What Do Clients Want From An Interior Designer

Summary

This video explores what clients seek from an interior designer, emphasizing the importance of understanding their needs and expectations. It highlights foundational expectations like accuracy, timeliness, attentiveness, and high-level communication. Beyond these, clients have 'pain points' they openly discuss, such as time constraints and style confusion, and 'secret' desires like impressing friends and showcasing success. The video encourages designers to address both types of pain points to exceed client expectations and offers a community for designers at biographicaldesign.com for further support and interaction.

Takeaways

• 😀 Clients expect interior designers to deliver accurate and timely services with a high level of attentiveness and communication.
• 🕒 Timeliness is a fundamental expectation; clients do not want to work with a designer who takes too long to respond or complete tasks.
• 👀 Attentiveness to the client's project is crucial; clients want to feel that the designer is fully involved and present.
• 💬 High-level communication is expected; clients are investing in the service and want regular updates and follow-ups.
• 🔍 Understanding and addressing the client's pain points is key to delivering a satisfactory design service.
• 🧩 Some pain points are openly discussed by clients, such as feeling overwhelmed by the design process or not knowing their style.
• 🤫 There are 'secret' pain points that clients may not openly admit but are important to identify, like wanting to impress friends or showcase their success.
• 🎯 Designers should aim to meet both the openly discussed and the hidden pain points to truly exceed client expectations.
• 🏠 Addressing the client's desire for their home to reflect their success or social status can significantly enhance the design outcome.
• 🗣️ Asking probing questions can help uncover the client's secret pain points and lead to a more personalized and successful design.
• 🌟 Overdelivering on the client's unspoken desires can set a designer apart and lead to a truly exceptional design experience.

Q & A

What are the foundational expectations clients have from an interior designer?

Clients foundationally expect accuracy, timeliness, attentiveness to their project, and a high level of communication from their interior designer.

Why is it important for an interior designer to understand their clients' expectations?

Understanding clients' expectations is crucial for delivering a service that meets the bare minimum of what clients need, ensuring satisfaction and successful project outcomes.

What are the two types of pain points mentioned in the script, and how do they differ?

The two types of pain points are those clients are willing to talk about openly and those they are not. The first type includes issues like lack of time, not knowing their style, or disagreements with partners. The second type involves unspoken desires, such as impressing friends or showcasing success and wealth.

How can an interior designer address the pain points that clients are willing to discuss?

An interior designer can address these pain points by being fully dedicated to the project, providing clear renderings to show how everything fits together, and helping clients understand and articulate their style.

What is the significance of addressing the 'juicy secret' pain points that clients may not be willing to admit?

Addressing these 'juicy secret' pain points is significant because it shows the designer's deep understanding of the client's desires and can lead to exceeding their expectations by delivering on things they didn't even know they wanted.

How can an interior designer uncover the 'juicy secret' pain points during discussions with clients?

Designers can uncover these pain points by asking probing questions, such as what the client would be excited for their friends to see when they visit, which can help draw out the unspoken desires.

What does the script suggest as a strategy for an interior designer to 'hit the ball out of the park'?

The script suggests that an interior designer can 'hit the ball out of the park' by not only addressing the openly discussed pain points but also by understanding and delivering on the unspoken, 'juicy secret' pain points.

What is the role of communication in the client-designer relationship according to the script?

Communication plays a vital role as it is one of the foundational expectations. It helps in understanding the client's needs, keeping them informed about the project's progress, and addressing their concerns effectively.

How can an interior designer ensure they are meeting the accuracy expectation of their clients?

An interior designer can ensure accuracy by providing precise measurements, accurate renderings, and ensuring that the final design matches the client's vision and requirements.

What is the importance of timeliness in interior design projects as per the script?

Timeliness is important because clients do not want to work with a service provider who takes a long time to complete tasks or respond to their inquiries, which can lead to frustration and dissatisfaction.

What additional resources does the script suggest for designers who want to improve their client service?

The script suggests joining a community of like-minded designers at biographicaldesign.com for further insights and support in delivering excellence to their clients.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 Understanding Client Expectations

This paragraph discusses the fundamental expectations clients have from an interior designer, emphasizing the importance of delivering accuracy, timeliness, attentiveness to the project, and high-level communication. It sets the stage for understanding what clients want beyond these basic services.

🔍 Identifying Client Pain Points

The speaker delves into the concept of client pain points, distinguishing between those clients openly discuss and those they keep secret. Commonly admitted pain points include feeling overwhelmed by the project's complexity, time constraints, and disagreements with partners. The paragraph suggests that addressing these issues is crucial for meeting client needs.

🎯 Uncovering Hidden Desires

This section reveals the 'juicy secret' of client pain points that they may not openly admit, such as wanting to impress friends or display their success. The speaker advises designers to not only address the openly discussed pain points but also to uncover and cater to these deeper desires to truly exceed client expectations.

💡 Delivering on Unspoken Needs

The final part of the script encourages designers to explore and understand the unspoken needs of their clients, suggesting the use of probing questions to draw out these desires. It highlights the importance of not only meeting but also anticipating and exceeding the clients' expectations in areas they might not even realize they want to be addressed.

Keywords

💡Interior Designer

An interior designer is a professional who specializes in creating aesthetically pleasing and functional spaces within a building. In the context of the video, the interior designer is the key service provider whose role is to meet the clients' expectations and desires for their living or working spaces. The script emphasizes the importance of understanding what clients want from an interior designer to deliver a successful project.

💡Client Expectations

Client expectations refer to the basic requirements and standards that clients have for the services they receive. In the video, these expectations include accuracy, timeliness, attentiveness, and a high level of communication. These are foundational to building trust and ensuring a successful client-designer relationship.

💡Timeliness

Timeliness is the quality of being prompt and delivering services or information within an agreed-upon timeframe. The script mentions timeliness as a fundamental expectation from clients, emphasizing that no client wants to work with a service provider who is slow to respond or complete tasks.

💡Attentiveness

Attentiveness in the context of the video means the level of care and focus the interior designer devotes to the client's project. Clients expect designers to be fully engaged and present throughout the project, which is a basic expectation for a successful outcome.

💡Communication

Communication is the exchange of information and ideas between the interior designer and the client. The video highlights the necessity for a high level of communication to keep clients informed and involved in the design process, which is essential for satisfaction and project success.

💡Pain Points

Pain points are the challenges or problems that clients face and seek to resolve through the services of an interior designer. The video distinguishes between two types of pain points: those clients are willing to discuss openly and those they might be hesitant to mention. Addressing these pain points is crucial for meeting client needs.

💡Renderings

Renderings are visual representations of a design, often used in interior design to show clients how the finished space will look. The script uses the term to illustrate how a designer can help clients visualize the solution to their 'puzzle' of putting a project together.

💡Success in Life

In the video, 'success in life' is related to the client's desire for their living space to reflect their achievements and status. It's one of the 'secret' pain points that clients may not openly discuss but is important for the designer to understand and address.

💡Over-deliver

To over-deliver means to provide more value or service than what was expected or required. The video encourages designers to not only meet but exceed client expectations, especially in areas that clients may not have been able to articulate themselves.

💡Community

The term 'community' in the video refers to a group of like-minded individuals who share common interests or goals. The script invites designers to join a community at biographicaldesign.com, which implies a network for sharing knowledge and best practices in interior design.

💡Biographical Design

Biographical Design appears to be the name of the community or platform mentioned in the video script. It is likely a resource for interior designers to connect, learn, and enhance their ability to deliver excellence to their clients.

Highlights

Clients want from an interior designer: Understanding their expectations and desires to deliver excellent service.

Foundational expectations include accuracy, timeliness, attentiveness, and high-level communication.

Clients expect designers to be timely and responsive to avoid long waits and lack of updates.

Attentiveness to the client's project is essential; clients dislike feeling neglected or uninvolved.

High-level communication is a basic expectation; clients want to be informed and updated regularly.

Meeting clients' pain points is crucial; some are openly discussed, while others are more covert.

Identifying and addressing the pain points clients are willing to talk about is key to building trust.

The more critical pain points are often unspoken, such as impressing friends or showcasing success.

Designers should strive to understand and meet both types of pain points to truly satisfy clients.

Providing solutions to the overt pain points, such as time constraints and project confusion, can alleviate client stress.

Unearthing the covert pain points, like impressing others or showing off success, is where designers can truly excel.

Asking probing questions can help uncover clients' unspoken desires and expectations.

Overdelivering on both spoken and unspoken pain points can lead to exceeding client expectations.

Joining a community of like-minded designers can enhance the journey towards delivering excellence.

Engaging with the community at biographicaldesign.com can provide further insights and support.

Encouraging interaction through likes, subscriptions, and comments fosters a sense of community.

Transcripts

in this video we're going to talk about

what do clients want from an interior

designer it's important to know

[Music]

i love that you're asking this question

because what it tells me is that you

want to deliver to your clients and you

want to give them what they want and if

you're like me you're like what do they

actually want

just tell me what you want

okay so before we talk about what

clients want we're going to need to talk

about what they foundationally expect

now these expectations are going to be

like the bare minimum of what you need

to be delivering in your service for

example accuracy does anybody want an

inaccurate designer no so you have to

deliver accuracy they're also going to

be expecting and looking for you to be

timely nobody wants to work with a

service provider that takes a long time

to do everything and gets back to them

in months and they didn't hear from you

so timeliness is going to be something

that they're going to expect as a bare

minimum another thing that they're just

going to basically expect is

attentiveness to their project no client

is going to

mind if you are never there you never

show up you're not really involved in

their project like no client is going to

want that so a foundational expectation

to meet is going to be attentiveness to

the project

another foundational expectation is

going to be high level of communication

nobody's going to want to spend a lot of

money with you and then not hear from

you and not know where you are and not

have any follow-up so a high level of

communication is going to be another

basic expectation so now let's move into

talking about what clients are

wanting on top of that foundational

basic service what clients want

are for you to meet their pain points

now there are two types of pain points

and it's very clear to understand the

difference between these two types

some pain points are

or one type of pain point is things that

clients are willing to talk about

those are gonna sound and look like

projects always feel like a puzzle to me

i don't know where to buy things thing i

just don't have time to put it all

together i don't understand what my

style is i don't know how to make things

look nice my husband and i are always

fighting when we are working on this

kind of project together so those are

some of the major pain points that i

most commonly hear when working with my

interior design clients and those are

the pains that clients will openly admit

and talk about to you

now here's the little secret and this is

just a secret between you and me so

don't go telling everybody this but the

more important pain point to to hit on

or to solve for them is the pain point

that they're actually not willing to

tell you this is the juicy secret part

and those common pain points are going

to sound something more like i want my

friends to be impressed when they come

over

i want my success in life to be shown

here i want how much money i make to be

obvious when someone walks into my house

these are the pain points that they

maybe wouldn't admit to you but they

definitely are feeling

so you definitely want to show them and

tell them explicitly how you're going to

meet that first type of pain point which

is the ones that they're going to talk

to you about openly you're definitely

going to want to show them how you can

alleviate all those pain points you

don't have enough time to do the project

yourself i'm going to be fully dedicated

to your project it feels like a puzzle

to you you don't know how to put it all

together i'm going to come with

renderings that are going to show you

the big picture of how everything comes

together and so on if you can also show

them

and understand

how their other secret pain points are

gonna come to fruition that's when

you're gonna really hit the ball out of

the park

what i mean is if you can somehow get

them to unders if you can somehow

if you if you yourself hold on if you

yourself can understand

but where you're gonna really hit the

ball out of the park is if you can

deliver to them in the areas that they

might not be willing to talk about to

you so it's going to be important for

you to unearth that excavate that in

your discussions with them you could

consider saying something like

hey what would be something you would be

really excited for your friends to see

when they came over to your house

a question like that is gonna tap into

that thing

that they know they want but maybe

wouldn't be really admitting to talk

about it just yet but it's a question a

question like that may draw it out of

them if you can hit that pain point

that's when you're gonna over deliver on

things they didn't even know they wanted

you to do there's so much more that we

could talk about here and if you're

interested in doing so why don't you

come on over and join our community of

like-minded designers who are journeying

towards delivering excellence to their

clients you can find us at

biographicaldesign.com

oh and wait before you go hit that like

button and hit that subscribe button and

more importantly i would love it if you

would drop a comment so that you and i

can start to interact

[Music]