Updated March 2023

Dear Dakota,
How do I not give away all my ideas, solutions, and advice during a free consultation walk-through for a potential project?

This is such a great question - and a VERY common problem!

If you’re doing a free or paid consultation in a potential client’s home BEFORE they have officially contracted you for their project, I completely understand how hard it is NOT to share all your ideas.

Because interior designers can typically instantly visualize HOW a space will look when it’s designed properly, they can hardly help but have thoughts (good ones!) form in their mind and spill out into the conversation — it’s part of the conceptual design process that designers are so talented at. But then, they realize that — in verbalizing those thoughts — they have just played their hand, so to speak, and provided a wealth of valuable design ideas and solutions.

If your marketing is working to attract the RIGHT type of clients, then this typically isn’t an issue - your ideal clients are NOT going to take your ideas and run with them on their own. This is more the case for bad-fit clients: they weren’t really planning to hire you anyway (Or they would have been a nightmare to work with because they really want to be heavily involved or the budget is a stretch), so they actually WILL take your ideas and shop them to a cheaper designer down the street.

BUT, I think you first must make it clear what IS and ISN’T included in your consultation.

Do you provide design advice?
Do you review their ideas?
Do you look at inspiration pictures?

While I have thoughts about how a consultation should flow to optimize the purpose of even doing one in the first place (they are not always necessary, and I do NOT believe every designer needs to have one as part of their process), you need to communicate in advance what will happen at the consultation. This way, if you say, “We won’t be doing any design work, but we will walk through your home and discuss your goals and budget.”, then you'll have set up some protection for yourself to NOT give away all your ideas during the consult. Then, of course, any reminder emails or appointment follow-ups will reiterate what the potential client can expect during the consultation.

But, if you’re finding you just can’t help yourself AND it’s causing a drop in conversions (meaning, the people you’re doing consults for aren’t hiring you for the full project), then it appears you are attracting clients who are NOT a good fit for your full-service offerings anyway.

So, let’s talk about a few ways to handle this problem:

Stop doing consultations for free. If you know you’re going to give away valuable advice, then turn the consultation into a paid step of your process. If clients move forward with a full-service project after the consult, you can always apply that fee to their total design fees if you want. ← You have to look at what’s happening AFTER you give the free advice. Do they hire you? Do they not hire you? Is it working in your favor to give the free advice, or is it working against you? Or do you not like it because it drains you? These answers will tell you if you should make this a paid part of your process or not.
Create a standalone paid design consultation service for clients who want advice but don't want to hire a designer for full service. Charge for a "working" design consultation where the client knows you'll be giving them advice on the fly, and they can do what they want with your suggestions. Check out our Paid Design Advice Consultation Client Experience Kit for Interior Designers here.

Typically, these are set for a maximum amount of time (like 1.5-2.0 hours) and are charged at a much higher rate than your regular hourly rate since there is an opportunity cost for you to do work that doesn’t result in furniture sales or a photo-worthy project. This service is NOT for your full-service client who will want you to implement; this is for the client who wants to DIY their project.
If you don't want to give away this much advice, shorten the consultation time and put structure around what will happen. Let clients know ahead of time that there is no design advice given during the consultation walk-through. That will be saved for once you officially begin their project and have full clarity into their style, goals, budget, and requirements. Then, during the consult, refrain from discussing any specifics. Instead, weigh in more on what's feasible and end with a redirect: "That’s definitely something we could explore once we officially start working together."

I know it can be hard not to give away so much (hi, have you read my blog or The Weekly Install™…), but if you establish the expectations in advance and set an agenda at the beginning of your consultation, it can help to protect you from giving it all away.

Plus, if giving it all away at consultations is hurting your ability to convert those consults into paid full-service projects, you also have a marketing issue at hand (you’re attracting DIY clients, not full-service ones), so you’ll want to take a look at that and fix it.

Remember this: Providing design advice is a paid service because you're responsible for those decisions and how they play out. And the ideas that spill out of you are grounded in years of experience, significant expertise, artistic vision, and personal talent. This is why you only share design advice once you have a signed agreement and know the client's goals inside and out — this way, you can make recommendations that will be PERFECT for them!