Lighting a Path to the Future

By George Schmok

If you have read this commentary page in the past, no doubt you have read about the need to solidify the Landscape Contractors under a national association. At the very least the state associations need to align their memberships with the national group. The old saying ?EUR??,,????'?????<
LC/DBM recently conducted an industry survey to provide a snapshot of the lighting industry in 2012. From the statistics gathered, an interesting picture emerges about the current state of affairs and the emerging trends.

Without a doubt, the lighting industry?EUR??,,????'?????<
According to the survey and from what we hear on the street, the single biggest fear is that electricians will take the low-voltage lighting industry away from the landscape contractors. And with better than 80% of the work being in the residential marketplace, this is a base the LCs have and the electrician would like to take away.

Not that electricians have the aesthetic eye for placing decorative and strategic lighting elements into a landscape, but if the national electricians association and unions get their way, every job with this kind of lighting will have a paid electrician in the mix. This is an arena for PLANET to take the lead and develop a lobby to thwart any continued conversation.

Sure the states could fight this one-by-one and independently come up with research, strategies and alliances to help in the battle. But with a nationally led effort and a singular entity developing the research and disseminating information, we go from 50 flailing arms to one massive punch backed by 50 solid legs.

Another interesting element of the survey was the profit/loss structure relating to landscape lighting and how the clients make their decisions. 54% of the respondents said that quality was more important to their clients than price (25%) and ambiance (21%). While some of the comments indicated that the sale was based on the ability to explain to the client the difference between a professional-quality fixture and a Big Box-type fixture, clearly clients willing to hire a landscape contractor are also wanting to avoid costly replacements and failed systems.

When asked whether lighting was a profit center or a loss leader, 95.2% said they made profit from lighting the landscape. But how much was disputed. 24% said that they marked up the fixtures by 20% or less. 39% said they marked it up 20-49%; and a full 37% said they marked everything up by at least 50%, with more than half of those guys marking it up at least 100%.

Again, a strong national presence would encourage increased professionalism in this arena. Obviously the client is willing to spend for quality and long-term maintenance-free use. With a strong PLANET lighting the way, landscape contractors will be able to solidify their position as leaders in low-voltage, noncommercial lighting design and installation . . .

?EUR??,,????'?????<

George Schmok, Publisher