March 2020

Stock Up for Spring
Buy 10 Zurn Backflow Preventers, Get 1 FREE

Take advantage of our pre-season special on backflow preventers from Zurn (formerly Wilkins).

Purchase 10 units of Zurn's 350 or 375 Series backflows (3/4" or 1" size), and receive one FREE.

Free backflow to be equal or lesser value.
Offer valid February 1, 2020 to March 31, 2020

Adding a Bubbling Water Feature
Atlantic's Basalt Columns Make It Easy!

If your business depends on seasonal labor, you need to become a leader in employee retention. Here are four ways to improve:

1) The first-line manager When the direct supervisor takes an interest in his team and shows genuine concern for them, this has the greatest impact on successful employeeretention. Connect with his team members by sharing feedback. Positive feedback is great and has an immediate impact to feeling appreciated. Say "thank you" more often. Negative feedback is okay too, provided that it comes with specific action steps on how to performance.improve

2) Onboarding and orientation. Too often there's a tendency for managers to rush new hires through paperwork and immediately "throw them into the field". This approach is great for the short term, but gives the little sense of where he or she fits into the overall organization. Take a pro-active approach to welcome the into your organization and to grow his/her understanding of your team.

3) Educate for advancement It's a myth that employees are satisfied with the status quo. Almost everyone wants to do better, but they don't always know how. Define how employees can acquire additional skills and training that can help them move up in your organization. Completion of courses and certifications shows commitment to the industry and to your company, so you should encourage these achievements.

4) Proper compensation - Offer a compensation package that makes them want to stay. That includes salaries, of course, but also bonuses, paid time off and more. Compare your package to your competitors with a pay rate survey.

Pond Maintenance Tip: Cleaning FilterFalls The Easy Way

Biofiltration is a truly wonderful process. Water entering the bottom of the filter passes through layers of filter media. As the water slows sediments drop out, settling in the bottom of the filter. The filter media traps small debris and particles suspended in the water. Bacteria thrive on the filaments of media, metabolizing ammonia and nitrites excreted by aquatic animals and fish, turning toxic wastes into harmless nitrates which are in turn taken up by the plants in the pond. As it flows clean and clear out of the top of the filter, the water is aerated as it cascades back down into the pond, the final step of the process. Excellent water quality, clarity and oxygenation, all from one simple device that saves time and effort and typically only needs cleaning once or twice a year.

But wouldn't it be nice to eliminate most of the work, and just about all of the mess? With a little foresight and a couple of optional products you can make your FilterFalls practically maintenance free. Click to learn more.

Faster Installation with the Snap Tap PRO Saddle

An irrigation system is only as good as its parts, so professionals should use brands with trusted quality and performance. King Innovation offers a line of Snap Tap PRO saddles that make installation easy, fast, and secure. The Snap Tap PRO saddles feature a versatile tap design that is threaded to handle 90° elbow, straight barb, or appropriate sprinkler heads. A precise cutting tip cleanly cuts polyethylene pipe to guarantee a tight seal every time.

These saddles are for use with 80 & 100 lb. 1" 3408/3608 HDPE pipe and 100 & 125 lb. 1" 4710 HDPE pipe on swing joints, drains, and sprinkler heads.

Simply push the open end of the saddle around the pipe with the threaded portion facing upwards. Using the palm of your hand, press down onto the top of the saddle until you hear it click into place around the pipe. Finally, screw the tap into the saddle until the tap locks, making the handle parallel to the pipe. The push-on action creates the fastest, foolproof, installation possible.

For more information, visit the product website.

Commercial Stormwater Solutions from NDS

NDS provides comprehensive solutions for onsite surface and subsurface drainage and stormwater infiltration, and is the preferred choice of contractors, civil engineers, and landscape architects. They offer products engineered for performance, problem-solving tools and calculators, and expert support to help you get the job done right.

StormChamber® Stormwater Chambers
High-capacity, load-rated structures with a 100-year life expectancy, they collect, retain, and discharge stormwater close to the source to reduce downstream impact, provide groundwater recharge, and can be stacked for deeper installation.

FILCOTEN® Trench Drains & Grates
Combining the features of a stable concrete channel with the strength, durability, and environmental-friendliness of high-strength pervious concrete (HSPC), they capture and convey heavy stormwater flows and handle a high-load capacity.

Dura Slope Trench Drains and Grates
Dura Slope is a pre-sloped and neutral trench drain system which features lightweight modular sections, and a built-in bottom outlet which connects to 3 in., 4 in., 6 in., and 8 in. drain pipe.

Permeable Pavers
An alternative to traditional impervious paving methods, permeable pavers (available in both paneled and rolled) create a strong grass or gravel surface that can support heavy vehicles and minimize surface water runoff.

Project Consulting and Design Services
Consult with our team of civil engineers, expert technicians and drafters at DesignWorx™ and Project Development (PDS) to help you at any step of your project.

Good, Better & Best Accent Landscape Lights
Guiding Your Customer to the Right Choice

Tiered pricing is an effective marketing strategy that is used in everything from automobiles and gasoline to cable TV and theme parks. A good-better-best plan helps customers understand the different features and think about which ones they value. When customers have choices, they are more likely to buy - and buy faster, according to the Harvard Business Review.

Kichler Lighting offers a three-tiered system of accent lights, including a very "good" drop-in LED accent fixture, as well as the ever-popular integrated 12V LED accent (Gen 1.5) and the new best-in-class Variable Lumen Output (VLO) accent.

The graphic at the bottom of this article shows three tiers of accent lights. It is a customer-driven sales tool and is available as a downloadable PDF.

These are all reasons to lead your customer toward the Kichler® 12V integrated LED accent which, over time, will bring greater satisfaction. Read more below about how these two types of products, which may look similar on the outside, are very different inside.

WHY TIERED PRICING WORKS
People prefer choices, rather than take-it-or-leave-it offers. Tiered pricing enables the consumer to quickly orient themselves among your product options, according to www.pricingrules.com.
The trick with good-better-best plans is not to overwhelm the customer with too many choices, but give them enough information to feel in control, according to Rafi Mohammed, a market researcher and consultant. If they can afford at least one option, they are more likely to decide right away that they want to buy from you. Then, they will devote their remaining energy to deciding at what level.

While most people will lean toward the middle option, business people usually underestimate the number of people who will choose the "best" option. Across all industries, up to 40% of consumers will choose this option when given a choice.

"Give each customer an opportunity to appreciate the best-in-class option," advises Tom Rowe, national sales manager for Kichler Lighting. "Allow your customer some time to get familiar with the price points. You can help them understand why their home and landscape will look better with VLO accents - and why they will stay looking better for many years."

HOW TO WALK YOUR CUSTOMER THROUGH THE OPTIONS
What is the best way to walk your customer through the three tiers of accent lights? Every salesperson will have his or her individual preferences, but here are tips from the experts:

• Get a sense of which product features might be most important to your customer. Be a good observer of the property inside and out, and see what you can learn through casual conversation.
• Create an easy decision path. Help the customer to quickly discern the unique benefits of each price tier.
• Keep it simple. Not every feature is worthy of mention, only those that could tip their decision one way or another.
• It's OK to use the words "good," "better" and "best" because it helps the customer to understand the situation faster.
• Guide the customer through the tiers, emphasizing the added features and why they would be important to them.

The following graphic compares three tiers of Kichler® accent lights in detail. It is intended as a sales tool and is available as a downloadable PDF. It is written from the customer's perspective.