Nine Mistakes Interior Designers Make When Presenting Design Fee Proposals and Contracts

Using a contract in your interior design business is key to protecting yourself, setting expectations with clients, and showing up as a professional. I’ve reviewed a lot of contracts and quite enjoy it (crazy as that sounds, this is from my wedding planning days when I would review and negotiate contracts on behalf of my clients). In this post, I share nine mistakes interior designers make with their interior design contracts.

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney, and this is not legal advice.

Mistake #1: Not Using a Template To Prepare Scopes of Work For Interior Design Projects

Ensure as little resistance as possible when sending proposals to prospects.

Why?

Because pricing a large project with many unknowns can already feel hard/scary enough (well unless you’ve watched my Pricing & Proposals Workshop and have my Full-Service Scope & Service Agreement with sample scopes of work).

You want to remove as much difficulty as possible so you can get the proposal out while interest is hot!

Create a template that includes all the scopes you’ve ever sent. I’m a fan of having everything in one document, but I know some businesses have a scope of work in one document and a contract in a separate document. That is totally fine as long as the contract is specific to the service and the scope is specific to the client and the work you are doing for them.

Mistake #2: The Interior Design Service Contract is the First Time a Prospect Sees Pricing

The contract should not be the first time a prospect is seeing pricing. After your initial email that includes your investment guide, they should have an idea of a starting point for working with you. On the discovery call, you should talk through the budget again and give some ranges specific to their project (#knowyournumbers). Before sending the proposal, give them an idea of the project budget based on what they’ve shared with you.

This way, when they get the proposal with the design fee, they won’t be shocked to learn it’s $XX,000 in design fees or, they should have a $XXX,000 budget for furnishings because they’ve already been exposed to your rates multiple times.

Mistake #3: Not Setting A Date For When The Contract Expires

Set an expiration date on your contracts so the terms and scope are only valid for a set number of days. This creates a sense of urgency for the prospect and also protects you from having to hold a spot for them if other projects come along.

Mistake #4: Giving Too Much Time for Interior Design Clients to Pay Their Design Fee & Product Invoices

I’ve seen some contracts that give a 30-day window before late fees are applied. EEK. This means a client can be 30 days late, and you’re still working away on their project.

Ummmmmmmmmm, no.

Pricing is subject to change at any time, and you know your quotes will expire after a certain amount of time. The longer the client waits to pay for their furnishings, the more likely they will have to be requoted or re-selected. And if we’re talking design fees, oh haaaall no.

So, invoice due dates?

Upon receipt, thank you very much.

Mistake #5: Not Addressing Key Challenges In The Interior Design Process

Interior design contracts that don’t spell out the scope of work, the revisions policy, the communication policy, the furniture invoice policy, the requote policy, the “you shopped my design” policy, the “yeah, no, I’m not a contractor policy,” and all those hot-button issues…oh my.

Look at your process and identify the challenges. Does your contract cover you? (Ours will if you’re a full service interior designer.)

Mistake #6: Including Design Mockups in the Interior Design Proposal Or Contract

We’ve seen some designers prepare mood boards and “word boards” specific to a prospect and then include those curated images and concept work within their design fee proposals and contracts.

I think they are being told this will help them “sell” their design services.

WRONG.

Why would you do design work for a proposal?

Your website portfolio, investment guide, marketing channels, and client testimonials already showcase your work and your style.

Why would you do design work for free?

How do you know what they want when they haven’t been onboarded?

Why would you risk a project and do design work for a potential client you don’t FULLY know yet?

Seems risky.

This “practice” is i) hugely time-consuming ii) highly unnecessary (our multi-million dollar firms DON’T do anything like this), iii) risky, and iv) setting a precedent that you work for free, which decreases the value of your services, time, and experience in the eyes of a prospect.

Mistake #7: Taking Too Long to Prepare Interior Design Proposals & Contracts

If it takes you more than a day to prepare a detailed scope of work and design fee for a potential client, you’re probably not using a template (see #1), or you’re doing free design work (see #6).

Can we not?

You have to strike when the iron is hot. A prospect who just had a discovery call or consult with you is SO excited about working together, and they haven’t had time to overthink and talk themselves out of needing you. Get the proposal to them quickly—1-2 days, at most.

In our signature program, The Designed to Scale® Method, designers watch over the shoulder as I prepare a full-service multi-room detailed custom scope of work AND price it with a flat fee in less than 20 minutes.

So this is 100% possible and is something you should strive for.

Mistake #8: Not Asking for Payment Upfront

Even if you’re hourly, you should collect a fee up front. It should be substantial because you’re blocking off your calendar for that project, and you deserve a commitment from the client.

Oh yeah, and you’re not a bank. That’s what banks do: they assess creditworthiness and then give people credit cards so they can delay payments.

You.are.not.a.bank.

Mistake #9: Not Giving Next Steps

When you send a design fee proposal and service contract, do you just send it and cross your fingers, sweat dripping down your brow?

I hope not!

You need to send it (or present it via a proposal meeting) and let the potential client know what to do next.

“Sign the contract. Pay the fee. Then we’ll confirm your project start date and get you onboarded.” ← in so many words, of course!

You should include dates when sending proposals to give prospects a nudge. “As of right now, we’ll be able to kick off your project on this date or this date with your design presentation being around XX/XX.” This helps potential clients envision themselves at their design presentation, which makes them feel like they are already a client…which increases their chance of signing on to work with you.

Pricing and proposals can be tricky, but once you have these key pieces in place (a scope of work template, a strong contract reviewed by a licensed attorney in your state, and knowledge of how to price your design services) and minimize the custom work involved in creating a proposal, you can easily streamline this integral step in your design process.

Need help with this part of your process? Head to The Design Library & The Workroom and check out these resources: