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Stairway to Heaven

Principal, Peterson Arce Design Group

"When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed...With a word she can get what she came for."

-Robert Plant

If you recognize the line above, you know that many people think Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" is the greatest rock song of all time! (Ooh, it makes me wonder). Personally, I don't think it's the best rock song, but the title is an apt metaphor for one of the most important activities interior designers and architects do...MARKETING. In the design world, Marketing IS the Stairway to Heaven.

Stairway Step 1: Accept It

When you think about it, marketing is one of those fundamental activities people engage in throughout their lives. It starts when you're a kid. You market yourself to your teachers to be a star student...to your coaches to get on the team and become a "starter"...to your Dean of Admissions to get accepted to your favorite university...to your first employer to get your first job...to your romantic interest to get...whatever…

Your entire life is a series of marketing tasks which are the “means” to achieve your “ends”. Your “ends” may be the satisfaction you get from the design process; or the satisfaction you get from a happy client; or the revenue you get from both the design process and a happy client. But, without the means…marketing yourself and your firm…you will never achieve your “ends”…doing great design for great clients.

I know that your academic counselors and professors never told you this. (They never told me either). I know that you want to do design. You have to market…to get clients…to do design. It’s the designers’ “Circle of Life.” ACCEPT IT.

Stairway Step 2: Understand It

Many people define and explain marketing. There are millions of books on marketing. And I’ve found lots of complicated definitions of marketing. (Ooh, it makes me wonder). But, we came up with this one for design professionals…

Marketing is planning and acting to acquire clients for service revenue and profit.

Simple, isn’t it. Notice that our definition doesn’t mention projects. I didn’t mention projects because marketing success is about clients. Projects are short term and temporal. Projects have a beginning and end. Clients and your client relationships are long term and enduring. Relationships have a beginning…and, if we’re effective, they have no end.

Some of my client relationships have lasted thirty years (they are almost as old as that song!). One client started with a primary residence, continued with a vacation home, returned with another primary residence, then referred me to relatives…and, now I’m working with their grown children on their homes.

Your existing clients are your best source of new business. Why? Because it’s so much harder to get new business from new clients. Years ago, one of my ASID Industry Partner friends, Michael Sorrentino (a very smart man), taught me one of my most important marketing lessons. Michael described four degrees of difficulty in marketing. He said…

1. Marketing existing services to existing clients is the easiest marketing activity, and what you should focus on first. 2. Marketing new services to existing clients is the next easiest marketing activity. 3. Marketing existing services to new clients is much harder to do. 4. Marketing new services to new clients has the highest degree of difficulty.

Later, I learned this was a business school axiom known as Ansoff’s Market Expansion Grid. The diagram below illustrates this principle.

Research tells us that 80% of new client contracts require five or more client contacts. Some experts say it takes seven to twelve contacts. This means it costs you time and money to get new clients. Many experts estimate it costs ten times (that’s 10X) more to acquire a new client than to gain business from a repeat client. Reasons for developing and maintaining existing client relationships include:

* Repeat clients get comfortable with you. They know your staff. They feel welcome. They know what to expect from you. They know your process and routine. * Repeat clients spend more. They are less price sensitive and less likely to quibble. * Repeat clients cost less to serve. Your learning curve (and their learning curve) is reduced. You know each other, and are comfortable with each other. * Repeat clients are more profitable. They spend more and cost less to serve which means greater profit. * Repeat clients are more forgiving. If you make a mistake, they give you the benefit of the doubt. They trust you, and know you’ll solve the problem. * Repeat clients spread positive “word of mouth.” They give you free public relations and advertising. * Repeat clients make your marketing program more efficient. They become your advocates and do your marketing for you.

One of my clients has been a terrific champion. I’ve completed five houses on one street because this client has been an amazing advocate. Existing clients are GOLD!

It’s not about projects…it’s about relationships. UNDERSTAND IT.

Stairway Step 3: Do It

“Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run,

There's still time to change the road you're on.

And it makes me wonder.”

-Robert Plant

All of us face obstacles on the Stairway to Heaven. The most common reasons we don’t market are…

* We’re time pressed. We’d rather be designing, or looking through catalogs and magazines, or paying bills…or having our teeth pulled! Almost all of us would rather do anything before marketing. * It’s uncomfortable to promote ourselves (remember when your mother told you not to brag about yourself?). It often feels like it’s unbecoming to tell people how great we are. * We screw up a client relationship (we all do it one time or other). Sometimes we don’t walk around in the clients’ shoes…and, forget that existing clients are GOLD!

There are several techniques you can use to overcome these barriers.

1. Integrate your personal life with your professional life.

+ Network all of the time. Let everyone you meet know what you do, and that you’re interested in providing professional services. Tell soccer moms, little league dads, all of your service providers (like doctors, lawyers, trainers, etc.) and industry resources. Continually expand your sphere of contacts and influence. My partner, Hugo Arce, and I analyzed our sources of new business. We were amazed and delighted to find that a large source of our new business came from our industry resources like drapery and upholstery workrooms, contractors, craftspeople, and suppliers. We make sure we value those relationships and thank them for referrals.

+ “Do good to do well.” Integrate your professional life with your personal community service. Volunteering on a community service committee or project provides an opportunity to meet and team with potential clients. Doing pro bono work can educate community leaders about your abilities and talents. Be selective and focused. Budget your time and donations. Look for volunteer activities that will connect you with potential clients and potential public relations and publicity. However, be sure to volunteer in organizations that you believe in.

2. Be confident. * Telling people how you can solve their problems and be of service is not bragging. Many people do not know how interior designers’ and architects’ work can enhance their quality of life. Further, they don’t know you or your work. How will they find out? You have to tell them. It’s not bragging. It is informing and creating awareness.

You didn’t know anything about MP3 players until Steve Jobs told you about iPods. He created awareness and developed a market for iPods…and, iTunes…now videos and Podcasts.

+ Brag about your colleagues and clients. It seems so much easier to talk about other people’s achievements. Like when you brag about your kids or your friends. Tell your story in their story. Talk about your staff, your resources, your colleagues, your clients. This indirectly tells your story. When you talk about your staff’s abilities, you can inform a potential client about your services; the work you do; and by association, you can tell them about yourself. This is frequently more comfortable, and overcomes a fear of bragging.

3. Never forget the client. * When clients hire us, it’s a huge leap of faith. Think about the last time you purchased personal services…like when you hired a lawyer, accountant, doctor, hair dresser, trainer, or wedding planner...let’s not forget cosmetic surgeons. It makes you feel vulnerable and uncomfortable. David H. Maister, Harvard Professor and expert on professional services, states that people feel insecure, threatened, impatient, worried, exposed, ignorant, skeptical, concerned and suspicious. When clients hire you, they experience and overcome all of those emotions.

+ You know that great projects don’t just happen. Great projects require great clients. It’s important to remember that clients are co-producers…co-designers and collaborators. Client satisfaction is not solely based upon a good functional and visual result. You can have a beautiful project and still have an unhappy client. Client satisfaction evolves from the client’s positive experiences with you and good memories of you. A client evaluates quality by comparing their expectations to their experience…and, those expectations can change and evolve during the process. I didn’t say this was easy. But if you always project yourself into the client’s position and empathize with them, you will ensure a satisfied client for a lifetime.

These techniques require very little in financial resources. However, they require attention, focus and commitment. If you ACCEPT IT, UNDERSTAND IT, and DO IT, you’ll take three big steps forward on your Stairway to Heaven.

Credits and References:

Banres, James G. (2001), Secrets of Customer Relationship Management, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY

Maister, David H. (1993), Managing the Professional Service Firm, The Free Press, New York, NY

Maister, David H., Green, Charles H., Galford, Robert M. (2000), The Trusted Advisor, Free Press, New York, NY

Peter, J. Paul and Donnelly, James H. Jr. (2000), A Preface to Marketing Management, McGraw-Hill, p. 201

Sources cited in above:

Zemke, Ron (1992, January), “The Emerging Art of Service Management,” Training, pp. 36-42

Jackson, Ralph W., Neidell, Lester A., and Lunsford, Dale A. (1995), “An Empirical Investigation of the Differences in Goods and Services as Perceived by Organizational Buyers,” Industrial Marketing Management 24, pp. 99-108

Thanks to Robert Plant for the metaphor.

BJ Peterson, FASID, is founder and principal of Peterson•Arce Design Group, a Los Angeles based design firm that counts many of the world’s most famous celebrities, sports figures and distinguished people among its clientele. Peterson was National President of ASID. She currently serves as the first female president of the LA Ronald McDonald House, considered one of the largest of the world’s 250 Ronald McDonald Houses. BJ holds a BFA from San Diego State University and received advanced training at the Center for Creative Leadership. In association with Martha G. Rayle, FASID, IIDA, also a former National President of ASID and principal of Rayle Associates, BJ developed and delivers Design Your Marketing Success, an innovative training program that helps design professionals “Get the work they want, rather than settling for the work they get!” Find out more about Design Your Marketing Success at www.rayleassociates.com. Select Commercial or Residential. Or, call toll free: 866-90-RAYLE.