Hello, and welcome to episode 149 of Design Curious Podcast.
I'm your host and mentor, Rebecca Ward.
Today on the podcast, we're continuing our series in the
Mindset Shift series. It'll be episode number 2.
And what we're talking about today is moving from trying to
impress your client during the first consultation and instead
trying to lead them through a conversation.
So we're going to demystify how that first client meeting goes
and give you power to show up as the expert and shifting your
mindset. So you're moving from trying to
impress to being the expert. So we will get into that in just
a little bit. But I want to remind you that I
have a online mentorship platform called My Design
Mentor. If you haven't heard about it,
it's for wherever you're at in your journey to become an
interior designer. Whether you're just thinking
about it and have lots of questions or if you've already
started and you're looking to maybe start your business or get
your first clients, I'm there to help you along the way.
So information for that is in the show notes.
Also check out the notes because we have lots of great free
downloads for you, a quiz you can take and a lot of great fun
stuff. So check that out and let's get
into the episode you're. Now listening to design.
Curious. A place.
Where you creative one? Are here.
To learn about what it really is like to be an interior designer.
And I'm your host and mentor. Rebecca Ward.
If you're worried about how to succeed in a creative career.
If you're ready to learn your next steps to become an interior
designer and if you want the satisfaction of doing something
you love. Every day.
You are in the right. Place grab a.
Coffee, a notebook, and let's dig into today's.
Episode OK, let's talk about that first consultation, that
first in person impression you have with your clients.
It can either establish your authority or maybe it's
accidentally undermining it. It's not just a meet and greet.
This is your chance to take the lead and set the tone for the
entire project. Last week we talked about
building a business that supports your life.
And this starts with how you show up from day one.
And so that begins with your first consultation.
So let's get into this mindset shift.
New designers often feel like they have to prove themselves.
They might over explain or worst of all, over deliver and not
charge for all that they're offering.
A lot of times, and this is less the case nowadays, but designers
would do a free consultation. They all show up on site and the
client is expecting them to give them ideas for free and that is
your creativity. Your ideas is so valuable, you
can't just give that away for free, right?
So if you are willing to give it away for free, then that means
maybe you're subtly sending messages to the client that you
don't value what you are offering.
But if you are charging for your consultation, then you can feel
free to give them as much advice and opinions as you have because
you are starting the new project and you want to start it off
right with an air of authority because that's what you are.
You're an expert and you're coming into this with fresh eyes
and creative genius and you're going to transform their lives.
And that's what clients are looking for.
They're looking for a guide to help them through.
You're the Obi Wan Kenobi to Luke Skywalker.
You're not a peer or the best friend, OK?
You're not like going to be all tummy of them most of the time,
but that's not why you're there. You're there to be the expert.
Now you do intend to build a long term relationship because a
lot of the clients I have will be repeat clients and they'll
come back years later when they are ready for the next phase or
it's been 15 years and they need to now update their bathroom
again. There's nothing wrong with
having a long term relationship and then you might get to know
that person really well, but you're really not there to be
their best friend because you're charging them, right?
And even if you're working for your best friend, you should
still be charging that person. So let's talk about how your
confidence can equal clarity when you take the lead in the
consultation. You can actually put the client
at ease a lot of times, even if you've talked to them through
the discovery call about what to expect at the consultation.
A lot of clients when I show up there a little bit nervous,
they'll say sorry for all the mess.
You know, my house doesn't look great or you know that.
And I'm always like, well, that's the whole point why I'm
here, you know, but like, don't judge me because I have messed,
you know, whatever kids, etcetera, etcetera.
So I have to put them at ease first of all for that.
And then they'll say like, I have never done this before.
I've never worked with a designer before.
And what I feel puts the client at ease very quickly as I tell
them that like, well, why don't we walk through the house?
You tell me your pain points, what you love about your house
and what you don't like and what's not working for you.
Basically why you've called me to be here.
And so that allows them to start to walk through a very familiar
place and talk about things they're very familiar with and
very comfortable. So it sets them at ease.
And meanwhile I'm listening. I'm listening and I've already
though by putting that down, I've already guided them into
how we're running this process and it's just a really great way
to start that conversation with your client.
So you're not there to walk in and say, oh wow, you know, this
mirror has to go. It's obvious that is doesn't fit
this room when maybe that was their grandmother's mirror.
And that's the one thing in the room that has to stay.
And so if you've already insulted it, that's not a great
way to start out, right? So your job is to listen, but
also to be the guide. And so they might ask questions
along the way as you're walking through.
And you might not have a solution for that, but you might
be able to tell them like, yeah, that's obviously a pain point
for you when we're going to work on that and workshop a solution
for you. Just oozing with confidence all
the way through. So let's talk a little more
about that confidence. So you're going to start with
your professional but friendly tone.
So like, here's what to expect for today and you'll share the
process. So what you're going to say,
you're going to walk through the house and then we'll sit down
and kind of talk about how we typically work and then the
budget and cost for everything. And so you're setting a
structure and this is a process that's going to be easy for you
to say at that consultation because this is a process that
you are going to do every single consultation.
Doesn't matter what it is, if it's a whole house remodel, if
it's a whole house furnishing, if it's a one room furnishing,
if you're just there for a color consultation, you'll take the
client through the same process every time.
You're going to feel so confident because of that
because it's just a habit and it builds trust and it creates
structure around that consultation.
And everybody loves it when they can relax into something when
structure has been put in place. So you can ask a strong
open-ended questions like what's working, what isn't, How do you
want to feel in this space? What's your timeline and level
of urgency? And then you reiterate back to
them what you've heard. You can say what I'm hearing is
that there's not enough seating in this room when you entertain
and they can then clarify. Or you can say what I'm hearing
is that you really don't love warm colors and be like, Oh
yeah, I hate orange and blue is my favorite, etcetera.
So then after you've done your walkthrough, you can set the
expectations by going through your process of a typical
project. Talk about timelines that would
be expected for this type of a project.
You can talk about your fees and what you typically charge for
this type of project, what they can expect.
And so if you're doing like how I do hourly and bill them
monthly and I tell them, you know, it's really good.
I've heard recently like talk about money quickly and often.
So bring it up quickly in the conversation.
So definitely talk about their budget and everything at that
first consultation and then let them know that you'll be in
communication with them throughout the project.
One of my policies is to e-mail the client every Friday and let
them know what's going on with the project.
So just assure them that they won't need to keep checking in
with you, that you'll keep them updated on anything that is
going on in the project and what you might want to do.
And here's a great tip is to have a branded consultation
guide or outline to help you stay on track while you're at
the consultation. But also it's something that you
could leave with them. Maybe it's something like a
welcome guide that goes over the process that you have explained
to them and talks about typical timelines and budgets and
everything like that and what it's like to work with your
company. So what are some things that you
might want to avoid or maybe common pitfalls for a designer
at this consultation? Well, you don't want to over
explain your pricing or process, so I said that you want to talk
about money quickly and then often, but in an assuring way,
not in an apologetic way. So maybe you're going to tell
them that for redesigning this room it's going to be $20,000.
Often times after you give them a number, you need to be quiet
about it and not keep explaining like, well, it's because it
takes me this little amount of time and I've been at school for
this long and so I think I deserve to blah, blah, blah.
You don't have to make those qualifications to the client.
Tell them the number and then be quiet about it or move on to the
next part of the process. So don't over explain your
pricing and don't over explain the process so much that they
get lost in the weeds. And all of that detail is not
necessary at that initial consultation unless they ask for
it, but it's unlikely. You also don't want to fall into
people pleasing at this consultation.
So don't say yes to unrealistic request something that's outside
of your expertise. You can tell them that you might
think about adding that on as a phase, but that you haven't
approached that before in your career and this would be a new
venture. So you need time to consider how
to add that request on to what they're asking for.
So don't feel like you immediately have to say yes.
If they said I want to do the outside backyard as well, can
you do that for me? Well, maybe you've never done
landscape design. Maybe you know nothing about
plants and you probably shouldn't be doing that anyway.
You can tell them that yes, I can do the furnishings for
outside. I haven't done an outside
kitchen before. So maybe let's partner with a
landscape designer to design this together so you don't have
to say yes to every request that they have at the consultation.
So that don't do that. We've talked about not working
for free. Don't give away everything until
they've hired you. So you're not going to be doing
any drawings for them or anything like that until they
actually have signed the contract.
And then don't ask open-ended questions, I guess, or weak
styled questions for the client. Leaves them in too much of A
Gray area instead of giving clarity.
So don't say something like what kind of design style do you
like. Instead say, here's 5 different
styles. Do you find one that you're
drawn to more than the other? Because they might not know what
design style they like. They don't know the word to put
to it. It's a discovery process that
you do together and you're going to guide them through that
instead of expecting them to have those types of answers
where it really falls in line with your expertise.
So the consultation isn't a project, it's a gateway to the
project. So keep that in mind.
And then how do we position ourselves as the authority or
the expert in a subtle way? So your language matters instead
of I think say based on my experience, it's really great to
say experience has shown me that this is the best way to do it.
Or based on my experience, a typical bathroom remodels
$50,000, you can't do it for 5. Instead of saying, I think that
your budget is not big enough because you want to keep hinting
to them that you have experience and even if you are green, that
you have learned from gleaning from other people, from other
colleagues. You might have heard someone say
that the bathroom costs 50,000 starting in your area.
Someone says they want to do it for five.
You can say, based on my knowledge about this, I don't
think that your budget would be sufficient.
There are ways to frame it. It'll take practice.
Maybe you could practice on a friend or a family member.
But you can also use a collaborative phrase to build
confidence. Say something like what I
recommend for your goals is because you can always get, I
mean, that's why you're there to Give your opinion and your
recommendation. So you can always turn it around
to like your recommendation is something that's going to suit
what their goal is for that project.
Bring your energy as the leader in the conversation.
Be warm, but clear clarity is key for the consultation.
You want them to have confidence through that clarity and then
let them see you as the solution to their overwhelm.
Often times at a consultation, the client said, well, I went to
five different tile stores. I, I just couldn't decide
anything. I was overwhelmed.
And so that's why I decided to call you.
And that's great. So you can tell them that like I
deal with tile all the time. So it's, you know, I'm just
going to show you a few of the best options and then you don't
have to even think about the other tile that's in the room.
So that's another way to show them that you are the guide, you
are the expert. So how are you feeling about
that initial consultation? Just in summary, I want you to
review how you flow with a consultation.
Make sure you're driving it. Even if you're listening most of
the time that you're still asking them and prompting them
to the next step in that process of the consultation.
Is there any part that's making you feel unsure about the
consultation? Then maybe it's time to regroup,
maybe ask a friend, maybe get in my design mentor.
We can workshop your consultations and see how you
can maybe maybe you're not converting from your initial
consultation into the project, so we can talk about how to
tweak your consultation to make sure that the clients are ready
to sign and ready to go and excited about hiring you as
their designer. As we're in this Mindset shift
series, I want you to choose one.
Think about maybe a new question to ask yourself or a phrase that
you need to stop saying to yourself or a way to better set
expectations for your clients. Think of a new question to ask
your client, maybe a better phrase of that question and and
better way to to prompt the client for better responses.
Or maybe you can get a phrase that you need to.
There's maybe there's a phrase that you need to stop saying.
Oftentimes it's the word just in front of whatever you're going
to describe yourself as. But yeah, there's many phrases
that we might put ourselves down and maybe counteract the fact
that we are there as the expert and you're just putting yourself
down and not trusting in your own value.
And then maybe there's a way to better set expectations for your
clients going into that consultation so they can
convert. So a lot of things to think
about that initial consultation, it's a really important step in
the process. If this goes well, if your
consultation goes well, then that is a great indicator for
the rest of the project. So let's get this one aligned
and have you thinking positively and correctly for this mindset.
So hopefully you found that helpful to create a mindset
shift and I hope you are enjoying this series.
If this episode gave you some new ideas for how to confidently
lead your consultations, share it with another designer or tag
me with your favorite take away from the episode.
Don't miss the next episode where we talk about becoming
ACEO of your business and not just the creative.
So that will be in episode 151 next week.
We're going to have a great interview.
So until then, stay creative. Thanks for listening if you
love. This episode.
Please leave a rating and a review.
This helps me reach other. Curious creatives like you if
you have a topic request. Or would like to contact me?
Simply head over to my website, awardesigncom or e-mail me.
At Podcast at. Awardesigncom.