How to Ensure Your Business Survives a Recession
A design business coach suggests staying in touch, asking for referrals and finding new ways to reach out
The coronavirus crisis now has the majority of the country’s nonessential workers either ordered or strongly encouraged to stay at home. The question for many of us amid this strange new reality is: How do I keep my business alive? Here are four key strategies you can undertake now.
2. Ask Your Best Clients for Referrals
Even now, it’s a good idea to ask for referrals. Call your best clients, the ones with whom you loved working. Let them know that during this time of working remotely, you are evaluating your business and developing an “ideal client profile,” which of course made you think of them. Ask if they know anyone else who might be of similar mind who would enjoy working with you. See if they would be willing to forward an introductory email from you in which you can add links to your Houzz profile and business website.
Follow up with a handwritten thank-you for taking the time to do you the favor. Look for these referrals on your social media platforms and be vigilant about replying and acknowledging them. People hire designers based on personal connection, so this type of interaction becomes invaluable.
Even now, it’s a good idea to ask for referrals. Call your best clients, the ones with whom you loved working. Let them know that during this time of working remotely, you are evaluating your business and developing an “ideal client profile,” which of course made you think of them. Ask if they know anyone else who might be of similar mind who would enjoy working with you. See if they would be willing to forward an introductory email from you in which you can add links to your Houzz profile and business website.
Follow up with a handwritten thank-you for taking the time to do you the favor. Look for these referrals on your social media platforms and be vigilant about replying and acknowledging them. People hire designers based on personal connection, so this type of interaction becomes invaluable.
3. Update Your Website
Make sure your website is the best it can be. People are online more right now and you can’t afford to look sloppy or unprofessional. Have a clear way that potential clients can contact you. Consider adding a call-to-action button that sends clients to an action step, like how to reach you by email or phone, or a project intake form. Be sure to link your website to your Houzz profile so would-be clients can see more of your projects, read any stories written about you and read client reviews. Consider adding an online store to your website or beefing up your offerings if you already have one. Others may want to offer an online purchase solution for consultation services by phone or video chat.
Make sure your website is the best it can be. People are online more right now and you can’t afford to look sloppy or unprofessional. Have a clear way that potential clients can contact you. Consider adding a call-to-action button that sends clients to an action step, like how to reach you by email or phone, or a project intake form. Be sure to link your website to your Houzz profile so would-be clients can see more of your projects, read any stories written about you and read client reviews. Consider adding an online store to your website or beefing up your offerings if you already have one. Others may want to offer an online purchase solution for consultation services by phone or video chat.
4. Try New Ways to Reach Out
Consider offering a weekly webinar for homeowners, including past clients and potential new clients. Even something as short as 15 minutes can be quite valuable to someone cooped up at home. You could tackle crowd-pleasing topics like how to dress a bed, how to organize a pantry or how to clear out clutter.
Offering a webinar gets your message out there and gets you the email addresses of people who are interested in what you have to say, for future marketing efforts. To expand the topics you cover as well as your reach, you might partner with a professional from a related industry such as architecture, construction or real estate.
You may also want to present a panel discussion. You could tackle specific, focused topics or broad subjects like how to get your home ready to sell or which remodeling and design projects provide the best return on investment. Having a wide variety of topics and presenters will increase your visibility and allow you to draw on a larger audience of subscribers.
Consider offering a weekly webinar for homeowners, including past clients and potential new clients. Even something as short as 15 minutes can be quite valuable to someone cooped up at home. You could tackle crowd-pleasing topics like how to dress a bed, how to organize a pantry or how to clear out clutter.
Offering a webinar gets your message out there and gets you the email addresses of people who are interested in what you have to say, for future marketing efforts. To expand the topics you cover as well as your reach, you might partner with a professional from a related industry such as architecture, construction or real estate.
You may also want to present a panel discussion. You could tackle specific, focused topics or broad subjects like how to get your home ready to sell or which remodeling and design projects provide the best return on investment. Having a wide variety of topics and presenters will increase your visibility and allow you to draw on a larger audience of subscribers.
Lastly, be valuable. Let clients, potential or existing, know they can count on you for excellent advice relating to their home or business. Think of what people need right now, from remote office retooling to creating a home schooling environment. Find creative solutions to their current challenges so they will call you in the future for larger-scale projects.
Beth Whitlinger has been in the design business for nearly 40 years. When she’s not guiding interior designers through her coaching business, The Interior Design Coach, she’s the principal designer at Beth Whitlinger Interior Design.
Have a question for Beth? Email it to editor@houzz.com, Attention: Beth Whitlinger or post your question in the Comments. It could be featured in a future column.
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Beth Whitlinger has been in the design business for nearly 40 years. When she’s not guiding interior designers through her coaching business, The Interior Design Coach, she’s the principal designer at Beth Whitlinger Interior Design.
Have a question for Beth? Email it to editor@houzz.com, Attention: Beth Whitlinger or post your question in the Comments. It could be featured in a future column.
More for Pros on Houzz
Read more Designing a Business columns
Talk with your peers in the Pro-to-Pro discussions
Join the Houzz Trade Program
A great way to stay recession-proof is to take super good care of your client base. Be in regular contact with anyone with whom you’ve done business in the past, not with impersonal marketing emails but with a real, focused connection.
If you haven’t already, check in with your clients to make sure they’re safe and healthy. As this crisis continues to affect us and keep many of us working from home, remember your clients’ birthdays, their kids’ events and other milestones. Send cards — and yes, I do mean physical cards through snail mail — as well as little reminders to let your clients know you’re thinking of them. You might include a small bonus gift to entice clients to work remotely with you; a gift card for dinner delivery or 10% off an order could be good options.
How to Communicate With Clients During the Coronavirus Outbreak