Vita's Tip in 10: A Surprising Way to Find Business Leads

Hello, hello, friend! Welcome to a new episode of Vita’s Tip In Ten. Today I’m sharing a recent event that I attended that resulted in three high-qualified leads. And what was really thrilling for me about these leads, was that they were totally unexpected. 

The event was a student career day, hosted by my local ASID chapter – American Society of Interior Designers. It’s an amazing opportunity for students from local interior design programs (of which we have five here in the Philly area) to ask seasoned professionals in the industry to review their portfolios, look at their resumes, ask questions about the profession, and have mock interviews.  Isn’t it incredible?!  Wouldn’t you have loved to tap into someone’s knowledge like that when you were 20, scared, not knowing what life has in store for you?   

I had a few reasons why being a part of this event was important to me. 

One being that it was a great way for me to give back to my community. I am at a place in my career, with nearly 20 years of experience, where it is important to me to provide value and support to colleagues. 

I also viewed it as a networking opportunity. As you know, I am a firm believer in the power of relationship marketing and putting yourself face-to-face with your potential clients. And I know what you’re thinking – “But Vita, these are students! How do they count as a potential client?” 

Yes, this is true – the purpose of the event was to offer students approaching graduation the opportunity to have someone review their portfolios and resumes to provide feedback. 

Most volunteers offering feedback and evaluating the students work and resumes were other local, seasoned, successful interior designers. Which are, for my business model, my target clientele. 

So now you may have another question – “Vita, if they are soon-to-be interior designers looking for someone to evaluate their portfolios and resumes, how could you provide that value to them?” I asked myself the same question when I was thinking about volunteering.   

Even though I am not an interior designer, I still felt I had a lot to offer these budding young designers, as an entrepreneur owning and operating my own business for nearly 20 years. In addition to my decades of business experience, I’ve also spent much of my entrepreneurial career working closely with interior designers, so I know a thing or two about how they operate and what makes them tick. I’ve also had recent experience with hiring and firing as my own business has grown over the past few years. 

So I felt I could offer value not by evaluating their portfolios, but by providing them with tips and advice on business skills, ways to prepare for an interview, and communication skills. 

And the third reason I wanted to be a part of this event, was curiosity. I wanted to see, first-hand, what the future generation of interior designers was like. Who are they? What are their needs and pain points? What do they know, and how prepared are they for entering the workforce? 

And of course, with getting to know them, I was also able to plant the seeds that may blossom into a relationship in the future. Yes, they are students, but these students are about to graduate and may land jobs with big local design firms. And if a need for a window treatment specialist happens to pop up, perhaps this young, new designer will remember Vitalia Inc Window Treatments. 

And if you are thinking that this sounds at best like a longtail strategy, at worse a long shot, well, let me tell you…it has happened to us before! We landed a large $20k project with a prestigious firm because a newly minted designer that was recently hired  recommended us, having met me years before at an event seemingly unrelated to the industry. So yes, this is absolutely something I had in mind when I volunteered! 

So while I had many reasons to want to be a part of this event, I didn’t in a million years imagine the immediate value that it would provide me – that was definitely an unexpected, and very pleasant surprise. 

I reconnected with a designer we quoted a project for some years ago, that ended up not moving forward. She was also volunteering, and being in person with her, face to face, brought me back into her world, so much so, that before the day was over, she was calling out to me across the room : ”Vita! I need your help on a project, it has window treatments!” I called back, “Great! Let’s talk – I can help!” 

I also connected on a deep level with another designer that I was aware of but had never had the opportunity to meet with in person. 

We were put together as moderators for a round table discussion, and for 2 hours we were sharing our thoughts and experiences and opinions while answering questions and guiding the discussion. I got to know her, and she got to know me, and I was pleasantly surprised that we were very aligned in our business principles. 

Afterward, we chatted for a while, trying to figure out where we may have met before. It turns out she attended a virtual CEU event that I was a part of and that she had filed my name away as a resource. Now she has a restaurant project that includes window treatments, and we have a lunch date on the books to get to know each other even better.  See, it’s all about a relationship. 

And then, I reconnected with a designer whom I had known quite well a few years ago. She was the keynote presenter, and it was so good to see her in person. Several years ago, her services included websites and branding suites – which she did for me, and I still love. We are in the middle of quoting project for her now, also have a lunch date on the calendar, and she is attending our grand opening celebration. 

So this event, in one day, resulted in three meaningful connections – an awesome win from a business revenue generation perspective. 

I was also able to flex my education muscle and give back to this incredible community that has provided me with so much support. 

And I got to meet the next generation of interior designers to see what they’re like. And this, perhaps, was the best part.  I’m happy to report that they are bright, eager, creative, and ready to work! The students I met were genuine and eloquent, at times shy but asked excellent questions. This generation of designers are not just stuck to their phones, unwilling or uninterested in connecting face to face. They are curious and ready to learn, and great communicators. Look out world, here they come! 

All in all, it was a really good, really productive day. I hope that you too can find a similar event near you to participate in, perhaps your own local ASID, or IFDA, or IIDA. Look at your local colleges and universities to see if they have similar student career day events that you could be involved in. 

You don’t have to be a member to get involved, and the benefits you’ll enjoy are numerous, both as a business owner and as a human being. 

That’s today’s tip, thank you so much for listening! I really hope you are able to make these kinds of connections at a student or community event near you, and I’d love to hear about your experiences.  

And if you are interested in learning more about relationship marketing strategies, I put into work every day to foster and nurture my connections with interior designers, I invite you to check out my VIP experience.  It is a 2-day in-person intensive, where you’re treated like royalty and where you get the backstage pass to ALL the back-end operations of my business. 

Until then, my friend, decide how you’re going to apply what you learned today.  And I will be working on my next episode of Vita’s tip in 10.  See you next time!