Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jason Lockhart. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jason, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you have any advice regarding quality control and maintaining quality as your brand grows?
As we have grown I’ve noticed it is vital to ensure that customer service and quality control are maintained. As a smaller team knowing every client by name and all aspects of their projects it is easy to ensure the quality of service is top notch. As we have grown and brought on team members it has been very important to hire for attitude and not just skill. A well skilled person with a terrible attitude can ruin a company culture and hurt both morale. I’ve shifted to making sure the person fits our culture and then train them on our processes. Someone with a great attitude can learn the skills necessary to be successful and that helps morale and ultimately customer service. Quality control is an ongoing task for us to maintain the high quality service our clients expect. Adding guard rails and people in place to be that second set of eyes has helped to ensure our quality is consistent across all client projects which has in turn helped grow our brand. How a client views your company affects word of mouth referrals and has a direct impact on your bottom line.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Jason Lockhart and I’m the owner of Kitchen & Bath Marketing Solutions (KABMS). Kitchen and Bath Marketing Solutions offers expert digital marketing solutions tailored to the Interior Design and Home Remodeling Industry.
I have over 20 years experience in the architecture industry, having worked on several renovation and remodeling projects in both the residential and commercial space. In addition to my practical experience, I taught in the School of Architecture and School of Interior Design at Southern University and Louisiana State University (LSU), both in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I’m also the partner in a architecture/planning firm called Sinektiks LLC, with offices in Hurst, Texas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I got into digital marketing by way of a design colleague that I helped with their marketing years ago with much success. They then recommended me to their design friend and we helped them out and eventually we started to get more referrals and Kitchen & Bath Marketing Solutions was born.
Kitchen and Bath Marketing Solutions offers a complete suite of digital marketing services to help interior designers and kitchen and bathroom remodeling contractors boost their brand recognition, promote their services, and convert casual onlookers into clients. Our services include website design, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social media marketing, video marketing, 3D renderings, email marketing, reputation management, and general consulting services.
We help designers and remodelers save time and money by freeing them up to focus on what they love to do while we take care of things like marketing and lead generation that bog them down. With a proven track record, we succeed where other marketing companies fail to get measurable results because we are designers ourselves and know this industry and its specific challenges. These unique qualifications enable us to effectively help designers and remodelers grow their online presence and build a memorable brand. The three areas where we excel with our clients is Value, Results, and Customer Service.
I am most proud of the way our clients speak about us to their colleagues. We have several clients that recommend us and can not say enough about the job we do for them with their marketing. This is what drives us to do better and be better. The fact that our clients appreciate what we do for them by taking marketing, branding, and lead generation off their plates so they can focus on what they love to do. That trust keeps me up at night to ensure we are doing right by our clients.
Have you ever had to pivot?
During the pandemic of 2020 was a time I had to pivot the company to address some of the issues that were going on in the industry. Marketing companies in this space were having a hard time finding new clients and I needed to position our company as a solutions provider and not just another marketing company. With that in mind I focused on my background of education and put a lot of time into developing a resource library for our industry (design and remodeling) to be able to turn to when they need valuable information to grow their business. In addition, I wrote a book on marketing in this industry called, The Complete Guide to Internet Marketing for the Kitchen & Bath Remodeling Industry. This helped set us a part from many other marketing companies in this space since we are now seen as thought providers in the space and not just another marketing company.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
My network through my podcast has helped build our reputation in this industry the most. In 2020, I wanted to establish some connections in the industry and also offer PR (Public Relations) services since many of our clients were asking for that service which we did not offer at the time. I met Mirjam Lippuner of Get Ink DIY, who is a PR expert who works exclusively with designers to help them obtain their own PR through her program. Mirjam has a ton of experience in the industry serving as the director of PR for the Kohler Company for over 15 years. I have partnered with Mirjam and Get Ink DIY ever since and we along with Maria Martin (Design Appy) established the podcast, Designer Discussions.
Designer Discussions is a weekly podcast discussion for design professionals (architects, interior designers, home remodelers) that focuses on marketing, branding, PR and business advice. We discuss tips and tricks to run a design business more efficiently. We share resources that’s helped other design professionals grow their business and we focus on sharing resources and tools that help business owners spend more time doing the things they love to do and less on things you don’t. Some of the topics we cover include, email marketing, search engine optimization, social media strategies, driving more traffic to your website, PR strategies, building your brand, growing your online presence, along with other tips to help them be more productive. The show is a mix of interviews, special co-hosts and solo shows from Jason, Maria and Mirjam,
The guest on our podcast have grown my network and allowed me to build a good reputation in this industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kitchenandbathmarketingsolutions.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kabms_com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KitchenAndBathMarketingSolutions/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kitchen-and-bath-marketing-solutions/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_1DTXgAIKGQHuj_qnqgrEQ/?guided_help_flow=5&disable_polymer=true
- Other: Podcast: Design Discussions (https://www.designerdiscussions.com/) This podcast can be found on all major podcasting platforms (i.e. Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, Amazon Music, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, etc.)