Featured on this episode:

• Grab Your Free Script Guide here
• Access the full video interview with Elana Steele of Steele Appliance here

What you will learn from this episode:

• Why giving clients a price before understanding the scope can hurt your profitability.

• How to use discovery calls to uncover project complexity, client expectations, and decision-makers.

• When to discuss a broad budget range without committing to an unrealistic fee.

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I want to talk about something I think every interior designer has done at some point. Myself absolutely included.

A prospective client reaches out about a renovation. They’ve been thinking about it for months, maybe even years. They have a budget in mind, and they want to know what you would charge.

And what do we do?

We try to give them an answer.

We want to be responsive. We want to sound knowledgeable. Most importantly, we don’t want that uncomfortable silence to make the client think we don’t know what we’re doing.

But here’s what I’ve learned after more than 30 years in this business.

You cannot accurately price a project you don’t understand yet.

And when it comes to interior design project pricing, that understanding needs to happen long before you put together a proposal.

Your Client Is Already Ahead of You

The minute a prospective client contacts you, you’re already behind.

Now, what in the hell am I talking about?

Think about everything that client has done before reaching out. They’ve been dreaming about their renovation. They’ve saved money, created Pinterest boards, researched products, and talked to friends and family.

Maybe they’ve spent months convincing their partner that now is the right time.

By the time they finally contact you, they’re excited. They’re ready to get started. And they want answers.

Meanwhile, you’re hearing about this project for the first time. That difference matters.

The client has already spent a tremendous amount of time thinking about what they want. But you haven’t had the opportunity to understand what the project actually involves.

Your job isn’t to match their excitement by immediately providing a number. It’s to slow the conversation down enough that you can both move forward with realistic expectations.

A Kitchen Renovation Is Not a Scope of Work

Let’s say someone calls and tells you they want to renovate their kitchen. They want beautiful stone countertops, new cabinetry, and high-end finishes. Sounds straightforward enough, right?

But let me give you two scenarios.

In the first kitchen, the plumbing stays exactly where it is. You’re replacing cabinetry, installing countertops and a backsplash, and updating the lighting and fixtures.

There’s still a construction management component, but the scope is relatively contained.

Now consider a second kitchen.

This client wants to relocate the sink, add another sink, install a commercial range with new ventilation, and have completely custom cabinetry built from scratch.

Suddenly, we’re talking about an entirely different project.

And we haven’t even visited the house yet.

What’s inside those walls? What’s underneath the floor? Is the house on a slab? Is there a finished basement?

Maybe relocating the plumbing will be relatively simple. Or maybe a plumber will discover conditions that change everything. Until someone qualified verifies those conditions, we don’t know.

Both clients might describe their projects as full kitchen renovations with high-end finishes.

But those projects require very different scopes of work, and they should have very different design fees.

If you give both clients the same number based on that initial description, someone is probably going to be frustrated.

And there’s a good chance that someone will be you.

Not Having an Immediate Price Doesn’t Mean You Lack Expertise

I think this is where designers get themselves into trouble. We believe that being a professional means having an answer ready whenever someone asks a question. But the opposite is often true.

An experienced designer understands how many variables affect interior design project pricing.

We know that the existing conditions matter. We understand the impact of construction complexity, coordination, selections, and client expectations. We also know that a homeowner may not have the technical knowledge to describe those details accurately.

I’ve walked into houses that looked absolutely nothing like what the client described over the phone. I don’t believe those clients were intentionally misleading me. They simply didn’t know how to communicate what I needed to understand.

That’s why I don’t consider it a weakness when a designer can’t give an immediate price.

It means she recognizes that the information isn’t there yet. And that is part of being a professional.

Your Discovery Call Is About Understanding, Not Pricing

My process begins before the discovery call.

When someone contacts my office, I need a basic understanding of the project, its general scope, and the budget.

I want to know whether it makes sense for us to continue the conversation. But once we get on that discovery call, I’m not there to price the project. I’m there to understand it.

I want to know how the client lives. Who uses the space? What isn’t working? What are they hoping this renovation will change? Why are they doing it now?

Do they entertain? Do they have children? Are there family members who visit regularly? These details help me understand what the design needs to accomplish.

I also want to know who’s already involved.

Is there a contractor? An architect? Does the client need one? Until I understand who else is at the table, I can’t fully understand my responsibilities.

And here’s something I think designers often overlook.

Most homeowners don’t have a clear understanding of what an interior designer does on a construction project. It’s our responsibility to explain that involvement. Otherwise, when we eventually present our fee, the client may have no idea what they’re actually paying us to do.

I Require Every Decision-Maker on the Call

This is one part of my process that I don’t negotiate.

If two people are making decisions about the project, I want both of them on the discovery call. Not one person who will explain everything to their partner later. Both of them.

I’ve experienced too many situations where one homeowner relays information to the other, and somewhere along the way, the message changes.

Suddenly, they have different expectations about the scope, the budget, or who’s responsible for what. And now we’re trying to resolve those differences after the project has started.

Why would we put ourselves in that position?

A renovation can take months or even years. It involves significant money and disruption to someone’s home.

If the people making those decisions can’t find time for one conversation together, I pay attention to that. To me, it’s a red flag.

The beginning of a project is when you have the greatest opportunity to establish trust and get everyone aligned. Use that opportunity.

When It Makes Sense to Discuss a Price Range

Now, I don’t want you to walk away thinking you should never discuss money during an initial conversation. There are exceptions.

Let’s say a client describes an extensive renovation, but the budget they’ve shared is nowhere near what that type of work typically costs.

I’m not going to ignore that.

It would be a disservice to let them continue believing their expectations are realistic when I have good reason to question them.

In that situation, I may offer a broad range based on what they’ve told me.

But I make the limitations very clear.

I haven’t visited the property. I don’t know the existing conditions. We haven’t developed a detailed scope of work. So that range is not a quote, and it certainly isn’t a commitment. It’s simply a way to determine whether we’re even in the same ballpark.

I’d much rather have that conversation early than move several steps into the process and discover that the client’s expectations were never realistic.

There’s a difference between giving someone useful context and promising a number you can’t support.

Your Scope of Work Should Determine Your Fee

This is the sequence I want you to remember.

First, you learn about the client and what they want to accomplish.

Then, you begin to understand the design requirements. Those requirements inform the scope of work. And the scope of work is what informs your fee.

Not the other way around.

When you start with a number and try to make the scope fit, you’re building your proposal around assumptions.

You may underestimate the time involved. You may overlook important responsibilities. Or you may agree to work that requires far more coordination than you anticipated.

And once you’ve established that expectation with the client, changing it becomes much more difficult.

I want to develop a scope that’s as detailed as possible based on the information available at that stage. That gives me a reasonable foundation for calculating the time, energy, and effort required to see the project through.

Because ultimately, the job will take whatever hours it takes. Whether you’ve priced those hours appropriately or not.

Slowing Down at the Beginning Protects Your Profitability

I understand why clients want to move quickly. They’ve been dreaming about this renovation, and contacting a designer feels like the moment everything should finally start happening.

But giving them a number before you understand the work isn’t necessarily helping them move forward.

It may be setting both of you up for disappointment.

A thoughtful discovery process gives you an opportunity to establish expectations, identify unknowns, and explain your role before anyone makes a commitment.

It also tells you something about the client.

Do they appreciate that you’re taking the time to understand their project? Or are they pushing for a firm commitment before you’ve even seen the space?

That response is valuable information.

So the next time someone asks you to price a project during that first conversation, don’t feel pressured to fill the silence.

Ask the questions. Understand the people involved. Learn about the property and the work.

Then build a scope of work that supports a realistic fee.

Good interior design project pricing doesn’t begin with a number. It begins with understanding.

And taking that time at the beginning is one of the most important things you can do to protect your profitability at the end.

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Like this Episode?

Be sure to check out Episode #276: What Interior Designers Don’t Know About Contracts (But Should) with Wendy Estela

Be sure to check out Episode #297: Why Interior Designers Lose Money on Construction Projects

Be sure to check out Episode #275: Why Interior Designers Can’t Close the Deal (And How to Fix It Before the Proposal)