2022 GREEN INDUSTRY OUTLOOK sponsored by
Opportunities AHEAD W
hile more general landscape contractors picked up a lot of work in the past year, those providing irrigation or landscape lighting ser- vices still had plenty of reasons to be excited.
How has the demand for irrigation system upgrades or retrofits changed in the last year?
5%5% 10% 39% 41%
What percentage of your irrigation customers currently use smart controllers?
Demand has greatly decreased.
Demand has decreased.
Demand has remained about the same.
Demand has increased.
Demand has greatly increased.
25% or fewer 26%-50%
51%-75% 76% or more
How has the demand for landscape lighting upgrades or retrofits changed in the last year?
Demand has greatly decreased. Demand has decreased.
Demand has remained about the same. Demand has increased.
Demand has greatly increased.
Do you provide nighttime demonstrations, either for an additional charge or for free?
4%
50% Yes
50% No
6% 6%
49% 35%
Irrigation and lighting professionals both projected about the same gross revenue as overall green industry profes- sionals for the past year. With just a few points of differ- ence, they also have roughly the same expectations for how their businesses have grown in the past year. Irrigation contractors tend to find their customer leads
more frequently through business partner referrals (14%) as compared to direct market outreach (11%), where light- ing contractors have those two reversed. All contractors tend to rely on customer referral vastly more (67%) than anything else, however. In the past year, almost half (49%) of irrigation contrac-
tors have generally seen an increase in system upgrades and retrofits. On the landscape lighting side, those seeing an in- crease in upgrades looks more like 39% total. While many new clients last year were looking for ways to improve their
existing landscapes and systems, it seems like there’s still availability left in the market for both segments. Another potential opportunity for irrigation contrac- tors to make an impact is through smart controllers. As more states enact regulations on responsible water usage, it’s likely to become an even easier sell to discuss subjects like pressure regulation and smart controllers. More than half (56%) of irrigation contractors say their customers use a smart controller with their system, meaning there’s still plenty of ground to cover. One of the practices that landscape lighting contractors
use to differentiate themselves, nighttime demonstrations, provides an additional point of contention. Among those contractors, the survey is neatly split, with 50% on each side saying they do or don’t provide them, whether for an addi- tional charge or free. Tere’s no denying the visual impact of a customer seeing their property lit at night, but it seems there’s an equal number of contractors showing that effect through previous work or modeling apps and keeping their evening hours free.
18
Irrigation & Lighting Spring 2022
irrigationandlighting.org
56% 22% 11% 11%
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