Lunch at jobsite, below, yesterday.
Met with clients, on site, initially to walk/talk their new garden.
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Drew the plan, and mailed it.
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Then, the phone call, "He doesn't like anything about the plan."
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It did not bother me, in the least. She liked the plan, I listened to her descriptions of what he disliked about the plan, aside from everything.
3+ decades drawing gardens, I knew, deep within my bones, this is the best plan I've ever done. Top of my game. The prime of miss jean brodie, before she was aware it had passed.
Every garden has a lot of right answers, and wrong.
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His dislikes were within the realm of expectations. He wanted meat & potatoes. Instead, he was served the most incredible bottle of red wine Earth has produced, the tastiest asparagus, upon elegantly simple ironstone, antique subtle silver utensils, candles burning, and the meat/potatoes became so obscured by the fineness of the 'other', he lost site. He did get what he wanted.
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How did he 'see' ?
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Confidence. My work/skills are based upon history, decades studying historic landscapes across Europe. Zero I create is 'new', zero. My work is that of the best, done by others long dead, across continents & cultures.
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How could I be upset, he did not 'see' my work? It was new to him. I listened intently for her descriptions of his concerns. Poof, voila. Let's tweak here, and tweak this, and tweak that.
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The original plan was a 'concept' plan. Changes were made to the final plan.
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He approved the final plan. He was 'on board'.
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The new question, from him, and her, 'Did I like the new plan?"
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Seemingly changed, it still retained all the best of every bit I've learned over decades.
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I'm just as happy with the final plan as the concept plan. However, this is THEIR garden.
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Confidence. Sound of Music, I have confidence in confidence itself, type of confidence.
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This is still my best work. And, now, he likes his meat/potatoes.
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Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
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Pics taken at jobsite. The story got a bit wilder. They were only going to install the minimum for covering the red clay, and a few paths. Instead, he said to install the entire plan. Will post this garden when it's complete, and both the drawings.
10 comments:
It usually is just a little thing or two that they really don't like. At my first job..under a very talented, educated brilliant Art Director - he told me, always have a little typo in the layouts...that gives the client something to change and they think they are involved and they will leave your design alone. A hard thing to remember if you are a perfectionist as I am. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished results. Why would they hire you when all they wanted was meat and potatoes? Surely they wanted something special and that is why they hired you!
Yours is an art just like mine, some people get it and some people don’t. Your art is based on years of studying, learning, observing. It helps to educate the customer but in the end it’s also a matter of taste. It’s good you were able to come to a compromise.
Looking forward to seeing it when completed -- and the drawings to see what he most didn't like.
Kind of reminds me of when a client who doesn't sew tells the modiste how she wants the impossible.
Of course they wanted more than meat/potatoes !! xot
Aren't we all just a bunch of coo-coo-birds.....it is a matter of control.
I'm sure he will be blown away by "his" good taste..thank God you listened to him. Makes me giggle.
I have been doing the same thing with interiors and men for 44 years! (I almost said 100!)
What you did was show him what he really did want (not manipulating)!!!
And once he could "see it"; (thanks to you) he wanted it!
I cannot wait to see it! I have spent my life doing this "inside"; however; always relating to the "outside"! views through windows I learned from my beloved stepfather. He was a landscape designer. My father died when I was 4 and my mother married him when I was 9! He taught me everything I know about landscaping....and he must have taught YOU!
Wonderful post!!!!
I can't wait to see it.
I am really looking forward to seeing it.
Great post, there's such a fine line between giving the client what-- in their inexperience--think they want, and what you know will work better because you have experience.
I'm glad you prevailed. And of course you would :)
x
maria
Love how you cut through his objections and got him on-board.
There was a very curt client who was the same way, plus a few others in my 20+ years. ("you're work is good, but I don't like anything about it for *here* ", "I live in the desert, but I don't want to be reminded of it") I would rather work for a man than a woman, except the most connected women clients edge out the typical male client...but the least connected are worse, all hate the desert.
How dare they...my challenge is to find that out the first 5 minutes, then run. My new challenge is to ferret out something like you did...on top of the game!
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