You have tuned into the designer within podcast, episode number 11. 
I'm John McClain and welcome to the designer within podcast, the business minded podcast created for creative entrepreneurs by a creative entrepreneur. That's 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 own business and your life.
From the inside out together, we will uncover secrets and share valuable insights. So prepare for a transformative experience, my friend, because it's time to unleash the designer within.

Hi, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the designer within podcast. I'm John McClain and I'm so happy to have you here again. I have just gotten back from a long vacation, a long holiday vacation. And it's something honestly that I don't do very often taking vacations that long it's something that I don't think many of us in the United States. To do that often is take vacations longer than a week. And I have to tell you, it felt really good. It felt so good. In fact, that it's hard to come back to the quote unquote, real world. I was gone. For two and a half weeks, I was gone with my husband on a cruise for one week, and then we spent another week and a half. Touring Spain, seeing all of the beautiful buildings and sites and wonders of that gorgeous country and the amazing people there. And I will tell you, I always come back from a vacation just on cloud nine, because it was inspirational. It was beautiful. It was uplifting. It was inspiring. It was all the things that you want a vacation to be. And as a designer and as a creative. It just fills up my creative box with so many ideas, so many inspirational moments. I was snapping photos like crazy. If you follow me on Instagram, you were probably seeing that. I told myself I was going to take a break from Instagram and I did not. I kept snapping photos and uploading them into my stories. 

And a couple of them made my timeline as well, but I was just having a blast. All of these inspirational moments and sharing them with everyone. We stayed at some gorgeous hotels. and I always draw inspiration from hotels as well. And I will be doing a little recap episode. I promise you. It's not going to be, Hey, let's talk about my vacation photos. Type of episode. but I will be doing a recap episode that I really feel recaps what we, as creatives tend to find on holidays and on vacations and how we really cannot turn off that creative brain and that creative eye. You know what I'm talking about? Everywhere we go, we see something that sparks creativity inside of us. 
And that was no different on this trip. I also celebrated my birthday on this trip. It was my 48th. Eighth birthday. And we just so happened to be in the middle of a Baeza or a beat that ever, how you would like to say that. And it was fantastic. My husband took me to a fabulous event and we had a wonderful time. I think I finally went to sleep at around 7:00 AM. That, that night or the next morning, I should say, but it was the time of our lives. And we met some wonderful people and had some great food. And again, it was just one of those things where it was necessary. But we had to schedule it. We had to put it on our calendars. And if you missed the episode where I discussed, how I actually went on a two and a half week vacation, and my company is still ran and my company still operated and nothing fell apart. And as a matter of fact, it continued to even grow with the new inquiries while we were away. 
Go back and listen to episode number nine. And it talks about how to take the vacation while your company still continues to operate. And it is something that. I am really proud of that. I have gotten myself to and my company to over the years that has allowed it to continue to operate, even when I am not there, even though I am the namesake of the company. So all that aside I'm here, I am a re-energized. I am a motivated, I'm excited to be back with you. And again, none of the episodes stopped playing. 

We had episodes going the entire time I was away because I recorded and stashed those episodes and they were scheduled. And to go out and I remember distinctly, uh, and then I'll shut up and move on to this episode. I remember distinctly I was in a beat that and Walton around and I remember picking up my phone. And looking at it, and there was an email from quote unquote from me say, hi, here's the next episode of the podcast. And it just so happened to be the vacation episode. And I thought, wow, the power of technology and the power of pre-planning does pay off because I received an email from myself with a podcast episode from myself. That was. Pushed to my phone and I was in the middle of Spain. At a very loud club at the time. Just as to show you your business can continue to grow when you are not there. All that aside, let's jump into today's episode. And today I felt the need to be practical. I wanted to be a little more. Hands on A little more specific about One of the processes and one of the documents that we have in our company and one that I would like for you to consider if you do not have in your own company. And that is a, how we work document. Now a, how we work document is not something that I had from the beginning of my company, but I found myself answering the same questions over and over or explaining myself, or perhaps a client didn't understand something. And I felt really, really bad that I never explained it in detail. So I decided to create this, how we work document. 
and I literally call it that that's the title of the document. And it's basically a guide or document. It can be one page or it can be multiple pages. Mine is multiple pages, but it outlines the working process. Some of the procedures, expectations from myself and my team and from our clients when they are working with us. And as creative professionals, we sometimes tend. To not pay attention to all of the details of the business side, which is one of the reasons that I created this podcast. And also my online courses is to help creative professionals to know and value the business side of what we bring to our companies. But it also serves as a roadmap to ensure clarity, transparency, and effective communication between us and our clients. 

This is very, very valuable in creative. Industries like our own like interior designers, stagers. landscape designers, architects, where the creative process usually involves multiple stages and lots and lots of interactions.

Now it's important to know that a, how we work document is not the same as a proposal or as an agreement. A how we work document for me is literally how we work is literally how we operate our company. And I will go over all of the things that we include in our, how we work document, But I know some designers and creatives include monetary information in there. We do not because we include that in our proposal. but if you do not do a proposal, which I suggest that you do, because I do love doing a proposal separately from my agreement and separately from my, how we work document. But for this case, if you do not do a proposal, you could include all the information inside of your, how we work document. So the, how we work document could include all of the following. And then I will tell you what I include in ours. so all of them should have some sort of introduction. And this is basically a section that is an overview of your design, how you approach design some values, and it really just sets the tone for your client designer, client creative relationship. And it helps clients to understand really what to expect from your services. Design process as something that I do include an our, how we work document, I actually go into detail and I will talk more about that in a moment, But you should include your design process in your how we work document. And if you don't have a design process, if you don't have those steps laid out, You should definitely lay those out and include those in there. But this basically outlines the various stages of your design process from the initial consultation, all the way to the project completion. And this could include things like development, space planning. selections of materials, presentations, revisions, final installations, final invoices, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But it's basically everything that happens from beginning to end in a project Timeline. This is important. Provide a rough timeline for each phase of the project. This gives clients an idea of how long each space will take and helps them manage their expectations regarding the duration of the entire project. Now, budget and payments is something that I do not include in our, how we work document, but I do include that in our proposal. 

However, if you do not do a proposal, you could include that in your, how we work document. So the budgets and payments. Section could include details about how your fees are structured, including any initial consultation, fees, design fees, potential additional costs like furniture, purchases, procurement, et cetera. And you can specify the payment schedule and the type of payments that you accept. Communication. This is a next big heading that is super important. And really is. The reason that I created a, how we work document. So the communication section should explain how you will communicate with your clients throughout the project. This could include in person meetings, video calls, email updates, or just regular progress reports, weekly updates as we call them. communication to me is really the most important part of the, how we work document. And I'm going to tell you more about that when I review our, how we work document with you in just a sec. Revisions and scope. you could clarify how revisions to the design will be handled and how many revisions are included in the agreed upon scope of work. And you could also define what constitutes a significant change in scope and how you will manage that. 

So how you're going to handle a scope creep and. How that looks. So you could include that in your, how we work document. Collaboration, you describe how your clients will be involved in the decision making process. This could involve providing feedback on design concepts, selecting materials, and approving final designs expectations. Really again, one of the most important reasons why, how we work document even exists is there to clearly outline what you expect from the client, like timely feedback. Access to the project site and the importance of prompt payments. 
Contractual information is something that some people include. I do not. But if you did want to, you couldn't mention any legal or contractual details such as terms and conditions, cancellation policies and any sort of privacy policies that you have. again, these are the main areas that are in a, how we work document. And I do not include all of these, as I said, some people like to include all of those, but I did want to give you a larger overview of what you could include. 

Now. I want to jump into what I actually include in mine. And I wanted to tell you, before we go into the nitty gritty of this, when I send this out. We send out our, how we work document. After the client has signed on with us. So once a client has signed on with us, they have paid their retainer. They have paid their deposit for their creative fee. We send out a welcome letter and that is via email, but we have a standard letter that we send out to every client. 

but that welcome letter includes the thank yous for working with us. Here are the receipts for your payments, blah, blah, blah. But then it also includes an attachment to the, how we work document from that very first welcome to the company. Let's get started. That is how we set the tone. And I don't want to do this prior to that because I feel some of this information could overwhelm the potential client. No, it doesn't mean that some of these things aren't verbally mentioned during consultations or during discovery calls, but I do not document that. I do not send out this, how we worked document during that courting phase, if you will, before the client signs. And then once they sign, I send this out right away, and this is the first thing that they receive. 
Once they have sign their agreement and paid their fees, they get this and a welcome letter from us. So that is the point when we send this out. And it is also stored in their client portal so that they can go back and reference it at any point, just in case they can't find the email. We have a portal where we store all of the documents that we send to our clients. And this is one of those documents that is stored in there. 
on our, how we work document, I took a lot of time to, first of all, I make it very aesthetically pleasing. I wanted it to grab the client's attention. I wanted it to be very pretty. I wanted it to be attractive and I wanted them to want to read it. So I used Canva and I just chose a template in Canva and it has really helped me to lay it out in a. aesthetically pleasing way, but I have a cover page and it basically says we are thrilled to partner with you on your home project. Here is a little more information on how we work with our valued clients via our trusted processes. So I sort of set the tone on that first page and it has a nice big cheesy photo of myself. And it really sets the tone for hi, welcome to our company. We're really excited to work with you. And here's how we do that. Now on page two of hours, I go into our process and this is the overall process. 
 I have these phases all laid out in our process, and these are the general phases. And under each one of those phases is a estimated timeline of how long each one of those would take. I don't change it based upon the project. I leave it the same for every single client. 
And we just give a range of two to three weeks, eight to 12 weeks, four plus months, whatever the timeframe is per phase, we include that in. There, but we'd give them a little explanation of what each phase will have inside of it. And I feel that this does let the client know. First of all, that we worked in a very systematic and organized fashion that we're not just working. Willy-nilly. And that we do have a process and that step one does lead to step two, which leads to step three, et cetera. And we cannot put one step before the other. after that page, I go into detailed steps because we have an 18 step project journey that we follow. You've probably heard me speak about that on the podcast. And this is really our roadmap, our guide map, everything that we do for a project starts with step one and goes all the way through step 18. 
Each project will vary. Of course, depending upon the project itself, whether it's a renovation or a new home construction or a decorating project, but. Overall, all of these steps will take place. And I include these steps here so that the client can really see how detailed we are and really know how many steps we have in the process. So essentially I'm taking all of the phases that I showed them on the previous page and going into very detailed steps underneath each one of those phases. Again, this allows the client to say, okay, where are we right now? And and my team can say, we're right on step six. And we are about to go into step seven. it just is a guide map, a roadmap for our clients to know that we have a plan in place for them to follow and for us to follow throughout their entire project journey. 
Moving on the next page is where we really get into things. it says at John McClain design. We pride ourselves on open communication, integrity, and transparency with all of our clients. This document will allow you to get to know our firm better and how we work with you. 
Our valued client, as always, we are here to answer any questions or receive your input. So I just do a little welcome. This is what it is. We are proud of how we have developed this. We are proud of transparency. Transparency is something that we preach as a design firm from the first conversation, all the way to the end. And I want to just always remind them that transparency and honesty and integrity is super valuable to us. 
So the first part is communication. I mentioned communication earlier as one of the things that you could include, but in our document, I do go very specific on communication. I talked about the office hours, respective time zones for our California and for our Florida offices. are nine to five, I go into very specific things such as occasionally. 
We are out in the field working and may not be physically in the office to answer the phone. we will return all. Phone calls as soon as possible and no later than 24 hours during the office hours listed above. Preferably, please schedule a phone call with us so that we can be fully available for you. So this tells them that We are not always sitting by the phone in the office and then we are not always available, but also Notice how specific I am with the timeframe. I say no later than 24 hours after your message has been received, we will call you back that lets the client know that we are proactively going to call them back. and that we have a timeframe involved to call them back. 
For my company, we do not give out cell phones unless absolutely necessary. We share them with our vendors and our trades people, but our policy is not to share those with clients. Our email and office phone is the way to communicate with us. And I just want clients to know that if we're not answering the phone in the office, we might be out in the field and possibly at their home. 
So the next one says the preferred method of communication for your project is within our project management system. Of which you will receive a link. Once you are fully onboarded as a client or via email. Of course you may call the office as well. Communication via text is not preferred. As text messages can get lost and information tends to be less detailed or misunderstood. If you opt in, you can however, choose to receive push notifications on your cell phone for project updates sent by our system. So our preferred method of communication is inside our project management system, inside the portal so that we can have all communication there and go back and refer to that. And if you just start out. educating your clients on how you prefer to communicate. They will continue to communicate with you that way, all the way throughout the process. But if you do not relay your preferred method of communication, they're going to just assume that whatever method is best and easiest for them is the way that you also want to communicate.
I feel like the, how we work document is also a boundary setting document really. and the next bullet point really exemplifies that. It says we do not hold weekend office hours, unless an appointment is specifically agreed upon with you. Please expect a response from any messages sent to us on weekends to occur on the following business day. of course there are times when we have had to go to a project on the weekend to visit with a specific vendor or a specific trades person, or I know one time we were choosing a specific slab for a client out of state And they wanted to FaceTime with one of my designers. Of course, that's extenuating circumstance. And of course, I'm going to allow that it's those times where we have to make sure that the project continues. Are very important. I just don't want clients to think that we're working in the office and that they will get a response from us if they send something to us on the weekend. So I set that expectation right upfront. I do say the next point, whenever you wish to talk to us outside of our scheduled meetings, we ask that you set an appointment with your designer or any member of our team. Via our online calendar link. And it goes into details about that. we use an online calendar system. We use acuity. There's also Calendly that you could use, but this allows our clients to have a link to every designer and every person on my team. And they can use that link to set an appointment. 
So we really prefer that they set an appointment to discuss things with us. Of course, most clients. Don't follow that rule, but I do try to at least let them know that that is our preference, if it is going to be in lengthy conversations so that they can have our full undivided attention. 
I have a point on our, how we work that says some of our team operates in the Eastern time zone and some in the Pacific time zone kindly be aware, are these times when communicating. So that just lets them know to expect a response a little later from people in different time zones. And then I go into the actual link. So I have the name of the team member, I have their title. And then I have the actual calendar link where their client can click on it. And it is a hyperlink to the scheduling calendar for them to schedule an appointment with that team member. then I mentioned weekly updates. So I goes into a bullet point that says, and by the way, these are all just laid out in simple bullet points. It's nothing too fancy. very clean and clear with a bullet point, separated with a nice clean space between it. But the next bullet point says we will upload weekly updates to your client portal for review to detail any work performed on your project during that week. 
that just goes into what the weekly update is. But then I highlight in bold, a very important part. Review of your weekly updates is critical to project success and timeliness. It lets them know that it's really important that they review these weekly updates. That it's not just information being passed along. there are to do's on there for them to read and action items for them to take part in. And I'm going to do a weekly update review with you, dive down the road to talk about specifically how we lay out the weekly updates and what we add in there and what we request from our clients. The next bullet point is invoicing. 
You will receive your invoices via email sometime during the first week of every month, or as products and services are approved by you. Typically, these invoices will be for any product or. Services accumulated during the previous month, but we will also invoice you as you approve proposals to keep items and a process. You may pay online and it tells them how we pay. We do not accept credit cards, blah, blah, blah. And if your invoice does pass the assigned due date, our systems automatically send reminders of payment due dates. And then I have a little parentheses that says we're not manually sending reminders. I put that in there because some clients thought we were sitting by the computer, pushing a button, please pay your invoice. And sometimes I do that if it's necessary, but mostly it's our QuickBooks systems that sends out a reminder automatically I have that set up. 
And I just want to put that in here now, again, full transparency so that our clients know that we're not the one sending those out, that our system is sending those out automatically.
Next on my list. I discussed our project management system. What that is, how that works, why it's important. And then I go into a project timeline. it says we strive very hard to maintain the timeline we have developed for you. We also assign ourselves a specific number of deliverables and do our best to ensure we hit those deadlines. 
We ask that you take the same level of attentiveness to keep your project on track for time and investment things that often cause delays include. Excessive revisions inability to make decisions, changing minds on a strategy, et cetera, failing to provide the elements or approvals that we need to move forward, failing, make timely payments on products and services. So this just tells them that it is important that we do our job, but that they also do their job with keeping things on track. 
And that sometimes as we all know, a project can go off schedule very quickly and very easily because. Because of a slight delay and approvals, lots of revisions. Maybe they're indecisive, but I want to put it out there right up front that these are things that we expect from them. I even say, please help us to keep your project on track. by approving items on your proposal within 15 days and pay invoices no more than 15 days from issue date, we can not be responsible for price increases, delays, or discontinued items, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. and I end all of that by saying, remember, we're always on your side and are here to make the most of your investment and simply need your help to do so. That just reminds our clients that this is not to punish them. This is not to make things harder on them. This is to spend their money, spend their investment in the most wise and practical way possible. And that we are on their side as we do that. 
Then I have another category heading that just says other things, and it basically goes into how we find inspirational images. It lets them know that we do not bring on a general contractor that we filter through our company. We have them signed directly with the general contractor. and the last point I have, and I liked this one a lot. It says, we promise to give you our attention and respect toward your home family and your time during our work together and ask that you do the same in return. We pride ourselves on the quality of work that comes with our experience and education in the field of interior design. 
Thank you for entrusting us with your home. If at any time an issue or a discrepancy arises, we ask that you bring up your concern immediately so that we can be sure. To reconcile any issues promptly. This wraps up the entire thing so that the client knows, again, we're on their side. These are things that help us keep their project in line. These are things that help us run and operate efficiently as a company, and that it's important for them to help us as closely and as much as possible to follow the guidelines that we have set up. The next page I have is called the emotional design coaster. And it basically shows them. What happens from the point when they sign their agreement until the project closure. And that it's going to be a slightly emotional bumpy ride from the beginning until the end. And that we understand that when their kitchen is being ripped out, that it's not the most fun time of their lives, but that it will get better. 
And again, it sets the expectations for the good times that sets the expectations for the bad times, but it also lets the clients know that we've been through. All of the things that they might be experiencing for the first time we've been there, done that. And we were just preparing them to experience these emotions that they're going to have. And we know that they're going to have them because most clients do have them. and I end the entire, how we work document by saying, we look forward to working on your home. 
and I have a quote from myself on there. We not only want you to love your finished home design. We want you to have all of the warm and fuzzy feelings That allow us to continue to be a 75% referral based company. And it has our contact information in there. I wrap it all up just by letting them know that we are a referral based company. It's important for us to continue to be a referral based company. And I put that percentage in there so that they know that we are a highly referred company from past clients, and we want them to be a referral in the future as well. that is one of the reasons why we want them to put their trust in us and that we are trusting them to also follow the process and this how we work document.
So, as I said, this is our, how we work document. You can include as much or as little as you want in your own. I do feel that no matter what type of business that you have, if you are a service based business, you should have a document that says how you operate your company, how you work, what you do on a daily basis, and then what you expect from your clients and what they should expect from you. It really does lay the groundwork. And I know a lot of us are afraid or timid about saying some of these things out loud and speaking up and saying these things to a client. So how easy is it to just send this email with this PDF included in it to let the client know how you work? And then it is documented. 
I love documenting things. It is documented there for everyone to see. They have a copy of it. You have a copy of it, and there is no question about. About how you work, how you run your company. But the wonderful thing about the, how we work document is, again, it can be catered to specifically what you need. So take some of the things that we have in ours. Take some of the things that I mentioned earlier in the podcast that you could put in there and really think about what you want to include and your own, how we work document again, This is the point when you can say pretty much anything. This is the beginning of your working relationship. This is when you really should say whatever you're feeling, you really should lay down the groundwork, the foundation for how you want the project to run, how you want the working relationship to run. 
So you can put as much or as little in there as you want. But I do feel that you should have something that displays the manner in which you operate your company. It's going to give clarity, it's going to outline your design process. It's going to show your timeline, any deliverables. It's going to show that you're transparent.. And it's going to help you manage client expectations around communication around revisions, around any slow decision-making. And it also really just shows your professionalism. It showcases your commitment to a structured approach and to true client satisfaction. I love it too, because it reduces misunderstandings. 
It really minimizes the potential for miscommunication. Sometimes for scope creep. Sometimes the client can say, oh, I never knew this. And I can say, well, actually it was in our, how we work document that you received on the very first day that you signed up with us. And I can tell you from firsthand experience, this how we work document has saved my hide many times. Because a client can say, oh, I did not know that I had X amount of days to approve something. And I can say, well, not only was it in your agreement. But it's also in your, how we work document, which was sent out past the point of the agreement. My advice to you is that if you do not have a, how we work document. Of course take the components that I mentioned today, but also take your agreement and go through and highlight in your agreement, any important things that maybe a client has misunderstood in the past, maybe something that you were finding that you have to repeat yourself on a lot, maybe something that you'd get a lot of questions on And pull those out, extract those items and turn those into bullet points on your, how we work document. And which is what I did. It was things that kept reoccurring questions that I kept getting asked something that our client happened to possibly forget. And I pulled those out of my agreement and turn those in to the, how we work document. So again, you can put as much, or as little as you want in there. 
It's totally up to you. Frankly more is better, but don't overwhelm them with 20 pages. Mine is about three pages of information. And then a few more pages of sort of like fun things That really wraps itself around all of the details in the middle. and also it's a living, breathing document. not set in stone once you create it. We change ours all the time. And if there's something that you want to add or something that you want to remove, guess what, it's your document. And you can remove or add whatever you want to it, but it's just important to set those timelines, set those expectations, set the clarity and the be transparent with your client from the get go. 
And it really does help you and your team and your clients stay on track for the entire process. 
So I hope this episode has helped you. I hope it's at least opened your eyes and your ears to the importance. Of having an, how we work document and setting those clear expectations from the beginning. And I want to encourage you to start the process of making your own, how we work document to really enhance your own client relationships. Thank you for joining me today on this episode of the designer within if you found this episode helpful, make sure that you share it with those who might find the same. And if you feel the urge, please leave us a review on whatever platform you listen to this podcast on it. Not only helps other people find the podcast. But it's really helpful for me to understand what you are enjoying about the podcast and also what you would like to hear on the podcast. And also on that note for feedback. I am inviting you to follow me on Instagram. I have two accounts, but I'm moving everything related to the podcast and a to my courses and online coaching program to the handle, the designer within. So follow me on Instagram at the designer within, and I will start uploading all of the information about the podcast there. 
All of. The download that I have available for you will also be there. and it's also the place where you can DM me with any questions. Of course you can follow me at John McClain design, if you would like, I will continue to promote the podcast there until we officially move everything over to the other handle at the designer within. 
So follow both, if you want. Love to have you there just love having you here altogether. So thank you guys. until next time, my friend keep crafting those spaces that tell stories and don't forget a well-designed process can be as transformative as a well-designed room, stay inspired and keep creating. 
Thanks for sticking with me to the end of the designer within podcast. It means the world to me. If you're ready to dive deeper into the topics that we've discussed here, be sure to check out my online courses and coaching program, the designer within business. You will join other like minded creatives in various phases of their own businesses.
Whether just starting out or career veterans who are enjoying the freedoms and profits that can come from an organized and structured business. Now's the time to make the change for you and your company. And I'll be right by your side the entire way. Learn more at johnmcclain. co that's johnmcclain. co