I want to share with you my thoughts on the Growth retreat we just finished. We did two days with all our designers where we get together in a sacred space for in-depth learning. It’s a fun way for everyone to build lasting friendships and learn tools, tips, and strategies to grow their design business. I’m so blessed that I was able to meet and work with all who were in attendance.
Let’s talk about one of the things that happened there because I think there’s something to learn from this for everybody. As part of the retreat, we work on design fees. We work on word problems based on scenarios of what clients might say, and then discuss how to make an offer for those situations. It’s really good practice for those in attendance. We broke out into teams, shared what each one would do and how they would put it all together.
We had two teams working on a project where your best client had sent a referral to you, which is great! You connect with the client but discover that it’s really more of a laundry list. The client wants something for every room along with some odd ideas. There’s a lot of work to do, but it’s all over the place.
The question becomes: how do you put together an offer for that?
As you know, if you made an offer for all the time it would take for all that, it would be so big that the client would freak out, and it would never happen. So, what you want to do is get a budget for it, then you can make an offer.
So, our first team goes out on their first appointment for free since it was a referral. Then, they suggested an Exploratory Agreement for $3,000 to explore the cost of all the stuff the client wants. Based on that, they did all the pricing and came up with $153,000. The client agreed to it, and a design fee was included for $23,700, which is about 12%. They completed the job and netted about $53,000 in profit to their studio. It may not have been the best scenario, but they figured out a way to make it work and made a decent profit from it.
Our second team looked at the scenario and decided the client wasn’t going to spend any money, and she wasn’t an ideal client for them. They made an offer for $2,500 to give the client some design options and concepts, then sent her on the way.
I find it most interesting, not to say one is right or one is wrong, but the observation that I want you to understand is around how you see a job.
The ideas you bring in from the outside that you see a job with, the lens you see things through, have a great deal to do with how your design jobs come out and if they are profitable.
It actually has more to do with you than it does with the client.
Here we have $53,000 coming in compared to $2,500, which is a massive difference for the exact same opportunity.
Watch the video above where I explain why when you walk into a design scenario, you want to have a totally open mind. It can have a significant impact on the outcome and your profit, or you may not see it and miss it altogether. The big lesson here is that mindset, abundance, and scarcity are like a lens that we see our jobs and our clients through. When we see clients through scarcity, we create scarcity in those jobs, and it continues through our lives. But if you turn that around and approach it from expecting abundance, whether it’s there or not, it’s more likely to show up.
If you like hearing about this type of information or working on scenarios with a fantastic team of supportive designers, sign up for a free, fun clarity call with one of our coaches. We’ll share with you how our education and coaching programs work, whether or not it makes sense for your business, and I think you’ll be glad you reached out to us.
Until next time, design something beautiful and get paid what you’re worth.