Professional Color Consultant, owner of Spiral Design Color Consulting, and QC Design School tutor Christina Kittelstad is a force to be reckoned with. With over 18 years of experience, Christina is the go-to guru for advice on building and advancing a career in the color consulting industry.
Last month, Christina took to Facebook to give advice on finding and retaining color consultant clients. If you missed it, don’t worry! We’ve recapped the first part for you here, and today, were recapping of the second part of her webinar. Keep reading!
Advertise
Share your successful projects with the world! Share specific decisions you made, details of the project, and the transformation process. Current and past clients love keeping up with what you’re doing. Especially if your social media accounts show off a lot of behind-the-scenes work, your followers actually want to see the final results!
Facebook Live videos are a great way to make your big announcement. They’ll reward you for using their live streaming services with increased visibility, so take advantage! You’ll get better at live videos as you create more of them. It allows you to put a face to your business and connect with potential clients. They’ll see who you are and how you like to work. Putting yourself out there will attract your ideal clients who love your work and design style.
Take advantage of those before and after photos mentioned earlier. Potential clients who may be on the fence about hiring a color consultant will be won over by visual evidence of your skills!
Customer Reviews
Customer reviews are the best marketing tool you have. It only takes a little work to gain feedback and positive reviews. Your website, social media, and other marketing materials can all benefit from customer reviews.
Blog
Blogging is still relevant! Not everyone has the time, but if you love to write, it’s a fantastic way to share your passion about color. Use it as a platform to market your business, but genuinely offer good tips and tricks to your loyal readers. Don’t forget to include high quality photos and share it on your website and social media so it gains traction.
Word of mouth
Current clients who are over the moon with your services are usually willing to go out of their way to talk about you. Personal reviews and referrals to your business are highly rewarding when you’re a business owner. You can’t ask for better advertising than this!
Speak confidently about your experience
When you’re first starting out, you may feel inclined to humble yourself and your experience. But being overly humble can make people lose confidence in your abilities. If you’re getting professional training and doing the work, have pride! You do know what you’re talking about because you are an expert!
Do amazing work
Your work will speak for itself. If you put in the same time, effort, and attention-to-detail every time, you will be rewarded. Don’t cut corners! Clients will see what you’ve done and trust you. When you establish that relationship with your clients, that’s how you’ll grow your business. They’ll talk about you, your work, and your projects, so don’t close any doors for yourself. Be consistent and always put your best foot forward.
Be gracious
Thank your clients for choosing your services, for being wonderful clients, and for providing feedback to keep you on your toes. If they refer you or review you publicly, thank them personally!
Follow up with your clients
After the project has been completed, stay in touch! You want clients to know that you’re around if they ever need anything. A lot of clients get caught up in their lives and all the other renovations and projects they have going on. Staying in touch with them allows them to know you’re around and can answer any questions they may have. Ask them how renovations are going, how color-testing is—even ask them for a sneak peek to see how your designs unfold!
You can continue to keep in touch through email lists or mailed note cards. Christina keeps a box of them at her desk and uses them frequently. Whether it’s to keep in touch with a client or to send a gift card and note to professional referral, it’s tremendously useful for keeping connections alive. A simple phone call can be even more personal. Oftentimes, a previous client will already be thinking about their next project. They’ll probably hire you again, so don’t wait!
Even if it feels too soon to check in, do it anyways. Keeping that pipeline filled with future business and potential clients will come in handy down the line.
Be Authentic
Be yourself! You have your own unique way of working with color and creating designs. When you’re trying to be someone you’re not, your clients will see through you. Focus on what you do best, and do what inspires you most, your way! If you share your personality and why you love color in all aspects of your business, it’ll be cohesive and clear why your business stands out from the herd.
Have a zero-tolerance policy
One way to keep your client list healthy is to leave no room for bad clients. Always be readily available and energized for amazing clients who love working with you and are easy for you to work with! A bad client is someone who doesn’t respect your process and won’t sign your contract, for example. These clients will be difficult to work with, and if they’re that much trouble in the beginning, it won’t get better. Let them know that you probably won’t be a good fit.
If you allow bad clients to drain your business, you won’t have opportunities to work with amazing clients who deserve your creativity and energy. Set yourself up for success!
Was your question not answered here? Check out the Facebook webinar to hear her Q&A!
I am taking Color Consultant as my second choice, all this was very good for me to know. I will come back to this blog and read it more when I get to the end of my course.