Waiting Doesn’t Work…
Waiters are wimps.
I’m talking about those design professionals whose single mission now seems to be to “wait until next year.”
They’re the ones who seem focused only on putting 2008 behind them, chalking it up and writing it off and hoping this wrong year will magically give way to a strong year.
I know too many design pros whose year-end strategy amounts to little more than wishin’ and hopin’: wishin’ for some kind of rapid recovery , and hopin’ they’ll benefit from it.
They don’t get it.
They don’t get that it will take time — maybe a long time — for the economy to recover.
And they don’t get that their inactivity jeopardizes their business — and increases the likelihood they’ll be OUT of business if they don’t act soon.
They’re being reactive at a time they need to be proactive.
28 business days remain in 2008.
That’s plenty of time for you to adapt your business to the current economy — by promoting more interior consultation, services, perhaps.
Or by offering additional services to your best clients, rather than blindly chasing after new ones.
Or, by streamlining your office or showroom operations.
Or by upgrading and updating your website, say by adding a client resource page.
There’s plenty of time to get coaching, and to study books and tapes on how to enhance your business skills.
And there’s plenty of time to create a sales and marketing plan for 2009.
The business of interior design will never be the same after this economic downturn. How and with whom clients spend money will change dramatically.
So will the ways you’ll attract and serve clients.
Expect those clients to be much more demanding than ever.
Yet, surprisingly, many design professionals choose not to prepare themselves for these seismic changes ahead.
They choose, instead, to play the waiting game.
Too bad.
That’s a game without winners.