Is It Time to Turn the Table And Fire Your Interior Design Client?
Is it ever okay to fire a client? And how do you know when the time has come? Read about our early warning signs and recommendations for your business
When To Tell Your Interior Design Client To Hit The Road
Every business owner has had past clients they’ve thought about firing. The desire to turn the tables and remind them that they’re not always right can be powerful, regardless of what clichés suggest. And indeed, early in your business or in some desperate stages, you may have to play the part of a punching bag for a client that doesn’t understand your work or is projecting their frustrations onto your efforts.
But that doesn’t mean there’s no time to tell a client goodbye, to push them out the door so that you can get back to being your best. If you have an excellent track record of happy clients and well-reviewed work yet still have a client or two that, no matter what is never pleased, it might be time to consider letting that client go. After all, one client shouldn’t ruin the interior design business you love and excel in.
Early Warning Signs
There are warning signs that should help you know when it’s time to fire your interior design client. It’s never an easy decision, especially as a small business owner. It seems like letting money walk out the door. You’ll find that the client ready to be fired is one that is never satisfied and constantly demands his work be pushed to the front of your schedule. Often, these not-so-subtle reminders come via late-night email or phone calls. And they come often enough never to never leave you in peace.
The danger this can pose to your long-term business success becomes more evident when these demands start impacting your ability to get work done for other clients. One danger to keep an eye out for is a request to offer a full assessment before receiving a commitment. Often, a client might want you to jump through all the hoops of organizing the process on an impossible deadline to get you one step closer to agreeing to the project.
Don't Allow For or Commit To Unreasonable Deadlines
Don’t put yourself in a situation where you’re meeting an impossible deadline. Only walk into projects for which there has been an honest and realistic commitment from your client. If you repeatedly return to the same site, eventually agreeing to a near-impossible deadline, you’re setting yourself up for a difficult encounter. You may have just hired the client you’ll soon have to fire.
Signing on to impossible deadlines to appease a client can quickly flood your inbox and voicemail with increasingly hostile and unfair demands. Suddenly, you may find a passive-aggressive email in your inbox suggesting that your four-week proposal be squeezed into three. Or you may receive a call about why you couldn’t move up a scheduled visit from a contractor next week to this one.
The process can become even more complicated as you work with intermediaries and employees. This can lead to a third party putting you in a bind, making impossible promises on your behalf without your consent. This could include scheduling contractors unbeknownst to you, then letting you know that you can cancel or reschedule appointments if they don’t work. If your client has a project manager, it can also mean getting stuck with a project manager who makes promises to your interior design client but relies on your extra effort to make them happen.
Your Client Can Always Find Another Interior Designer
Remember: Even if you know you’re the best at your job in your market, there’s always competition. Your client always has a choice. And if she chose you knowing your proposed schedule wouldn’t work, it means she should’ve chosen a different interior designer. There are always hiccups, but disregarding your pre-existing schedule and other clients is simply unacceptable. To take on another cliché, poor planning on her part does not constitute an emergency on yours.
Deadlines always cause some amount of stress. They also help everyone stay on track and remain productive, even when the going gets tough. If you’re wondering if it’s ever right to fire your client, consider the scenarios we presented above. Each suggests a warning sign that could be trending in that direction. Ignoring these signs and complying with every request can be a path of destruction. You might burn through the goodwill of all your customers just to gain the grudging satisfaction of another.
Should you still be flexible? Yes. Should you still expect to manage demanding clients? Yes. But are there exceptional patterns that provide clear-cut reasons to fire your client? Yes. After years of working—and pleasing—dozens of clients, you should have a pretty good idea of what’s reasonable and what’s impossible. If possible, abide by the early warnings and refuse to take on a project. If you find yourself already in a quagmire, consider the long-term implications to your business. Some interior design clients just aren’t worth saving.
About Debbe Daley
Debbe Daley is New England’s leading interior design expert in the fields of design, decorating, and styling of interior spaces. She is a professional speaker, educator, influencer, and business coach in interior design. She also teaches creative interior design and change-of-career-minded individuals at her School of Interiors. These courses provide mentoring and hands-on training. Debbe is currently an installed Design Services member for the Boston Design Center. She also is an educator and instructor at Middlesex Community College in the field of interior design.
Contact Debbe at ddaley@daleydesigns.com or (978) 697-0288.
