There’s a simple trick for shifting an “I don’t know what my budget is” client into a “How soon can we get started” client, who then hands over a deposit check during your very first meeting.
All you need is become a Pricing Expert and I’ll share exactly how to do that, but first…
What are some of the other advantages of being a Pricing Expert?
Impress Clients Every Time!
Most designers come off as clueless about pricing and money, and clients will LOVE that you’re prepared, knowledgeable and professional.
Winners vs. Losers
You’ll know right away if you’re meeting with an ideal client or not, because if they’re expecting to pay $1500 for a sofa then you know they’re not the client for you. This helps you politely bow out on the first appointment and spend your time working with better clients.
Get The Job Right Away
On the other hand, if their individual item pricing is reasonable then you know you have an ideal client!
You can then call out a design fee of about 15% of the total and ask (and get) the business right on the spot!
Now, don’t worry, you don’t have to memorize all the pricing for every single piece of furniture for every single design…it’s so much easier than that.
All you have to do is create the Good, Better, Best Cheat Sheet!
This is your secret weapon for knowing the price of items “off the top of your head” so you can breeze through meetings with potential clients and land new projects. I’ve used it for years and so do IDBA Coaching Members to help land 5-fugure design fees.
It takes less than an hour and you’ll wonder why how you ever did business without it!
Step One:
On one page across the top, for your 4 columns, write a room name (for example Bedroom), Good, Better and Best.
Step Two:
Down the side, in a column write Sofa, Love Seat, Area Rugs, Lamps, so on and so forth until you have everything listed that you sell.
Step Three:
List the Good, Better, Best vendors your offer to your ideal clients… for example:
If young families with a stay at home Mom is your ideal client, then your Cheat Sheet might look like…
Good = Pottery Barn
Better = Stanley
Best = Lexington
Whereas a design business with ideal clients that are 2 working professionals with kids out of school, your Cheat Sheet would look more like…
Good= Lexington
Better = Century
Best = Baker
Step Four:
Once you’ve chosen your vendors, establish a relationship and open an account with them. Then you have access their pricing and include them for each item listed in your Cheat Sheet.
It’s really that easy!
IDBA VIP TIP:
If you want to move your business up-level, eliminate your current “good” vendor from the lineup and make your “better” the bottom level and add a new high-end vendor on the top end. This is one of the proven successful strategies we implemented in our VIP Day.
The way you do business will change forever once you create and use your Pricing Expert Good, Better, Best Cheat Sheet.
It’s a not so secret way to stand out from the crowd of designers and saves you countless head and heartaches.