That was the system.
Someone came into the store.
They asked about a kitchen.
We offered free design.
Sometimes a serious project came from it.
Sometimes we invested considerable time in someone who wasn’t remotely ready to buy.
Eventually I began noticing something different about clients referred by contractors and other professionals.
They usually arrived with more context.
They were further along.
Someone they trusted had already told them why they should speak with me.
So I gradually changed where I invested my business-development time.
Less emphasis on waiting for the next person to walk through the department.
More emphasis on maintaining relationships with a relatively small number of people who already served the kinds of homeowners I wanted to work with.
The design work didn’t change.
The quality of the conversation did.
Sometimes business development isn’t about becoming better at attracting everyone.
It’s about becoming easier for the right people to find.