We understand that this is a big decision and conducting your due diligence in your search for the right company to install your project is very important. We also know that in order for a successful installation there must be a partnership involved (teamwork).

Meaning, we must be a good fit for you and you must be a good fit for us.

In our experience, one-sided relationships have never turned out well for either party and we would like to take a moment to address all the reasons that we would not be a good fit for you so that you don’t waste your time interviewing us as a potential candidate for your project and can quickly move on to another company that would be a great fit for you and your installation.

Here are 5 reasons that would disqualify IID from your consideration list:

1. Price: If achieving the lowest possible price is important to you, then IID would not be a good fit for your project.

We are definitely NOT going to be the cheapest. That’s not what we are all about. Our focus is quality, customer happiness, and building a long-lasting healthy company that will be here to assist you in the future (which can’t occur when you’re the cheapest-priced company). We are also not going to be the most expensive. We are typically in the upper-middle range.

Here are a few ways you can achieve a cheaper price from a competitor:

1. They do not have the same elite crews (which we know they don’t because they are exclusively on our team).

2. They do not have an experienced designer & dedicated project manager who will oversee your project. Your personal design consultant will continue to be involved throughout your project, however, you will also have a dedicated project manager who will be assisting you from start to finish, ensuring that your installation gets handled with the care and attention it deserves.

3. They are not providing the same scope (i.e. 9.5″ – 11.5″ excavation depths, 4-6″ of class II road base, sealer, Belgard upgrade, geotextile fiber, etc.). Our estimates are the most detailed, thorough, and transparent estimates out there. We have seen everyone else’s estimates as our clients send them to us all the time wanting us to match a competitor’s lower price(which we won’t do, but we have found lots of discrepancies where the client thought they were comparing similar bids, however, upon closer inspection, they were completely different: apples to oranges).

We do not hide anything so you should be able to clearly see what our estimate includes and then cross-reference that to the competitors which is most likely less transparent. If that is the case, then you will want to request that the other company detail exactly what you are paying for. Most do not, which is why we mention this here.

4. They are not operating 100% legally according to the CSLB, ASGI, IRS, EDD, City Codes or BBB (and we know that 99% of the companies out there are not operating legally or care to follow City Codes).

5. They don’t have an in-house customer service team who are available to assist in any way they can to ensure your project gets installed as smoothly as possible.

• Phone: 858-925-3000
• Email: [email protected]

6. They don’t have an in-house quality control team who is keeping close tabs on each project, utilizing a quality control checklist to ensure that each job is installed correctly the 1ST time, in accordance with ICPI / ASGI Guidelines and all City Codes.

7. They don’t have in-house landscape designers who are professionally trained in landscape design/architecture. Most of the salespeople who will provide you with an estimate and design for your project are not professional landscape designers and have littler to no training whatsoever in proper design. I presume you only want to install your project once, so it is crucial to make sure it has been well thought out and professionally designed the first time.

8. They don’t have an in-house repair & maintenance team to handle any issues that should occur AFTER your installation is complete. The true test of a company will be revealed once the project is complete and the money has been collected in full. Repairs & maintenance are not fun, but they are inevitable with any custom project. The good news is that we are well prepared to take care of you ASAP should a repair or maintenance concern arise. You won’t be tossed in a queue for months wondering if your project is ever going to get the attention it deserves so you can get back to enjoying your outdoor living space. It is not about the sale, it is about how the company responds after all money has been collected. We are a company built to last and will never turn our back on anyone. We continue to receive calls on a weekly basis from clients who have failed installs that are seeking help because the company they originally used is either no longer in business or is neglecting to properly take care of them.

9. They simply aren’t transparent with their pricing or business operations which could lead to many undisclosed issues down the road.

Those are just 9 of the ways that someone can undercut our prices.

You can’t get everything listed above AND have the lowest price, it just cannot be done. It’s like wanting a Tesla Model X for the price of a Kia Telluride. Although that is a nice thought/idea, it just does not work that way as you well know. We are certainly not implying that we are a Tesla, we are simply stating that you can’t have all the features and benefits we have outlined AND also expect to achieve the lowest price. In order to achieve that cheaper price, you are, as a result not getting the same outcome. If you are okay with a different experience and outcome, then a cheaper-priced company is what we would recommend.

IID has a level of integrity and professionalism that we will always abide by and we will never sacrifice quality or our unmatched customer service just to reduce our price…never!

HOW we do it:

We know that in order to successfully take care of our clients we must first take care of our team. When you take care of your people, you are able to attract the best. Without a healthy and happy team environment, that is aligned with our passion, we cannot effectively deliver on our mission: to assist as many people as we can to transform their outdoor living areas into a space they can be proud of and one they excited to come home to each day.

WHY we do what we do:

We believe that improving your outdoor living space doesn’t have to be a painful experience.

• The painful process of finding the right contractor
• The painful installation experience
• The pain of the overall cost

By breaking down all the variables that are responsible for driving the price higher and higher and truly understanding how to effectively eliminate all the unnecessary overhead coupled with a crystal clear vision on how to attract and retain the best people, we have uncovered the simple yet brilliant recipe for success which applies for not only the construction industry but any business.

Providing extraordinary quality and customer service at the best possible value should be attainable for everyone where they don’t have to sacrifice one for another.  We figured out how to make this happen, which is the driving force as to what gets us up in the morning, knowing that we are able to change the mindset that people have about the construction industry, taking a once painful experience into a positive rewarding one.

2. Price: yep, it made the list twice, which means if you value a low price more than the process involved to run a healthy & happy company, then IID would not be a good fit for your project.

If we reduce our price, that means we are taking it from somewhere: the crew, the designer, the project manager, the company, the manufacturer (by using used, scapes, or defective material which can be purchased at a discount).

Here are a few questions to consider:

Where should we take the money from?

The crew? The designer? The project manager? The company? The manufacturer?

Think about this scenario…what if you went into work tomorrow and your boss told you that they were going to pay you 30% less money for an upcoming project, however, they expect you to perform at your very best as always. How would you respond or feel about that?

I presume you wouldn’t be too happy about it and would be very upset at your boss for putting you in that position, therefore, creating an unhappy work environment that wouldn’t be conducive to great results.

We just ask that you think about this scenario the next time you ask for a discount as that discounted money is coming from somewhere.

By reducing our price for a customer we are actually doing that customer a disservice in the long-run for their perceived short-term gain and happiness. We are also doing all our previous customers a disservice as well as any future customers.

With many years of fine-tuning our system(15 to be exact), we have figured out what price we need to have to sustain a healthy & happy company which is the price we present. By lowering our price for a short term gain for that particular customer we are hurting everyone else including that customer at the same time. In short, this model of the low price leader will fail (proven fact) and in failing we are not going to be able to assist other customers and transform their properties and we are not going to be able to assist the very customer who got the “reduced price” in the future because we will be out of business.

Just a little transaction of lowering our price can have HUGE ramifications, that being a failed company, which means our crews are out of work, all of us on the team right now are out of jobs, and all of our customers(previous and future) suffer as well too as a result since we can no longer assist them.

3. Shortcuts: If you are not interested in abiding by city codes/permits, your HOA guidelines, and/or our company policies, then IID would not be a good fit for your project.

There are lots of companies that will ignore city codes/permits, HOA guidelines, etc., however, we are not one of those companies. We want to do everything we can to ensure you have a lasting installation which means doing everything correctly the first time without shortcuts.

4. ASAP: If you are in a rush to get your project installed and need us to side-step our policies/procedures, your HOA or City guidelines in order to achieve your expedited request, then IID would not be a good fit for your project.

I think you can start to recognize a theme here. Our motto is to INSTALL-IT-CORRECT the 1st time and we will take as much time that is necessary to ensure this happens so if you are in a rush, then please consider another company for your project.

5. Site Management + Communication = crucial for a successful relationship and project:

1. Site Management: If you are planning on remaining at home and/or on-site for the lion’s share of the project, that is great and we welcome it, we just ask that you refrain from interfering with the flow and operations by respecting our process and allow us to execute the agreed-upon plan.
2. Communication: If you have any questions, concerns, comments or anything that needs to be addressed, we ask that you please communicate with our team directly as soon as the issue/concern presents itself. We ask that you come to our team first as opposed to going online to mediums like Yelp, Google, etc. to communicate before our team has been notified of the issue/concern and has had a chance to properly address it. Our goal is to ensure this is a great experience for everyone involved from start to finish and in order for that to happen successfully, communication is a mandatory component. Here are a few ways to reach our team so we can assist and address any questions/concerns you may have immediately as they arise:
   1. You can call, email or text your design consultant.
   2. You can call, email or text your project manager.
   3. You can call, email or text our customer service department: 858-925-3000, [email protected].
   4. You can call or email our office: 858-925-3000, [email protected].

If any of the above apply to you, then IID would not be a good fit for your project and we recommend that you choose another company for your installation.

If these do not apply to you, then we cannot wait to meet you and see how we can work together as a team to achieve your outdoor living vision.