Lindsay Thomas is an interior designer from Cape Town and has been in the business for the last 14 years.
Her company Studio Elle Interior Design offers consulting, drafting detailed drawings, plans spaces, and procures furniture and accessories.
What drives you in business, Lindsay?
Getting client's feedback at the end, seeing their faces. It’s such an awesome feeling; one of the last clients looked like she was going to tear up and cry when the job was finished. It’s where you want to get to at the end. The goal is to see the clients super happy.
How did you hear about Procompare?
Facebook, actually. I must have searched for something, and Procompare popped up.
This was back in 2019 and at that time I actually needed some sort of platform to boost the exposure of my company.
I didn’t have anything, it was a really difficult trying to find clients.
You guys actually helped me a lot during Covid.
I wasn’t expecting much during Covid-19, I thought everybody would be closed. But I got leads.
There were two clients who bought property, wanted to renovate it, and then resell it or rent it out. Ja, it just happened, and it was such a huge surprise!
Both of them are still current clients. One has multiple properties, and I am his interior designer. The other one is based in Joburg, and he has referred me to a few of his other friends as well.
All because of Procompare.
Did you have any concerns about Procompare before joining?
I did. I have doubts about everything and everyone.
Just as clients are a bit dodgy about who they hire for construction - because that’s big money that they hand over - we are a bit dodgy about our clients as well. It’s difficult for us as well.
So, I did a lot of research on Procompare. And even when I spoke to the representative, and everything sounded really awesome, I still had my doubts!
Sometimes you have to take small risks.
I’ve read all kinds of reviews. I asked about you as well. It all came out good. And then I thought: "Ok, let’s do this! We can do this! And I never looked back."
I thought: "You know what, if it goes down south, and it doesn’t work out, all I need to do is unsubscribe."
Sometimes you have to take small risks, and this was a good one. I am glad that I did.
How long did it take for you to get your first client on Procompare?
It took a while. I had to figure out first where my comfort zone was for the business, and what actually worked on Procompare.
I went in big and bold and I went for like 500 square metre places and my radius was... I would drive to Stellenbosch.
My profile was too broad. Clients don’t want to work with people who live 100 kilometres away.
It took a while to find a profile that actually worked for both myself and the customer.
How do you go about approaching the clients?
I call within half an hour. There are probably a couple of interior designers calling, so I just keep calling.
Once I’ve made contact with the client, I follow up with an email and a link to my portfolio. Just so I could give them a little bit more bait. But there is only so much you can do to convince the client to come on board.
How are you handling the competition?
It is what it is. There are a lot of interior designers, and you have to be prepared to put yourself out there: convincing the client that you are the person to go for, because of this, this, that and that.
It's the game you play.
When I ask the client how many calls have you had and what am I up against, so I know what to prepare for you, they usually say, there’s two or three others. Competition on Procompare isn’t huge, it’s not like I am fighting against ten others.
It’s the game that you play. And even if I worked completely on my own, it would be the same. Procompare definitely helps in terms of narrowing the pool. It makes it easier for me to get the job.
How many clients do you get out of the Procompare's leads?
If I get three leads, I would get confirmation from one. Which is fine. Because in the bigger scheme of things, the value of that lead far outweighs the three leads that I paid for.
My projects are usually valued at 30 to 40 thousand rand, depending on the scope. You are getting a huge return on investment.
The value far outweighs what I pay for.
And even if you don’t end up getting any of those three leads, and you flip over to the next month, you get three more leads, and you get one out of those leads.
But it’s a 40 thousand rand job. Well, what I get out is 40 thousand rands. It’s a no brainer.
Have you ever used any other digital platforms?
Yes, but I had some issues with them. I would take on a client that was horrid, in an area that was far too dangerous for me to go to.
So I just took myself off and now it’s just you guys.
What are your plans for the future?
I would like to expand my business a bit more.
I see more leads coming from Procompare, and I want to grab all of them. There have been one or two leads that I just couldn’t take.
There have actually been times when I phoned Procompare and said: "Please stop sending me leads for two months. I just don’t have the capacity at the moment."
There have been leads that I just couldn’t take.
It is a sad thing to turn leads down! I want to lap as much as Procompare can give to me, and in order for that to happen, I need to expand or partner up with someone.
Thank you, Lindsay, and the best of luck growing your business. We will help to our best abilities.
