LA Couple Makes New Roots in CT

When a successful couple moved from LA to Connecticut, seeking a better quality of life, they created a challenge for themselves. They had to establish a connection into their new community and generate new clients. Or, else.

Fortunately, they transitioned successfully. And the lessons they learned along the way are the basis of this article.

THE BACKGROUND

Once upon a time, in a small town northwest of Los Angeles, a young couple met at a softball game, fell in love, got married, bought a home and started a graphic design business. The business is Avoca Designs. The couple is Bethany Hartshorn and Chris Graves.

Unfortunately the traffic, the smog, the public schools, the (well, you get the idea ... ) moved this young couple to seek a better place to live, work and, eventually, raise kids.

So they began looking for a new place to live where the quality of life was better.

After looking here and there, they chose to move to a small, rural community in Connecticut where they bought a house that became a home for themselves and their young and growing graphic design company.

However, with the obvious benefits their new location offered, a big challenge emerged.

THE CHALLENGE

Chris and Bethany had worked diligently in LA building a reputation for providing “agency quality work at a reasonable price backed by outstanding service”. Certainly a formula for success if ever there was one!

After five years in business, Chris and Bethany had developed a fiercely loyal clientele with recurring needs for graphic design services. But leaving LA might cause them to lose the marketing momentum that their stellar reputation and established clients created.

So they began to share their dream of moving to the ‘country’ with their LA area clients. Fortunately, few had issues. Most wished them well. Why? Because most clients didn’t care where their work was being done as long as Avoca Designs was doing it. That was good news to Chris and Bethany!

Knowing they could maintain relationships with most of their existing clients, Chris and Bethany were happy. It meant they could count on running a ‘virtual’ company for their LA clients that would continue to sustain about 50% of their annual revenue goals.

That left only 50% to be generated from clients in their new location of Connecticut. Not an impossible challenge for this young and talented couple from LA. But still ... a challenge they had to address!

THE RESPONSE-ABILITY

OK, think about it. What if one day you find yourself waking up in a new and unfamiliar community and you have to generate revenues for your business. What would you do?

Chris and Bethany were in that exact position. And, being the determined entrepreneurs they are, they weren’t considering the ‘alternative’ of seeking a job somewhere. They’d drunk from the cup of ‘being your own boss’ and, while it wasn’t always easy (Bethany said, “We learned a lot about the importance of communicating in our business as well as our marriage!”) it was definitely worth it. So anything less than replicating their success in California wasn’t even an option. They were ‘Going for it!’. But ... how?

THE LESSONS

Relationships Matter

Creating a successful startup in LA, they learned that creating and maintaining good relationships with clients and vendors was critical to their success. Their time in California convinced them that the quantity and quality of their revenues reflected the quantity and quality of their relationships. So establishing as many quality relationships as possible in CT was a key priority for Avoca Designs.

Think Strategically

Knowing they had 50% of their operating revenue goal covered – simply by maintaining relationships with existing clients – reinforced the importance of appreciating the ‘life’ time vs. the ‘next’ time value of their clients. “Our clients have recurring needs for what we do for them. If we don’t maintain our relationship with a client over time, they will still need what we do. They just won’t be taking care of them with us!” is how Chris explained the importance of appreciating the ‘lifetime’ value of an Avoca client.

People Connect People

Seeking established network connections became a key strategy for Avoca Designs. “We knew a Joe Petrovsky – a local financial advisor in Manchester, CT. He helped us get a mortgage and got us into his BNI chapter. Joe had a desire to connect us and a network of connections. Having both the ability and capacity to ‘open doors’ for us was huge”.

Vendors Are Important

Another ‘Super Connector’ for Avoca is Barbara Barry. Barbara owns BHB Mailing Services in nearby Coventry, CT. Having met her through a common connection, Barbara opened up her network ‘directory’ and started making introductions to people she felt Chris and Bethany should know and vice versa. As a graphic design firm, the opportunities for networking with related businesses like printers, mailing fulfillment houses, list brokers, marketing consultants, etc. and their clients cannot be underestimated. Again, it doesn’t take many partners to make sure profit happens!

To Stand Out ... Stand For Something

When no one (relatively speaking) knows you, how do you get noticed? That was a real challenge for this newly deposited couple. Although Avoca Designs serves many needs from logos, sales collateral, identity packages, etc. Chris made a bold decision. “If I try to tell people we do ‘everything’, then ‘nothing’ is likely to be what they remember about us.” So, he’s built a reputation as , “The business card guy”. Why? It’s the easiest way to invite a conversation with a prospective client and, once that happens, Chris can often turn the conversation into a new client – and often for services other than the business cards that got it all started! “It’s a little scary standing for just ‘one’ thing when you meet people. But, if it’s the ‘right’ thing, then the right people will ask about other things we might do that are related” For example, “You do business cards? How about a brochure?” See?

Little Things Are Big Things

Relationships grow, like kids, from being small at first to much larger over time. Chris and Bethany understand this. So they want to help a prospect become a client. Even a ‘small’ job is a ‘critical’ one. Why? Because the first transaction, no matter how small, is evidence of having passed some test with a prospect. It means that even if the ‘know, like, trust’ factors aren’t fully developed yet, they are still adequate enough to invite some action on the prospect’s part. That can be developed ... into bigger and better projects in the future. After all, isn’t it true that ‘Big oaks come from little acorns”?

Conn-ections Count

One of the best things Chris and Bethany did (and, do!) is ‘get out there and meet people’. “Everyone knows someone. So technically, anyone can know (with enough connections) everyone!” That’s why it’s important to meet ‘anyone’ and learn who they know that you might like to know and ... know of you, too. In Connecticut, meeting people at every possible opportunity has generated some unexpected but valuable Conn-ections that would not have happened had Chris and Bethany not made ‘getting out there’ an ongoing strategy for developing new clients.

Build a Support Network

Unlike a network for referrals, Chris and Bethany found it’s important to have a network of people they can access for advice and counsel on challenges they are likely to run into as they grow their company. “Joe Petrovsky has been invaluable to us in helping us grow and not just from networking. He’s become a real mentor to us ... offering advice and experience that we weren’t likely to have on our own. That’s been invaluable to us.”

As we were ending our conversation, I asked Chris and Bethany what they thought would be good advice to share with my readers. Here’s what they said:

Value Attracts Revenues

“Our formula for success ... has always been to do work that exceeds our client’s expectations and provides an above average value backed by extraordinary service. That generates word-of-mouth for us. That, in turn, generates new clients as well as recurring revenues.”

Anything else?

What Goes Around, Comes Around

“Once we establish a client relationship, we work our _____s off to maintain it. If we do, past clients will return to us for more work, new prospects will be referred to us and we will be retained because of our reputation. It’s all a big circle ... and it all begins with what we do and say with each precious relationship we create and maintain with our prospects, clients and centers-of-influence at Avoca Designs”

Good advice Chris and Bethany. Welcome (to your new) Conn-ected home!

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Bill Doerr, CCO of SellMore Marketing, LLC is the creator of The Preferral Prospecting System®,
The Expert Directory® and The Ultimate Client Development System™. Bill uses these programs to
help service providers build their business by leveraging relationships and generating more referrals.
You can reach Bill by phone at: 860-798-6964, online: www.sellmoremarketing.com or by
email or by the TNNW Blog: http://thenationalnetworker.blogspot.com