Many designers who do not enjoy marketing, or who feel they do not have good marketing skills, think that the answer is to hire a full-time marketing per- son to fill the void. Many expect a marketing expert to provide new projects within a short period of time. The fact of the matter is that potential clients must be cultivated. Marketing seeds take many months, if not a year, to germi- nate once they are planted. Marketing consultants are indirect, long-term salespeople for a firm, not short-term solutions for business development.
Marketing consultants are not sales people. People in sales are normally promot- ing a tangible product, rarely a service. Marketing people promote a service firm’s existence and offerings.They rarely close a deal.
Marketing consultants can help you focus on strengthening your market- ing skills. They can write press releases and distribute them to newspapers and magazines. They can prepare brochures or edit newsletters for the firm.
And they can help you develop a contact network for future prospects. Most
important, they can help you forge the correct image for your new firm and show you how to communicate it to the outside world.
Marketing consultants cost money. For a start-up firm, a full-service consultant may be unaffordable. However, consider retaining one on an hourly basis to help you focus on your immediate, midrange, and long-term market- ing goals. Later on in this section you will learn how to develop a preliminary marketing plan. Review your initial draft with a marketing consultant for an outsider’s opinion.
As your company grows and changes, your needs for a marketing consult- ant will evolve. If you elect to retain the services of one, schedule quarterly meetings to review your firm’s progress and monitor and record your marketing goals.
IMAGE
A major issue that you must address—whether alone, with your partner(s), or with a marketing consultant—is what image you want your new firm to have.
Image is directly related to the vision that you have for the firm and its future.
Whatever vision you have, the image must be consistent, or you will not get on track and achieve the results you need for success. Your thoughts on
“image” affect every decision that you make in the day-to-day operation of your firm.
Some designers set too high an image, one that they cannot afford to obtain or maintain. A designer with aspirations to create residential architec- ture certainly does not need the same image as a healthcare designer who wants to design large hospital projects. Similarly, if you work alone, you do not need the image of a five hundred–person firm!
Image is projected in your company’s name and letterhead, in your office, even in the clothes you wear. Like it or not, your behavior, your appearance, and the image of your firm are all impressions on which the world will judge you as you make the journey toward success in business and in life.
One of the challenges you will face at the outset is that if your markets are varied, you will need to be flexible and project different images. For many designers who have only one market, this is not a problem. However, if an opportunity occurs outside your niche, you must make a careful decision. Do you belong in that particular market? Can you be successful in it? If you get
involved in it, where might it lead you? How does it compare with your cur- rent market(s)? Will it mix in well? Are you qualified to do a project in the new market, or will you consider hiring another to produce the project?
Sounds complicated, doesn’t it?
Most new firm owners are entrepreneurs who do not like to say no to opportunities. They see a particular project as income, and say yes without considering the big picture. If you are an owner who can’t say no to opportu- nities, get ready for a complex, potentially schizophrenic marketing experience.
Your firm may have a variety of images, and you’ll need to dress for success in each different arena.
As an entrepreneur firm leader, you emit a “perception” to those who meet you or view you as a person. As the saying goes, “you only get one chance for a great first impression.” Your behavior, your attire, and your grooming habits all say a lot about you to others. Make sure that your
“physical image” is consistent with the type design firm that you lead. Make perceptions realities. Be consistent. Your “perception” will be found attractive by those potential clients, advocates, or job leads who relate very closely to it.
They can identify with it, because they too have a similar perception of them- selves. People like to work with others of like mind, with whom they are comfortable. Don’t be offended if the signals that you send to potential clients, advocates, etc., are not well received from your perspective. They just may not be a “good match” for you and your talents. Remember, everyone is different.
And, you cannot be everything to everyone.
Clearly, you would consider wearing different clothing to an interview with a large corporate client than to one with a residential customer who seeks a home addition. Residential customers may be overwhelmed by a “corporate image” suit and may feel that they cannot afford your services or are too small for your firm. Of course, your company may not have the opportunity to work in both arenas. However, when opportunity knocks, you must seize it!
The fact of the matter is that your image will change throughout the life of the firm. So start out striving for a strong, realistic, obtainable image. The reality is, if you are a sole proprietor and attempt to market yourself as a large firm, a savvy client will probably not retain your services because you lack depth. If you were trained in a large firm with a specialty, say, in healthcare, focus on the smaller healthcare projects within hospitals, outpatient clinics, and physicians’ offices. Your former employer’s clients are contacts, and they may be
willing to commission you to do smaller projects as a way of limiting their risk.
At the same time, they will obtain good value, because the large firm may be more expensive and not put its “first string” designers on the small project.
Most important, make sure your firm’s image is consistent with who you are, your values, and what you are all about. Potential clients can see through a false image or an image with which you are uncomfortable. For example, if a potential project involves designing a church and you have never worked on one—or taken the time to talk to designers who have, or researched the topic—you will probably not project authority, confidence, expertise, and competence.The odds for your selection will be thin.
When you develop the correct image—whether alone, with your part- ner(s), or with a marketing consultant—get comfortable with it, work with it, and refine it.You will find success much quicker.