Pro Panel: How Do You Connect With New Clients?
A landscape designer, an interior designer and a kitchen and bath remodeler share their strategies for finding clients
As vital as attracting new clients is to any home pro’s business, there’s no one right way to do it. Leads can come from a platform like Houzz, a friend or family member’s rave review or a sign someone spotted in a neighbor’s yard. We spoke with landscape designer Lisa Mierop in New Jersey, interior designer Sabrina Alfin in San Francisco and kitchen and bath remodeler Bob Gockeler of KraftMaster Renovations in New Jersey to find out how they bring new clients on board. Their responses have been lightly edited.
1. Lisa Mierop, Landscape Designer
Mierop Design
Montclair, New Jersey
I have been very fortunate in terms of business referrals. I work in a fairly small community, and because I also own property and live here, there have been many organic connections made over the years — first with neighbors and parents in the community, and later growing into a citywide network of business contacts.
My own garden, where my business began, was a showcase of plants and unusual perennials. It attracted a lot of local attention, because it was so different than the standard suburban fare. Neighbors and friends readily asked for help with their properties even before I had started my business. Buoyed by their enthusiasm, I started to take on larger projects, and honestly, word of mouth has been my most reliable source of new business over the last 25 years.
I was also fortunate to build a strong partnership with a high-end local builder who was aware of my work. He began recommending me to clients for whom he was doing interior renovations. I consider this key to building a strong business in today’s market — to affiliate yourself with local builders whose customer base and services match your own. Often builders are looking for landscape partners on renovation projects and need someone local to design and manage the landscape end of their new construction, flips or general renovation projects.
I also participate in the community in terms of supporting local charities and fundraisers, and over time this continued commitment to their events and ad journals has brought me consistent recognition. I consider it indirect advertising — just keeping my name circulating among the local town via events that are communal.
A strong website with great photos is also critical in today’s market. Knowing how to write good, simple copy and tag your photos for maximum exposure online is very important, and for this I turn to an outside resource. I don’t try to pretend to be an online marketing expert, so I hire help.
Finally, and not least by any means, a resource like Houzz can be infinitely helpful in producing strong new leads in towns farther afield from where I live. Being able to pinpoint locations, specific services and budgets makes finding new clients whose needs match your services many steps easier.
How to Engage With the Houzz Community to Gain Clients
Mierop Design
Montclair, New Jersey
I have been very fortunate in terms of business referrals. I work in a fairly small community, and because I also own property and live here, there have been many organic connections made over the years — first with neighbors and parents in the community, and later growing into a citywide network of business contacts.
My own garden, where my business began, was a showcase of plants and unusual perennials. It attracted a lot of local attention, because it was so different than the standard suburban fare. Neighbors and friends readily asked for help with their properties even before I had started my business. Buoyed by their enthusiasm, I started to take on larger projects, and honestly, word of mouth has been my most reliable source of new business over the last 25 years.
I was also fortunate to build a strong partnership with a high-end local builder who was aware of my work. He began recommending me to clients for whom he was doing interior renovations. I consider this key to building a strong business in today’s market — to affiliate yourself with local builders whose customer base and services match your own. Often builders are looking for landscape partners on renovation projects and need someone local to design and manage the landscape end of their new construction, flips or general renovation projects.
I also participate in the community in terms of supporting local charities and fundraisers, and over time this continued commitment to their events and ad journals has brought me consistent recognition. I consider it indirect advertising — just keeping my name circulating among the local town via events that are communal.
A strong website with great photos is also critical in today’s market. Knowing how to write good, simple copy and tag your photos for maximum exposure online is very important, and for this I turn to an outside resource. I don’t try to pretend to be an online marketing expert, so I hire help.
Finally, and not least by any means, a resource like Houzz can be infinitely helpful in producing strong new leads in towns farther afield from where I live. Being able to pinpoint locations, specific services and budgets makes finding new clients whose needs match your services many steps easier.
How to Engage With the Houzz Community to Gain Clients
2. Sabrina Alfin, Interior Designer
Sabrina Alfin Interiors
San Francisco
The vast majority of my new business comes from referrals from previous clients. After that, I’ve been doing professional networking groups; my own personal networking with architects, builders and real estate agents; as well as creating content for both my website and social media pages to stay at the top of search listings.
Sabrina Alfin Interiors
San Francisco
The vast majority of my new business comes from referrals from previous clients. After that, I’ve been doing professional networking groups; my own personal networking with architects, builders and real estate agents; as well as creating content for both my website and social media pages to stay at the top of search listings.
3. Bob Gockeler, Kitchen and Bath Remodeler
KraftMaster Renovations
Chatham, New Jersey
One of the first things I always ask a client is, “Who referred you to us?” Most of our work comes from referrals. There is no silver bullet. It’s more of a combination of different things. But it’s really asking yourself, “What are the ones that work?” We ask every client, “Where did you find us? How’d you find us?” It’s important to know that, because that’s what tells you what’s working and what’s not.
We get a lot of great qualified leads from Houzz. And I believe that’s because of what we put into Houzz. Houzz is great, but if your profile’s not good and not updated and doesn’t have current content in it, it’s not going to work.
Every time we load new projects into Houzz, we share them on all our social sites. And then we tag our clients with them and we let our clients know that we shared them, because they in turn are proud of their project and they share it with their friends and family. So it hits all their social networks. Then of course, with that, it’s the reviews and getting your clients to interact with the reviews. It’s the quality of the photos. From Houzz, those are the two big things that we hear. It’s the quality of work and the variety of work too. If you have a well-rounded profile, you’re not just pigeonholed into, “Oh, they’re just a traditional bathroom company.”
We actually get a decent amount of leads saying, “Oh yeah, we see your job site signs and trucks all over town.” It’s a pristine job site sign that’s very professional-looking, with high-quality materials. I wouldn’t do the cheap signs. I think they’re unprofessional. Everything you do speaks volumes about your company. Your branding is the image you portray out there.
[We used] our three most popular photos of our work from Houzz as nearly life-size graphics on our vans, and I can’t tell you how many people say that they see our vehicle everywhere. I think what it is, they see the job sign, they might not call us, but it’s brand recognition. You’ve gotta do something different so that somebody does a double take and goes, “Wow, what was that?”
I think when they see the job signs, they see the truck driving all over the place, and when they do an internet search, and they’re like, “Oh yeah, I see that guy, he’s everywhere,” that’s what pulls them in.
KraftMaster Renovations
Chatham, New Jersey
One of the first things I always ask a client is, “Who referred you to us?” Most of our work comes from referrals. There is no silver bullet. It’s more of a combination of different things. But it’s really asking yourself, “What are the ones that work?” We ask every client, “Where did you find us? How’d you find us?” It’s important to know that, because that’s what tells you what’s working and what’s not.
We get a lot of great qualified leads from Houzz. And I believe that’s because of what we put into Houzz. Houzz is great, but if your profile’s not good and not updated and doesn’t have current content in it, it’s not going to work.
Every time we load new projects into Houzz, we share them on all our social sites. And then we tag our clients with them and we let our clients know that we shared them, because they in turn are proud of their project and they share it with their friends and family. So it hits all their social networks. Then of course, with that, it’s the reviews and getting your clients to interact with the reviews. It’s the quality of the photos. From Houzz, those are the two big things that we hear. It’s the quality of work and the variety of work too. If you have a well-rounded profile, you’re not just pigeonholed into, “Oh, they’re just a traditional bathroom company.”
We actually get a decent amount of leads saying, “Oh yeah, we see your job site signs and trucks all over town.” It’s a pristine job site sign that’s very professional-looking, with high-quality materials. I wouldn’t do the cheap signs. I think they’re unprofessional. Everything you do speaks volumes about your company. Your branding is the image you portray out there.
[We used] our three most popular photos of our work from Houzz as nearly life-size graphics on our vans, and I can’t tell you how many people say that they see our vehicle everywhere. I think what it is, they see the job sign, they might not call us, but it’s brand recognition. You’ve gotta do something different so that somebody does a double take and goes, “Wow, what was that?”
I think when they see the job signs, they see the truck driving all over the place, and when they do an internet search, and they’re like, “Oh yeah, I see that guy, he’s everywhere,” that’s what pulls them in.
Your turn: How do you find new clients? Share your stories in the Comments.
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