Home Visiting Service

[Jonathan]

Following on from the "Best way to carry samples" what are your experiences of making "home visits"?

I've set up working from a workshop behind my home. I not planning to compete with a nearby High St framer, but I need to find another way of finding business. Do home visits work? Waste your time or add an appreciated extra service? Do you end up having to hang the pictures too?

I once had a job as a kitchen designer/planner and made home visits, it was amazing how many people were thinking of extending their kitchen and wanted me to draw a plan without knowing the size of the room! Is framing similar?

All thoughts and advice appreciated.

[Graysalchemy]

The problem with home visits is time, you will spend an awful lot of time for a £30 cross stitch. Also you may have a case full of samples and even a portfolio of photo's of frames you have done before but nothing actually beats having an example of a style of framing on a wall to show someone.

Whether you go to them or they come to you they have still got to find you, that supposedly is the main advantage with having high street presence people can actually see you but really in this day and age it is all about the web and social media obviously. Personally I prefer clients coming to me though I do go out and see commercial clients it is easier for them to come and see me and see what I can do.

[Dave]

I tried this, it frankly wasn't worth the time and petrol. I got talked it into hanging some pictures for a lady, scanned her wall for elctrics and found it to be a miniature version of the national grid. Had I drilled without checking it could have gone very pear shaped. I would not have been insured.

Dave

[prospero]

I agree with both the replies. One thing to do a site visit if it's a tasty job - suite of offices/hotel/restaurant, but trailing out for a job that's going to net you <£500 is likely to be uneconomic.

As for hanging pictures, you'll need to carry a lot of extra insurance.

More Biz? I tried gooogling "Kings Langley framing" and you didn't show. 49 others did. You might try optimising your web presence.
People tend to let their mouse do the walking nowdays.

[StevenG]

Personally I don't like it but the missus volunteers me from time to time. We've done a few 'gallery walls' and money wise it worked out pretty well. I got myself covered insurance wise in case of accidents etc but there's no way I'd go out & hang one picture (well, unlikely anyway). I'd prefer that custom came into the shop though. I tried to sell hanging hardware for a little extra income, didn't work out though as everyone wanted it for nothing!

[Graysalchemy]

You do need a very large public Liability insurance to hang pictures especially in a public space. Basically don't do it. The companies I know who do it have to be insured for tens of millions public liability. Its not worth it in this day and age of litigation. Get a company who is insured and know what they are doing is my advice.

[pramsay13]

I started off with home visits as that was the business model of the retiring framer who I took over from. He framed in his loft though so there was really no option of people visiting him.
I carried my moulding samples in a pasting table (see other thread) and a mountboard caddy.
When dropping off the frame I was never once asked if I could hang it, it just didn't come up.
Over the years people started asking me if they could visit, I think people are fascinated by the process.
Nowadays almost everyone comes to the workshop by appointment, apart from maybe one or two who have been customers since the very start and are used to me travelling to them. In that instance I make it a week or two down the line when I can fit it in with other journeys.

[Dave E]

Hi Jonathan

As a recent startup working from home I decided to offer a local in home service. The downsides of time and hassle for me are balanced to an extent at present by the need for me as a new business with no shopfront to win new business - a unique selling point not offered by local competitors. I don't intend to offer it forever, just until I become more established.

As I work at framing part time around family commitments I make appointments to visit customers in the evening this then allows time in the day to get on with the framing. I try to minimise time spent on a visit by getting an idea of what the customer is wanting via phone / email so I can slim down the samples I take out, I will also offer visualisation via email if they send a pic before the visit or in-home to encourage a quick decision.

As has been said web presence is vital especially for the likes of me tucked away in a garage, my aim is then to make the potential customer contact me before the others. The home visit is another option for them if it appeals - but I wouldn't hang anything up on their walls either!

[Jonathan]

Thank you all so much for all the advice and experiences. Also for Prospero pointing out work I should do on my website.
Dave E, you are in a similar situation to myself, so thanks for the reply.
As usual a lot of help from this forum, thanks
Jonathan

[Not your average framer]

I have a lot of respect for those who are able to run a successful full time framing business from their home. I've been through that myself, before I got my shop and it was a very difficult experience for me and things only ceased to be a day to day struggle once I was able to get a shop of my own.

I wish I could offer some really good, can't go wrong advice, but I don't think that there is any, as no two situations are exactly the same. I never had a website then and I don't have one now. Not that it means a lot to say that, but I did find that finding ways of meeting people face to face can make things happen.

Doing special offers for local sports clubs and associations can lead to repeat business from those who have received awards which have been framed by you and have your label on the back. If you don't mind offering a really competitive price for members of local sports clubs for framing sports shirts, then you can easily create some regular business by doing so.

A lot of my customers are retired and not all of these are comfortable looking for businesses and services on line. I don't know if there are any particular reasons for this, but many of these people are just not of the internet generation.

It is also worth pointing out that "word of mouth" is much more of a local thing than it is an internet thing, so by all means improve your web presence, but don't expect a website to be the "be all and end all". Always be on the look out for new opporunities and try to have some business cards, or flyers with you at all times.

My own location is popular with retired people and there are plenty of new retired people moving into the area every year and don't ask me why, but removals companies seem to be experts at breaking both frames and glass. It happens all the time, so when a house gets sold a flyer through the letter box may just get you a nice little batch of work from the new owner.

If you do offer a home visiting service, then the fact that you can collect and deliver to and from the customers home is well worth telling people about. Not many of your competitors are likely to do this, so this may be one of your unique selling positions.

I hope that something from this may be of some help to you.

[Fellows Framing]

Hi Jonathan

I will also offer visualisation via email if they send a pic before the visit or in-home to encourage a quick decision.

I offer home visit but only if people ask for it! I find it is so much easier to show samples etc at my home (no shop) on a big table than faff around in someones house. So far very few people have asked for it and take it for granted that they will come to me which is great.

I would be interested to know more about the visualisation part, where do I find out about it please?

Sarah

[David McCormack]

Here's a link from the banner ad that appears on the FF

http://www.pre-view.biz/

[Fellows Framing]

Thanks David

[Jonathan]

Thanks Mark for your considered thoughts, most helpful.

From yours, and other people's comments, it seems that I should try everything (except hanging frames!) and see what works best for me in my area.

Thank you all, Jonathan

[Not your average framer]

I not planning to compete with a nearby High St framer

Really? You and the high st framer became competitors from the time you started your business. If you are not going to compete with him, where are you going to get your customers from?

It's a competitive market place and you will need to face this and make sure that you business is able to compete, prosper and survive.

Sorry to spell it out like this, but you will need to think like this to remain in business!