October Opportunity: Turn Fall Service Calls Into Lighting Sales

October puts landscape contractors in front of existing customers at exactly the right time. Crews are handling fall cleanups, irrigation winterizations, and other seasonal services. At the same time, shorter days make outdoor lighting needs much easier for homeowners to see.

Use those visits to start the conversation.

• Look for the opportunity. Train crews to notice dark walkways, poorly lit entrances, patios, trees, and landscape features that could benefit from lighting.
• Mention lighting during fall visits. A simple flyer, invoice insert, or conversation lets existing customers know it’s a service you offer.
• Include lighting in project proposals. When quoting plantings, hardscapes, irrigation, or renovations, make lighting an option rather than waiting for the customer to ask.
• Show instead of tell. For larger opportunities, a nighttime demonstration can help customers visualize the finished result and understand the value.

Your existing customer base may be one of your best sources of new lighting work. This fall, remind customers that a great landscape doesn’t have to disappear when the sun goes down. The right lighting can help them enjoy their outdoor spaces well into the evening.

– Your Vanden Bussche Irrigation Team

Landscape Lighting Opportunities are Dimming Fast!

The last week of lighting savings.

The Ultimate in Lighting Control: FX Luminaire’s Luxor

Homeowners love customizable outdoor lighting. Contractors love installs that don’t come back to haunt them. The FX Luxor® Controller gives both what they want: precision control and easy setup in one clean package. 

Why It Matters: 

Luxor turns landscape lighting into a true lighting system. With zoning, dimming, and colour control, all from a single controller. It delivers professional flexibility without the complexity. Here’s why more contractors are choosing Luxor for their lighting projects: 

• One Controller, Unlimited Options: Manage up to 250 fixtures in independent zones and scenes. 
• Smart, Connected Control: Wi-Fi enabled and app-driven for on-site adjustments or homeowner control. 
• Dynamic Colour Capability: Offer clients holiday or mood lighting with 30,000+ colour options. 
• Durable by Design: FX Lumor engineering means corrosion-resistant housing and reliable low-voltage performance. 
• Integration-Ready: Works seamlessly with popular smart home systems. 

Every job looks better with control. With Luxor, you can deliver a custom lighting experience that builds loyalty and margin with every install.

Landscape Lighting: Why is Pro-Grade Important? 

Not all landscape lighting is created equal. Consumer-grade fixtures, the kind available at big-box stores, are built to a price point, not a performance standard. Thin housings, inferior seals, and low-quality components mean they fade, corrode, and fail faster, often leaving your clients calling you back to fix a system that looked great at install. 

Pro-grade fixtures are built for the outdoor environment, UV-resistant finishes, weatherproof seals, brass or cast aluminum housings, and consistent colour temperatures that hold up year after year. 

They’re also designed to work with professional-grade transformers and control systems, giving you precise control over output, scheduling, and zones. The result is a system that performs as well in year three as it did on day one. 

For contractors, specifying pro-grade lighting protects your reputation. Callbacks are costly, and a failing lighting system reflects on your work, not the fixture brand. 

Legendary Performance: NDS Catch Basins & Grates 

Designed for years of trouble-free service, NDS offers a complete line of catch basins and grates, and channel drains for residential and commercial stormwater management solutions. 

NDS catch basins have sump areas to collect debris and prevent clogging of the pipeline, and grates are available in a variety of patterns and colours to blend in with surrounding surfaces. 

We offer round, square or atrium grates to fit with catch basins. Order your catch basins in popular 9", 12", and 18" square models depending on the stormwater volume you are seeking to manage. 

Need help planning drainage for your next project? Ask our in-house drainage experts for advice on the right products to use.

Extend Your Season with Popular Fall Services

Start marketing them now to build your backlog! Customers have money to spend on other services. Diversify your business and offer a new mix of services in the weeks ahead.

Here are some options to consider: 

Landscape lighting - Shorter days makes lighting essential for outdoor spaces. Illuminating outdoor spaces provides aesthetic benefits, and allows for safe usage long into the evening. 

Drainage - Get your customers' water problems resolved before winter comes. Melted snow has to go somewhere, and getting it away from your customers' homes is crucial. 

Irrigation winterization - Remind your customers of the importance of winterizing their irrigation systems to prevent damage and set yourself up for profits without hassles. 

Ask your Vanden Bussche Irrigation representative about getting started with these services.

Winterize Irrigation Correctly and Profitably This Season 

Blow-out season is more than a race against frost. Done right, it’s a high-margin service that protects your customers’ investments and strengthens your relationship for spring. Done wrong, it’s callbacks, frozen lines, and lost trust. 

5 Ways to Maximize Winterization: 



Standardize Your Process – Use a checklist for every tech: correct compressor settings, zone-by-zone blow-out, and proper drainage of backflow preventers. Consistency reduces mistakes and training time. 

Upsell Preventive Work – While onsite, check controllers, valves, and heads. Offer quick repairs before shutdown. These are easy approvals when the system’s already drained. 

Price for Peak Demand – Frost deadlines mean urgency. Offer early-bird pricing for those that get ahead of it in October, allowing the ability to charge a premium for last-minute calls later on. 

Bundle & Book Spring Start-Up – Give a small discount when customers commit to both winter and spring services now. Locks in revenue and reduces spring scheduling chaos. 

Document & Share – Leave a service record (digital or paper) noting the date, tech name, and any repair recommendations. Builds confidence and reduces liability. 

Bottom Line: Winterization is a customer touchpoint with built-in urgency. Treat it as a premium, not a commodity, and it can carry your margins through the off-season.

www.vandenbussche.com