The worst thing you can do is have a client so excited about working with you. And they think that they're going to be able to start next week when in reality, you can't onboard them and they can't start their project until six weeks later. So know 
your project load know exactly when you can bring that client on and relay that message to them accurately. 

Welcome to the designer within podcast, the business minded podcast created for interior designers and creatives by an interior designer and creative me. I know firsthand the challenges, but also the victories that can come with our careers. And I'm here to sip and spill the tea with you. It's time to dive deep within yourself and redesign your business and your life from the inside out.
Together, we will uncover secrets and share valuable insights. So prepare for a truly transformative experience, because it's time to Unleash the Designer Within.
Hi, everybody. Welcome back to the designer within this is part three of my setting expectation series, and this is the final episode in our series. If you miss the first two episodes, I do ask you to go back and listen to those because they do set the groundwork. For discussing everything that we're talking about. And by the way, Setting expectations can go in so many different directions. I have just chosen to, of, the areas where I feel. 
It's so vital as interior designers and creatives, and frankly, just business owners in general, and that is around pricing or financials and timelines and responsibility. So the first episode that I did in this series on setting expectations, Was around the general idea of setting expectations, why those are important in life and in business and how it really does set you up for success. 
And frankly, just for great relationships in both areas of your life. Now, the second episode was about pricing and I do know that pricing can be one of those. Scary areas where we tend to be a bit more timid. So straightforwardness and clarity and setting expectations around pricing is vital. Now, as I said setting your expectations in general does alleviate so many potential issues. for this final episode in the series, I am focusing mainly on the expectations around timelines and timing of a project, but I will touch on the expectations that we need to set around responsibilities and who is responsible for various parts of a project as well. But the main focus is going to be on timeline and relaying a clear timeline to your clients, but also knowing a clear timeline internally. 
And Before you can relay a clear timeline to your client. You have to know a clear timeline for yourself. So you really have to know exactly what your projects entail. exactly what goes on from start to finish with your projects, no matter what kind of business you're in. 
So as an interior designer, I have to know that from the minute a client calls me until the very end of the project, every single step that goes on and. And I mentioned in the last episode that I have an 18 step project journey that guides me and the clients all the way through the project so that nothing is overlooked. And those 18 steps are just the basis. And underneath those 18 steps are multiple, multiple more steps that really ensure that nothing is overlooked. 
But by having those 18 steps, it really is a guide, a guide map, if you will, for me and the clients and for everyone else, the trades persons, the contractors, the architects, other people involved on the project. Just to ensure we are staying on track. Now that is the basis for the timeline, because when I show our clients the 18 step project journey, I do let them know a timeline. I let them know how long. 
Not only each phase is going to take, because what I do is I take those 18 steps and I break those down into three major phases that I see every project that we have undergoes and those three phases have general timelines involved. So even before I signed a client onto work with us, or they agree to work with us, They know that each phase is going to take a certain amount of time. And I put that right on the actual form So that there is no confusion or wondering about how long it takes. Of course, each project does vary and I let the client know that, but at least there is a generalization of timing on each different phase of the project. Taking that a step further, every step under the phase Also has a timeline associated with it. and that as well as relayed to the client and to my internal team and to any external partners that we partner with so that everyone is aware of how long those steps take, but that is the basis of how we operate ours. 
And I just want to make you aware that if you're trying to relay a timeline to a client and you don't even know the timeline. Line yourself. It's going to make you look unprofessional. You're going to look like you're unreliable. 
And you're going to look like you don't really know what you're doing, frankly. So be sure that you do understand all aspects of your business. before you relay a timeline and before you give a timeline to anyone, be sure that you do fully understand. And that yourself, but as I said, setting those expectations around timelines is critical. 
To gaining trust with your clients, for them to understand how long their project is going to take for them to understand when they can get back into their house. Because think
about it, you're speaking with a client who could be undergoing a major renovation or a new construction home. 
Or even if they're just missing furniture in their home, they have no sofa to sit on. They want those pieces, they want their home finished. And if you do not give them a realistic timeline, they're banking on what you're telling them. And they are going to lose trust in you every single time that a time frame is missed. 
So be sure that it's accurate. And if you don't know the answer and if you don't have the right timeline, let them know that you will get back to them and you will get that to them later. Setting clear expectations for any interior design project is crucial. To ensure a smooth and successful collaboration among everybody, every party involved. 
And I just want you to think about the responsibilities of everybody involved in the project. And this is the part where I will touch on responsibilities because by not clearly defining responsibilities, sometimes it's so vague that someone assumes that the other person is taking care of something. When in actuality it's not even their responsibility. So what I like to do is. 
Sit down, have a very, very clear meeting with Every person involved in a project, the architect, the builder, the client. Any trades people that are directly involved in the project. And I just try to iron out, who's responsible for ordering certain things. Who's responsible for client communication. Who's responsible for site management, anything that goes on with that project. I want to document that and make sure that we're all on the same page and by defining those responsibilities ahead of time. 
Making sure everyone understands who's responsible for what? And put that in writing and put that into a portal. Put that into a client folder. some sort of space where every single person can access it. And once you lay that groundwork, that's done everybody's responsibilities. Are there, unless something changes or unless somebody asks someone else to do something differently, you know, who's procuring, you know, who's receiving, you know, where it's going. You know, who's going to be checking up on the job site, who's managing it. 
All of those things are listed and documented, and everybody is on the same page for the responsibility portion of the project. But for this episode, I'm mainly focusing on timeline, as I said, and I feel the first time you're setting expectations around timeframe for our project is with that discovery call and that initial consultation. you really want to set a timeline around getting back to that potential client. 
You want to set a timeline about how long it's going to take you to return that phone call, how long it's going to take you to set up that. Consultation and a timeline for the actual consultation. How long is it going to last? How long will you be at their home and how long will the followup process be after the consultation? thinking about the timeline around those initial touch points with the client, because that is the framework for the beginning of your working relationship. 
The next critical point is project proposal and agreement. You want timelines around that as well? If you are sending a scope of work, you want to make sure that you have a specified timeframe for the client to give you revisions to the project scope of work. that there's a timeline around getting their questions answered. 
how long it's going to take them to be onboarded with your company and what that onboarding process lo oks like and just sort of this back and forth of getting the client onboarded to work with you. Is it going to take a week? Is it going to take you four weeks? 
What is the general timeframe for you to do that? Because the worst thing you can do is have a client so excited about working with you. And they think that they're going to be able to start next week when in reality, you can't onboard them and they can't start their project until six weeks later. So know 
your project load know exactly when you can bring that client on and relay that message to them accurately. 
I mentioned this last week, but definitely specify any payment schedules or any milestone dates for payments. If you divide your payments into different schedules, let the client know that 
so that that timeline for payments is also relayed. Now the biggest part of a timeline is the project itself. when the project starts, no matter what type of project it is, you should develop a comprehensive project timeline. That outlines key milestone dates. Deadlines phases of the project. As I said, from start to finish. If you use phases, I suggest that you do. And if you have steps like I do, which I do suggest that you do as well. This is very simple to complete. So if you have these steps and if you have these phases, you should know. 
how long those take and you just relay that to the client based upon their project type. whether we have a new construction home or a full renovation, or if it's a kitchen renovation, we have different milestone dates and different phases of those projects. And I add those schedules to the client's timeline and let them know that. 
But by. Clearly communicating these timelines to them. I also give them an estimated duration of each phase and for each step. So let them know what you estimate the duration of each phase will be and let them know what you estimate the duration of each step will be. 
Communication is important to set up regular check-in meetings with your clients to provide updates on the projects, process, and address any questions or concerns that they might have. Timeline-wise let them know when this will be, let them know when you will communicate. Is it weekly? Is it monthly? If the project is in full swing, will you see them twice a week? also let them know how you will communicate and what you need from them to follow up on. if you communicate with them and you ask them something in this communication, we do a weekly update And we do have a client action item area, And we like for our clients to follow up as soon as possible, but at most within the next week, take the timeframe that you would like for that client to get back to you because sometimes those are pretty pressing issues and you need to know an answer soon. 
Also established preferred communication channels, for instance. In-person meetings, phone calls, emails. And the response times for those communications. just as you do in your weekly updates or your monthly updates or whatever your update timeframe is, set those timeframes for response times in emails and for phone calls. If a client calls your office. 
Do you call them back within 24 hours? Do you call them back that same day? Do you reply to emails the same day? Do you reply to emails within 24 hours? We have a, how we work document. And in that document, we actually let our clients know our response time for communication, but you need to set that timeframe so that your client is not expecting an immediate response from you and you have another timeframe in mind. 
Design development. What is your timeline for approvals of products or approvals of design plans? What is your timeframe for revisions? Do you want them to do that within days within one week? What is your timeframe for receiving payments? What is your timeframe for ordering? If I client approves something. 
This is something early on in my company. I did not define. clients were assuming once they paid something, it was instantly ordered. Of course, there's a pipeline of orders within our companies. If we're busy And now we know that it takes us about seven days to get something in the ordering process. So we let clients know once they pay. the maximum amount of time, it will take for that product to start to be ordered will be a week. So seven business days is max, but typically a little earlier, but that as our max timeframe, and we do let our clients know that. So know your timeframe for all of the approvals, all the revisions, the payment schedules and ordering process. 
I also want you to clearly communicate your client's input and approval process for design decisions. As I said, what is their timeframe for that? How do they let you know if something is approved? Is it an email? is it an online portal? And then what timeframe do you have set for them give you that input for that? And if they do want to change something, let's say they're changing the color of a. 
Table. From brown to black, they put that information into your client portal or whatever process you have for approving products. What is your timeframe for responding back to them and letting them know that you can get that in a different color? there's all kinds of intricacies that you can see. 
That go along with timelines and you should know every single one of those. 
On the same note of project changes and revisions. I want you to have our process for handling those design changes or revisions, including any impact on the timeline and the investment amount for your clients. once that design change or revision happens, how does it impact the timeline? Does it extend it by a week, by a month? And I know it will vary depending upon what has been changed, but you should know, and relay to your client what that timeline impact will be and how that will affect the overall longevity of the project. 
along that same vein, you should communicate as well. Any additional costs from these client request to changes. As you move forward to the end of the project and you're doing the installation and basically finalizing the project. It's very critical to also clearly outline your installation schedule and all of the logistics that are involved with that. From when you're going to be at the home, who's going to be at the home. 
How long you will be there. Furniture deliveries. the set up how many moving people will be there, how long the moving company will be there. If the client needs to be out of their home. All of the timeframe involved with the installation for that is so important for setting those expectations. 
also coordinate with your client for final walk-throughs inspections and addressing any issues or remaining tasks or adjustments that you have to take care of. How long do you allow for those walkthroughs, for those inspections and for taking care of any issues that you find at the end of a project, do you repair those and take care of those within a month, within a week, What is the timeframe that you have for fixing any issues on that list? For the project closure, you should ensure that project deliverables have been met. 
that any outstanding tasks are completed. And what is the timeframe for your project closure? You should also of course, provide your client with a final project summary, including any documentation of final design decisions. Any warranties that you provide to the client maintenance guidelines, let the client know how soon after the project ends that you will be providing them with this final summary of documentation. 
And all of the maintenance guidelines for their project. 
Remember, as I said before, before you can communicate a timeline with your client. You must first know an accurate timeline for your project. It's so important to thoroughly review your project types and come up with realistic timelines. So that you can present them to your clients. Nothing is worse than misrepresenting yourself and over promising, especially when a client's home is under construction and they're ready to move back in. So as you can see, there's a whole set of timeline expectations that need to be delivered and properly relayed to your client. 
I hope that you can dive deep now into your project timelines and really look into those to figure out what you need to adjust. What. What you are communicating clearly what you need to work on, what you need to communicate a little more clearly. And really hone in on setting those expectations around project timelines, as well as responsibilities for your project. I think about that as well. Who's responsible for what parts of your projects and document that ahead of time. 
So that there is no confusion. 
I hope this series has. Helped you see the value in setting expectations for your company and for your clients, setting realistic and clear expectations will bring so much trust between you and your clients. It will also allow you to fully know the schedule and timeline for your projects. As well as being honest with your clients about their financial involvement. The more comfortable you can get with your expectation setting. The more successful you will be in life and in business, plain and simple. Set those expectations, follow through, make those clients happy and build a successful business. Thank you so much for listening. I will see you next time on the designer within. 
You have been listening to the designer within podcast. If you enjoyed this and other episodes, please subscribe to the podcast and give us a rating. We really appreciate it. For more information on how to transform your business, your life and your home from the inside out, visit johnmcclain. co That's johnmcclain, M C C L A I N dot C O.
See you next time.