Episode #6 Transcription - How to Implement a “Trade Day” for More Successful Projects

Welcome to the designers Oasis podcast. I'm your host, Kate Bendewald, interior designer, mama and CEO of a thriving interior design business, built on authentic word of mouth referrals. It wasn't that long ago that I stepped away from my corporate architecture job to build my own dream, one that would allow me more time with the people that I love, the ability to serve my clients at the highest level, and to make a great living. It wasn't always easy, and I've made my share of mistakes along the way. Fast forward to today, and I've learned a thing or two. This podcast is for you - the inspired, creative, ambitious, and let's admit it,  occasionally overwhelmed interior designer who shares this dream of transforming lives by transforming homes. Join me and my guests each week as we walk through practical ways to build an interior design business you love, and helps you transform your clients' lives. You can do this. 

Well, hello, friend, and welcome back to the Designers Oasis Podcast. I am so excited to talk about today's topic. Today we're talking about trade day, and what that looks like and how to make it work. You know me, I really find joy in the process and finding efficiencies. So that you can give your clients a better experience. And also just make your life easier. And this isn't about being a stickler or being you know, finding ways to just be so rigid that you don't have any room for creativity. In fact, it's the opposite. It's it's finding these efficiencies and having a really solid process that's documented for whether it's just you or whether you have a team to follow so that you always know what's next. And that is going to free up brain space for more creative thinking, in my opinion, so. 

So today we're going to talk about trade day and how to make it work. It's one of the most important steps in the interior design process, especially on those small to mid scale projects or cosmetic projects. So trade Day is the day that you arrange for your vendors or trades to walk your interior design and project. So you can discuss their scope of work. And they can collect whatever photos or measurements they might need to provide you with a thorough bid or quote. So today, we're gonna talk about a couple of things, three ways that trade day can make a product more successful. I also submitted I asked members of the designers Oasis membership to send me their questions around trade day. So we're gonna talk about some of those, we're gonna answer some of those questions like, What is the best time to schedule a trade day in the design process? Who do you invite? And how do you sequence them and prioritize them? And then some, what are some of those common challenges and how you get around them. 

Sothere are a couple of caveats. So, you know, on trade deals most often done on cosmetic and small to mid size renovations on a really large scale project from renovation. You know, you're you probably wouldn't do this with new construction, you're probably going to be working with a builder or contractor and they usually do their own trade day. So you're gonna want to coordinate with them on that. And if you're bringing a contractor onto a project, you're likely to do an initial walkthrough with them at the very outset of a project and that's not what I'm talking about today. Today, I'm talking about those small to midsize projects. You may or may not have a general contractor on the project, but you'll be coordinating with your own trades such as an electrician and millworker doing fine carpentry, your wallpaper hanger, or your drapery installer, sometimes carpet or flooring installers or closet designer. So we do a lot of those projects here. That may involve some light construction, but we're really often being handed a white box and we're wanting to provide some customization And maybe it's light renovations, that kind of thing, which doesn't really warrant a general contractor, you know, we're not pulling, we're not pulling permits that kind of thing. But especially on those smaller projects, we are coordinating, you know, up to 10 people perhaps. And so it's really nice to get them in there all on one day, so that they can they can provide us with a quote.

One question I get sometimes is like, do you play the role of general contractor do act as a general contractor in that I'm paying the subs directly, I do not, it's not something that I advocate for unless you are in most states have a general contracting license, there's just a tremendous amount of liability that comes with doing that. And I used to do that unknowingly. You know, not really understanding my risks. And once I became aware of that, then we switched up. So what we do is we provide, we do all of the coordinating, we get all of the quotes and all of that, but ultimately, the client is going to pay the subs directly. And so that eliminates the risk from from my end. And so they get a copy of those quotes all of that. So that's just something I wanted to point out, right right off the bat. But what we're going to talk about today is really how to coordinate this and why it's so important. So let's dive in. So three ways, trade day makes a project more successful. 

Number one, it's efficient, having a single day, set aside means one trip to your client's home versus multiple trips, which your clients will appreciate to your trades can gather the information they need on site, without a bunch of back and forth via email. You know, I've heard some designers claim, you know, just would be simply easier to email photos and dimensions and sketches to get the quotes. Well, arguably, it would be easier. And I'm using air quotes here, except for all the back and forth via email and handling preventable mistakes. So I wholeheartedly believe meeting in person, is the best way to kick off your project with your trade team. So the other thing number two that happens is there's cross pollination. So we scheduled trades, so that there is some overlap between related trades. 

For example, the electrician and the mill worker working on custom built ins can coordinate how they want to lay out the junction boxes, that kind of thing. So this allows for the best ideas to flow, and they can discuss what they need from each other. And number three, it's improved design. So because of that cross pollination, you're, you're going to be able to just have a better design, I wholeheartedly believe that the best ideas happen when there is collaboration I have, I may have one idea of how to do something. But the trades can often help improve these ideas, when they have a chance to weigh in on the design. And trade day gives them the opportunity to do just that. Alright, so I'm going to give you a little bit of a case study. So I have this photo in front of me. And it's from a project and I will include this photo in the show notes. But it's just one small portion of a much larger project that we did, but in the picture. It's a very small snippet. It's built ins that we designed and installed and in the back of the builtins. There is wallpaper on the walls. And there is a sconce on top of the wallpaper. 

So if you can just sort of envision this with me for a second. The built ins are painted. If you can sort of imagine this, it involves the coordination of five different trades people starting with Oh, and we had the wood flooring refinished below and there's a little piece of that. So starting from the floor up we had the flooring, refinisher who refinished all of the wood floors, we had the millworker who built the cabinetry with the wallpaper installer, number three, we had the electrician, and finally we had the painter. So those are five people who had their hands on just this tiny little corner of this much larger project. So, you know, each one had to be sequenced at the right time and know what to prepare for their fellow tradespeople. The electrician needed to know exactly where to rough in the junction boxes for the sconces. And of course, this information is all in our drawings, but having them on site to walk through is super important. So just keep that in mind. The electrician needed to know exactly where the roof and for the junction boxes would go for the sconces. The millworker needed to place his holes for the lights in the right place. The painter had to complete his work, knowing not to paint the back of the wall where the wallpaper would be. So the color wouldn't be visible through the wallpaper because it had a white ground on it. The painter also had to know to not paint the wall With the wood countertop that was in place, which has happened before, and it's not, it's not a fun problem to solve. The wallpaper installer had to be scheduled before the electrician could return to install the sconces. And of course, all of this had to happen after the wood flooring was installed, and was safe to walk on again, you know, very, very carefully. So,

of course, none of this is installed at this point, we're just walking them through sharing the vision, showing them drawings, and we're gonna get to those details here in a second. 

But you get the picture, right, there's a lot of coordination that happens. And every single time we do a trade day without fail, we will show up with one idea of what needs to happen. And then, because our trades are professionals, and they've done this so many times, and they, they just are really well, they're very experienced, they can point out sort of roadblocks or hiccups that could show up that we need to be aware of and adjust for accordingly. Or they can just add better ideas to the to the whole process. So that's why I think trade Day is a super important part of the design process. 

Now I want to get into some of the questions that our members from the designers with this membership have submitted and share with you my thoughts on those. So first question is, when is the best time to schedule the trade day in the design process? So for example, does it come before concept design after concept design? I know designers have differing opinions about when to hold a trade day. Personally, we have been experimenting with sequencing it at various stages. And after testing, I wholeheartedly believe that the best time to schedule the trade day is at the very beginning of design development, right after concept design. Here's why. During concept design, we usually haven't fleshed out all of our ideas or presented those ideas to our clients yet, we may go through the effort of scheduling a tradesperson for an idea that we learned our client isn't on board with. So if we collect our ideas first, present them to the client at the end of the concept design phase, and the client loves the idea, then we know it's time well spent to schedule that tradesperson. And now we can start to develop drawings or other useful information to better convey our design ideas to the traits. And then we get more accurate quotes that we can collect and present as part of the overall budget at our design presentation.

 So for us wholeheartedly. It is at the beginning of design development after concept design presentation. Alright, so the next question is, how do you go about setting up a trade day, I love the idea of doing an all in one day, especially with some overlap. But I feel like trades are so hard to pin down, I can't imagine getting them all free on the same day at the time that I decide. So Admittedly, this is a bit of an undertaking to coordinate, but it's totally doable and worth the effort. And this is a great task for an assistant to help you with. So here's our process. First, we determine who needs to be at the trade day and then we prioritize them. So for example, our wallpaper person, we'd love for them to come and walk the project and show them what we're doing. But if they're usually the last on the priority list, because that's, that's a part of the project that unless there's something kind of wild or crazy going on, typically, we can provide them with photos and dimensions and some sketches and diagrams and they can give us an accurate quote. 

So but you know, our millworker and our electrician, those kind of folks are really critical to have on a trade day. So start with lists. You got everybody you want to come and then prioritize them. Start with the most important person first and find their availability and then work backward from there. So Let's say it's our millworker, we're gonna pick the phone up. Another thing to note is, once you really establish a good relationship with your trades, you're gonna know what's their preferred communication method. Some are really great with email, others, do better by phone call or text. And wherever you keep your trades information, it's nice to keep a little note of like, you know, Andrew or electrician, you know, as much better by phone or text than email. So we're going to pick up the phone, and we're going to call them say, Hey, we've got a great new project, we're looking to schedule a trade day on the 20th. You're the first person that we are trying to schedule Are you available that day? And what time could we get you there. And so be a little bit flexible to start, once you get that first person, then move on to the second person and, and see what time you can get them there. So I'm not so we're not so rigid that we say, can you be here at this day at nine o'clock, we really start with the whole day and work backwards from there. A couple of other things, especially if you're, you know, still establishing relationships with your trades, I think it's a good idea to let them know you aren't chopping them out. If they feel like they have a good chance to get the projects, they're definitely more likely to come. And don't hesitate to have some some time in between the trades person. 

So if you're scheduling a trade day, just start by planning to be there for the whole day, you can always use that time in between to be working for the client on other things, maybe you missed some dimensions, when you did your site survey or you know any anything else related to the client, you can certainly, you know, get the Wi Fi and start doing what you can for that client in between. And I would say once you have their availability and you have them booked, make sure to send them a calendar invite. And we like to send a text reminder the day before to them with the address, these guys get a ton of text messages and emails or whatever. And just make it easy on them and send it to them. So it's fresh in their phones so that they're more likely to show up and show up on time into the right place, and that sort of thing. And they'll just appreciate that. When one last thing on big trade days, you know, we love to bring, depending on the time of day, either breakfast tacos or lunch and we let them know like, Hey, we're gonna have lunch there for you, along with some drinks. And they really just appreciate that extra gesture. And we certainly are grateful that they're showing up and helping us out with the project. So big idea is to list out everybody that you need, prioritize them, and then let your most important person kind of drive the day by starting with them first. 

Okay, moving on. Our next question is, what do you bring with you to trade day? I love this question, because it seems obvious. But once I started thinking about it, it was like, gosh, no, it's actually a very strategic list of things that we put together. So prior to trade day, you'll want to prepare the information for each trades person and everything that they will need. And you want to provide as much detail as you can, which is why I think doing this post concept design is the best time to do this. Alright, so each trade person gets a folder, just a simple black folder. And inside, it includes any drawings, sketches, inspiration, images, and a detailed RFQ. RFQ is request for quote. And the RFQ includes a list of everything we need quoted, the deadline to provide the quote and who to send it to. And so this is a standard document that we have, and we customize it each time. 

So for the electrician, everywhere that we need that we know we need work done. You know, replacing these light fixtures, adding a new fixture here moving this, that sort of thing is all itemized. So typically, I would say that this is we get as much down as we can on paper. But most often, during trade day, things shift a little bit when we're talking. So we always send a final RFQ by email after trade day. So next question is do you invite your clients? Yes and no. So we tell our clients that they are invited, but it's not required. We assure them that we can handle all the details, which is why they've hired us and the truth is, I don't really want my clients there. It's just easier without them just like you wouldn't want a client at installation. To this day, never had a client attend a trade day. If they're working from home, they're usually working somewhere out of our way. They may pop in to say hello and meet the trades, but they usually don't hang around. But if a client did decide, hey, I'd love to be there. As part of it, I wouldn't have any problems with it. But most of our clients are grateful that they can just go about their business and let us handle it. Okay, moving on. And I think this is our last question. Are there any steps to following up after a trade day? You betcha.

So couple of things. First, you want to email the clients and let them know that it was a successful day, you want to provide any questions that may have come up along the way, you want to let them know that from here on out, you're going to be working on the design development process. And the next time they'll see you will be at the design presentation where you'll have all the quotes, ready to present for them the labor on all the project. So just a nice wrap up, let them know it was successful. And this is a really important step. Because if you don't send that email, or communicate with them, they're going to want to know how did it go? So you want to get in front of that that question and go ahead and let them know that you're on, you're on top of it. All right, you also are going to want to follow up with the trades. First, you want to thank them for showing up. We all know right now, with the market, I don't know where you are. But I from my understanding is nationwide, if not globally, but it's really hard to pin down manual laborers and trades people. So they're just busy. So thank them for their time and helping you yes, you're setting them business. But I just think it's really important to show your appreciation for them. And that'll help you develop a good relationship with them. For future projects.

You want to send a digital RFQ with any revisions. So I mentioned a moment ago that typically that RFQ that we show up with is kind of a draft form. And typically we're going to talk about stuff and things might shift, we might delete or add things or change things around. So you want to document those changes and send that final RFQ request for quote, after a trade date. And then you want to remind them of your deadline. So let's say you send them that final RFQ on Friday, you know, I think depending on this scale, or size of the project, a week is a good time to give them say we'd love to have this back by next Friday. All right. Finally, you want to track the receipt of each quote you are expecting and keep them very well organized. So each quote should be thoroughly reviewed. And compared to the RFQ, that you provided them nine times out of 10, it's going to be missing something, I can almost guarantee it. So we have to send it back and ask for a revision. So if you just open it up in your email, and you you know, check that box and says, Okay, we got the quote, chances are, you're gonna find yourself in a bit of a pickle down the road, you need to open it up, you need to save it to your Google Drive or your Dropbox, wherever you keep your your information, you need to name it correctly. And the way we name it is we use the date of receipt. So we date it with the day that we received it. And that's how we keep them organized in terms of versions, and then the trade name so electrician, July 12, whatever the case may be. 

And then you want to really thoroughly review it and just make sure that it has everything that you had asked for and that nothing is missing. big one for us. drapery, right, we have gotten all of the information we need for drapery, but they left off installation cost well, you don't want to have to go back in a few months and tell your client oops, I'm going to need an extra two grand to install all of this. That's just not a surprise your clients would appreciate. So thinking through all of those details are super important. And then once you get that next version back, make sure you're saving it to your your Google Drive or Dropbox folder. It doesn't do any good sitting in your inbox or your assistants inbox. And I've I've I've had this happen with assistants in the past. So really important to have this process documented somewhere in your business that once you receive a quote, what is it trigger? What is the next step that that triggers for you? Well, it triggers you to alert the team. If it's just you, that's alright. That it triggers you that you need to print it out or whatever and review it that you need to save it to this folder and send it back for revisions if necessary. So make sure that you have this this this documented. Finally, once you have all your quotes back, you can start to prepare your budget to present to the client at the design presentation. So those are the follow up steps. 

By now you have a good understanding of what trade day is in why it's important and who to invite to the party. Coordinating and scheduling that many people to show up on the same day, during a dedicated window of time is no small feat to orchestrate. But the benefits of doing it heavily outweigh the time it takes to coordinate it. And my hope is that you can start to incorporate a thoughtful and organized trade day into your design process. So you can save time helped develop more accurate budgets for your clients and reap the benefits of collaboration between you and your trade team. So my challenge to you today is if you do not have a standard process for how you plan, execute and follow up on trade day, do that, open up a Google Doc and just write the steps out, you can go back to the show notes here if you want and create those steps. If you use Asana, you can you can use Asana to, to create your checklist. And if you have people working on your team, you need to review it with them and make sure that they understand what are the steps and you know, if you've got a designer assistant designer working for you, and they get a quote and it's sitting in their inbox, it's as if it didn't even happen, right. It's got to get put in the right place and labeled and alert the team that this has been received. So go ahead and make that an important part of your design process. And I promise you will reap the benefits of that collaboration between your trade team. All right, thank you guys so much for hanging out with me today.

I will see you next time on another designers Oasis episode. See you later. Thank you so much for letting me spend part of this day with you. If you're loving this podcast, please share it with a friend who you think might also love it. Or perhaps you can take just 30 seconds to open your podcast app and leave us a five star rating. And if you have just an extra minute, go ahead and leave a review. This helps me so much and it helps other designers like you to find the podcast. It also adds fuel to my motivation to keep making great episodes just for you. However you choose to help, please No, I appreciate you so very much. Thank you, my friend. Have a wonderful rest of your day and I'll see you next time