Top 10 Ways to Create Happy Client Relationships and Prevent Disasters- Part 1

Decorati is excited to introduce our newest guest blogger, Gail Doby, ASID. Gail is co-founder and Chief Vision Officer of Design Success University and is an Interior Design Business Success Mentor to thousands of interior designers globally.

Decorati asked me to write this post and I think it is a topic that could easily expand to hundreds of ways to create happy client relationships and prevent disasters. I’ll start with ten for now, and feel free to comment with your own best practices so we can help our colleagues, too.

The business of interior design is full of potential landmines, and many are related to how you communicate with your clients about money, schedules and responsibilities.

Consumer attitudes have changed dramatically since the recession started in 2007. While the Internet & HGTV have expanded interest in interior design, they have also created an army of savvy shoppers who may choose to purchase their own furnishings. Consumers have always been the biggest competitors for your services over other interior designers, and now they are more aware of design options than ever before.

We can be our own worst enemies when establishing client relationships. Your decisions about your ideal clients are more important than the potential for revenue. Please don’t take a client just because you need or want the business. Prevent disasters! Click MORE to keep reading…

1. Decide how you will and won’t work before you have your next conversation with a prospective client. Add the qualifying questions to your telephone interview list so you determine the deal-breakers before you spend time meeting in person. There are a few professions that are difficult to deal with (feel free to ask me if you want to know which ones I avoid), and I try to find out before the conversation leads to the first meeting. If you haven’t completed the exercise of clearly defining your ideal client, it should include demographics (age, income level, profession), psychographics (likes, dislikes and values), personality characteristics, technographics (their knowledge and affinity toward email, the Internet, etc.), and I also suggest you include specific personality traits or other attributes you don’t want to work with. If someone has worked with more than one designer and they are critical of all of them, run the other way. You’ll save yourself a tremendous amount of stress, time and money by avoiding difficult clients.

2. Create a script for your questions and for your initial conversations with your prospects and your clients. As Harv Eker, a savvy businessman said, “how you do anything is how you do everything.” Establish your professionalism, process and dialogue from the very beginning. Practice in front of a mirror if you aren’t comfortable practicing with your friends.

3. Compile a list of issues or questions that you’ve encountered with previous clients and turn that into a Frequently Asked Questions About Working With An Interior Designer report. Offer this FAQ to your prospective clients prior to your first meeting. You’ll have an entirely different conversation if you surface the issues early.

4. Work on your courage and self esteem. Many of the biggest problems that arise with clients are due to the fear of asking questions that may appear nosy such as how much they’ve budgeted or decided to invest for fear of how a client or prospect will react. How do you handle this? Be proactive. Think about what can and has gone wrong in previous client relationships. How can you address this in the beginning part of your relationship with your clients? Having the difficult decisions before you begin your client relationship ensures that it will be much smoother, or you will at least you will have a means to address the problems when they arise.

5. Ask your clients how they prefer to work. Do they want to do their own purchasing? Do they want you to purchase some items for them? Do they want you to purchase everything for them? Explain the benefits of you managing the process for them as well as the problems that occur when you don’t manage the entire process. If you don’t want to allow your clients to do their own purchasing, then you need to address this before signing a contract and becoming upset when a new piece of furniture arrives without your assistance.

I’d love to hear your feedback and additions to this list. Feel free to leave your comments below.

Keep an eye out tomorrow for more tips from Gail in Top 10 Ways to Create Happy Client Relationships and Prevent Disasters- Part 2.

DSU’s Business Mastery Membership and classes include Value Based Fees, Marketing Intensives, and Interior Design Masterminds. Click here to get your complimentary copy of DSU’s Interior Design Fee & Salary Survey eBook and IDEAS newsletter subscription filled with inspiration, business tips and time-saving resources.

Photography by Photographer-Paul Brokering

Design by Nielsen-Wilson Design, LLC.