Pro Tips for Interior Designers: How to Boost Your Business
Learn from a designer with 40 years of success: 3 proven techniques to please clients and increase revenues
Becky Dietrich
21 February 2018
As design professionals, we all wince at the suggestion that we are salespeople. After all, salespeople sell cars and vacuums. We are interior designers.
Sorry, folks, we are salespeople – except instead of selling widgets, we are selling beautiful rooms.
I can hear you muttering, “Who is Becky, anyway, to lecture us about interior design?” That’s an excellent question, so let me share my credentials. I have a four-decade career in interior design: three as sole proprietor of my own successful design studio, and one as the top-selling interior designer in the world for a major American furniture retailer.
How do I define success? By a trail of delighted clients who got way more than they expected, and who opened their wallets to demonstrate that delight – which made it possible for me to pay my bills.
Sorry, folks, we are salespeople – except instead of selling widgets, we are selling beautiful rooms.
I can hear you muttering, “Who is Becky, anyway, to lecture us about interior design?” That’s an excellent question, so let me share my credentials. I have a four-decade career in interior design: three as sole proprietor of my own successful design studio, and one as the top-selling interior designer in the world for a major American furniture retailer.
How do I define success? By a trail of delighted clients who got way more than they expected, and who opened their wallets to demonstrate that delight – which made it possible for me to pay my bills.
I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times a prospective client walked in the door and said, “I have plenty of money to spend, but I don’t know what I am doing, so I just want you to do it for me.” And half of those were – how shall I say this? – not exactly being forthright.
Sure, there’s the rarefied 1 per cent out there, whose houses we lust over in Traditional Home and Architectural Digest. But for most of us, clients are normal, average people who:
Sure, there’s the rarefied 1 per cent out there, whose houses we lust over in Traditional Home and Architectural Digest. But for most of us, clients are normal, average people who:
- Want a beautiful home, by their definition, not ours.
- Don’t want to break the bank to do it.
- And often think of us, their decorator or interior designer, as a necessary evil.
Listen
Put as crassly as possible, it is not all about us. Sure, we are professionals with great portfolios and a cache of ideas that should make any client marvel. But often the potential customers who walk through our door cares little about that. They want someone who will – also somewhat crassly put – shut up and listen.
I have been with designers who walked into a client’s home and immediately inserted foot into mouth. They would say something like, “That piece really does not go at all; we need to replace that for sure.”
“Really?” the client would reply. “You mean that chest that belonged to my mother who just died after a long and nasty battle with cancer, and who begged me on her deathbed to keep this in memory of her?”
Put as crassly as possible, it is not all about us. Sure, we are professionals with great portfolios and a cache of ideas that should make any client marvel. But often the potential customers who walk through our door cares little about that. They want someone who will – also somewhat crassly put – shut up and listen.
I have been with designers who walked into a client’s home and immediately inserted foot into mouth. They would say something like, “That piece really does not go at all; we need to replace that for sure.”
“Really?” the client would reply. “You mean that chest that belonged to my mother who just died after a long and nasty battle with cancer, and who begged me on her deathbed to keep this in memory of her?”
Lesson 1: Make no proclamations. Ask questions and listen to the answers.
Had this designer looked at the offending chest and said to her potential client, “Tell me about this piece,” she would have gained invaluable insight about her client, and would have started the arduous but necessary task of building a long-term relationship, rather than alienating the client and losing a job.
Had this designer looked at the offending chest and said to her potential client, “Tell me about this piece,” she would have gained invaluable insight about her client, and would have started the arduous but necessary task of building a long-term relationship, rather than alienating the client and losing a job.
Write
Quite literally, listen to everything clients say and the words they use to say it, and write everything down.
If they tell you they want a warm and cosy room, write “warm and cosy” in your notes. If they say they like funky and organic, write “funky and organic” in your notes. If they say they want to mix Marrakech with stuffed elk, write that down (you can barf later). If they say they like a firm sofa with a shallow seat, write that down. And for Pete’s sake, if they say they like red, turquoise and yellow, write that down!
Quite literally, listen to everything clients say and the words they use to say it, and write everything down.
If they tell you they want a warm and cosy room, write “warm and cosy” in your notes. If they say they like funky and organic, write “funky and organic” in your notes. If they say they want to mix Marrakech with stuffed elk, write that down (you can barf later). If they say they like a firm sofa with a shallow seat, write that down. And for Pete’s sake, if they say they like red, turquoise and yellow, write that down!
I was asked by my boss a few years ago to go to an irate customer’s house and do a mea culpa for the company. I had barely cleared the doorway before the customer grabbed me (figuratively) by the throat and told me her story. She had met with one of our senior designers because she wanted a complete redo of her main living areas. Her only stipulation was that she did not want whites or creams. “Give me some colour,” had been her emphatic declaration.
When our designer presented her plan to this client, she had, in her superior wisdom, chosen a totally white and cream palette. Hello? What part of “It’s not all about me and my expertise” had our designer not grasped?
How to clearly communicate your design ideas to an interior designer
When our designer presented her plan to this client, she had, in her superior wisdom, chosen a totally white and cream palette. Hello? What part of “It’s not all about me and my expertise” had our designer not grasped?
How to clearly communicate your design ideas to an interior designer
Repeat
When you meet with clients to present your design, repeat back to them exactly the words they spoke to you. When you show them your storyboard or your chosen fabrics, use the exact words “warm and cosy” or “funky and organic.” Trust me, they will not even notice that you are simply repeating their words back to them. Rather, they will say something like, “Wow, you read my mind!”
You will have accomplished that pinnacle of selling: showing your clients you care about them enough to listen to them.
When you meet with clients to present your design, repeat back to them exactly the words they spoke to you. When you show them your storyboard or your chosen fabrics, use the exact words “warm and cosy” or “funky and organic.” Trust me, they will not even notice that you are simply repeating their words back to them. Rather, they will say something like, “Wow, you read my mind!”
You will have accomplished that pinnacle of selling: showing your clients you care about them enough to listen to them.
When you show them a classy design that gives the feeling of Marrakech and stuffed elk without actually going there, the fact that you use exactly those words to describe it will almost always get them to embrace your concept.
At this point, you might be rolling your eyes at what seems to be a blatant ploy. Seriously, it is notthat. It is going out of your way to serve your clients well: to honor their wishes and hopes for their homes. And you will virtually guarantee yourself clients for life in the process.
TELL US
Have you worked with an interior designer before? What’s one good and one bad thing about that experience? Share in the Comments below.
At this point, you might be rolling your eyes at what seems to be a blatant ploy. Seriously, it is notthat. It is going out of your way to serve your clients well: to honor their wishes and hopes for their homes. And you will virtually guarantee yourself clients for life in the process.
TELL US
Have you worked with an interior designer before? What’s one good and one bad thing about that experience? Share in the Comments below.
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Very simple principles that deliver a very successful outcome for all involved. Most of us don't listen well & it is a extremely important skill set for our business but also for life in general. Its our job as designers to deliver the clients personal vision & requirements to the best of our ability. You are right...it is not about us...it's all about them & giving them the welcoming, personal sanctuary that will bring THEM comfort & enjoy for years to come. I love what I do! My clients invite me into their homes & families & entrust me with that very private part of their lives. I take that responsibility very seriously.
"Thank you" Becky for sharing your words of wisdom.
Great article! It is about being of service to our fellow human being. The only way to go!
Thank you for writing this. No matter how long we have worked with clients, nothing says customer service better than listening and taking to heart what your customer wants! I like your way of explaining how we (as Interior Designers) can still give the client what they want without being too literal.