If you don't go into a grocery store and tell the produce guy,
how much did you guys actually buy these apples for?
Because you're selling them for like a dollar a piece, but I
think you only bought it for $0.25.
And so I don't think you should be making $0.75 on that apple.
That's not fair to me. Can I buy this cheaper somewhere
else? Nobody does that, right?
But they do that to interior designers.
That's exactly what they're doing.
So that's kind of the the result though I think of these TV
programs, I think this really has shifted our industry and it
as a result, people completely misunderstand the role of a
designer. 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.
Hello, and welcome to episode 187 of Design Curious podcast.
Today on the podcast, I'm talking about why most interior
designers struggle to get clients and it's not what you
think. It's not talent.
Most designers assume that if they were just more talented or
more experienced or had a bigger portfolio, they would finally
get clients. But that's not actually what's
happening. So we're going to get into that
in the episode. And before we do, I want to
remind you I have that replay of the webinar I did before the
last boot camp. It's called From Passion to
Profit, 5 Money Moves to Start your interior design business,
right? And you can catch that replay.
It was very well received and I had some good information in
there for making wise money decisions when you're starting
your business as an interior designer.
So you can find a link for that in the show notes.
It's also on my podcast page on the website at our award
design.com. So go and check that out.
All right, let's talk about what is actually the problem for
designers when they're not getting clients.
So the truth is there are incredibly talented designers
out there who are struggling to get work, and there's good but
not exceptional designers out there who are fully booked.
So what's the difference? It's not talent, obviously.
It's how those designers think about their value and
communicate it is what's setting them apart.
So let's break that down. Imposter syndrome is something
that we need to talk about often because it comes up a lot,
right? So imposter syndrome is quietly
running the show of these designers who aren't getting
booked because they might enter the industry because they love
creativity and beauty. We all do, right?
We have a passion for design. But the moment they start
charging real money for their services, something creeps in
and that's imposter syndrome. So they might be thinking, who
am I to charge for this? What if the client doesn't like
it? Maybe I should lower my price
until I get more experience. What happens as a result?
Well, they unintentionally position themselves as less
valuable to the prospective client.
It's not that they have no talent OR have less talent than
anyone else, it's just that they don't see themselves as valuable
and as a result, they over deliver.
They might undercharge, over explain and apologize for the
pricing because they don't really believe in the pricing
themselves. The common misconception of
designers is that anybody could do this.
I'm just the one doing it. And that's not true.
You have a talent, you have a special vision and ability to
put a room together, to design it, to anticipate the needs of
the client and all those things that go into design as well as
managing. There's a million things that
have to go into the project. It is a very, very important
job. It's not brain surgery as some
people say, but it has a lot of steps and a lot of details and
it is a really, really undervalued career.
Clients can feel that lack of confidence immediately when they
see like, oh, you, you're only charging $100 for an hour for
your services and you've been working for five years and this
client over here is charging $300.00 an hour and they've been
working for three years. So what's the difference here?
Well, the difference is mindset. And the confidence signals
expertise and expertise attracts clients.
The confident designer, the one who believes that what they're
doing is unique, that they have a unique position in life to be
able to design and to change people's lives through that.
That is valuable. The clients will pick up on that
and they need to be charging appropriately for it.
I've heard it said like if you're going in for a facelift,
you don't want to get the cheapest surgeon around, right?
You want the one who is probably the most expensive because you
are perceiving that they are charging a lot because they know
more and that they can do a better job.
All right. The other point that might come
up is that designers are actually selling the wrong
thing. So most designers will market
themselves like this. They'll say I create beautiful
spaces and that is the truth. We all do create beautiful
spaces, but that's the least interesting thing about what we
do, right? Beauty is subjective, so not
everyone's going to think that you create beautiful spaces, but
the what the client is actually wanting to hear from you besides
that you create beautiful spaces.
That's a given, right? They are expecting.
If you're a designer for a living, then you should be able
to create a beautiful space. But what they really need is a
home that functions better. A space that will reduce stress,
a space that reflects who they are and a home that they're
proud to welcome people into and entertain, and a home that
supports how they live day in and day out.
So that is what designers really need to hit home, is that they
don't just decorate, They're not just pillow fluffers.
And that they actually can change how people live, how they
move through a space, how they feel when they walk in the door,
how the families gather, how work happens at home and how
rest happens at night. It's not just decoration.
Yes, we can decorate. That's fine, But that is not the
primary goal of interior design. We want human focused design for
these houses. Someone's going to live there.
Someone needs to use that beautiful desk, that sofa.
Someone's going to sit on that. Do they have a dog?
You know, there's so many things that go to consider the
selections that you're making besides just that.
It's beautiful. Most designers don't really talk
about it that way. There's a great book called
Story Brand by Donald Miller. I have it on my book list.
It was one that really opened my eyes to see that the copy on my
website and my communications through social media and other
platforms really needs to be focused on the client and what
their needs are and what their problem is and how I can solve
that problem for them and that they are actually the hero in
the story. I'm just the guide to guide them
through it. It's a complete mindset shift
for a lot of designers because most designers will just see
their website as a portfolio, digital portfolio, a place to
park their beautiful projects. There's usually hardly any copy
on there. It's just the, the projects
speak for themselves, right? And then contact me here if you
want to work with me. I know that if I were the
consumer looking at those websites, I would want more
information before reaching out. What kind of process do you
have? How much would it typically
cost? All these things I think would
be beneficial for a client wanting to update their space or
build a new house or whatever it is they come to interior
designers for. All right?
Another point that might come up is that designers underestimate
the science of what they do. So there's an entire body of
knowledge around how environments affect people,
lighting effects, circadian rhythms.
We know circadian rhythms. That's like when your body
naturally wants to wake up and be active and then start
relaxing in the evening and it kind of follows the sun through
the day. So changing the lighting to
match like what the daylight is happening outside.
You don't want daylight at 11 O clock at night in your living
room. You want it to be more
candlelight because it's soft and it helps you to wind down
for the day. Looking at what colors can
affect your mood. Looking at furniture layout and
how it affects conversation connection in a space.
I recently went to a talk on Feng shui.
We've also had Feng Shui expert on the podcast and there's a lot
that goes into that. By rearranging the furniture in
a space, you can open up conversation and then make it
feel inviting and connective to other spaces in the house.
Clutter can also affect cognitive load and stress in a
space. It can be overwhelming.
It can affect your personal, your actual physical health and
mental health. And so designers actually fairly
intuitively understand a lot of these things.
They might not know surface level what they're doing, but
they are in tune with what the space needs and how to create it
for the client. So they're probably doing a lot
of these things naturally and it, it's great to study the
science in design to understand actually what you're doing and
put words to it and help educate your client.
Like This is why I made these selections.
Because the science proves that when you're in the space in the
evening, you're going to want lower lights.
We're going to have dimmers. We're going to have, you know,
lower Kelvins just so that it's softer and it gets you prepared
for resting and for sleep. But the industry often markets
design like it's just throw pillows, pretty finishes.
And in reality, design sits at the intersection of psychology,
architecture, ergonomics, behavior psychology, sensory
experience. All of this comes together.
And there's actually a program called Science in Design.
It's a curriculum that some of my colleagues have been taking,
and I'm very interested in taking myself.
And it gets quite rigorous, but it proves the point that design
is not frivolous. It's deeply tied to human
well-being. OK, another thing we need to
talk about is the HGTV consumer problem, as I would call it.
Or it could just be any home network TV channel, doesn't have
to be HGTV, where this kind of changed the culture, right?
If for interior designers, all of a sudden people were seeing
remodels happen and there's a lot of information that was
being left out of these remodels or these new builds or these
refurnishings of spaces and, you know, swapping with your
neighbor and just designing on a dime.
And people love watching these television shows.
It's entertaining, it's inspiring.
And then it also has a backlash, though.
It's trained people to think that design is easy and
designers just pick things out and that everything should be
itemized so that they can see how much each item costs and
that they can just take that list to Amazon and just purchase
everything that they need. And then anyone can source those
products online. And designers are just marking
things up so that they can make some money, but they're not
actually needing to do that. So this the consumer starts
asking, well, how much are you making on this project?
And can I buy this for a cheaper somewhere else?
And can you just tell me where to get everything?
I mean, you wouldn't, people wouldn't do this for other
industries. You don't go into a grocery
store and tell the produce guy, how much did you guys actually
buy these apples for? Because you're selling them for
like a dollar apiece. But I think you only bought it
for $0.25. And so I don't think you should
be making $0.75 on that apple. That's not fair to me.
Can I buy this cheaper somewhere else?
Nobody does that, right? But they do that to interior
designers. That's exactly what they're
doing. So that's kind of the result,
though, I think of these TV programs.
I'm on a soapbox here, but you know, bear with me.
I think this really has shifted our industry and as a result,
people completely misunderstand the role of a designer.
Clients are not wanting to pay for the products.
They're not understanding that what they're actually needing to
pay for from a designer is vision to curate it to problem
solve, make those million decisions that they would have
to make on their own. Avoiding costly mistakes is
huge. Like doing it right the first
time saves you so much money than doing it five times the
wrong way, right? Accessing trade resources,
saving time, creating cohesion throughout the space instead of
just being really kitschy and having one room be this thing,
one room be that thing. A designer can help clients
spend their money better than they could on their own.
So that's kind of key, like I think needs to be communicated
to the public is that designers actually save you money, even
though we cost a lot of money because we're worth it, first of
all, but we're also, we have a great talent, but we are
actually going to spend your money better than you can when
it comes to your home. And so that value is enormous.
It's really hard, though, for designers to adapt that mindset,
to communicate that to their clients.
And so I think designers kind of need to take back their power a
little bit in this area. And this is where I believe the
industry needs to shift. Designers need to stop
positioning themselves like retail assistance.
I mean, they've got stores for that, right?
They do free design services by shopping in their store.
You're not a shopping guide and you're not just a sourcing
service. You're actually an expert
consultant in the built environment.
And designers see things other stone.
They see scale issues, lighting problems, architectural
imbalance, and you know when if room doesn't feel right, the
visual weight of it. They see how materials interact
with each other. They have vision and that's so
much broader and they can fathom scope so much better than a lot
of their clients. And they can see how color moves
through a home. It's like another sense that we
have, right? And there may be a client here
or there who actually has that. Maybe they should have been a
designer and maybe they can design their own.
That's fine. They shouldn't maybe be hiring a
designer. Maybe they should just do on
their own. But not everybody can do what a
designer does, is my point. Designers shape the environment
where someone's life happens every day, and that's owerful
work. And when designers start
communicating that clearly, things will start to change and
clients will begin to see the value as well.
By communicating all those things I just talked about,
adapting that mindset and then coming full circle and letting
your client know, OK, I'm not just your shopping buddy here.
I'm not just going to hand you a list and be like, that's all I'm
valuable for now. I can actually save you money.
I can spend your money better than you can.
I have vision. You need to pay me because I can
improve your life, right? OK, closing thoughts about this
is that I know that we all struggle with imposter syndrome
sometimes, especially when you're starting out or you've
been doing it for a little while, but then all of a sudden
you're slow, you know? And it's usually not because
you're not talented. It's really just not
communicating your expertise, your value, your impact for the
client. And then making sure that you're
running the show too. Like if they hire you, you get
to be the decision maker for the project, you get to be the
project manager, you get to direct that show, right?
You're the director for that show that you're putting on.
And also look into the science and design.
And when designers start talking about design as psychology and
lifestyle transformation and human well-being, it's less
about the price of what you're charging.
It's more about the value that you're bringing to someone's
life. Right?
OK, so I'm going to stop there. But I think that's a really
important discussion to have. And I've struggled with at
different times throughout my career.
So I know that you're going to struggle with it too.
So, so maybe flag this episode to come back and listen to it
the next time you're feeling that struggle and understand
that you actually do make a difference in your clients lives
and they need you and charge well for it.
You got to make a living. OK?
I try not to get too much on my soapbox, but sometimes I get all
worked up because I want you guys to really be able to make a
living at what you do at cuz you do it well and you work hard for
your money, right? So you should get really get
rewarded for that. And I want you to value yourself
too. Most of all self value
designers. Come on, you're worthy of all of
that good praise and feedback and awards that you submit for
and all of that. So go out there and really start
taking yourself seriously, do some research on the science and
design and also just adjust your mindset and take a take a look
to see where you're at. And I'm sure by adjusting all
these things that it will start to resonate with clients who
actually are going to value you for what you do and not just the
shopping list that you can give them.
So take a look at that. And that's all I have for you
this week. Don't forget about my design
mentor. If you're looking for someone on
one, work with me. I'd love to have you in my
mentorship program, which is online, easy access.
You can also schedule coaching calls with me through that.
All right, next week we'll have another great episode.
And 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 arworddesign.com or e-mail me at
podcast@arworddesign.com.