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| Photo credit: Janice Fulman Courtesy of Bonneville Design |
We read the article yesterday that Lisa Bonneville of Bonneville Design had written for the July/August issue of ASID publication ASID Professional Designer in 1997. I have been talking to Lisa this week and wondering, how has this changed her company over the years and what else has she done to improve her business? Lisa now has 30 years under her belt as business owner and is very accomplished in the Boston area, having been inducted into the New England Design Hall of Fame which is reserved for only those who have distinguished themselves in their profession and reached the pinnacle of their career. Lisa’s business is currently 80% residential and 20% commercial due to her focus on designing for safety for in the home. She consults with people who are building retirement homes or remodeling to continue to live in their homes as long as possible. Read on to hear more about Lisa and what she has been up to lately and her new business goals.
AS: In the years since working with this business consultant, what else have you tweaked in regards to your relationship with your clients?
LB: I have, over the years, added more focus to my business. I find that 80% of my business comes from 20% of my clients: big projects and repeat customers. These clients also give the best referrals. I have increased marketing geared towards these clients. I no longer do show houses but do still work with local organizations and museums to support programs that are meaningful to me through displays and lectures centered on creating livable living spaces. It is very easy to work with people on a repeating basis because you have already established a level of trust and good working relationship. My established client base has pulled me through these difficult economic times. Projects are smaller and require more of what my client’s have come to expect from me – turn key service, design and implementation. Residential design is an ongoing process – very few people complete their entire house all at once; but even if they do – it ages just like we do and it needs to be attended to over time. A homeowner establishes a team to maintain their home and that includes their interior designer.
AS: Do you still continue to do follow up surveys? How have they changed in this economy?
LB: My follow up surveys are no longer being conducted as I did originally in this article. It was a strictly written survey. What I do now is nurture my best clients through communication; I have honed my communication skills to where I am more attuned with my clients. I have fostered their deep trust in my professional expertise and personal touch. At the same time, I have continued to communicate with all my clients, business associates and vendors the progression of my business – the awards I have won (like the kitchen design award from Southern Accents Magazine and lifetime achievement in the New England Design Hall of Fame), my induction into the Fellowship of the American Society of Interior Design (ASID), my projects and articles on design have been published with a number of additional periodicals, I have written a book The Safe Home: Designing for Safety in the Home, I lecture and I teach other designers how to design for safety in the home. The continuing education course I teach for ASID is based on my book. Over 30 years, I have made a name for myself in the design community of Boston and that is very fortunate for me. Marketing my firm and my projects to clients and the media is what has resulted in my most successful exposure. For the last two holiday seasons, I gathered up donated materials from the Boston Design Center showrooms and invited the public into my office to make decorations for the troops overseas. They thought this was great and a lot of fun. There are unending relationship building opportunities for things like this.
AS: In this economy, what are you business goals geared towards?
LB: My business goals are centered on working with my clients and helping them achieve their design goals – any size project. I think the mantra for today’s design projects is “I can help you with ANY size project.” People still have design needs in the home even though they aren’t remodeling or building. People still have ongoing projects. For instance, I have one client with a rental property they wanted to remodel before putting it on the "market" so they hired me to walk through, tell them what was needed, design changes, select replacement fixtures, price the work, schedule the contractors and manage the implementation. They knew they could hire me to take care of it from start to finish. That’s very valuable for people who don’t know how to do it or would rather spend their time doing something else. Interior design requires a lot of teamwork, attention to detail and completing it on time and in budget. These are things interior designers do very well. I have always felt that the residential designer is in a very unique position because they are usually the first person in on a project and the last person out so they have a great amount of influence. My goal is mainly communicating to my client’s that I understand that their projects maybe a different size than in the past but they are no less important to me. Other than that, my own desire to serve clients in ways that they might not even know they will benefit from like designing safety in the home inspires me. Most people equate interior design with efficiency and beauty and not necessarily safety. My practice goals center around making environments that preserve good health, reduce the likelihood of injury and providing safety.
AS: What steps are you taking to achieve these goals?
LB: I have always kept my clients up-to-date on what I'm doing through direct mail and email. If I’m doing a lecture about design, I send clients and vendors an invitation and let them know. I let them know where and how I’m progressing, reinforcing the fact that I’m still here – learning and improving and ready and willing to work with them at any time. I’m speaking to the public also, which reinforces their trust and respect in the vitality of my firm. I often hear back from them, thanking me for sending the invitations. I even have vendors attend my lectures and that is heartwarming – a drapery workroom seamstress I have known for over 20 years took time out of her busy schedule to come hear me speak. Achieving goals is simply staying visible, active and vital and making sure my clientele sees me in that way.
AS: What goals have been inspired by client feed back?
LB: All the goals I have are influenced by client’s feedback – maybe not just feedback from my own clients but by things that I read in other articles or about other projects and what is going on in the profession, keeping up with the expectations of current day clients and how the demographics change.
In the article, you will remember that I learned that some of my client’s were made uncomfortable by my billing structure and how and when I charged for what service. Now, I outline the stages of the project and how my services will be invoiced in each stage. I think the repetition of including that in the proposal (which I send out no matter how many times I work with a client because it gives a map of the project goals and deadlines) and the contract. I have not heard of any concerns about how my fees are invoices since then. I worked with a business writer who helped me put these documents together and make them very user friendly. When I invoice my clients, I reference which phase of the project the services pertains to and this actually reinforces the previous documents. I continually invite them to ask me any questions or concerns and never hesitate to talk to me – this is actually written on my proposal. Open communication is very important to me and is what builds trust in our relationship.
Another major element in business today is technology. It's influence has changed so much since I wrote this article 14 years ago. It is primary in everyone’s practice. It is really important to communicate that the expertise and knowledge that an interior designer brings to a project cannot possibly be replaced by the availability of product research on the web. The internet has brought a lot of opportunity for product acquisition but that’s not what a designer is selling. A designer is selling knowledge and expertise in applying finishes, fixtures and furnishings to achieve all the elements of good design – that’s not something you can download from the internet. My clients sometimes become team members with me if they want to surf the web to find items and we look at those items together, much like I would with an associate designer, to see if those items may or may not work as a solution in the space. Engaging in this is activity and encouraging participation is part of getting to know your client. They have hired you to make sure they don’t make mistakes, I often tell them they are part of our team.
AS: What’s up next for you?
LB: I’m evolving into what I’m going to be doing next. I’ve been involved more in studying nature, seeing nature and drawing patterns from nature. I would like to create patterns inspired by nature that can be applied somehow to the betterment of living environments and also focus on all things sustainable and green.
Lisa Bonneville, FASID can be found at http://www.bonnevilledesign.com/
She bases her practice out of Manchester-by-the-sea, MA
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