How Interior Designers Can Solve the Most Common Client Experience Issues
Updated November 2022
One of the most pressing issues my clients often come to me with is the overwhelm they’re experiencing from having an influx of business but no systems or processes to sustain it. I’ve had clients say they don’t even want to get out of bed because they’re so intimidated by their to-do list, and they don’t know where to start to make a dent in the ever-increasing list of tasks competing for space in their brains. I’ve had clients tell me they are simply turning clients away and saying no to business, even though they’re terrified of what business might look like next year if they don’t say yes to everything right now.
On one hand, this is what they’ve dreamed of: a booming business, clients knocking down the door, and a variety of projects. But on the other hand, this insane demand is exposing the weaknesses in their business (and their boundaries) and has them working like crazy even though they’re not seeing much change to their bottom line.
We’re running into the same issues time and time again with my interior design clients all over the world, and they most often can be traced back to (drumroll please)...
....the client experience process.
Critical things like:
Pricing
Wasting time on less-than-ideal leads
Boundaries
This post will focus on pricing only as it relates to the client experience. It’s a big topic to cover, and we’ll only be skimming the surface. Here we go!
PRICING YOUR INTERIOR DESIGN SERVICES
When I first start working with a new client, we dig into their pricing, their expenses, their experience, and their team. When I ask when they last raised their prices, it’s sometimes met with, “Well, I don’t want my clients to think I’m inaccessible. What if it turns people away?”
Few things to remember:
When supply is low and demand is high, pricing goes up. It’s basic economics. Look at Uber when they have “surge” pricing. Look at hotels over a holiday weekend. Look at what you’re paying for labor and materials right now because supply is low and demand is high. This is the same principle you should consider as you’re looking at your own pricing.
There is a real cost for you to do business. This is called your overhead and can be found in your P&L. Staff, office, rent, subscriptions, taxes, professional help, office supplies, education, benefits, mileage, etc. All of these things cost money and are necessary for you to run your business. When considering your price, you first have to know your cost of doing business and what that number is broken down to the hour. So if your cost of doing business is $50/hour just to have an office and a team, that’s a strong data point to consider as you determine your rates.
There is another cost to doing business as well. It’s called opportunity cost. For every hour you work, there’s an hour you’re not doing something else (spending time with your family, focusing on your health, adding an additional revenue stream that’s less 1:1 and more passive, etc.). And if you’re working with clients who aren’t a good fit for you, the opportunity cost there is that you’re missing out on being able to take on an awesome project when it comes your way because you don’t have space in your design calendar.
These are all things to consider as you look at how you’re pricing your services so you can feel confident about your hourly rate or flat fee you’re putting out there.
The other thing to remember is that your clients don’t know what interior design services and custom products and receiving should cost. It’s your job to educate them on that through your marketing, your website, your investment guide, and in your conversions with them. If you’re charging $350 an hour but aren’t showcasing any of your professionally photographed full-service work, and you don’t have a formal process in place for providing information on your pricing and services before someone inquires, I would guess you’re spending a lot of time talking to people who aren’t a good fit and a lot of time handling pushback from clients on pricing. Read more about the processes you need in your interior design business.
If you can use your marketing and online presence to educate clients about the process, the result, the ease, and the confidence you will bring to their lives, then when you share your design fees with them, they’ll be like “Yeah, that makes sense. Look at everything you do. Look at your work. Obviously.” You’ll find not only that you have less pushback, but that you have more clients who are willing to pay you for the incredible value and expertise you bring to the table.
Another important thing to remember: Design fee minimums and project minimums don’t have to be forever; they can just be for right now. Like how your vendors and factories are adding surcharges because of the change in demand, you can add a surcharge for the increase in your demand and expenses.
HOW TO SHARE YOUR PRICING TO MAKE FOR A BETTER CLIENT EXPERIENCE
It’s all about setting expectations and when it comes to your client experience, that’s the number one thing you can do. If you set the expectation upfront about your pricing your clients will be more comfortable throughout the entire process because they know what things are going to cost.
So, HOW can you set the expectation right now, without hiring help, without taking a thousand hours of your time to get it in place? Start with your client experience and look at the information you’re putting out there. Your marketing. Your investment guide. Your website.
Go to your contact form on your website. Add a question: “What is your project budget, not including design fees?” and then add drop-down options for a client to choose from that START at the lowest minimum project budget you can work with.
Go to your services page on your website and at the bottom include a line that says, “Design fees begin at $XXXXX”. OR, if that is scary, you can write “Due to current demand, there is a TWO/THREE/ETC. room minimum for our full service design projects.”
Look at your expenses to get your cost of doing business number. Break that down into a weekly rate or hourly rate. Compare that to your hourly rate as a designer. Does it make sense? Are you making a liveable wage? Yes, product sales may make up a big chunk of your revenue, but your design fees should pay for your salary.
If you charge hourly, for the love of everything that is sacred, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE track your hours AND bill your clients at least monthly.
If you charge a flat fee or price per square foot, don’t just put the number out there and cross your fingers. Put your flat fee number together, divide that by your hourly rate, and see how many hours that lines up with. If your flat fee or PPSF for a room is $5,000 and your hourly is $200/hour, that means a room should take you 25 hours. Does that seem right? Write down each phase and the hours they take to make sure the hours worked line up with the price charged. Fill in the blanks below and add any additional steps you take your full service clients through:
Initial review of client inspiration images, design questionnaire, and existing home
Welcome meeting/measure meeting
Drawings
Design creation, sourcing, estimates
Design presentation prep
Design presentation
Revisions
Orders and tracking
Project management
Installation prep
Install day (download my complimentary Install Day Process + Install Bag Checklist here)
Post-install support/punch list
Photoshoot
Overall communication throughout the project
Send out an investment or services guide to clients before you get on the phone with them that details your fees, typical project budgets, and any other information they’ll need to know about working with you.
Don’t leave the money conversation for the discovery call--use that time to connect with the prospect!
→ Grab my complimentary guide to learn how to price your interior design services.
INVESTING IN YOUR OWN BUSINESS
It’s always interesting to me when I talk to potential clients who say they want bigger and better projects yet they tell me they can’t afford my prices, they won’t invest in professional headshots or portfolio images, and they can’t afford to hire help. YET, they expect their clients to invest thousands in design fees and tens of thousands in furnishings. It’s like, why would I invest in you if you won’t even invest in yourself, right?
If you follow me on Instagram, then you know the topic of investment vs. expense is one I’ve covered. Here’s that reel.
Personally, I think it’s one of the most vitally important concepts to understand when running your own small business.
There are expenses in business and then there are investments. Expenses are things like paper, printer ink, gas, and postage. Investments are things like branding, employees, professional photography, marketing materials, and gifting strategies.
When you change your mindset from “money taken away” to “money invested”, you’ll begin seeing the valuable returns as well. Not to mention the write-offs of money invested back into your business.
Maybe you’ll see it come back as:
More $$$ coming in from clients who are amazing to work with
An increase in personal time to yourself because now you have much-needed help on tasks you shouldn’t be spending time on anyway
A decrease in complete overwhelm during your day-to-day operations
More time with your precious family
More time to focus on the higher revenue-generating activities in your business
If you’re afraid to invest, there is always a cost involved even if it doesn’t translate numerically. Things like:
Less time with your kids and family
Less time to make yourself a priority in your own life
Less time to explore new avenues of growth for your business
Rising feelings of burnout at every level of your life
Lower quality of work because you’re not operating at your full potential
Next time you’re debating an investment or an expense, ask yourself “Is it really worth it to save a dime and miss out on a dollar?”.
Investments I’ve seen that have high ROIs for interior designers:
Professional photography
Professional help
Software
If you’re ready to invest in your business and want a more streamlined process, fewer questions and less confusion from clients, higher close rates, more confidence, more time back in your day, and a more professional first impression with clients, I’d love for you to check out my done-for-you resources and templates that have been created after working with over a hundred designers and wedding planners combined. If you’re ready to feel confident about your pricing AND have something to send to clients that makes the process of working together easier, from the very first inquiry to the final goodbye, you can check out the templates here.
If you’ve had your eye on these for a while, this is your sign to put them in the cart today.
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