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How to find customers?
5/14
I am new to this business and need to figure out how to generate more business. What is good way to find customers? Any imput will be greatly appreciated. Thanx
5/15 #2: How to find customers? ...
Word of mouth is my best friend. Do good work and establish a relationship with your clients. I try to keep in contact through an email to clients once a month. Repeat business is the best business.
5/16 #4: How to find customers? ...
Website: http://www.sorraiastudios.com
I hate to have to tell you this but MJ is right. Word of mouth is the only way, I've been building custom furniture for 30 years and 100% of my business every year comes from referrals.
You must understand who your client is and learn how to become comfortable for them to be around. I'm assuming your target client base is relatively wealthy people and so you have to learn how to be the TRUSTED and don't under estimate that for one minute, provider of your particular service. You MUST be TRUSTED at all times and you must be safe for them to be involved with. You have to remember that everybody is trying to get a piece of them and they are highly protective and in many cases have multiple gatekeepers who will see right through you if you are making a cold call boasting about your skills or sending a flyer. You can only get to them through their peers or family and the only way to do that is to be a safe and discrete source. Be reliable, prompt, clean and dressed well but still appropriately for your station. Do not assume you are an equal but make sure they understand you are the expert and can solve their need. This one may sound odd but don't be the cheapest in your pricing, be the best and charge accordingly but do not over charge, ever!
As an example, I have a client I've done work for for almost 25 years. I've built all the furniture now in use in their Aspen Colorado home and a great deal of that in their Chicago home. We are business friends and trusted provider at this juncture and I have attended many family functions and have been invited to their home in Colorado on 4 occasions but I have never walked into any of their homes through the front door! I am a trusted provider and I am at times a confidant and the family sees me as someone who is very close but, I am not their social equal and so I enter their homes through the staff entrances along with all the other great folks they rely on.
Wealthy people very often share their sources with their peers and so they will often insist on introducing me to their friends or business associates because it makes them feel good and because they enjoy knowing that their friends will also be served well. I have also at times found that I've had to walk away from a nice piece of business due to a feud between a client and a prospective client in order to preserve the existing relationship! Interestingly this happens rarely and has always resulted in a commission or outright purchase of equal or greater value so it all works out in the end.
So be patient, you might try marketing through places like the Fine Furniture Shows put on by Carla Little or the online group called CustomMade.com both are monitored by people looking for custom work and I guess pour yourself into knowing and understanding your perfect client's needs. Maybe most importantly be the absolute best you can possibly be and never ever never compromise your self or them!
CJ
5/16 #5: How to find customers? ...
Ditto CJ,
However, if "invited", I have been known to come in the front door. Only if I'm not in my steel-toes, of course.
But you're right. If you are liked/respected enough to make it into a client's home for a social visit, you can easily become the life of the party. They always say "I wanna introduce you to the guy that made this piece/cabinet/room possible." Those are the best ones. The ones that truly respect the craftsmanship you provide, and are willing to tell others about it.
Of course there is the question: do you sell what you make or make what you sell?
Figuring out what a potentially lucrative client's style is my game. You can usually figure it out at the first meeting in their home. I usually do a quick Sketch-up drawing of what they described, based on other items in their home, and see if they bite. Most of the time, I'm dead on. But watch out for the nitpickers. They will have you drafting til your brain hurts. You will learn who they are in time. Avoid them. They're not the ones who refer.
Hope this helps.
5/16 #6: How to find customers? ...
Website: http://www.sorraiastudios.com
Good stuff MJ!
You are right about the nit pickers and learning how to see them coming! The drafting till your brain hurts made me laugh out loud because I just had one of those sessions this this past month! New referral never had a stick of custom furniture made and I think suffering from some anxiety due to peer pressure the poor woman just couldn't come to terms with what she wanted. So after attempting to draw as she talked for way too long (for both of us) I suggested that since she really loved the work I'd done for the referring client that she let me take what I'd learned and go back to my shop and develop 3 designs for her to choose from. Well she jumped on that so fast I'm still not sure who was most relieved her or me! A week later I deliver the three designs and she sees exactly what she wanted on day one but couldn't express, and the decision is made in 30 seconds. We completed a contract and she is now examining the finished wood samples to determine which of 2 wood species will be used. Next week I'll learn her choice and put her job on my schedule!
Interestingly she has already introduced me to a friend of hers and had apparently explained our design impass and how we'd found a way to solve it and how amazed and thrilled she was to see finished drawings of just exactly what was in her mind!
I dearly love my work and my clients and feel extremely fortunate to have been able to develop strong bonds with so many of them over the years.
It's all good and I wouldn't trade it for all the gold in Fort Knox! Of course it sure helps having clients who have a bit of that gold in the family!
CJ
5/16 #7: How to find customers? ...
Same here CJ. Been there at that exact moment. I have learned to avoid those folks though. Not worth the hassle, unless you swat one outta the park.
Sometimes though, you sit at the computer or drafting desk trying to discern what someone wants for hours. Frustration is not the right word. That word does not exist in our language. Thank God I have good hair genes, cause I'd been bald a long, long time ago.
But when you get it right...
G#@d@#n, I wish I got it right all the time. I'm sure Maloof and FL Wright are laughing at us right now.
5/17 #8: How to find customers? ...
Website: http://www.sorraiastudios.com
MJ:
Nah, Maloof did his own thing and rarely if ever did commissions. Frank Lloyd Wright was a genius/nutcase (I can say that as that is what my Grandfather used to say to and about him!) My grandfather worked for him for quite a number of years.
Besides have you ever sat in a Wright chair? They make church pews seem like overstuffed livingroom furniture!
CJ
7/11 #11: How to find customers? ...
Agree strongly with MJ and CJ.. When you do great work and treat your customers right, referrals will follow.
Building your clientele takes time and a lot of patience.. As much I hate to recommend this, ADVERTISE, Put listing's in your local paper of Craigslist, it's ONLY temporary until you get your name out there...
I went over 25 years without advertising, but with the economy the way it's been, I went through a long slow period and had to revert back to advertising, From one job I landed on CL, it net me over 4 new jobs. But Craigslist estimates are very hard to land, almost everyone wants something for nothing.
Good luck!
8/3 #12: How to find customers? ...
ADVERTISE.
Set aside a monetary sum each month for advertisements. Permote yourself, your business, donate your time to worthy events, join clubs, etc. This is all in the line of advertising. People have to know that you are around and what you do. Run a constant ad in your local paper, a small ad will do. Get out of the shop and go visit every business in your area. Be outgoing. Pass out or post business cards to everyone you meet. Do this regularly and watch your results. I've started numerous businesses in various area's this way and have found that there is a lot of free advertiseing available. Just look at all the new friends that you will meet who will help permote you and your business.
"X"
11/21 #13: How to find customers? ...
Website: easyhomeconcepts.com
Great ideas - word of the mouth and advertising. If you have social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, you may need them to spread the word to the public about the products that you're selling. Make sure that you put definite descriptions of each product and include your contact information for clients that might be interested.
11/21 #14: How to find customers? ...
Website: easyhomeconcepts.com
I would suggest that you can create a furniture website or a furniture portfolio of your own and include your description and prices on each product.
3/5 #15: How to find customers? ...
Website: http://www.eodfurniture.com/
I agree, word of mouth is the best way to find customers but I would also like to add that online presence also plays a major role. All those people who are active online always search for the products or services they are going to get themselves- this is what you have to target. Add online advertisements and some reviews from real customers would work wonders. Hope this helps.
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