Create a Design Process with Fewer Revisions
If you’re an interior designer and feel like your clients are constantly requesting revisions, this post is for you.
Picture this: You put together a beautiful design based on your clients’ needs, budget, and design style, and when you excitedly present it to them, they want so many revisions that by the time you're done reselecting, it's not even the same design and you're not even sure it reflects what the client wants. Oh, and it means you can’t adequately estimate timelines or your capacity, so you’re definitely more likely to be overwhelmed and overworked (and probably underpaid!).
Back when I had my wedding planning business, I had a single phase design process for my couples. I would start with a discovery call, then if that was a good fit, I’d schedule an in-person or virtual consultation with the couple. If all was good, I’d send my contract with their detailed scope of work and once they signed and paid, I’d send them over my onboarding materials specific to the service they booked (I offered three services).
Once I received their questionnaire and inspiration images, I would prepare their wedding design and present to them virtually (I’d email and send my presentation notes along with it-I don’t think Loom was around yet). I’d then ask for feedback and make revisions in one round, and then once the revisions were approved, I’d move forward with sourcing, lining up vendor meetings to get quotes, and finalizing all the details.
So even though I’m not an interior designer, you can see the process is incredibly similar to the interior design process. The biggest difference is that we had a firm event date, so clients KNEW time was of the essence, whereas with designers I know it’s hard to set the install date right upfront without knowing when the heck your furniture will actually arrive. But that’s a whole separate conversation.
If your clients are requesting a lot of revisions in your design process, below are some things to look at to help you determine what is going wrong and what needs to be refined. If you’re shaking your head at each tip saying, “Yup, I need to do that”, then you’ll love our Client Experience Templates.
HOW STRONG IS YOUR ONBOARDING PROCESS?
When you onboard new clients, are you sending them a design questionnaire (MUST DO), a request for inspiration images with comments about their likes/dislikes (MUST), and scheduling a client onboarding meeting to dig into all their details? For my clients, especially those who are booking months out, this is critical for making sure your client’s project goals are still the same as when you first spoke, and for making sure YOU fully understand their style before diving into any design work.
PRESENT FLOOR PLANS BEFORE DESIGNING THE ROOM.
I'm not a designer but when I'm working on a room for my house, I always start with a furniture layout to see what is possible for the room. I can't imagine starting with the furniture selections first, then crossing my fingers and hoping that everything will work for the size of my room and the function I need in the space. If you're getting a lot of revisions and it's because the client decides on presentation day they really don't want a sectional they'd rather have a sofa and two chairs, then I strongly encourage you to have a floor plan review with your clients before developing their design. This does NOT have to be a meeting. This can be an email with a Loom presentation walking through the options for floor plans so they can decide.
INCLUDE A CONCEPT PHASE.
I don’t think this phase is necessary for every designer, but, even some of my most seasoned designers include a concept phase. Concept phase is a high-level presentation of what you are envisioning for the space. This sets the direction for the design and your clients can provide feedback on the concept so you know you’re on the right path before you spend hours sourcing, quoting, ordering samples, doing renderings, etc.
Sidenote: It is possible to present and have clients request ZERO revisions. You can also nudge clients in that direction with how you write your emails and welcome guides. More here.
DON’T PRESENT MULTIPLE OPTIONS
I’LL NEVER STOP SAYING THIS. Your clients are hiring you so they can have a professional design their home, not so THEY can do it by choosing from the many options you’ve provided them.
If I went to my hairstylist and showed her pictures of what I wanted and she gave me four options of how we could achieve that look, I would be nervous that I'll pick the wrong thing and that would probably send me back to the drawing board to make sure I was really certain about what I wanted, and then I would second guess it for the next 8 weeks if I chose the right thing.
Be the expert. Make your best suggestion. YOU KNOW what will work best for the function and look they are going for, while also knowing what will be a timeless piece they'll love forever. You also had a discovery call, reviewed their questionnaire and inspiration images, talked to them at their onboarding meeting, reviewed floor plans with them, etc. If you still don’t know what is best for them by the time you present the design, then those previous phases need to be assessed because that is the entire point of including them in your process.
Please don't let your clients pick--they’ll second guess themselves and then second guess everything else you presented, too.
Another example: when I’m hiring for my company and scheduling first-round interviews, I cross my fingers and hope there will be only ONE candidate who stands out as the absolute best. Why? Because if there are two who are equally amazing, that is going to take a lot of time for me to schedule second round interviews, do more reference checks, think through it with the team and a colleague who consults on HR with me, and then all the back and forth in my brain of who will be a better fit for what the company needs. If just ONE candidate is the clear standout, I save HOURS and HOURS of time and brain space. This is the same for your clients when you present the BEST option only.
USE RENDERINGS TO SELL THE WHOLE ROOM.
If you're selling a room with a lot of upholstery or that might “push the envelope” a bit for your client, but you KNOW it will be amazing, pay to have a rendering done. Whether this is a digital rendering or a hand-drawn rendering, this will increase the likeliness your client will say YES to the whole design. They are not designers and cannot visualize the finished space as you can, and they don't know what's possible like you do. SHOW THEM the finished product and watch your revision requests go down and your sales go up.
PRESENT EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE.
If you want to create a luxury experience for your clients, then put all your selections together into a beautiful presentation and share the entire design with them at one time. If you present piece by piece, that feels really choppy to your clients and is not efficient for you or your clients, and your clients won’t be able to see how all of the elements work together and may say no to items that actually will be perfect once they see them all together.
REMIND CLIENTS OF YOUR REVISION POLICY.
In your contract. In your welcome guide. Before presentation. After presentation. And once you're doing revisions. As a service provider, it's your job to remind clients how to have the best experience with you at every step. And that means you should be reminding them of your revisions policy and how it's structured to be helpful for them, their timeline, and their budget. Remind them how revisions work when you're confirming their presentation day, when you're sending your presentation day recap, and when you're beginning revisions and entering the end of the revision period.
Personally, I never want to be “the bad client,” so having a designer tell me the “rules” and how it's better for me to stick to them makes me feel really supported so they don’t cringe every time they see an email coming in from me.
HAVE A “WHAT HAPPENS IF I NEED MORE REVISIONS OR DON’T SUBMIT REVISIONS IN TIME” POLICY.
If you’ve worked with me, you know I need to know what you do when clients request more than the included revisions or request them after the revision period has closed. Plug this term into your contract (check out my contract template here) and into your welcome guide AND your presentation day emails reminding clients what happens in this instance. Are additional revisions billed at the hourly rate? Billed at time and a half? Billed at a flat fee? Billed per item? NEVER include unlimited revisions or revisions without a timeline. This puts your clients in the driver’s seat and will make your projects drag on forever.
If your revisions process is the thorn in your side, I’d recommend reviewing each of the phases above to see what you can implement and refine. If you know you need help, check out our client experience templates for interior designers and wedding planners in the Design Library.
Looking for more? Keep reading:
