Win Clients by Investing in Your Business During COVID-19
Design business consultant Enoch Sears shares tips for growing your business in the midst of a pandemic
In a recent webinar, Enoch Sears, founder of Business of Architecture in Visalia, California, spoke with Reisa Elden of Houzz about why now is a perfect time to focus on growing your business and the steps you can take to find success during these uncertain times. “This is a very important topic at any time, but especially right now when we’re dealing with this craziness that is the COVID-19 pandemic,” Sears says. “The good thing is that it’s not too different than winning projects in a non-COVID-19 world.”
Read the highlights below from the webinar, part of Houzz’s ongoing Resilience series.
Read the highlights below from the webinar, part of Houzz’s ongoing Resilience series.
Sears discussed a variety of topics related to growing your business, including:
- The greatest risk to your business during the pandemic and how to avoid it
- How to find opportunity amid crisis and close new deals
- Strategies for making your business stronger now and in the future
Shift Your Mindset Toward Opportunity
COVID-19 has created a lot of uncertainty for business owners. Sears urges design pros to resist lying low and waiting for the situation to improve. “The question is, what are you going to do with the circumstances that you’re currently under?” he says. “Are you going to take this time to put your ship in dry dock and give it the new layer of paint, to double down on investing in your business so that when you go back out to sea you’re that much stronger?”
Now is a time to see opportunities to grow your business, he adds, otherwise you’re almost certainly ensuring its failure. “If we don’t have the basic foundation of having a fighting attitude, of being able to double down when other people are retreating, all the tactics in the world aren’t going to help, because we’ll be hunkered down at home while the storm is blowing over, hoping to wait until the skies get clear again. In the meantime, our business won’t have progressed at all. Whereas others who have doubled down on growing their business have been able to grow,” Sears says.
COVID-19 has created a lot of uncertainty for business owners. Sears urges design pros to resist lying low and waiting for the situation to improve. “The question is, what are you going to do with the circumstances that you’re currently under?” he says. “Are you going to take this time to put your ship in dry dock and give it the new layer of paint, to double down on investing in your business so that when you go back out to sea you’re that much stronger?”
Now is a time to see opportunities to grow your business, he adds, otherwise you’re almost certainly ensuring its failure. “If we don’t have the basic foundation of having a fighting attitude, of being able to double down when other people are retreating, all the tactics in the world aren’t going to help, because we’ll be hunkered down at home while the storm is blowing over, hoping to wait until the skies get clear again. In the meantime, our business won’t have progressed at all. Whereas others who have doubled down on growing their business have been able to grow,” Sears says.
Put Pieces in Place Now to Reap Bigger Benefits Later
Time is valuable for any home design or remodeling pro, especially considering that designers and architects often bill by the hour. Sears suggests that home professionals take this time to strike a balance between performing the day-to-day work they do to bring in money now with the longer-term investments that will reap bigger benefits down the road.
More specifically, pros should be “investing in their marketing strategies, investing in their sales strategies, investing in their network and their visibility, so that next year they’ve started to build this momentum that then carries them,” he says.
How to Approach Your Sales Strategy During the Pandemic
Time is valuable for any home design or remodeling pro, especially considering that designers and architects often bill by the hour. Sears suggests that home professionals take this time to strike a balance between performing the day-to-day work they do to bring in money now with the longer-term investments that will reap bigger benefits down the road.
More specifically, pros should be “investing in their marketing strategies, investing in their sales strategies, investing in their network and their visibility, so that next year they’ve started to build this momentum that then carries them,” he says.
How to Approach Your Sales Strategy During the Pandemic
Keep Your Reviews Updated
Adding new client reviews tops the list of steps Sears suggests designers and remodeling pros take to grow their businesses. “Make sure that in your network — for instance, on your Houzz profile — that you’re actually getting those reviews on there,” he says. “Getting those reviews up will help your SEO [search engine optimization], and at the end of the day that’s what’s going to help you be seen,” Elden says.
How to Get Better Reviews on Houzz
Adding new client reviews tops the list of steps Sears suggests designers and remodeling pros take to grow their businesses. “Make sure that in your network — for instance, on your Houzz profile — that you’re actually getting those reviews on there,” he says. “Getting those reviews up will help your SEO [search engine optimization], and at the end of the day that’s what’s going to help you be seen,” Elden says.
How to Get Better Reviews on Houzz
Top Takeaways for Winning Clients in a COVID-19 World
More for Pros on Houzz
See more from our Resilience series
Learn about Houzz Pro business software
Browse millions of photos for inspiration
Talk with your peers in the Pro-to-Pro discussions
Join the Houzz Trade Program
- During a pandemic or economic downturn, all you can control is your response. Choose to take action and make the best of the situation, rather than freezing up and staying put.
- Invest in core aspects of your business now so that you can reap future rewards and be on the receiving end of money being spent.
- Ask past clients, colleagues and subcontractors to write positive reviews to attract new clients.
More for Pros on Houzz
See more from our Resilience series
Learn about Houzz Pro business software
Browse millions of photos for inspiration
Talk with your peers in the Pro-to-Pro discussions
Join the Houzz Trade Program