The ability to know a customer and anticipate her needs; and, to finally, creatively, and effectively recover from a problem or challenge, are the very cornerstones of good customer service. For an interior designer, where the interaction is so very personal, the importance of such service cannot be overstated.In addition to understanding the customer, simple good manners, kindness, and remembering to constantly communicate with and thank customers for their business are the basics of exceptional customer experiences; the type that leads to positive testimonials and referrals, as well as increased income.Customer-centric Thinking Will Enhance Your BrandOf course, knowing these things and putting them into practice can be very different exercises. After all, those of us in service industries are as human as our clients; which means we too can suffer from a lack of patience with problematic clients, or we can just have a bad day. Yet, for a designer, not only will good service have a positive effect on sales, exceptional service will also define your brand!Accomplishing such a lofty goal requires placing the goals and needs of the customer first – without reservation or hesitation – and committing all of your assets, talents, and mental energy to that. In other words, you can’t just say it, you have to mean it.Doing this is not always easy. Human nature is fundamentally self-centered but, if you understand that doing what is best for the client is also what is best for you and the success of your design business, you're more than halfway there already.There is an axiomatic business philosophy that can help you achieve this customer-centric goal: Tell people what you’re going to do for them; do what you told them that you were going to do for them; and, finally, tell them that you did what you told them you were going to do for them.This type of customer-centric thinking will not only enhance your reputation with your clients, it will also reinforce such thinking for you and your team, keeping good customer service at the forefront of your business model.Looking for more new design trends, marketing tips, and ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.
Interior Design Marketing Tips – Be More Responsive to Client Inquiries
One of the best things about the “information age” in which we live today is that clients and potential clients tend to have a better understanding of what they want from their interior designer. On the other hand, some clients who use the internet for research learn just enough to become dangerous – to their designer and themselves.Overall though, today’s clients know what they want, and when they want it – now. With the internet at their fingertips, they can quickly access a nearly infinite number of ideas, products, and potential designers. If they send an inquiry and don’t get a response from one designer, it takes little for them to get in touch with another.Understanding this craving for “instant access” that is at the top of mind of so many consumers is critical to your ongoing success. In fact, there is recent research which indicates that, if you respond to a potential client within five minutes of receiving a message, it increases your chances of reaching that person by 100 times, compared with responding after 30 minutes, for example.This means that responding promptly to potential clients’ voicemails, emails, and other messages, from homeowners and office managers, from your website, social media page, email marketing, or any marketing effort, will greatly increase your likelihood of winning the job.How to be More ResponsiveIf you set a goal of being more responsive to client inquiries, you're going to boost the odds of landing a contract in your favor. The average time it takes a small business to respond to a potential client is 48 minutes. You can set yourself apart and impress your prospective customer by being far more responsive.
- Establish a hard time frame – Since you know that the faster you respond to inquiries the more likely you are to get the job, you and your team should establish a goal of replying to inquiries within a hard and fast time frame. For email inquiries, the faster the better; literally within minutes. For phone inquiries, perhaps half-an-hour will do. Experience will tell you if your time frame is working for you. If not, make adjustments – and – ensure the entire team knows your goal and sticks to it.
- Use a forwarding system – A busy designer is often out of the office, working with clients and potential clients, or with suppliers and subs. To overcome such limitations to communication, set up a system that will quickly forward calls and emails to you, wherever you are. Of course, you must then adhere to your own time frame for responding.
- Set up a timesaving process – Wasting time on inquiries which are not serious or are out of your market can disincline you to be responsive, which can cost you the better jobs. Creating a streamlined process for handling inquiries can help you stay focused on the work and use your time efficiently. For example, a simple questionnaire that can help you determine if the potential client is a good fit for you will save time and energy and will reduce frustration.
Do you have an efficient process for responding to new client inquiries? Share your thoughts below and help another interior designer take their business to the next level.Looking for more new design trends, marketing tips, and ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.
Interior Design Marketing Tips - 4 Basic Business Tips
In an age of internet marketing and online sales, we sometimes forget the basics of face-to-face encounters with potential clients. Since we experience such interactions almost daily in the design business, it seems a good idea to remember some of the basic business tips for success. As a designer, you can never forget that you're dealing with human beings, not some anonymous online entity.While these tips may seem obvious, they are rarely top-of-mind for most business owners today. We hope this reminder will help you keep them there, for your benefit – and the benefit of your clients:
- Be professional – It should go without saying but, in an age where civility and simple courtesy seem to have gotten lost, a bit of decency and graciousness will go a very long way. In fact, because such behavior seems so rare today, displaying your professionalism will make you stand out from the crowd as unique, considerate, and dedicated to your craft. These are all characteristics of the most successful interior designers.
- Open communication – A little bit of effort goes a very long way here – and is also a sign of your professionalism. Being patient and willing to chat with a client, even when busy, is a hallmark of a dedicated designer. Perhaps more important is your willingness to call back when you miss a client inquiry. Do this in a timely fashion even if it’s just to say, “I haven’t had a chance to look at that issue for you yet but, I will just as soon as I can, then will call you back with your answer. Thanks for your patience.”
- Improve your listening skills – What’s that old saying from our favorite design business coach, Epictetus? "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." In a service industry that is as personal as interior design, the ability to listen well could not be more important. Listening is the key to understanding your client's vision for their space(s). If this talent is not among your skill set, you’d best take some classes – pronto. Can you hear me now?
- Close the deal – Hard to overemphasize this one; in fact, we’ve mentioned it in many posts. It remains a weak spot in the skill set of many independent designers – a reluctance to ask for the sale. Perhaps it’s best to think about it like this; before making a deal and beginning work, the client owes you nothing. Regardless of how much work you may have out in measuring, sketching, and estimating a job, she owes you absolutely nothing for your work – until you ask her to buy and she says, “Yes.”
In other words, if you hope to get paid for your efforts, it is your responsibility to close the deal – asking the client if she is ready for you to implement your proposals. It is not the client’s responsibility to ask you to work for her.As a designer, you can never forget that you're dealing with human beings, not some anonymous online entity. Keeping these four basic business tips in mind will help.Looking for more new design trends, marketing tips, and ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.
Online Marketing Tips: Branding Your Interior Design Business
Early in 2010, a woman in Denver, Colorado, decided it was the perfect time to launch her interior design business. She’d finished school and an internship, and had spent two years working for another well-known designer in town. She had some nice references with a decent amount of work in her portfolio and, while her reputation was not overwhelming, it was solid.Through her experience with her employer, she had built contacts among suppliers and contractors in the business and had managed to put together an acceptable level of interest from former and prospective clients. Above all, she had faith in herself, that she could help people create the home of their dreams, and that she would find success on her own.Being more tech-savvy than most, she knew she would need a great website and sought help from one of the most respected website development and internet marketing firms in the Denver market, figuring they would have the local knowledge she would need in support of her efforts. Using stunning digital imagery and extremely descriptive copywriting, her new website was a huge success – branding her as an up-and-coming player in the Denver interior design market.Over the next few years, she exceeded her own expectations and her new business grew by leaps and bounds. She built a team of associates and support personnel that helped her greatly and, finally, felt confident enough in herself and her team that she was able to end the contract with her web developer and outside marketing support, saving herself quite a bit of cash.When Your Brand Begins to FadeWithin months, her brand began to suffer and she had no idea why. For the first time in three years, her sales went flat, then began a slow and subtle decline. Over the next 18 months, she struggled to understand what was happening and, while she was not in danger of losing her business, she came to realize that she would need help to save it.Re-enter her former internet marketing team, the folks who had helped her build a great website did her blogging/copywriting and social media marketing and helped her develop and reinforce her brand.You see, what our talented but inexperienced business owner had failed to learn from her startup experience is this… Branding your design business is a never-ending task – and it will change over time – based on market forces and other factors.How to Employ Consistent BrandingWhile the team she had built had taken over much of what her contractor had been doing for her, they lacked the experience and insight required to respond to shifting trends and new technologies. Essentially, they were simply copying and repeating what had already been done for them, using stale content while expecting fresh results.
- Imagery must be enhanced with video – While quality imagery remains important, in today’s online marketplace, video has become a critical element in a consumers’ buying decisions. In fact, the more visual your product or service – and interior design is nothing if not visual – the more valuable video will be for you.
- Creative copywriting requires experience – and the ability to tell a story. While building your brand will be done largely through the copy on your website, reinforcing your brand and enhancing your reputation will be done by blogging. This can be extremely challenging when the subject matter is even somewhat repetitive. After all, how does one make stories of multiple bathroom redesigns sound original? Experience and creativity are required to overcome the sense of redundancy that such blogging can generate.
- Social media platforms are always changing – From changing policies to shifts in audience demographics, knowing how to get your message across through social media is a constantly shifting target. It can be extremely time-consuming, especially for a novice, and requires almost daily immersion and a great deal of experience, if you want to avoid wasted effort.
For our Denver designer, things were soon back to normal. Her business continues to grow and she is again exceeding expectations, thanks to consistent branding and a comprehensive marketing strategy.Of course, not every emerging designer can afford to hire outside help for web development and marketing support. However, based on the experience of our business owner, you can be successful in branding your design business if you keep these things in mind.Have you struggled to establish and maintain a recognizable brand for your interior design business? Have you overcome those challenges? Share your experiences in the comments section.Looking for more new design trends, tips, and ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.