Everything You Need to Know About Structuring An Interior Design Consultation
Updated March 2024
I see a lot of varying opinions on interior design consultations, how to structure them, and whether to offer them or not.
In this post, I’m going to share my thoughts on how to efficiently and professionally structure an interior design consultation, how to price an interior design consultation, and what to send before, during, and after an interior design consultation. I’ll also share tips on what I see as industry best practices for interior design consultations and what to do if your interior design consultations are taking you HOURS.
BEFORE THE INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTATION COMES THE DISCOVERY CALL
First up, the interior design consultation IS NOT the first step of the client experience process. The inquiry phase is (read more on how to structure an inquiry call here). When a client first finds you online or hears about you, they’ll check out your website, your online reviews, and your social media accounts to see if they like you and your work. If they like and trust what they see, they’ll hopefully inquire about your services through your website contact form (please make sure this has screening questions–but not too many!).
Once they’ve inquired, I recommend sending them an email with your services guide so they have an overview of your process, your prices, and any other specifics about working with you.
If based on their inquiry details their project sounds like it could be a good match for your firm, then you’ll send them information on booking an initial inquiry call. This call is always complimentary and should NEVER last more than 30 minutes. My recommendations are to 1) keep this call at 20 minutes or less, and 2) never book a discovery call until you’ve reviewed the project details AND have sent the potential client your investment guide. Read more here on what to include in your investment guide.
STRUCTURING THE INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTATION
After you’ve done the discovery call, the next step for some designers is to schedule an in-person or virtual consultation. The decision to have interior design consultations as part of the process is up to each designer if they feel it is necessary for them. Some designers like these so they can further vet the client and the project to confirm it’s a good fit. Some designers require these so they can view and/or measure the space in order to prepare a proposal.
In reviewing data from the designers I’ve worked with over the years, designers who are new to business all the way to 30+ years in business, it’s honestly a bit across the board.
65% of my designers require consultations and of those, 50% charge for interior design consultations, and 50% do not charge for interior design consultations.
I’ve found that the newer designers (like 1-5 years) often always require consultations whereas the more seasoned ones are the ones who are less likely to require them. This is because the more seasoned designers have more experience with the nuances of project scopes, preparing accurate proposals, and identifying red flag clients, and often can prepare a proposal straight from blueprints or from a discovery call and don’t need to see a space in person to put together a scope of work.
On the other hand, the seasoned designers who do require them, have a very structured process for their consultations and it saves them much time and headache in the long run.
For most designers, the consultation takes place in person, BUT, if you serve clients in multiple states, the consultation can take place virtually as well via Zoom or Facetime. Again, the two biggest reasons for having a consultation are to make sure the client is a good fit and to make sure you fully understand their scope so you can prepare the proposal.
If you are considering offering consultations as a standalone paid service where you give design advice, which some designers do, that will impact what happens at the consultation, how you structure it, and how you price it (and in this post, I’m speaking specifically about how to structure a consultation if you are using a consultation to prepare a scope of work). If you’re looking to deliver high-quality design guidance in a profitable, efficient, and elevated way. Our Paid Design Advice Consultation Client Experience Kit for Interior Designers includes everything you need to offer a tailored and personalized paid design advice consultation service.
TIP: If you offer Full Service Design as well as a Design Day service, I only recommend doing a consultation for your Full Service option. You would not do an in-person consultation for a productized service. Read more about structuring a Design Day service here.
HOW TO PRICE YOUR INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTATION
Free Consultations. If you are doing a consultation as a way to make sure the client is a good fit, essentially a meet and greet, and it’s 30 minutes or so, my designers often don’t charge for this style of consultation.
However, I don’t think this is necessary to do a “meet and greet” consultation if you have properly vetted them via your contact form, your investment guide, and your inquiry call. BUT, if this is a step in your process and you want to get to know them and do a quick view of their space before sending a contract, you certainly can structure a very short and sweet complimentary meeting as part of your process.
I would not recommend sending any lengthy recap email following the email with your suggestions. I would only recommend sending them a proposal afterward. You should not give design advice for free. Your clients pay for your design advice.
Paid Consultations. I believe my designers should charge for their time and expertise, and if you are doing anything over 30 minutes and are providing insights, opinions, and general suggestions, I recommend charging for the consultation.
I’ve seen most consultations range from 1-2 hours in length with an investment between $150-$750 in price. The average price is around $300-400 for up to 2 hours. The consultation should ALWAYS be a flat fee, no matter what, and should only cost more if travel outside of your normal travel area is required (or just make that a virtual meeting and keep things easy if possible).
WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN BEFORE THE INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTATION
Before the consultation takes place, the below steps should have been completed:
Potential client has filled out your contact form
You have sent the potential client information about your services and pricing
You have completed a complimentary 20-30 minute discovery call with the client
You have determined client is a good fit for your full service design
Once you’ve completed the above steps, then you’ll want to officially schedule a consultation (and please make it easy for them to pay and schedule. I love Acuity for this.)
A big mistake I see is designers NOT collecting payment PRIOR to scheduling the consultation and then they are nervously asking for payment at the consultation OR are too nervous to do it in person and then follow up after the consult and ask for payment only to never receive it because the client doesn’t want to move forward or doesn’t feel like paying. GRRRR!
TIP: Always collect payment PRIOR to confirming a date for the consultation. No payment = no confirmed date for consultation.
Once they have paid the consultation fee and booked their date, I recommend sending out a what to expect email to let them know what happens at a design consultation, and what DOESN’T happen at a design consultation.
This email should also let them know who should attend, how they should prepare, how long it is, what will happen during, and what will happen after.
For some clients we’ve created a short consultation questionnaire and a short what to expect consultation guide that goes out as part of the consultation booking process HOWEVER I don’t think a questionnaire is necessary at this phase of the process. For one, consultations are not money makers and any additional prep work you have to do means these now are taking you even more time to complete (and we’ve not even factored in drive time there and back, follow-up email time, proposal crafting time, etc.).
Also, you should have collected a lot of information from the client already via their initial contact form and their inquiry call, so oftentimes I find a questionnaire is an unnecessary step for most designers. Again, this just means more backend forms to manage, more steps to include, more information to review and remember during the consultation, and more time and work for your client.
My recommendation for the pre-consultation phase is to send an email (bonus points if you want to create a beautiful “What to Expect at Your Design Consultation” pdf and link that in the email) so they know what to expect. Again, if they’re paying, this is an important step for them in deciding if you’re the designer for them, so formalizing this step of the process ensures a professional first impression and an equal level of excitement from you about their project.
WHAT HAPPENS DURING A CONSULTATION
If you’re doing a free consultation, I recommend keeping it short and limiting your pre-consult and post-consult work. This means during your meeting with the client, you’re doing a quick walkthrough of their space and talking through some preliminary possibilities. Again, if you’ve collected sufficient information in your contact form and have done a discovery call, you should already have a good sense of their project. This free consultation is really to meet them in person and make sure they aren’t a red flag client.
If you’re doing a paid consultation, here’s what typically happens:
Introduce yourself, explain how the consultation meeting will go, how long it will last, and what happens after the consult (will you prepare a proposal, etc.)
Get to know the client and their family
Walk through the house/spaces in the scope
Talk about budget, ideas, and possibilities
Measure (if necessary for preparing a price per square foot proposal)*
Share about your design process and what happens next
Answer any questions the client has
TIP: I don’t recommend measuring at the consultation UNLESS you use a PPSF model. Otherwise, measuring is time-consuming and a bit awkward to do in front of someone you just met. Save this for once they’re officially a client.
I know some designers feel the consultation spirals out of control, and the next thing they know, they’re there for hours and the client is trying to get an entire design out of them in sixty minutes. If this sounds like you, I recommend starting off the consultation with a quick, “Here’s how this is going to go” and then explaining how your consults work using the bullets above. You can even bring a checklist to follow yourself so you can make a point of crossing off each item as you complete it.
Some of my designers provide a branded printout to their clients to fill out and take notes during the consultation so the designer is removed from sending a follow-up email after the consultation to recap their ideas and suggestions. Brilliant!
After you’ve done the walk-through and talked through ideas, I recommend sharing about your process and asking what questions they have. Again, they should have already received an investment guide detailing your process, pricing, and popular FAQs, but this is a great time to answer additional questions or highlight any key points about your firm and how you work.
Some designers like to leave printed information with the client, and if this is you, I would recommend leaving an abridged version of your investment guide, talking through your process and the length of each phase, some key frequently asked questions that could be deal-breakers (retail vs. trade, using a receiving warehouse, revisions policies, etc) and letting them know what’s next in the process. You can also consider leaving a copy of your contract BUT that’s a lot of paper and likely the client won’t fully understand or read through it so it could be more alarming than anything. Again–you know your ideal clients best and what will be helpful for them vs stressful.
I have heard some people recommend preparing pricing on the spot and drawing up a contract right then and there, but I personally think that’s difficult to accurately prepare on the spot. I also think it’s incredibly stressful for most designers to be face-to-face during the pricing conversation and they might reduce their pricing out of nervousness. I also think as a client, I need a little time to make my decision, and having something presented on the spot feels a little rushed and high pressure, especially if it’s a big design fee and a large investment.
So while the consultation meeting itself is another great vetting opportunity, for both you and your client, you also want it to be really easy and enjoyable for your client, and sometimes leaving too much information and then saying BYEEEE could be a bit overwhelming and stressful. Again, I want every experience your clients have with you and your company to feel easy, elevated, and simple. How can you make it easy for your client AND for your company?
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE CONSULTATION
After the consultation, I recommend immediately sending a follow-up email letting them know when they can expect their proposal/scope of work/letter of agreement. If you’ve done it right, your potential client is probably SO excited to get the ball rolling with you, and likely very eager to see their proposal so they know what it’s going to cost.
TIP: I recommend sending the proposal within 1-2 days of the consultation. If it’s taking you longer than this, something is off.
If you do proposal meetings, where you present the proposal in person, you’ll want to schedule that at the consultation appointment. My personal thought here is if you’re doing a proposal meeting, this needs to be figured into your price because a second meeting will double the time you’re spending on the consultation. You’ll also want to consider your confidence in presenting pricing to clients as well as your clients: do they have time for a proposal meeting, or would they prefer the convenience of receiving the proposal by email and reviewing it on their own time?
TIP: Put an expiration date on your proposals and remind clients that the proposal will expire in X days so they know to move forward quickly if they want to work with you.
Internally following the consultation meeting, you’ll prepare the scope of work, contract, and budget parameters for the client and send everything over by email within the timeframe you said you’d send it. I highly recommend using a template to streamline this part of the process. Take all the scopes you’ve ever written, plug them into one google doc called “[template] Scope of Work”, and then create a copy of that for each new contract, removing anything that’s not applicable to that project and refining it so the remaining scope and terms ARE relevant.
I’ve had designers go from taking two weeks (2 weeks!!!!) to create a proposal to 2 hours to create a proposal. All because of using this template. You can also grab our done-for-you Canva or Honeybook Proposal Templates to send over in minutes!
Templates are the backbone of any business.
When the proposal is ready, I recommend sending everything in ONE email so it’s nice and easy for your client to sign and pay in one fell swoop. You can also send a personalized Loom video walking through the proposal and inviting them to ask questions once they’ve reviewed it. Read here about why I love Loom for interior designers.
OTHER TIPS FOR STRUCTURING YOUR INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTATION
As you can see, there are many ways to structure your interior design consultation and I hope your biggest takeaway is you should be charging for your time if you are offering them. AND, you should make the consultation process as simple and efficient as possible for both your clients and your company.
Here are some additional tips to consider as you are structuring your interior design consultation:
Look at your consultations and how many of them turn into paid full service projects. If you have a very high conversion rate, YAY!! If you have a low conversion rate, something is wrong and you should dissect your process and see where you can improve.
Some designers REQUIRE a consultation for any service booked (except for a paint consult)
Some designers offer design advice and suggestions right on the spot, some are clear that NO design work will be done
Some designers are totally fine with making this a design advice meeting and are happy to leave the consultation at this: “If you would like to DIY your project, you’ll have my ideas and suggestions to implement on your own. If you’d like my assistance, I’ll prepare a proposal”
Some will apply a portion of the consultation to the final design invoice (if you do this, I would recommend applying this to the last invoice, rather than the first invoice). Some do not apply any of the consultation fee. I more often see none of the fee being applied.
I personally do not recommend sending a follow-up email recapping your suggestions or comments made during the consultation UNLESS you are okay with the consultation being a standalone service. If that’s the case, you definitely have to make sure to charge for this and I would much prefer to see you offer a Design Day service so it’s profitable and rewarding for you (read more on offering a Design Day service here).
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW TO STRUCTURE AN INTERIOR DESIGN CONSULTATION:
SHOULD I GIVE PRICING DURING THE CONSULTATION?
My thoughts here are that potential clients should already know a general starting price for design fees and project budgets based on your investment guide and what you discussed in your discovery call. You can certainly provide an average once you’ve seen their space, if you can. For example, you could say, for renovation projects like yours it usually comes in around $7,500/room and our clients usually spend around $200,000 on renovations and furnishings for these types of rooms.
WHAT IF AFTER THE CONSULTATION I REALIZE IT’S NOT A PROJECT I WANT?
Declining a project is hard, especially because you want to be professional and don’t want to say anything that could later be used against you if the potential client gets upset and shames you online. I recommend wrapping the consultation by letting them know you’ll send additional information in a day or two. Then, I recommend making your decline email as vague as possible. You can let the client know you are not able to accommodate their project and believe a different firm will be better suited. If you have a few designers you can recommend in the area, that is always helpful to soften the blow.
MY CONSULTATIONS END UP TAKING ME HOURS AFTERWARD BECAUSE THE RECAP EMAIL TAKES FOREVER TO PUT TOGETHER. HOW CAN I PUT BOUNDARIES ON THIS?
First, I would guess a long detailed email with suggestions and tips is probably NOT helpful to your clients unless they are DIY clients. And, if this is a consultation simply to prepare a scope of work, your “recap” email should simply let them know when they can expect their scope of work, design fee estimate, and contract. But if the potential client is coming to you for your full service design option, they definitely don’t want a long to-do list of suggestions because that’s what they’re hiring YOU FOR!!
If you are finding you are spending a ton of time typing up recap emails with design suggestions and that your clients are finding this helpful and are acting on it, I would look at the information you’re sending in advance of the consultation and make sure you’re letting them know THEY are responsible for taking those notes during the consultation.
OR, if you are spending hours and it is helpful to your clients, then increase the price of the consultation and advertise that when you talk about what happens at the consultation and why it’s priced how it’s priced.
Again, if potential clients are coming to you for full service design, they likely won’t benefit from a long list of ideas and suggestions AND this will likely open a can of worms of them asking more questions about your recap email which will take even MORE time from you.
Second, if you are finding your clients NEED and WANT all that information after the consult and are acting on it, I would strongly suggest structuring a Design Day service where you can go buck wild with suggestions and create a design plan after the consult AND actually get paid for it. This is why I love it when my designers offer Design Day services (read more here).
I would love to hear how you structure your design consultations (if you offer them) or what questions you have after reading this post. Email me here.
And if you’re ready to get your client experience process in order so each phase is simple, elevated, and efficient for you, your team, and your clients, I’d love for you to check out my Client Experience Email and Canva templates here.
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