• Richard and his sister regularly visit their beach house off the tip of South Padre Island, Texas.
• Ogunquit, Maine, Boston, and Cape Cod are annual favorites
• Planning a trip to Australia in 2010.

For more information about The Plant People, visit www.theplantpeopletx.com.