Download CEU_Handouts_7_Steps - InteriorDesign-ED

7 Steps to Successful
Marketing
3807 Riley St.
Houston, Texas 77005
Cell 713 269-6909
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.InteriorDesign-ED.com
Beverly Vosko’s
InteriorDesign-ED
7 Steps to Successful Marketing 3 hour CEU!
Welcome to our 3 hour Seminar!
We are not in a recession anymore: in fact the stock market is high and we are now experiencing a boom
but the days of conspicuous consumption, large blank checks and unlimited budgets for design work are
not as easy to find as they once were! So some of us are still experiencing hard times. People across the
country got used to not spending much money on design during the recession and still don’t seem to want
to spend money on design at the moment. Why?
-Since purchasing new fabrics and furniture is discretionary spending, it is optional and people don’t
EVER have to spend big bucks on those items
The good news is that the economy is flourishing and housing prices are up. As owners gain more
confidence in the housing market, they’re undertaking home improvements that they’ve deferred until
now. So people are spending money on remodeling projects such as kitchens and bathrooms that they
have put off until now, but even wealthy people seem to be holding back and trying to get the best value
and best price that they can for whatever they are purchasing
And since people are living longer than they ever lived before, some baby boomers are worried about
what they can afford to spend each year in order to have enough money to last their entire lifetime and are
being very conservative in their spending on everything discretionary– especially on design work
Also design clients of all ages have gotten used to not wanting to and not having to pay top dollar for the
fabrics, furniture and accessories that they are purchasing due primarily to the internet - and still want a
“high end” or at least “high end looking job” without having to pay a high end price
All this is coupled with the fact that now that the economy is booming the price of fabrics, furniture
and accessories has skyrocketed so everything costs considerably more than it did several years ago
during the recession and when our clients hear the retail pricing on the items they are interested in
purchasing they are astounded and balk at paying for them so we often have to cut our margins in order
to get clients to purchase those items and not go looking elsewhere for less expensive versions of them
The result of all this is that designers are creating beautiful homes for their clients but not making as
much money as they should be doing so
How do you keep your Design /Remodeling business thriving and making money? You need to change
the way you work and learn how to market yourself correctly. The secret is for you to place yourself in a
situation where the client needs YOU and not just the merchandize that you sell and that is exactly what
this course is all about. The American Marketing Association says Marketing is a set of processes for
creating, communicating and delivering value to customers. Many Interior Designers do not realize that
they function as a business and need to market their skills and develop an individual marketing strategy
that works for them! You can develop your own individual Marketing Plan and Successfully Market your
firm by following these 7 simple steps and you will make money.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
Figure out who you are and what you want to represent – what your brand is,
Decide who your specific target market is
Decide how you are going to reach that specific target market
Figure out what you are going to sell to that specific Target Market
(5) Set quantifiable measurable objectives and goals for what you want to do to make money
(6) Then use the optimum pricing/fee structure for your specific target market to reach those
objectives and
(7) Make Money
Let’s analyze each of these steps in greater detail and see just how each of you can create your
own specialized marketing plan.
(1) We have to figure out who we are and what we want to represent before we can do any other
marketing. We are who we are perceived to be. We therefore need to make sure that we are
perceived how we want to be. Everything we do creates touch points with our clients and
prospective clients that ultimately creates our brand perception. We need to make sure that our
Desired Brand Perception is what we want it to be and we need to represent one good cohesive
image to our clients to achieve Brand Harmony. We also need to establish a Unique Selling
Experience and specialize ( in LEED-Green Design, Aging in Place, Media Rooms, Antiques
Space Planning, Remodeling kitchens and bathrooms etc) so as to differentiate ourselves so that
clients will chose us over all other designers or no designer at all. We need to create a Blue Water
Strategy that makes us so unique that we won’t be perceived as having any competition at all. The
secret is finding clients who need you and your expertise and who you want to work with!
(2) Decide who your specific target market is
A Target Market is the specific group of people who need Designers for whatever reason and who
we should market to. We need to figure out who our “specific Target Market is & market to them.
(3) Decide how you are going to reach that specific target market
Client telling –creating an epidemic of word of mouth, Blogging or emailing on the internet,
Magazine advertising, Editorial advertising, Newspaper advertising, Public Relations. Direct
Mail, Attending Charity Functions, having a booth at a Home Show. Always calculate your ROI
– return on investment to see if what you spent generated the desired results
(4) Figure out what you are going to sell to that specific Target Market
Clients have specific “needs” and “wants” that need to be satisfied .The secret to marketing is
figuring out exactly what your specific target “needs” and “wants” are and then precisely
satisfying those exact “needs” and “wants”. It’s the old adage “Give the client what they want and
you will have a happy client!” A client always wants to perceive that he or she is getting value.
Our job is to figure out how to create, deliver and communicate superior customer value
regardless of the economic situation that exists at the time –One thing we can do is…. change the
way we think of marketing ourselves and not only think we sell goods –we can sell services,
information and ideas which the client can’t get on their own and will gladly pay for, instead of
just items that they can find themselves at discount stores or on the Internet.
(5) Set quantifiable measurable objectives and goals for what you want to do to make money
Let’s say you want to increase your sales 10% over last year’s sales. These objectives have to be
quantifiable so you can measure them and see if you are achieving your goals.
(6) Then use an optimum pricing/fee structure for your specific target market to reach those
objectives:
Flat fee, hourly fee, cost plus, retail, retail less something… or some combination of them.
Regardless of your pricing strategy, get a retainer up front if possible so you don’t get shafted!
Advantages and Disadvantages of each strategy:
A Flat fee, Design fee or A percentage of square footage is good for the clients because they will
know up front exactly what they will have to pay – but it isn’t so good for Designers who may
end up running around a lot for little money.
An Hourly fee is fair for both the designer and the client, because the client will keep using the
Designer as long as they think they are getting value - marginal value for marginal cost.
A Cost Plus basis is also good for everyone and is even better if the designer can charge this plus
either a flat or design fee or an hourly fee, but that may be a tough sell in these hard times. If the
Designer can purchase wholesale from North Carolina, this cost plus wholesale can be a very
good deal for both the Designer and the client because the client is often getting a price at the
Designer’s cost at a local Design Showroom and the Designer is making a decent profit while
giving his or her client a great deal.



Within the above pricing fee structures, Designers can follow one of 3 Pricing Strategies to find
their target markets:
“Skimming the Cream” which is getting a few “High End” clients who will pay the most
“Penetration” which is getting many medium end clients and give them a great price
“Price /Value” – which is giving your clients great value for their money and is normally a great
strategy, but in hard times, may be what every other Designer is doing – so may not be the best
way to close a client
(7) Think hard about exactly who you want to be and what you want to sell - then accurately follow
these 7 steps you will create a unique personalized marketing plan that will help you become more
successful and make more money
Bibliography
1. “Marketing Power Plays, How the world’s most ingenious marketers reach the top of
their game, the Insiders Playbook of Ideas, Innovations and Insights”, McGraw Hill
Company, USA, Copyright 2007
2. “Marketing Management”, Philip Kotler, Northwestern University Kevin Lane Keller,
Dartmouth College, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458,
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 12th edition, Copyright @ 2006
3. “Blue Ocean Strategy” – W Chan Kim, Renee Marborgne, Harvard Business School
Press, Boston Massachusetts Copyright 2005
4. “10 minute Marketer’s Secret Formula”, Tom Fettenstein, Entrepreneur Press, Eliot
House Productions, USA Copyright 2004
5. “Brand Harmony, Achieving Dynamic results by orchestrating your customer’s total
experience”, Steve Yastrow, A Tom Peters Company Press Book, Selectbooks, Inc.,
One Union Square West, New York, NY 10003, USA Copyright 2003
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Company, Hachette book Group, 237 Park Ave. NY, NY10017, Copyright 2002
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Regis McKenna, Harvard Business School, Boston Massachusetts Copyright 2002
8. “A New Brand World”, Scott Bedbury and Stephen Fenichell, The Penguin Group,
Penguin Putnam Inc, 375 Hudson St. New York, NY 10014, Copyright 2002
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Boulevard, Hauppauge, Ny 11788 Copyright 2000
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Fredrick, Maryland, USA, Copyright 2004
11. “Smart Choices, A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions”, John S. Hammond,
Ralph L. Keeney and Howard Raiffa, Harvard Business School Press, Boston
Massachusetts , USA, Copyright @1999
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Management Association, 135 West 50th St. New York, NY 10020 USA Copyright
1992
13. “Why They Buy, American Consumers Inside and Out” Robert B Settle and Pamela
Alreck
14. Designing through a Recession, David Airey, November 26th 2008
15. 20 Tips for Designers to Beat the Recession Yanko Design –January 2009
16. Design Loves a Depression, New York Times, Michael Cannell, January 3rd 2009
17. Cradle to Cradle Design, Design, New York Times, Recession — Rebecca Cottrell
on January 4, 2009 at 6:57 pm
18. “Aiming at Affluence: Marketing Interior Design to Luxury Clients”, Steve Nobel
19. “Your Business or Your Life: 8 Steps For Getting All You Want out of Both” David
Sheppard, Copyright 2006
Biography
Beverly Vosko is a Full Service”, “High End”, licensed ASID, TAID Interior Designer, President and
founder of Beverly Vosko Interiors. For over 25 years, she has been designing beautiful interiors across
the United States and Europe, specializing in creating custom Residential/Commercial environments, be
they Traditional, Transitional, Contemporary or Eclectic, that match her clients’ every need. She
graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania, spent a year at
Harvard University studying Art History, received her MBA in Marketing from Stern Graduate Business
School, and her design training from Sotheby’s and the world renown Inchbald School of Design. She has
taught Interior Design, Aging in Place and Antiques for 15+ years at Rice University, the University of
Houston, Design Art Seminars, Inc and now with her own company InteriorDesign-ED.