When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going.

Those are words for design professionals to live by as they tackle the continuing economic challenges the new year presents.

How to thrive as well as survive in a down economy is the focus of this issue of Business by Design.

THIS MONTH:
+ Survival Strategies
+ Stay Loose, Keep Cool
+ Quick Fixes
+ So They Say

It's a refrain I hear often from designers, window covering specialists, kitchen and bath professionals, showroom personnel, manufacturers and others: "Nowadays, you have to do business differently."

Many can't remember a time when their financial challenges were greater, competition keener and customers more demanding.

The concensus of design trade leaders is that getting ahead in times like these means more aggressive marketing to prospects, and increased service to customers.

SURVIVAL STRATEGIES
How, then, to navigate the choppy waters ahead?

Your best clients, in any economic climate, are your current clients, and ASID president Don Bowden says this is a time to reinforce relationships with them.

"Many designers don't stay in touch at all with their clients, and that's a mistake," Bowden says. "At times like these they should send them newsletters or drop them notes. Even if they don't need you now, they can refer you to a friend who does."

IFDA president Lynne Forde Breyer contends that it's more important than ever for design professionals to provide customer service that goes well beyond expectations.

"With the economy going South and more retailers offering services designers alone used to provide, we have to give our customers more service," she points out. "Service is the only thing that we have to sell. We have to come up with more ways to give value and educate clients."

As NKBA president Les Petrie sees it, design trade professionals can ride out the economic storm by "defining their business niche, staying in it and marketing to it."

"This is no time to vacillate and try to be all things to all people," Petrie told me recently. "If you're good at stock and semi-custom cabinetry, that's what you should continue doing in tough times."

STAY LOOSE, KEEP COOL
Flexibility and persistence are vital in the current economy, according to two window covering industry experts.

"In challenging times, you have to offer clients more options," LaVelle Pinder, a window fashion professional since 1974, remarked. "If a client wants to do just one room at a time, I ask: 'Why? Is it a financial issue? Let's do both rooms now, and you can pay for one now and the other in 90 days.' I call it LaVelle's bank."

Pinder, the former president of the Window Coverings Assn. of America, suggests that design trade professionals should be flexible in their buying, as well.

"They should pull back on purchases and co-op with others by sharing samples and books and pooling hardware purchases," she says.

Bruce Knott, the sales training manager for Springs Window Fashions LP, believes that persistence pays off when times are tough.

Design trade professionals "shouldn't worry so much about hearing 'no' from customers," he contends. "No may just mean, 'Not yet.'"

Bruce has a point, there. Studies show that less than 4 per cent of all sales are completed after the first client contact, but more than 80 per cent of sales are made by the eight contact. It takes an average of nine impressions (personal meetings, calls, emails, etc) to move a prospect from total apathy to "buyer readiness."

QUICK FIXES
Some additional ways to fireproof your future in a down economy:

+ Don't participate in "the Recession." Never complain, never explain. Don't assume clients are cutting back due to the economy, and don't get distracted by pessimistic media analysts and financial gurus.

+ Create immediacy. Get em' to buy now by pointing out when prices are scheduled to rise.

+ Minimize your price. Remind wary customers how little your service costs per day.

+ Upsell. Take it from the fast food industry: convincing clients to "biggie-size" their order pays off big time. Suggest a new kitchen countertop or sofa or bedroom window treatments. Why not? As former hockey star Wayne Gretsky said, you miss 100% of the shots you never take.

+ Smile and Dial. What's your success ratio in slower times: does it take 20 calls to get four appointments? Ten follow-ups to get one sale? Plan your schedule accordingly.

+ Flexible Terms. From payment plans to whole house discounts, there are lots of ways to make it easier for customers to work with you.

+ Guarantee your work You already do, don't you? You already try to correct the problem if a client's upset, right? Now, offer the guarantee upfront. It could provide you with a competitive edge.

+ Aim higher. Target the kind of high end clients who are used to spending in bad times as well as good.

+ Aim lower. Conversely: middle income clients don't have as many investments and are less likely to be affected by a stock market downturn.

So They Say…
"This economy will weed out the trunk slammers."
LaVelle Pinder

"When times get tough, high end customers buy down. They spend less on high end cabinetry." Les Petrie

"Young designers need to learn to sell, learn to market, and learn to stick to their price. They have to do more than just draw pretty pictures." Jane Gates, a Denver interior designer for over 30 years