FEATURED ON THIS EPISODE:

INTERIOR DESIGNER’S GUIDE TO CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE:

HOW TO RESPECT YOUR CLIENT’S EMOTIONS WITHOUT TAKING THEM ON YOURSELF

WHY CLEAR BOUNDARIES ARE SO IMPORTANT FOR YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR WELL-BEING

HOW TO MANAGE YOUR CLIENT’S EXPECTATIONS

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It’s so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of this time of year. We’ve got the holidays, year-end, projects in the works, and marketing for new projects. There are all sorts of things coming this time of year, and it’s really hard to take a step back and realize that you are not serving yourself, your clients, or your projects by getting caught up in that chaos. 

As a whole, designers tend to be people pleasers, and while that serves us in so many ways, it can also hold us back because it can absolutely take time away from our lives, drain our energy, and it can definitely cost us money. Those are all things that we need to avoid to run healthy, profitable businesses that we love. 

What we do for a living is a luxury service. People furnish their homes without us and take on construction projects without us – we are a luxury. 

So when a client reaches out to us emotionally freaking out, it’s not life or death. Nobody dies on our watch, but we do feel that anxiety, right? Then we take it on and make it our own, and that’s when things start to spiral.

I have absolutely fallen into this trap as well, and this is why I like to share my experiences so that you can hopefully avoid some of these death spirals that I fell into. 

My experience

I had a client when I was first starting my business who was having a loveseat delivered around this time of year. She was hosting Christmas and getting ready for the party. I wasn’t able to be at the delivery, as I had a meeting to attend. I got out of the meeting and found a voicemail of this woman sobbing, and I mean sobbing on the phone. She had found a 3-inch slice in the back of the couch. And mind you, it was floating, but very few people would be walking behind this couch. 

Something I didn’t do in my experience was set boundaries, and that could have helped me tremendously. So, at the time, I had to address the problem right then and there. I had to figure out how we would resolve it and let her know. Whereas now, I would have, ofcourse, addressed it right away, but then let her know that it would be fixed after the holidays. Her party could still go on. This was not a life or death situation.

 Setting proper boundaries is important not only for your business but also for your well-being. It provides the strategies you need to manage your client’s expectations, helping you reclaim your time without overextending yourself. 

Sometimes, you just won’t win with your client, no matter what. So the best thing to do is to keep to your boundaries, stay strong, confident, and professional, and know that in the end, they will be fine. 

It’s not just about finishing projects. It’s about finishing the year strong, with balance and intention.  

Why do we feel a need to go above and beyond for our clients?

We know it can come at a personal cost. There’s an emotional dynamic. Clients can be anxious about lots of things but their budgets, timelines, decisions, and that anxiety often get transferred to us. We’re suddenly taking on their stress, feeling responsible for every hiccup, and scrambling to make everything perfect. But here is the truth – our job is to guide, not absorb. 

Not having boundaries with your clients will also cost you money.

Every extra hour I spent soothing clients’ nerves and chasing down fabrics and vendors took away from the jobs that I needed to work on and button up before the holidays. And that ate into my profitability. So, I needed better boundaries at that time. I was new in my business, young, and desperate to build that client base that I wanted to rely on for years to come. So, I thought twisting myself into a pretzel would pay dividends in the end. 

And I was wrong. Because the boundaries that I didn’t have cost me immensely in terms of stress, time, and money. 

In doing this, I unintentionally sent a message to my clients. I was always available, always accommodating, and always willing to take on more. I thought that’s what I should project. I am your girl. I will get it done. While I thought that was great customer service, it was actually undermining my authority. 

Doing this put me in the position of worker bee instead of the leader that my clients needed. 

So please know that boundaries allow you to stay in control. 

I also had a client who would email me at crazy hours, like 10 pm. And it wasn’t to be obnoxious. He was a surgeon with crazy hours. Naively, I responded back at that same time because I knew I had a busy day the next day and wouldn’t get back to it in time. Guess what? He responded. It was naive of me to think he wouldn’t respond. 

I needed to let him know my communication hours and absolutely needed to stick with them. 

Last minute changes

Often, a client needs to make last minute changes, and we need to remind them of the process. That can be like, I’d be happy to accommodate that, but I’m going to go back and add that to the scope of work but that may require an additional fee and may affect the timeline. 

That will often sway your client from adding that additional work. Or, if they do really want it, they understand that this is a professional agreement and, of course, it will cost more money to add to the scope. You’re not there doing favors. This is a business that you’re running. 

How to manage your client’s expectations

This is done by clear, and often, communication. We’re on jobs for weeks, months, and years; it is good to remind people of the boundaries that they agreed to. Because life happens, we get busy, and things get forgotten. So, from that very first meeting, be upfront about what’s realistic and what’s not. 

This time of year, I love setting deadlines.

I used to fear them and be panicked over them. Now, I do not promise Christmas deadlines. Period. Never, ever promise them. 

Why? Because it takes a team of people to pull off our work. And I cannot control all of their businesses to line up perfectly.  But we can absolutely make Christmas as a goal and I always tell my clients I will keep them posted as we go along. 

Deadlines or goals may seem trivial, but in the end, setting that expectation for your client and removing the stress from you is critical. And your clients will respect you for thinking this through and know that you are the expert that they were hoping for. 

These deadlines and boundaries I talk about in today’s episode allow you to have a life. They allow you to rest and recharge and enjoy the holiday so that you are ready to come back stronger and ready for whatever chaelnge comes after the new year. You will be more creative and better equipped to handle the challenges of our jobs. 

Lastly, it is okay to set boundaries. Your clients will respect you more. And it IS ok to set boundaries, with the possibility that our clients will have to wait. 

Take a breath, enjoy the holidays, and let go of the idea that you need to be everything to everyone.