How to Communicate Your Value to Potential Clients
Here are 4 tips for effectively showcasing what you bring to the table
Hope Dorman
February 1, 2018
Houzz Industry Marketing Team
Homeowners who hire a professional to handle their renovation and design projects put a lot of trust in the pros they select. To win over the clients and get the project, you first must convince them you’re worth the price tag.
What are some ways to effectively communicate the value you deliver?
Our pros share four ways you can demonstrate your expertise and get clients to choose you for their project.
Download our free eBook with more tips for delivering an exceptional customer experience and closing more deals.
What are some ways to effectively communicate the value you deliver?
Our pros share four ways you can demonstrate your expertise and get clients to choose you for their project.
Download our free eBook with more tips for delivering an exceptional customer experience and closing more deals.
Bring Backup
Providing sales materials can help you educate your clients on the expertise and process you bring to a project. Some of our pros’ favorite materials include:
Use photos to provide visual examples of what you’ve accomplished for previous clients.
“A good portfolio of past projects is always good to have when you are meeting the client,” Pam Hopgood of Perfect Match Homes in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, says. “I include about 10 projects and focus on recent jobs that show the range of my work and versatility. My portfolio is my favorite sales material because it helps the client see that I can do what they are looking for.”
Providing sales materials can help you educate your clients on the expertise and process you bring to a project. Some of our pros’ favorite materials include:
- Before-and-after photos
- Reading material outlining who you are and how you work
- Mock budget spreadsheets
- Past client testimonials or references
- A robust Houzz profile with photos, reviews and a company description
Use photos to provide visual examples of what you’ve accomplished for previous clients.
“A good portfolio of past projects is always good to have when you are meeting the client,” Pam Hopgood of Perfect Match Homes in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, says. “I include about 10 projects and focus on recent jobs that show the range of my work and versatility. My portfolio is my favorite sales material because it helps the client see that I can do what they are looking for.”
Use Actual Numbers
Referencing the real-world costs associated with a project can help a potential client begin to place an actual financial value on your services.
“Once you have spent the time with the client figuring out all of their needs and wants, I feel it’s easier to correlate past project photos with dollar amounts,” Lucas Herrick of Modern Touches in Urbandale, Iowa, says. “With the photos in front of us, my clients can visualize how actual costs translate to actual design. They might be thinking something costs $30,000 when it actually costs $150,000, or vice versa. Either way, it helps them understand what they’re paying for.”
Referencing the real-world costs associated with a project can help a potential client begin to place an actual financial value on your services.
“Once you have spent the time with the client figuring out all of their needs and wants, I feel it’s easier to correlate past project photos with dollar amounts,” Lucas Herrick of Modern Touches in Urbandale, Iowa, says. “With the photos in front of us, my clients can visualize how actual costs translate to actual design. They might be thinking something costs $30,000 when it actually costs $150,000, or vice versa. Either way, it helps them understand what they’re paying for.”
Talk Risk and ROI
Sometimes sticker shock can be blinding, and prospective clients don’t always realize how paying for your services can actually be an investment in their future. Talking about the cost of your services in relation to the effect the project will have on the value of their home can help homeowners see the big picture and understand how your fee factors into the overall project value.
If their concern is budget, speak their language and explain how hiring a top-notch pro can increase the value of their home and avoid costly headaches.
“The challenge is to educate clients who assume that professional architectural services are an added cost instead of an investment that returns more than the investment amount,” John Hrivnak of Hrivnak Associates in St. Charles, Illinois, says. “We communicate that potential clients should hire us so they do not have to experience the painful cost overruns and problems they’ll inevitably have if they hire a lower-quality professional.
“I mention this when I meet with clients as part of a response to them asking my fee. I tell them how we have often leveraged more than our fee in savings by evaluating a property before it is purchased, negotiating agreements with contractors to prevent costly change orders, increasing home value beyond the cost of construction and designing toward energy efficiency.”
Sometimes sticker shock can be blinding, and prospective clients don’t always realize how paying for your services can actually be an investment in their future. Talking about the cost of your services in relation to the effect the project will have on the value of their home can help homeowners see the big picture and understand how your fee factors into the overall project value.
If their concern is budget, speak their language and explain how hiring a top-notch pro can increase the value of their home and avoid costly headaches.
“The challenge is to educate clients who assume that professional architectural services are an added cost instead of an investment that returns more than the investment amount,” John Hrivnak of Hrivnak Associates in St. Charles, Illinois, says. “We communicate that potential clients should hire us so they do not have to experience the painful cost overruns and problems they’ll inevitably have if they hire a lower-quality professional.
“I mention this when I meet with clients as part of a response to them asking my fee. I tell them how we have often leveraged more than our fee in savings by evaluating a property before it is purchased, negotiating agreements with contractors to prevent costly change orders, increasing home value beyond the cost of construction and designing toward energy efficiency.”
Add Value
Informing clients of the full extent of your services can help them understand the value you bring beyond just the project itself. Homeowners may be so focused on the project that they don’t realize the long-term value you add. Make sure you include all of your services when you’re pitching them, including those that you provide even after the project is complete.
“We show potential clients we are a resource by telling them about our warranty programs, as it is our duty to make sure that they are happy with the product we have installed, and any deficiencies are corrected immediately,” Blake Tubby of Arbordale Landscaping in Toronto says. “We explain why hiring us, with our 37 years of experience, will be a direct benefit to them not only in the final product but the longevity they will experience in their newly renovated space.”
Tell us: What are your best techniques for communicating your value to potential clients? Let us know in the Comments.
Watch our webinar about tips for closing the deal when clients come knocking.
Next: 4 Tips for Effective Branding | Pro Resource Center
This story was written by the Houzz Industry Marketing team.
Informing clients of the full extent of your services can help them understand the value you bring beyond just the project itself. Homeowners may be so focused on the project that they don’t realize the long-term value you add. Make sure you include all of your services when you’re pitching them, including those that you provide even after the project is complete.
“We show potential clients we are a resource by telling them about our warranty programs, as it is our duty to make sure that they are happy with the product we have installed, and any deficiencies are corrected immediately,” Blake Tubby of Arbordale Landscaping in Toronto says. “We explain why hiring us, with our 37 years of experience, will be a direct benefit to them not only in the final product but the longevity they will experience in their newly renovated space.”
Tell us: What are your best techniques for communicating your value to potential clients? Let us know in the Comments.
Watch our webinar about tips for closing the deal when clients come knocking.
Next: 4 Tips for Effective Branding | Pro Resource Center
This story was written by the Houzz Industry Marketing team.
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I often save my entire fee in just one decision for the project and tell them how. I explain my design process and how it is focused on meeting their needs - totally client focused and with this perspective I ask what their budget is - it being the single most powerful programming and design tool - and then tell them what they can expect to get for that as well as other options to realize their goals.
I do show some projects but explain that they are other people's dreams and so their design will not look like those, but the same care will go into the crafting of their project - it will be uniquely theirs and they will easily see that it is so. My style is what meets the client's program and I provide the tools for them to relay those needs to me.
Utilizing HOUZZ idea-books that I have organized by areas of interest, while sharing similar projects on my profile... really aids the client and I when exploring both design and budget. Often times when we have a budget driven client, I utilize these resources so they can ask specific questions about budgets. For example, the client may say how much was that renovation?, and I can then share those values ( as I will know since we completed it) and then what happens is, it allowed the conversation to expand to how selections, and design may impact the over all project spend. Because most of our clients are visual people and they cannot visualize the proposed transformation nor do they understand how to get there, being able to use these visual tool, I find invaluable as they allow us to speak the same language.