Chosen by Asker

Buy houses, and interior decorate them, then sell them.

by answer

6 months ago

Asker's Rating: 

Kerry, I call your situation the Mercedes Problem: That brand is targeted largely at the affluent but the company doesn’t want to ignore folks with less disposable income. After all, they can be clients too – and who knows might even become rich later in life. So, Mercedes created the C-Class, an entry-level line that sells for around $30,000, not cheap but about one-third the price of the larger, better-appointed S-Class. (There is an A-Class line that sells outside the U.S. for even less, but you get the picture.) Think about your business. If you only offer S-Class service – or the customer perceives you as only offering that level of service – you will always be seen as an option only for the affluent. You mention doing “small projects too,” which I applaud. But how about a budget-priced offering that can help potential customers of less economic means? I would challenge you to think about ways you could create tiers for your services with higher touch being pricier and more off-the-shelf offerings being less expensive. Maybe you could price your work a la carte or at a discounted hourly rate. One other lesson from Mercedes that might trigger some ideas for you: the Smart car. In that case the company teamed up with Swatch to create a new lower-cost product, using a different brand name. The advantage for Mercedes is that it was able to reach an entirely new customer at a budget price but not dilute its premium brand. Is there a way you could steal that idea, creating a separate unit of your design company that reaches out to less affluent consumers? If I were in your shoes, I would test a few new concepts by offering them to some budget-conscious clients at steep discounts. View it as an investment in your future, not worrying about profit margin now but knowing that if you do this right, it will pay off in six months or a year. The quid pro quo: Ask your clients who are getting a great deal to co-host a party with you to show off their newly designed homes. There’s nothing like raving fans to grow your business.

by Kevin Salwen, SBAC Expert- 6 months ago

You may want to consider reaching out to a targeted audience through email. Many individuals looking for an interior designer will use the Internet. If emails are already sent directly to them, it saves them the time it would take to go search for an interior designer. ConsumerBase - www ... offers both email marketing campaigns and email lists.

by consumerbase- 6 months ago