What to do when Your Interior Design Client Takes Control of Your Project
We are trained as interior designers to take control of projects and to drive them forward. I know that when I start a project I start with the big picture and then work through. I have a strict protocol and procedure that I like to follow for my projects but sometimes, the client or clients likes to take charge. Yes , it is true that they are paying for your time and expertise, but you are a professional and when a project derails it can become very difficult. There is a fork in the road and we have to decide whether we push forward with the project or if not to continue.
You should always control your own projects
Managing behaviour and effective communication is the key
Check out the following tips
TL/DR
You never learn how to deal with clients in interior design school. I’ve always said that you learn about 20% of what you need to know as an interior designer. It can be frustrating when you are leading the project but your client second guesses you. So this is part of a series of posts for interior designers who maybe want to learn how to manage clients after realising that you didn’t learn this stuff when you were in interior design school.
This is the kind of thing that I cover in my interior design coaching course because it comes up all the time with coaching clients. Read on to learn more.
Red flags
So let’s recognise the red flags that can occur in the interior design relationship.
Unrealistic expectations
When you start an interior design project, the relationship between you and your client seems to be on an equal footing. This is the time that they are most open to your advice and guidance in the interior design space. It is important to set that relationship from the very beginning. The client should be led through your client experience journey and expectations should be set clearly on both sides. If the client tries to change how this relationship runs, it probably is not going to go smoothly.
Things you thought were agreed but then weren’t
Setting a scope of works in the early part of a project is paramount to the success of a project. Get agreement as to what the main goals of the project are and assess each part of the works against these goals. Ensure that this goals are clearly set out, as is the scope of work in your client agreement. As the project continues, you may find that client (s) may expand the scope of work. This may require a reassessment of the timeline, costs and deliverables. The goals and the scope of work should be left somewhere accessible such as in the client portal that you have set up with your client so that they understand that any changes in the scope has a knock on effect.
Lack of communication between parties
Often in an interior design project, one partner will take obvious daily design charge. You will be communicating with then on a regular basis. However, the other partner, though not so active, is also part of the project but may feel left out when it comes down to the decision making. You may think you have agreement between partners but actually one partner may think that they are being listened to, when the other partner thinks the complete opposite. In a lot of cases, this dynamic is out of your control. You are an interior designer, not a marriage counsellor. Watching this dynamic in the early parts of your interactions should be a priority for you.
Signs of over control
Constant reviewing of the scope of works is another red flag. Depending on how your clients are paying you, they may think that the constant review of the scope of works is fine because, they think, what do you care, you’re getting paid for it anyway. However, as you know, design decisions should not be made in isolation and sometimes changing scope and/or design elements may lead to complications and may compromise your ability to design according to the original agreement. This can be frustrating and lead to the breakdown of a relationship between client and designer.
How can we manage the controlling client?
So how can we manage the level of control in a interior design project?
The worst result- which is when you leave the project- is to be avoided, but, realistically, we have all been there.
Your client agreement should be in place and should mean that you should have been regularly paid for the work that you have done, so if you leave the project, you are not out of pocket. You may have to waive some fees if you actually need to get out of the project.
If the ending of the project is mutual, you may be able to negotiate a final end date and get out of the project
However, we don’t want the project to get to this.
Tips for managing controlling clients
The main goal is to manage client expectations for your design project. From the outset of the client journey, you want to establish a satisfying and equal working partnership with trust on both sides. This will lead to positive and successful completion of projects. Here are some ways that you can manage a successful relationship where you act as equal partners rather than employer/employee.
The client questionnaire. After the onboarding stage, send the clients a detailed questionnaire to complete. This will form the basis of your scope of work. All partners in the project should be part of this process.
The Design Consultation- In theory, all parties to the design project should be present in the initial design consultation. However, for various reasons, this may not be possible. If this is not possible, the notes that you have left after the consultation should be reviewed by all parties. If you decide that the project is a good fit, and you would like to proceed, you may want to schedule a short zoom meeting to meet the other party prior to sending out your proposal.
Once you have sent your proposal, schedule another zoom meeting so that you can thoroughly walk through your process and outline how you work, how you bill and and how you communicate with each other. If you have a certain way of working, make sure that your clients are aware that you have processes and protocols in place. All of these details should be reiterated in the Client Welcome Guide. Dont’ skip this step, even if you ‘know’ these clients.
At the Proposal discussion meeting, ensure that you have discussed the rough timeline, budget and expectations. Having a realistic expectation of how long it is going to take and how much it is all going to cost will help avoid any issues later on.
Once you have completed the Proposal details , ensure that you go through your design agreement line by line. It is important to get legal advice when drafting your design agreement. Don’t leave it as a handshake. This never ends well. Your Design Agreement should cover time and money.
Discuss with your client how their project fits in with your business and leave them with realistic expectations of the number of projects you may be completing.
Ensure your Welcome guide is as thorough as possible. It should include at the very least:
Client Experience chart
scope of work
project stages chart
checklists
guidelines
a copy of their completed questionnaire
Purchasing and procurement policy
Billing and financing arrangements
Your Design Agreement (contract)
Your client should initial any parts in the contract that mention billiables. This should include not only design work but also sourcing, purchasing , procurement, deficiencies and admin (including communication and charges that result).
Manage expectations: if you have been in business for any length of time, you will know that projects are rarely exactly on time or on budget. Asa you probably are aware, building costs are soaring for many reasons. We are living in uncertain times and this has an effect on the timeline and costs of projects. However, you are there to handle any issues that may arise to their satisfaction.
Set out communication guidelines. Ensure that you communicate with your client at least once per week to give them a project update.
Set out realistic timelines: keep reiterating in meetings and in your weekly communications how the project is tracking in the context of the whole project
Manage expectations on the project. Some clients will expect that their project is action stations 24/7.We need to explain to our clients that just because every one didn’t attend site on a particular day doesn’t mean that nothing is happening..
You tube video - what to do when your interior design client tries to control your project
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