EP #54 | Revenue Generating Activities for Interior Designers

Welcome to the Designers Oasis podcast. I'm your host, Kate Bendewald, interior designer, mama and CEO of a thriving interior design business, built on authentic word of mouth referrals. It wasn't that long ago that I stepped away from my corporate architecture job to build my own dream, one that would allow me more time with the people that I love, the ability to serve my clients at the highest level, and to make a great living. It wasn't always easy, and I've made my share of mistakes along the way. Fast forward to today, and I've learned a thing or two. This podcast is for you - the inspired, creative, ambitious, and let's admit it,  occasionally overwhelmed interior designer who shares this dream of transforming lives by transforming homes. Join me and my guests each week as we walk through practical ways to build an interior design business you love, and helps you transform your clients' lives. You can do this. 

Well, hello there. And welcome back to the designers Oasis podcast. I'm your host, Kate Bendewald. I'm so thrilled to be hanging out with you today. All right, so today we are talking about revenue generating activities. And what do we mean by that? When do you do it? What does it look like? How does it help your business thrive and hum. And we're gonna get into all of that. 

So today's episode is actually inspired by a question that we received from a listener. And this question comes from Julia. And Julia says, Hi, Kate, I've followed your advice and started batching my day so that I have more focus, and I'm not drawn in 100 different directions, all at once. I've set aside Mondays as my marketing and Money Mondays, I love it. The problem is, I don't always know what to do with this dedicated time. Can you help provide some specific examples of revenue generating activities that I could be focusing on during this time? Thanks so much. Appreciate everything. Julia, thank you so much for sharing your question. And I love that you're sharing this because I know that if this is a question you have that there's a good chance your colleagues and your peers and other interior designers are also thinking about the same thing. 

And you know, I think what we're gonna talk about are just good reminders for everybody. So one thing that comes to mind right away when I think about revenue generating activities is that energy begets energy. And we can think of money as energy. And we exchange money and energy, oftentimes, in a similar way. And so I know that in the past, there have been seasons where business slowed down. Or maybe we were just so busy working on our projects, and we had our heads down, working on everything that maybe we weren't making time simultaneously, to do those lead generating and revenue generating activities. Obviously, I know that working on projects is a revenue generating activity, but I am getting to the point of her question is really about revenue generating activities from new projects. So that's what we're gonna focus on today. But what happens when I have found myself in these moments where it's like, Huh? Well, I can tell that we're going to be wrapping up these projects in a couple of weeks. And we've got a couple of things kind of lingering, but we don't have a really, you know, dense pipeline, and that always would make me feel a little bit nervous. And so those were the times when I would double down on my efforts to reach out and do all of those marketing activities and lead generating activities that are so helpful. And so if we know that energy because energy, what happens in your business, when you sit down and you spend the time to commit some energy towards these activities, these revenue generating activities, a lead generating activities, I'm going to use those words interchangeably today. 

I think it's helpful to have a guide I think it's helpful to have some really specific things that you can sit down and a list that you can look at and be like, Okay, these are the things I need to need to be you're working on right now. So let's just dive in, I made a list of a couple of things that popped in my mind right away. And so I think probably one of the most obvious ones is following up with leads. Now, I hope that you are tracking your leads some some way or another, whether that's visual on a on a board, whether that's in a spreadsheet, whether that's in your notes, however you choose to keep that information organized. Inside my program, I share with my students a template for what's worked best for me. But I always liked to have something visual up on the wall as well. Keep things top of mind. But it's really easy to follow up with those leads, let's say you did a discovery call or consultation last week, and you've got some follow up to do there. 

That's a real obvious one, right? But sometimes, if we're not careful, we can have some leads and some opportunities that we kind of forget about that. Maybe it was a client whose project wasn't quite ready, maybe they I've had this happen so many times, wherelife is gonna life for them just like it does for us and something gets in the way. And they're it's just wasn't a priority in the moment. Oftentimes, they're counting on us to circle back with them, whether they say that or not. And so I like to use a boomerang for email. That does it for Gmail. But there's also for Outlook, whatever the other email service providers are, anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. The point is, a lot of times I'll use that tool to send an email back to me and say, three months or six months whenever it would be appropriate for that specific project. But I'll also keep an ongoing list of this person is waiting for permitting, this person is waiting for to close the sale on this property, this person is waiting till their kid graduates from school and goes off to college to do this project, whatever the case may be. So it's really important that you don't let those leads fall through the cracks either. So keep your list and keep a note of when would be an appropriate time to follow up with them. And another way that you can follow up with them if maybe it's not quite time because you know that they're waiting on a specific date or something like that to happen. 

Another way that you can follow up with them without being so direct is doing some more indirect interacting. I like to follow my clients or my prospective clients on social media. So I might follow up, find them on Instagram and just see what's going on in their world. And like and comment on their photos. I do this from a really genuine place because I genuinely am interested in people in their lives. And it's fun for me. And it does come with the side benefit of when they see that they're kind of reminded of you. So do what's within your comfort zone. 

For me personally, I just enjoy it because I enjoy people and I enjoy kind of seeing what's going on in their world. So that's another way that you canmore indirectly stay top of mind. So following up with leads, obvious ones are people who maybe wanted to book a discovery call with you seeing if they're ready people who maybe wanted to do a consultation, see if they're ready, and then following up with people who maybe weren't ready before and there was something that they were waiting on. So following up with leads, no matter what stage they're in. Another lead generating revenue generating activity is putting together proposals. This may seem kind of obvious, but when you have a consultation, typically the next step is to put together a proposal. And I like to do these things on the same days because I'm in that mind space, I'm in that energy and so even if I do disc consultation on say, a Wednesday or something, I'll always let them know. I'll get it to you by next Tuesday because I to do my proposals on Monday.

Invoicing clients, so this is a revenue generating activity. And I cannot tell you how many times I have found myself so busy with existing projects or trying to get through a deadline that I kind of forget, oh yeah, I needed to invoice them for the delivery that was that happened last month or whatever. And of course, I am very organized. And I do have all this stuff written down. And I do try to do it all at once. But sometimes invoicing clients doesn't, you have to invoice for things that don't always fall in that regular recurring routine or schedule that you've set up for yourself, looking at where your projects are, so you could be invoicing for your time or you could be invoicing for product. But making sure that you're crossing your T's dotting all your eyes, and that you're getting all of your reimbursable making sure that that kind of stuff is getting invoiced. So really looking at all aspects of how you collect money from your clients, not only through your time, but through in services, but through your product reimbursable, those kind of things as well.

The next one I have on my list is reaching out to strategic partners. So strategic partners in this industry may look like realtors, brokers, contractors, architects, landscape designers, the folks that are complementary to the work that we do. They're all strategic partners, we're strategic partners for each other, we can refer each other, and that sort of thing. And so reaching out to strategic partners to remind them that you're available for their clients, remind them what you do, is a really great thing to do on a regular basis, and what does that look like? You know, it could look different each time.

I think that, you know, the obvious one is sending an email and just checking in, how are you doing? Reminding them what you do, and who serve and how you can help their clients, letting them know if or just straight up asking, do you know anybody right now that might, you know, be interested in in my services, and in working with me and see if they can refer somebody to that way. So that's one way, I have experimented with lots of different ways to interact with strategic partners. I do prefer a more a softer approach. Sometimes I'm very direct, let's be honest, like people know what I do they know that I'm looking for clients, the right kind of clients, they know who, who I serve. But I don't always want it to be a direct ask, I want to find out how I can serve them too. And so sometimes it's a matter of just taking someone to coffee and hearing what's going on in their world. Who are they helping? What challenges are they facing, because even if they're not an interior designer, if they're a business owner, they're often, you know, experiencing some of the same challenges as a business owner that we might face, even if the work that they do is a little bit different. So you can collaborate just as a business owner, because you've got that in common. So I think that's another way, I'm taking them to lunch, taking them to coffee, happy hour, whatever, whatever works for you, for a while when I was in a new town, and I was trying to develop some new relationships, because I didn't know anybody. I have the world's best cookie recipe for chocolate chip cookies with sea salt on it. And I am very prideful of the stress. But what I would do is about once a month, I would bake a huge batch of them. And then I would just go deliver them to some of the local real estate agents in town. I didn't take any of their time, there were times where they invited me to come speak and talk and share. And I would do that. But sometimes it would just be like it's Friday, here's some cookies, enjoy your weekend. Don't forget, here's some collateral some printouts that you can share with your clients if you find that to be useful. So there's a lot of different ways that you can reach out to strategic partners. That's not necessarily a direct ask of them saying Who do you have that you can send to me? Although I want you to get comfortable doing that from time to time too, but just making sure that you're balancing it with giving back as well. Okay, so the next one on my list is posting in groups or sharing in groups. I'm talking about online groups with a direct call to action. So there was a season in my life where our neighborhood Facebook group was a unintentionally I didn't do need it this way. It's just how it worked out. But it was a cash cow. For me it was where all of my referrals came from. And the way that worked was this, you know,

I was just getting started, and somebody was looking for an interior designer, and I piped up and I said, Here's what I do. Here's my website, they reached out, we work together, they put a review on this Facebook group, and it was a giant Facebook group of of our neighborhood families and moms, that kind of thing. And that one referral was the tipping point that people saw and continued to come back to over and over again. And so over the years, anytime somebody would ask for a referral.

I have lots of past clients and friends in that group, who would always gladly share my name. So I had a presence in this Facebook group. But it wasn't that I would always go in there. And I would say, like, Hey, I'm available for hire, what I would do is I would go in there, and I would read through the comments. And oftentimes somebody's looking for, can I get a referral for a handyman, or a painter or a landscape design or something like that. And so I would always try to refer people whenever I could. And I felt like it was appropriate. Sometimes people would ask questions, and I would come in, and I would share my opinion, if that's something that I thought was helpful. We used to host events. So one of my strategic partners, and I used to host this happy hour. And so anytime we did that, we would post about that in the group letting people know that they could come and talk to us. A lot of times some of the questions that would come up not a lot of times, sometimes there would be questions that would come up. And at the time, I would have I had a long

blog roster, and I had blog posts that I could share with them about that which shared my expertise and what I did. And so my point is, when you're engaging with a Facebook group like this, first of all, always know what their rules are about self promotion, and be respectful of their their rules. But I think that it's perfectly okay to go in there and share about what you do, and who you serve, from time to time, but also balancing that with going in and serving your community of people. And that's what I tried to do every time. You know, for every one self promotion post, I would go in and I would help even if it wasn't design related, even if it was like, What's the best

baby carrier for my newborn, you know, any way that I could contribute in a meaningful way? I would I would do that. So keep that in mind when you're posting about yourself in groups. But my point was, it was a really impactful area for me and my business for a really long time.

And I do think that's because I wasn't always self promoting, I was giving back. So keep that in mind. Okay, so what a roll up. One of the last things I have on my list here today with one that I was talking about earlier, which is following up with past clients. And you can do this in two ways. One, it's to see if they have any other projects that they might want to work on, or if they have anybody that they can refer you to. So I want to start with the the new projects, one, I am certain that those of you listening today have experienced this before you're talking with a new client, you're going through the discovery portion of your work with them. And maybe they just kind of mentioned like, oh, yeah, on one of these days, we're gonna get to the outdoor living area, you know, the pool deck or whatever. And you just kind of put a little pin in that in your head and you think to yourself, Okay, they're not ready to do that. Now that's clear, but I want to come back to them when the time is right.

file that away. A lot of times clients aren't ready or willing to do a whole home project all at once. And so it's really important that you listen carefully to their words and make a mental note of other projects that they might be considering. Now, I'm gonna say this with a little caveat that

That said, if you've got a client on the fence about doing a bigger scope or smaller scope, there is an efficiency of scale. And so I always want you to start from the place of trying to get them to do as much at once as possible because it's going to be more efficient for them more efficient for you. It really increases your scope. It's a win win, really for everybody. But sometimes that's not always possible. Or sometimes things change and your clients need new things, whatever the case may be, but I've had so many repeat clients and it's because I took a mental note of other projects that they were considering. So one of my, one of my most favorite clients I've ever worked with over the years, and I've worked with him for about three years. And I knew that he wanted to do his backyard space, he had a really cool backyard area that had a lot of potential. But he was just overwhelmed at the idea of doing that along with everything inside. And it just wasn't the right time of year and all that good stuff. And so, sure enough, January rolled around, and I reached out to him and I said, Look, I know you're not thinking about your outdoor space right now. Nobody is you're just getting over the holidays. But I want to tell you, because of lead times, and how long, you know, you know how things take how long things take at this point, because at this point, he'd had experience I said, Would you be interested in let's spend a little time together and get this design for your outdoor space hammered out right now. So that we can install it by the time spring rolls around, and you can enjoy it for the summer. And he appreciated that nudge so much. And it was a no brainer. He was like, Yep, absolutely, let's do it. So putting together proposals, and invoicing clients that I mentioned earlier, kind of rolls back into this. So in this case, I didn't need to go do a site survey, I didn't need to do a discovery call, I didn't need to do all of those preliminary steps like I would for a new client. I was able to say to him, I know what you need. I'll send you a proposal right now. So back to the putting together proposals. One, this also works with coming back with new clients, use your use your judgment, right, there may be times where you need to go and gather more information. But sometimes you have everything you need in order to put together a high quality proposal that reflects the scope of work accurately. Another way that you can follow up with past clients, if you don't perceive an opportunity to help them with new projects, or expand on existing projects, is to ask if they have any referrals.

If I've loved working with a client, chances are they have cool friends too. And I want to work with their cool friends. And so it's very comfortable to ask an existing client, somebody that you know has been happy with you and worked with you and you guys worked well together to say like, Man, you guys were so fun to work with. I know you've got friends that you can think of that might you don't want to work together, who can you who can you refer me to? Or who can you introduce me to.

And they are more than happy to do that. If obviously if they if they know somebody that might be a good fit. And an easy way to get their wheels turning is to ask them to think about someone that you know that has recently had a major life change. So examples because whenever somebody has a major life change, that's often when an interior designer is needed. So some examples are new empty nesters. So they just sent off their last kid to college, right? That's huge life change. And guess what? Often people that have the resources to hire an interior designer, Marriage Divorce, having a baby moving into a new house, all of these big life events are our events that could call for an interior designers help. So

Let's recap. revenue generating activities, lead generating activities. When you're sitting down to do your all of these things at once. I'm a big fan of batching because you get in that headspace right you start putting out that energy. It's all going to come back to you. Here's some things that you can do. Number one, following up with leads, putting together proposals. Number three invoicing clients, reaching out to strategic partners, posting in groups with a specific call to action, and following up with past clients, either to see if they have any new projects or if they have anybody that they can refer you to.

I hope that this episode has gotten your wheels turning. If you found today's episode helpful, you are going to want to check out the interior designers business blueprint if you want to learn more about how to run a thriving interior design business without the overwhelm and burnout. So we talk about all of this and so much more in detail inside this program. So to learn more go to designers always to start comm forward slash blueprint to learn more. And if you liked this episode, and you have a question, I want to hear from you. If you have a question that you want me to answer, head over to designers oasis.com forward slash ask Kate That's designers oasis.com forward slash ask K -A-T-E

We want to hear from you. I particularly would love to help you with mindset shifts, dealing with tricky situations, and really all things into your design business related. So I hope to hear from you. That's all I have for today. I'll see you next time. Bye for now. Thank you so much for letting me spend part of this day with you. If you're loving this podcast, please share it with a friend who you think might also love it. Or perhaps you can take just 30 seconds to open your podcast app and leave us a five-star rating. And if you have just an extra minute, go ahead and leave a review. This helps me so much and it helps other designers like you to find the podcast. It also adds fuel to my motivation to keep making great episodes just for you. However, you choose to help. Please know I appreciate you so very much. Thank you, my friend. Have a wonderful rest of your day and I'll see you next time