Conceptual Design Phase
At the conceptual design meeting you do the FEI again? Didn’t the Client have to approve that during the proposal meeting? If they are signing off on investment at this point, a lot of work has gone into the project without assurance of the Client’s investment?
Yes, when they sign the design agreement they also sign an FIE that is based on historical averages. This makes sure that we’re playing in the same field. My team then goes and gets an estimation of what the project will cost, a little more or a little less or we hit the nail on the head. So before we go and price out every single detail and write out every single proposal, the client is signing THEIR investment agreement at the Conceptual Design Meeting. This number shouldn’t be too far off from the one they signed at the design agreement but now I can tell them for sure that this is how much their project will cost.
I had a client who took our initial floor plans and basically redrew it. How would you handle that?
If you are in conceptual design, then I think that is a collaborative conversation. If you are in detail design, then you have to go back to your process and look where you didn’t get their buy in on the conceptual design. Layout is one of the most important things to nail during conceptual design.
How do you deal with existing furnishings and accessories that the client wishes to use?
We take all of the dimensions and make sure that it fits with the design, we do not charge less in our design fee for a semi furnished room than a fully furnished room because it is just as much work to go in there and color match and document those existing pieces. I have no problem saying to a client, “You know where this would look great? I noticed there’s a guest bedroom with an empty wall if there is something that isn’t working for me.
What do you typically allow (is there a standard percentage) for accessories and artwork in the Conceptual Design Phase investment estimate?
Typically 20% of the investment estimate is for art and accessories but I try to break them out into line items, IE 60 inch art over mantle is $10k or coffee table accessories is $5k.
Detailed Design Phase
You don’t also show the presentation digitally, on a large screen? Do you use 3D renderings at all in your presentations?
No we do not show it on a large screen and do not offer 3D rendering. We have yet to come across a client who asks for 3D renderings.
As you are presenting the design board for each room, do you also have a separate spec sheet for each item with a larger image of the item, dimensions, etc. ? Or just the image on the full vision board?
We only provide the image on the design board with the rest of the items so they can visualize the entire room on 11×17 paper. We give them all the specs within the proposals which they can read through if they feel like they have to. The proposals do not have images on them.
Purchasing and Execution
How do you deal with client’s wanting to sit in a sofa before they buy? I hear this request all the time when I’m sourcing sofas for clients and if it’s trade only then they are not able to do so prior to purchasing.
I let potential clients know up front that they will be purchasing based on images & samples only, and that these to the trade items are likely not available to sit in for rest. I go to market annually to kick the tires & post lots of stories with us testing the merchandise. Worst case, I take them to past clients to check quality & comfort.
What would you do if most of your furnishings were ready to be delivered except that one item that was pushed out drastically?
I will install when I have about 90% of the rooms furnishings and if we are at the deadline that we promised the client. We let our clients know of any outliers. The more that you can create a room all at one time, the less you will get a magnifying glass after each individual item comes in.
Do you send things like lamps, pillows and accessories to your receiver?
I try to send as much to the receiver as possible. I’ve covered myself with the freight to be able to afford to do this. I don’t have enough storage space and if it’s sent to me, the responsibility is on me to check for damages.