Dear Dakota,

What should I do when a client doesn’t provide timely feedback on their interior design presentation?

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Dear Dakota,

How do we protect ourselves from a contractor's mistake or hold a contractor accountable for a portion of the cost?

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The thing I love most about my work is helping interior designers run better businesses. The conversations I have with design business owners who are out there making their clients’ homes look and function better FEED MY SOUL. It’s a privilege to be able to ask my community to share their experiences and tips with other designers - these insights are what make each business owner smarter and stronger.

One challenge many interior designers face is managing styling with accessories on install day. To some, styling is a dream; to others, it’s a not-so-profitable soul-sucking part of their job. Of course, there is no one right answer, but since I know most consumers hire an interior designer to help them make their rooms look “cohesive,” it’s a critical topic to discuss.

So, we surveyed The Weekly Install® designers to find out how they handle styling and accessorizing on installation day and received 31 responses (not a huge data pool, BUT, I’m also adding my comments and insights based on 100+ 1:1 clients and the 200+ designers we’ve helped in the Designed to Scale® Method.)

Let’s dive into the different ways interior designers manage their styling and accessories process.

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Revenue is the lifeblood of any business, and many business owners are perpetually focused on how to create more of it. So, as an interior design business owner, if there is another means of bringing additional revenue into your company rather than just design services and products, you want to know about it, right?

Affiliate marketing involves promoting and selling another company's products or services for a commission. You, the designer (or anyone really), would promote certain merchants’ products to your audience, and if someone in your audience purchases a product you have promoted, you would receive a percentage of that sale. This is a way for an interior design business owner to generate income simply by recommending products to their audience. 

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I think every service provider and business owner can relate to the struggle of getting client work done while also doing work that grows the company. When your focus is on delivering an elevated client experience and a flawless design to your clients, it can be extremely difficult to find time to put on your Marketing, Accounting, Leadership, or Business Development hat. And often, the client deadlines are imminent, while the business growth deadlines are self imposed. It’s easy to say, “Oh, I’ll focus on those big picture things later; I’m too busy right now getting everything done for the Smith project”. 

But if you fail to work on business development and growth tasks, you’ll likely find yourself in one of two situations (or both…eek!). 

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Dear Dakota,

How can I encourage clients to be fully present and free from distractions for our check-in sessions and review meetings?

For example, I have one client who brings their young children to our meetings and another who continues to take work calls and answer emails and text messages during meetings. The clients are pulled in several directions in trying to review their designs and tend to their children / answer emails, etc., and meetings inevitably run longer than scheduled, causing additional frustration. It also results in a fair amount of "I don't remember seeing that" from the client because they are not fully present when drawings and materials are being presented the first time.

I try to be as patient as possible because I know we all have significant demands on our time, but my time isn't infinite and it is incredibly difficult to move the needle in any direction during these meetings. I've gone so far as to offer meeting times after work hours and on weekends to ensure someone else can be home to watch the kids or the endless phone calls can stop. How do I get my clients to prioritize our time together? 

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Dear Dakota,

I am ordering decor right now for a client's interior design project, and it's all being delivered to me so I can check through it all and make sure i) I like items sourced online and ii) everything is in perfect condition. But my house is starting to fill up with boxes!!

What is the best process for ordering and holding decor, furnishings, etc. for a client? Larger items, I would have delivered directly to the client, and I would check on-site for the condition. But I'm specifically talking about the smaller items like mirrors, hardware, fixtures, etc. 

I am not large enough to pay for a storage facility yet. Is that what I should aspire to retain at some point?

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Landing a large interior design project comes with many benefits, the most obvious of which is a corresponding large fee! A large project may also provide marketing opportunities (new, fabulous project photos for your website, getting published, referral opportunities from higher-end clients, working with reputable builders or seasoned architects, etc.). Many designers feel a large project is also the best opportunity to really flex their creative muscle by having the chance to execute innovative ideas at a grand scale and generally from start to finish.

But large projects can also feel risky. You’ll likely need to turn away other work, you may have an extended timeline that’s difficult to pinpoint, there may be significant unknowns, you may need to rely more heavily on your team, and you may need to pivot many times as you work through all the phases. And then there is that anxiety that comes along with biting off something that feels daunting: Yikes, how will I EVER get this done!?!?!?!?

I know a large project for some may not be a large project for others, so here are a few definitions:

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