Creating an awesome client experience takes as much effort as executing an interior design or renovation project. The happier a client is after their home project is complete, the higher the likelihood they will become repeat customers and sing your praises to friends, colleagues and family.
In this article, pros share the strategies that have worked for them in providing the kind of impeccable customer service that helps them scale their businesses.
1. Find a Niche that Beats Out Competitors
Successful interior designers and contractors benefit from having a clear business model. For award-winning interior designer Nicole Arnold, who has carved a phenomenally successful design business, that meant defining a niche which provides an edge over the competition. The former executive at Levi Strauss & Company realized early on that she had to approach her new career as a business, not a hobby, and create an efficient strategy that would be profitable.
“One key area that prevents interior designers from keeping their profits is all the non-billable activities that take up so much of their time, such as running all over the city looking for resources. Early on, my idea was to create my own resource space where other designers could work, so I could have the majority of my resources at hand and collaborate with them. I also wanted to align myself with other successful professionals to learn and help one another, making each of us better.” Arnold says.
This arm of her business was so successful that, in 2013, she co-founded a collective of designers working directly with manufacturers to provide clients with competitive pricing and a wide assortment of exclusive furnishings. “There are five partners within the collective and we’ve built an 1,000-square-metre design studio with a vast resource library where each firm’s staff can work,” says Arnold. “We can collaborate as we want, but we all operate our businesses autonomously. We are technically competition, but we come together and leverage our purchasing volume to achieve optimal pricing. I’m able to be so much more productive and efficient as I’ve significantly reduced wasteful, non-billable activities.
2. Earn Your Client’s Trust
With three decades of experience and a long, glowing track record, award-winning interior designer Diana Bastone acquires most of her clients through referrals. But the owner of Diana Bastone Designs knows that the next step is to win their confidence to get a yes. She keeps her profile on Houzz, and her website fresh and updated with a portfolio of past projects and client reviews, she says. With 14 Best of Houzz awards highlighted prominently on her website, Bastone says the recognition for superior design and customer service adds to the credibility of her work.
“Also, the trust comes with knowing that they can, at any time, call any of my references. There’s a lot of very nice references coming from Houzz,” she says. “I think that builds confidence.”
Bastone also demonstrates to clients that she has done her homework. “I always say to the client that before I even start designing, there’s a lot that I have to get to know about you,” she says. She gives them a questionnaire and follows up with questions to fully understand their preferences, tastes and lifestyle. “I believe that’s how trust builds,” she says. “Often when we come to present our packages, they’re so shocked and surprised at how we got them. That was because we did the research.”
3. Seek Customers Who are the Right Fit
Projects are more successful when you first assure that your clients are a good match with your services and philosophy, believes Santiago Zimmerman, whose firm, RSZ Design & Development, takes on dozens of projects a year, and is expanding to the home development space in multiple areas. “We go through an extensive vetting process of making sure that we are going to have that synergy.”
It starts immediately in the sales process. “First, we send a questionnaire out and the questionnaire is very general. What’s your favorite colour? Do you like ruffles or polka dots… what are your goals for your home? That kind of stuff,” she says.
Zimmerman reads every questionnaire turned in and then schedules a meeting to determine if the client fits her firm. “It’s not necessarily about design. It’s about the synergy that we’re going to have working together,” she says. Just like with any successful relationship, personal or professional, having that chemistry is essential for a successful project.
“You’re going to allow me into your home. Are you going to trust me? Are you going to like me? Are you going to believe me? Are you going to want to work with me? If that clicks, then it’s a yes. If that doesn’t click, we’re done,” she says.
For Jay Jeffers of Jay Jeffers Inc., “the real essence of success with clients is figuring out what their personal style is rather than imposing my own. In the end, it is their home and not mine. It should reflect who they are.” He says he leaves his ego at the door while bringing his experience to the table. “I don’t have a lot of ego in this business for myself,” says Jeffers.
Of course, the designer’s vision and experience are important elements of creating something memorable for clients. “I feel like I’m being hired not just because somebody knows what they want and they don’t have the time to do it. I’m being hired because I have experience and an eye to create something wonderful for our clients,” he says.
Jeffers is continuing to grow his business and also has designed product collections for two brands and is the designer and co-owner of a boutique hotel.
4. Translate Your Vision
With a projected revenue of two million this year, Christina Couvillion knows a thing or two about how to run a successful interior design company. That means having the right visual tools to clearly communicate her design vision to clients, but also empowering clients with tools while adapting a business model to the economy.
At Davinci Interiors, her luxury-focused design firm, Couvillion uses Houzz Pro Mood Boards to give clients the look and feel of their new living space.
At first, “we were using supplementary software to do our mood boards, for instance. That created a pain point, because I clipped every image into another software. Then when I was creating invoices and purchase orders, I had to re-duplicate all that information or just have one line item and attach a PDF of the other software’s stuff.” Now, with Houzz Pro, she can have all the products in one place and generate invoices and purchase orders through Selection boards.
Not only is that more efficient, it also helped her offer a new service. Given the high interest rates, “people are holding tight to their money,” she says. She has expanded Davinci’s business model to include providing a design and then allowing clients to procure their own products via the selection boards.
“It’s nice, because these Selection boards allow us to provide that service as well,” she says. “It’s good to be able to leverage your software to be recession-proof. When the economy is great, then we do all the procurement and make more profit. When it’s not, we can still do the selections and let them have at it with the design.”
At first, Danny Wang, who runs DW Development Inc., a multimillion company serving high end clients in multiple countries, found it difficult to help his clients see what he was seeing. “I could visualise it in my head but what I realised is my client couldn’t see my vision,” he says.
Now he uses Houzz Pro visualisation tools such as the 3D Floor Planner and AR Life-Sized Walkthrough to bring his vision alive for his clients.
“By having some simple design tools, it helps the client see the space,” he says. “What I really like about it is, it’s an immersive experience,” he says. You can use your phone and walk around the space to show the new kitchen and newly designed rooms. Ultimately, visualisation tools reduce any misunderstandings because clients can actually see the future instead of being told about the new tiles, fixtures and more.
5. Transparency is King
Today’s tech-literate clients expect transparency more than ever, and for homeowners who are in new territory when it comes to home projects, raising the curtain on the design and renovation process helps ease any uncertainty.
“Clients are super savvy these days,” says Sara Swabb, founder of the Storie Collective. She learned quickly the importance of having a system in place that is efficient and provides clear communication channels that match the sophistication of today’s customers. “We’re really transparent and we keep things really clear. I think that really helps with communication and building that client confidence,” Swabb explains.
As part of that transparency, she chooses to display her markup. “We have very transparent systems where it’s like, this is how much it costs. This is our markup. We mark up our product. It’s very clear how we got to a price point,” she says. Using tools that provide communication and transparency is a key that helped her rapidly scale her full service interior design firm.
“We love having Houzz Pro as part of our workflow because it does allow us to be really transparent with our client in terms of what our process is,” she says. “We create a design concept and that is part of a Selections board. With the Selections board, then you can turn that into a proposal. With the proposal, the client can see all the products we’re wanting to propose for their spaces,” she says.
Clients can sign off on the project with a click and then everything is easily converted to invoices and purchase orders.
6. Nail Pricing
Lauded by clients for his attention to detail, high-quality work and excellent communication, renovator Brad Young consistently turns a profit without turning off clients or cutting corners. A big piece of that means getting the estimates right, he says.
“The business needs to be making a certain percentage of money for growth and reinvestment,” says Young, owner of TigerTown Home Improvement. As part of his strategy, Young communicates to clients the quality of work they are receiving for the price. “With my price, you’re going to have the best quality, and it’s going to be inspected, and you’re going to have it properly framed, and it’ll be well built.”
He uses Houzz Pro Estimate Builder and its customisable templates.
For businesses that change locations, like Holland Brothers Construction did, getting the pricing piece down can be even more tricky. When Andrew and Caleb Holland moved their business and families from their hometown, they had the portfolio, experience and some contacts. But they had to figure out the market before establishing their current reputation for ultra-quality home construction, renovation, and beautiful composite decks.
With a new market also came different pricing. “Obviously, estimating is an important part of any general contractor or subcontractor because you want to be competitive, but you want to make sure you are making money,” says Andrew Holland, an influencer who discusses entrepreneurship on his weekly podcast, The Andrew Holland Podcast.
The information that Houzz Pro provides his firm to create fast and accurate takeoffs was a huge advantage during their transition and beyond. Holland went from zero knowledge about the costs in the region to a strong confidence in them. “I was impressed at how accurate the costing information for our area was,” he says. “I used that so much at the beginning when I didn’t have a good idea of how to bid some of these projects because they were new, but more importantly, with the price fluctuations that were occurring in the market.”
Armed with the regional cost information, the rest of the learning process around estimating comes with experience, and trial and error. “You get the other 20% to 30% doing it actually on the job and putting out estimates and seeing what the costs are.”
7. Communicating with Ease
Every pro knows how important communication is to keeping everyone on the same page throughout the life of a project – whether it’s with your team, subcontractors, and of course, clients. The question is how to do it most efficiently without constantly answering texts and emails, often answering the same questions over and over to different stakeholders.
Setting expectations upfront with clients can help so that they know how you are going to communicate, when meetings will be held and when you are available. If you use a project management tool like Houzz Pro, share the project schedule and timeline. You’ll build trust and can prevent or mitigate communication overload from clients who are eager to know what’s going on with their project.
Wang says strong communication has been a big reason his high end development business continues to scale. “Always keeping the clients in the loop, making sure they’re aware of what’s going on, that’s really been a success for my business,” says Wang. With the Houzz Pro Client Dashboard, clients can get immediate updates and see the status of the work 24/7. “It is helping everybody to be on the same page without them asking the question ‘Hey, what’s going on?’” he says. “I think it eliminates a lot of the repetitive questions,” he says.
8. Anticipate the Bumps in the Road
There are bound to be unexpected surprises whether it’s around budget or delays.
Being proactive can help avoid major problems or at least prevent them from blowing out of proportion. This includes setting expectations upfront about any possible supply chain issues you anticipate during the life of the project. Also, by quickly communicating any delays, or schedule changes to clients they will be better prepared if their new flooring does not arrive on time, for example.
Ryan Franks, owner of TrueTradesman Integral Builders Inc. says scheduling is an important part of every renovation project and he likes to be able to make adjustments from anywhere. “I love the Schedule tool on Houzz Pro as it allows me to make and edit the schedule both on the desktop and app,” he says.
“My favorite part is that I can overlay all my projects to see them in the month view or the gantt chart view. This gives me an overview of all that I have going on,” he says. It lets him map, and track every step of a project while keeping everyone on the same page. You can build, update, and decide who to share the project’s timeline with while also assigning tasks to subcontractors and other team members. “I can choose to share the schedule and certain details with the client through the client dashboard. My clients love being able to follow along,” he says.
9. Make it Easy to Pay and Get Paid
Andrew Holland hears the same story from contractors over and over. They do not have all their ducks in a row when it comes to their payment processes. “One of the number one reasons businesses fail is they forget about collecting the money,” says Holland who started Holland Brothers Construction with his brother Caleb in 2013. “It’s great to put estimates out there, it’s great to do an amazing job and it’s great to invoice people, but if you don’t collect on those invoices, you go bankrupt really quickly,” he says.
Holland uses technology and specifically Houzz Pro to make it as easy as possible to bill clients and collect payments. “Because of how integrated Houzz has made estimates, invoicing and payments, it makes it easy for customers to pay the deposit when it’s due and to collect that final balance,” he says.
Making it as convenient as possible for customers to pay is key to getting paid. “For me, it was so crucial that when a customer wants to pay, that they have an online, electronic option,” he says. “Because online payment is easy it gives any contractor using it that much more likelihood that they are not going to have those cash flow issues that are the number one demise of most small businesses,” he says.
10. Capture Your Deserved Praise
One of the most effective ways to gain more clients for any business is through client reviews. Reviews build trust, inspire confidence and can be key in getting people to purchase your services.
Many clients might not be aware how helpful a stellar review can be to a business, so when you ask for one, emphasize how much it would mean to you. Then, making it as easy as possible for them to write the review increases the chances they will deliver. Houzz Pro’s Premium plan features a variety of templates and integration tools that make it easy to send review requests to your contacts. Of course, it’s best to catch clients when the project results are fresh in their mind and they’re feeling grateful for your quality work. Houzz Pro lets you select the best reviews to display prominently on your profile and notifies you every time you receive a new review so you can reply promptly.
Learn how Houzz Pro all-in-one business software can help you deliver an awesome client experience every time.
