#73 | 3 Mindset Shifts for Pricing Your Services with Confidence

Welcome to the Designers Oasis podcast. I'm your host, Kate Bendewald. If you're tired of one-size-fits-all all advice to running your interior design business, you're in the right place. Join me each week as we dive into topics to help you run a thriving interior design business. Without the hustle. We'll talk about the business of design, but also mindset and mental health because I know when you thrive, so will your life and business. It wasn't that long ago that I stepped away from my corporate interior design job to build my own design business so that I could realize my own creative dreams, have more time with the people I love, and serve my clients at the highest level, while making more money than I ever could have working for someone else. It wasn't always easy, and I made my share of mistakes along the way. Fast forward to today. And I've learned a thing or two. Since then I've built multiple six-figure interior design businesses on authentic word-of-mouth referrals with many repeat clients. And I want to share it all with you the ambitious, inspired, and I get it occasionally overwhelmed interior designer who shares this dream of transforming lives through the art of interior design, You can do this. Thank you for letting me spend part of this day with you. Let's get to it.

Oh, hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to the design choices podcast. I'm your host, Kate, I'm thrilled to be hanging out with you today. So today, we are talking about confidence in pricing your services. This is a topic that comes up so often. And you know, it's really close and dear topic to me because I have a distinct memory of a time when, you know, revealing my pricing or my proposals to my clients was gut wrenching. Now, I'm not going to say that sending proposals today is effortless. It's just not true. I think as you grow, your prices increase and you know, the stakes get higher. It's normal and natural to have some, some nerves about sending a proposal, especially if it's a project that you want. But I will say that I have come a very long way from the times when I used to send proposals that I usually undercut myself or undersold myself, because I was too nervous to send what I really thought it should have been. And so I'm hoping that I can sort of help facilitate conversation for you today, around some mindset shifts that can help you start to share your true pricing with your clients and send out proposals that you're confident in that excite clients that by the time you're sending that proposal you you're already a shoo in, your client is excited to work with you, you know that they're gonna say yes, you feel confident that they're gonna say yes, and this really comes down to sort of reframing some things. And so we're gonna dive in to that right now. But before we do, we're gonna just have one quick announcement that the doors for the interior designers business blueprint are opening very, very, very soon. So please make sure that you're on our waitlist, that is at designers oasis.com forward slash blueprint. Again, that is our annual program that is super robust, but it is designed to help you build a thriving interior design business. And we do that through education, through community and through resources. There's all of the details are outlined there on the website. So make sure you check that out and don't miss out when the doors open soon. Okay, let's dive right in. Okay, so the first mindset shift that I really want you to start to think about is to separate your value from your time. This is going to require you to stop basing your proposal solely on your time. How long does it take some time to do something now? Your time that it takes to go into a project into a proposal absolutely is a consideration but it's amazing Trix have a lot of different factors and time is one of them. But it can't be the sole basis of how you price your services, you have to separate your value from your time. And here's why the problem is that we have this false equivalency that time is quality. Time is a false equivalency to quality. So I love what Chris Doe says he says, There must be symmetry to the logic, right? And he uses this example, which I just I heard it and I've never forgotten it since. But imagine this conversation that you're having with a client and your client says, Well, how much is your hourly rate? And he says, Well, why do you want to know my hourly rate? This is why I want to, I want to know what you charge too. So you're saying to me, right, this is an imaginary conversation with a client. So you're saying to me that? If it takes less time to do the work, then it's going to cost you less? And you're okay with that? Yeah, of course. Alright. So, but if I go over the time, and it takes longer, are you okay paying more? Of course, that's not going to be the same. Yes, there. So his point is there must be symmetry to the logic, right? If you are faster and more efficient, it's because you're more experienced than you're going to be punished if you're charging hourly, alone. So I really want I mean, there is sometimes a time and a place for hourly proposals, usually, that's when the scope is unclear. But for me, that's about it. I don't recommend hourly. And I think that instead, it's important to start to think of presenting your proposals in terms of the value that you bring to your clients. So thinking about what is their return on the investment? What is their property value increase? What kind of savings? Can you help them? Achieve by avoiding mistakes? How can you improve the functionality of the space? How much time are you going to save them? These are all examples of the value that you bring to a project that has nothing to do with how much time it takes to do it. Okay, your expertise. If you think about it is a collection of all of your education and experience and artistry. Right? It's it's every book you've written, it's ever designed. It's every design conference you've gone to, it's every class you've taken. It's this podcast episode that you're listening to right now. If you're inside our program, it's every course you've taken in there. It's a lot of things. It's innate talent, right? That's a value that you that you can bring. And that is the value that you place when thinking about pricing your services is really thinking about what kind of value are you bringing to the client? The way we do this in a proposal, you know, is really important to yes, you're you're probably going to need to outline, you know, what are the deliverables? What are the timelines, that sort of thing. But But I always encourage, and I do that I show how to do this in the template that I provide? How do you open? And how do you frame that proposal with the value that you bring. And you know, sometimes it's in a proposal in a paper format, but maybe it's in a conversation that you have with your client, when you present the project cost, right. And you can say, you know, here's what I'm hoping to bring to this project. And you can point to those very specific things like the return on investment, property value, increase, so on and so forth. So separating your value from your time, they're not one in the same. Number two is stop selling, and start serving. If you've been around the podcast or designer spaces for a long time, you've heard me talk about the importance of being boutique and being boutique means you are not competing on price, you are competing on service. And that is a distinct difference between your business and Joe Schmo his business down the road, is you can bring something really unique to this project. And that's going to be different for everybody. That's your unique selling proposition. Right. It's what do you bring to the table in terms of serving your client that's unique to you? Again, we're thinking about the value that we're bringing to the clients. And so when we're talking about stop selling, start serving, what does that look like in practice? Well, it's pretty simple. It's asking questions, but it's asking the right kinds of questions. Okay. You have to uncover the desired future state of your clients. Okay. And you Most likely, if you're like I was, when I was first getting started, I made a lot of assumptions, right, I'd get on the phone with somebody, and I would hear them out here about their project. And then I would start to make a lot of assumptions. When really I hadn't done the very important work of understanding a little bit more deeply what it is that the client is after, right? They don't call it a discovery call for nothing, right? It's not called a sales call. It's called a discovery call, which is usually your very first step in communicating with a prospective new client. And so treat it like a discovery call. Treat it as though you know, nothing. You are there to uncover and find out what are the real problems that my client is facing? And how can I help them? Get through them? So asking better questions, and the best questions start with why? Why are you calling me Why do you think an interior designer can help you? Why me? Why does this matter to you?

Why not? Do it yourself? What would it mean to have full support on this project? Why did it not work with the past interior designer that you tried out? So remember, whoever asked the most questions is in control of the conversation, okay, you need to be asking solid questions, lots of questions, and drill down to their true problems. We've got external problems and internal problems, right. There's external problems as well. My Kitchen is dysfunctional internal problems are things like there's nowhere for anybody to hang out in the kitchen while I cook. So I'm always disconnected from my family. And I'd rather have a space where we can all sort of be together at once, right? Those are the kinds of things that you can start to uncover in a discovery call if you treat it correctly. Okay. So and then what do you do with that information? You're gonna use those clients words, and mirror them back to them in conversations, and in your proposal. Okay. So stop selling, and start serving us that discovery call to understand how you can serve your clients, what do they need and stop making assumptions? Okay. The goal is to understand where are they right now? And where do they want to be? And that's going to help you understand how valuable you would be to that client.

Hey, designer, are you tired of wasting precious time with prospective clients who are not a right fit? Do you experience imposter syndrome because, you know, the back end of your business is kind of a hot mess. Perhaps you're experiencing growing pains, and you don't have the tools, resources or team to support you. I get it. I've been there. As an ambitious interior design business owner myself, I know the roller coaster ride this can be over the years I've learned a thing or two about running a profitable word of mouth design business, and I want to help you find success too. How would it feel to wake up and face the day knowing exactly what to focus on next, having a roster of enthusiastic clients including a paid waitlist, and having the space time and creative energy to develop projects that you are proud of, and our portfolio if not press worthy. I want to invite you to learn more about the interior designers business blueprint, a business coaching program designed exclusively for interior designers who want to serve their clients at the highest level while making good money. But without the burnout and overwhelm. If you're ready to get off the roller coaster, you don't have to do it alone. Join me inside the interior designers business blueprint and get the tools teaching and community you need to pave the way for an interior design business your clients love and you are proud of. To learn more, grab the link on your audio player or head to designers oasis.com forward slash blueprint. That's designers oasis.com forward slash blueprint

number three reframe rejection. You're not going to close every project, every sale, every conversation every potential client. And there are two pathways to take with the rejection. Number one is let's say in either case, a client comes to you and says sorry, this is out of our budget. This isn't what we had in mind. And I just don't think we can do it. Number one, if it's a client that you want to work with, find a way to get creative and help them come up with their must have list versus their nice to have list. Right? And then number two is just to reframe it and recognize that well I shouldn't have 100% closing rate otherwise I'm probably priced too low. So you closing rate you want a higher number. I don't think there's an exact Excited to this, but I would say between 60 and 80% closing rate, right, because you want it high enough to recognize, well, I'm attracting the right kinds of clients for the most part. But every now and then you're, it's possible that you're going to attract somebody who maybe isn't the right fit, maybe their budget isn't in alignment, maybe their timeline, maybe their expectations for what your role would be, all of those things are not in alignment, and that's okay, right? You, you get that. But if you're closing every single sale, every single client, every single project or single prospective person that you talk to, that's a big flag that says you probably need to raise your rates. So it's important to to recognize that if you're talking to somebody, a prospective client, if they don't value their time, they're most likely not going to value your time. Okay? So when thinking about your contribution to a project, if they're not, if they don't place a high value on their own time, they're likely not going to place a high value on the work that you're going to do. And so that would be a good reason to pass on a project, a business makes profit and profit is what makes a business. And so you shouldn't shy away from the fact that you are in business to make money, right? I have many repeat clients. I'm working with a repeat client right now, I have a picture somewhere, we were still trying to find it of this client. Their daughter was there we had, we had sourced this table that it was like a brass metal table, and the top came off of it. And it was big and deep. And my client sent me a cute picture of their daughter inside the table curled up with blankets, it was adorable. She's in high school. And so because I have been profitable, it means I've been able to stay in business so that when she's calling me now today, because she's ready to do her kitchen, I've done every single project, or every single room in their entire home, except they're now ready to do their kitchen. I'm in business today, because I have been profitable. And I can guarantee my clients, I will be here for you tomorrow on your next project. Because I'm in business. And that is simply what we're here to do, right. And so I want you to be able to call me the next time you have a project and my prices or my prices, so that I can be here for you when that time comes. So really important reframe rejection, not everybody's going to be a right fit, really holding a strong foot in that space that says, You know what, I'm in business here. And I'm and I'm, and I'm earning a living and you don't need to justify or explain anything to anyone about your your rates or your prices. They are what they are, okay, it doesn't matter if you've got kids or not, or student loans, or you're helping care for somebody else. Your life is your life. And you don't need to explain that to anybody. Okay, your price is your price, you're in business. Period. Okay. And this is the cost, this is what it costs to work with you. And that's, you know, one one way to go. Again, if you've got a project that comes in, and the first response is this is out of our budget, but it's somebody you really want to work with, right? Then you might consider reframing the scope of work, and reworking that so that you're eliminating anything that might be on there. Nice to have list. Now I want to, I want to plug one caveat to this that is really, really, really important. Don't shy away from your process, your processes your process, because it works. I know that every time I deviate from my process that I get, it doesn't work out, right. So when I talk about coming up with their must have list versus their nice to have list, what I'm really talking about here is, for example, we're working on a closing a project right now where the client wants the same client really wants to help with the kitchen, but there is a little powder, but I guess I lied earlier, when I said we've touched every room in the house, there are two small bathrooms in their home that haven't been touched. So that would be an addition to this. It could be that those are nice to haves. It could be that that's not a priority at the end of the day. And that would be a scope change, to help her get to where she wants to be with the kitchen. But maybe we don't do those other spaces. So when I say finding a way to work with them, you know, thinking about looking really closely at what are their must have lists and they're nice to have lists. I am not talking about deviating from your process. One time I had a client say I don't need a mood board. Just send me what you're thinking. Englands skip that part. And early on I said, you know, well, okay, well, let's just try it. Let's see, see what happens. And of course, it didn't go well, right? Because the the mood board was a part of the concept package. And it was supposed to help visually show the direction, the aesthetic direction where we were going. And even though I explained that in words, and I showed a few other images in the the concept package that we sent, having left that moodboard out, left him with a lot of questions that could have been answered or shored up had I stuck to my process, right? I'm sure I could think of others. Oh, I know, I've mentioned this on the show before, I was working with a past client who came back to me for a third project together. And because I had worked with them so much in the past, I made the decision that we could skip the con. Excuse me. Yeah, we could skip the consultation. Right? It's Oh, I know, you're home. And I know your I know, your your primary bedroom, I know your style. I kind of know your budget, right. So why don't I just skip that and send your proposal and have mercy? Was that a mistake? Because this client who I had previously had beautiful relationships with, all of a sudden it went a little sour once we got into the work, because I hadn't done the consultation, which would have given me the opportunity to understand the yes, they wanted to a makeover of their primary bedroom, what they really wanted was a major renovation on a cosmetic budget, right. And so that wasn't an alignment, and that would have given me the opportunity to say to them, Hey, listen, I see that these are your this is your wish list of things that you want. But that's not an alignment with your budget. So I'm wondering how what's going to give here? Is it going to be your scope? Or is it going to be your budget, but right now, they're not compatible? compatible? Okay. So again, deviating from that my process is not what I'm suggesting here, when I'm talking about your must haves versus your nice to haves, again, if you're wanting to work with a client, but maybe your first proposal to them is not in their budget. I'm simply talking about looking at is there room in the scope to make some changes and revisions. So I, I don't want anybody calling me out. It's saying, Well, you said, I like to keep those caveats. And so reframing reframing rejection is, Well, number one, if you want to work with them, how can you change the scope to make it work. And number two, recognizing that you don't need to close on every single project that there are going to be people who come to the door that don't value your time, and you're in business to make a profit. And you can't shy away from that fact. And that the reason you are able to be in business for many years for them in the future is because your profitable, period, full stop. Okay. So I know this is a short episode, let's quickly recap, three mindset shifts to help you have more confidence when pricing your services is number one, separating your value from your time. Number two, stop selling and start serving. And number three, reframe rejection. So figuring out how you can take a different path or recognize that not all projects are going to be a win, and that's okay. All right. Thanks for hanging out with me today. I will see you next week. Bye for now.

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