September 2021: Amplifying Nature’s Voice – building communication skills

Greetings plant people and biophilic designers,

I hope you are enjoying the tail-end of a happy summer. Those of you in the interiorscape industry likely have a wary eye on the fall as it means the unique, glitter-flecked, logistical madness that the holidays bring.

Here’s a statistic from the 2021 Health and Real Estate Investment survey: 87% of those RE investors surveyed have experienced an increased demand for healthy buildings.

How does this information inform GPGB’s work? Here’s one way.

This summer, thanks to our Supporters, GPGB presented “Establishing Relationships with Building Specifiers” at AmericanHort’s Cultivate’21. With a focus on new construction projects, the course explored developing relationships with the architects, influencers, and decision makers of these projects to assist them in specifying the natural elements they desire.

Speakers Mike Senneff, Natura CEO, Sonja Bochart, Sonja Bochart Design + Wellness, and Edward McDonnell, CEO Botanical Designs used the StoryBrand™ framework to illustrate the processes they’ve used successfully in their own businesses to help building professionals add more nature to their buildings.

Working with the concept of “You are not the hero, the customer is the hero. You are the guide.” the participants broke into groups and created story boards for their assigned construction projects, from corporate campuses to hospitality. The room hummed with a creative buzz as people shifted their perspective to see the building owners, architects, and designers as the “hero”, see themselves at the “guide with a plan”, developed a 3-step plan (calls to action) and described what success and failure look like. Using  images, words, research findings, and statistics, they captured these concepts on the story boards.

It was a memorable experience and the concepts taught were made more memorable by the interactions around the tables.

The experience confirmed what we already knew. Interiorscapers are creative horticultural professionals, and empathetic business collaborators who help businesses succeed in incorporating natural elements into their buildings.

GPGB’s goal is to put the 87% of real estate investors who are experiencing a demand for healthier buildings in touch with the interiorscape professionals who can communicate the connection between healthy buildings and indoor nature. With their specialized knowledge of indoor horticulture, they can protect the business owner’s investment.

Interested in locating a professional interiorscaper? Check out GPGB’s FIND A PROVIDER map.

Not on the map and would like to be listed? Become a Supporter!

If you are already a Supporter, thank you!

#StayPlanted and Be Well,

Mary Golden

Advocacy Incubator