Ethan designs luxury remodels and additions. His work had plateaued at 4 projects per year, even though he has the capacity to do 5. He asked me to work with him on increasing his business by 25%.
Ethan had two conditions: he would continue to make hand-drawn plans (not using computer aided design), and he would not use social media to attract clients.
To Ethan’s surprise, I agreed. He’d gotten lots of push back from others when he stipulated his conditions.
Ethan showed me a bulletin board covered with index cards. This is his pipeline. He knew exactly what was on it and he had a system that helped him move home owners from their initial conversation to the final sign-off on their home.
What his pipeline showed was too few homeowners in the early stage, when they’d express some interest in a remodel or addition. He knew he needed to increase the number entering his pipeline in order to achieve his 25% increase, 1 new project per year.
My advice was to design and implement a plan to cultivate and nurture his recent clients. “Why,” he asked, “should I keep in touch with people who have already spent at least $750,000 on a remodel? They aren’t going to do another one.”
That’s correct–they were unlikely to be repeat clients. What’s also true is that they have circles of family, friends and colleagues who have similar lifestyles and similar financial wherewithal. If Ethan stayed top of mind with them, they would more naturally be advocates for him within their various circles.
About 9 months after we began our work together, Ethan was eager to show me his pipeline. He had added an additional bulletin board to the wall, where he was tracking new clients and several prospective ones. He’d just signed a contract for project number 5 that year, achieving his goal of a 25% increase.
What’s your deeply held vision? How can you use it to generate more focus, more confidence, more business and more profit?