Design Success University - Latest Comments

Re: Top 10 Ways To Create Happy Interior Design Client Relationships And Avoid Disasters

Gail Doby — Sat, 26 Oct 2013 08:24:14 -0000

Hi Cherise,

Thanks for the feedback. You will find your ideal clients when you can describe them in minute detail. I avoid accountants, doctors and engineers.

Re: Top 10 Ways To Create Happy Interior Design Client Relationships And Avoid Disasters

Gail Doby — Sat, 26 Oct 2013 08:23:07 -0000

The female generally participates more, but never discount the importance of the male in making financial decisions. Make sure both are in agreement and that both sign your agreements and proposals.

Re: Top 10 Ways To Create Happy Interior Design Client Relationships And Avoid Disasters

shreya — Sat, 26 Oct 2013 07:40:45 -0000

hey, really nice notes for interior designing but when you face a client for residential design projects, who do you think participates more, the male or the female? and how do you face that?

Re: Top 10 Ways To Create Happy Interior Design Client Relationships And Avoid Disasters

Cherise Rollins — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 16:41:30 -0000

This is a great article - thanks for summarizing and sharing with us all! I'm just now starting to create a profile for my "ideal" client, which seems like common sense but it didn't occur to me until recently. I'm curious as to the professions you avoid so I'll send you an email :-)

Re: Top 10 Ways To Create Happy Interior Design Client Relationships And Avoid Disasters

Gail Doby — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 11:23:59 -0000

Hi Amy,

So glad you enjoyed the article. I appreciate the interest in having me speak. Feel free to reach out to my assistant, Sarah - sarah(at)designsuccessu.com.

Re: Top 10 Ways To Create Happy Interior Design Client Relationships And Avoid Disasters

Amy Yacko — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 13:34:05 -0000

Gail, this article is great! I am interested in all you offer with Design Success University. I organize an ASID Indiana Emerging Professionals designer group that meets once a month at the Indiana Design Center and would be very interested in exploring how you could be involved in presenting or discussing with us- remotely or in person! :) Amy Irene Yacko 317-753-3665 or Amy@amethystinteriorsllc.com

Re: How to Avoid Interior Design Fee Fiascos…And Attract Your Ideal Client

Gail Doby — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 20:07:22 -0000

"Approve"

I'm so glad the session was helpful to you. Once you include those nuances into your daily practice, your business will become easier. Congratulations on spending the time on yourself!

Warm regards,

*Gail*

Your shortcut to a more profitable and passion-filled interior design business
*

Join our Design Success University LinkedIn Group<http: www.linkedin.com="" groups?about="&gid=3124108">

To schedule an appointment:
*

- info@designsuccessu.com
- Subject
- Time needed
- Contact number or Pat will give you call information

*
*

Re: How to Avoid Interior Design Fee Fiascos…And Attract Your Ideal Client

Tina Harvey — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:40:13 -0000

Thank you Gail and Erin for a well presented webinar on "How To Avoid Interior Design Fee Fiascos...And Attract Your Ideal Client." What were my AHA moments? Well, as you may have guessed, there were many! Outside of creating a strong client profile and a value based fee system, how to manage the client on the phone and how to arrange the first client meeting in a neutral setting were two great first steps to transform my business practices.

Re: Top 10 Ways To Create Happy Interior Design Client Relationships And Avoid Disasters

Gail Doby — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:53:46 -0000

I am so glad the article was helpful for you, Summer.

Re: Top 10 Ways To Create Happy Interior Design Client Relationships And Avoid Disasters

Summer — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 06:34:23 -0000

OOh my God, this is so helpful .. Thank you so much :)

Re: Interior Design Coaching Tip Of The Week – Cutting Costs In Your Business

Gail Doby — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:33:22 -0000

Good for you. We often get caught up in other people's priorities and what "looks good," rather than what makes sense for us financially and time-wise. Congratulations!

Re: Interior Design Coaching Tip Of The Week – Cutting Costs In Your Business

Amanda Gates — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:49:17 -0000

Love all these tips. In addition to several of the above I also:

1) Email invoices, PO's, and all acknowledgements

2) Use an online merchant services program that automatically collects payments from clients

3) Ditched our fax line and dropped one phone line (we still have two) but this saved me $40 per month!!!

4) Batch client appointments and errands depending on side of town

5) Converted tech savvy clients to Skye appointments to save time and gas

6) Downsized my office twice in the past four years and eventually went back to working out of the house. HUGE savings!!!

Just purchased the ID Business success guide....can't wait to learn so many great new things.....and ditch all those old, outdated habits!

Re: How to Avoid Interior Design Fee Fiascos…And Attract Your Ideal Client

Dorene Mangels-Bacalhau — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 14:51:13 -0000

I definitly took away valuable advise which I will put into practice immediately, just starting my own business so I will be including the FAQ section on my upcoming website. Another thing that I wish I already had inplace was finding the ideal client...I already had the PIB who didn't pay her entire bill so Upfront Retainers are coming into play for those characters for sure! Thank You

Re: How To Educate Your Interior Design Prospects Without Doing It Yourself!

Gail Doby — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:43:22 -0000

Hi Cathy,

We just revised the cover and we're getting a proof, so this should be ready fairly soon.

We'll keep you posted.

Warm regards,

*Gail*

Your shortcut to a more profitable and passion-filled interior design business
*

Join our Design Success University LinkedIn Group<http: www.linkedin.com="" groups?about="&gid=3124108">

To schedule an appointment:
*

- info@designsuccessu.com
- Subject
- Time needed
- Contact number or Pat will give you call information

*
*

Re: How To Educate Your Interior Design Prospects Without Doing It Yourself!

Blondie — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 13:28:43 -0000

This is an awesome step but I am afraid more designers will read this than clients. How can we reach those busy hard working clients? TV shows and TV ads seem to the way most people learn about Interior Design right now. The second place people learn about design is print ads in large well known decorating magazines.

Re: How to Avoid Interior Design Fee Fiascos…And Attract Your Ideal Client

Debbie Talianko — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 21:06:14 -0000

Thank you Gail and Erin for a well presented and on point presentation on design fiascos. I have to say my "aha" moment was to realize I have not clearly defined my ideal client. Until now, I have always put it aside and tried to ignore it. Well, no more! It's time to put pen to paper!

Re: How to Avoid Interior Design Fee Fiascos…And Attract Your Ideal Client

Jaque Bethke — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 19:54:17 -0000

I am very excited to move to the next seminar. So many tiny "tweeks" to improving the process. I have a large commercial client whom has set an expectation that includes "no surprises." To accomplish this we are using a fixed fee contract and we presented it in person as you suggest. However, he thinks it is too expensive for the work product that it includes. We have secured a "face to face" on Friday to discuss. How would you recommend that we overcome the objection? We have been working on the project acquisition for near a year and our total project fees will be about 10% of project total. We will not be supplying product just architectural and design fees.

Re: How to Avoid Interior Design Fee Fiascos…And Attract Your Ideal Client

Gail Doby — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 14:40:00 -0000

"approve" I'm so glad today's webinar was helpful to you. I've always felt that getting one great idea from a class is time well-spent. Thanks for taking time out of your Saturday to attend.

Warm regards,

*Gail*

Your shortcut to a more profitable and passion-filled interior design business
*

Join our Design Success University LinkedIn Group<http: www.linkedin.com="" groups?about="&gid=3124108">

To schedule an appointment:
*

- info@designsuccessu.com
- Subject
- Time needed
- Contact number or Pat will give you call information

*
*

Re: How to Avoid Interior Design Fee Fiascos…And Attract Your Ideal Client

Susan Halstead — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 14:37:11 -0000

t was a well spent time investment. A good "take away" was the approach you recommended to avoid discussing fees during the first phone call. It is a succinct and gracious approach.

Re: How to Avoid Interior Design Fee Fiascos…And Attract Your Ideal Client

Gail Doby — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:48:03 -0000

"approve"

That's a great comment! I am so glad you feel liberated. We spend so much time trying to please our clients and we forget that if we aren't happy, that it is really not worth working with difficult clients just to pay the bills.

Re: How to Avoid Interior Design Fee Fiascos…And Attract Your Ideal Client

Vivian Cumbess — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:43:57 -0000

Hi Gail,

My AHA moment was the idea of letting the client realize that we are both deciding whether we would be a good fit for the project. It is important to be able to be part of a high functioning partnership with a client. I never thought of it in those terms, so I felt a certain burden of trying to always be the one needing to fit the clients mold for me being lifted. SUCH FREEDOM!!!

Re: How to Avoid Interior Design Fee Fiascos…And Attract Your Ideal Client

Gail Doby — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:34:35 -0000

Good for you! You'll feel so much better not accepting the wrong clients.

I definitely do NOT recommend putting your fees on the site. If someone sees them and decides not to call based on what you posed, you could be pushing away potentially decent clients. They need to base their decision on whether you are the right designer for them.

Hope that helps.

Re: How to Avoid Interior Design Fee Fiascos…And Attract Your Ideal Client

Gail Doby — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:32:01 -0000

Hi Brenda,

That's a pretty broad question, and for each type of project, it is different. There is a process you go through to find out the scope of work, the value that the client wants and then multiple options for pricing per project.

I wish I could give you a single answer, but that is why we have the class. I do hope you can invest in yourself sometime in the near future. Moving to this type of fee structure works for many projects, and can make a huge difference in your relationship with your clients.

Thank you for posting.

Re: INTERIOR DESIGNERS: How to Avoid Being Shopped!

Isabel de Yzaguirre — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:21:23 -0000

Dear Gail and Erin:

in first place, thank you for the big amount of good advice and information you have given in the Webinar. There is something I want to ask you:

I have understood that you recommend not to publish my fees in my site. Is that right? And not to give fees in a phone call.
I'm in Spain, in the Barcelona area and things are very down here. A friend told me I would be hired when I published my fees in my site, but this is the opposite you reccomend. Have I understood well your recommendation?

What you propose is to have a first meeting with the client, then determine with the right questions if we are interested in having him/her and after that, explaining the fees and why in the early steps of the project?

Thank you in advance and kindest regards from

Re: How to Avoid Interior Design Fee Fiascos…And Attract Your Ideal Client

Brenda — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 20:56:49 -0000

Hi Gail ~

Thank you so much for the wealth of information you shared today!

I'm comfortable with the idea of value-based fees for project types that I've done before (such as kitchens and bathrooms, in my practice). How would you generate a value-based fee for new or unusual project types?

I definitely hope to be able to invest in the DSU program very soon. Thanks again.