What I Learned From My Clients

By: Andrea Schuch


 This week, being the first week of the month, it’s time for another business article. So get out your thinking caps and read on – be sure to think about how you can apply these ideas to your own business as well as come up with some new great ideas! This article is coming out of the archives from an ASID publication Professional Designer - Strategic Mapping, similar to today's Know Your Client. It is a multi part article but the part we are reading today is from designer Lisa C. Bonneville of Bonneville Design in Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA. Tune in tomorrow to hear more from Lisa, including her feedback and new business goals.

What I Learned From My Clients
One Designer’s Experience with Marketing Research
By: Lisa C. Bonneville, ASID

A year and a half ago, I hired a facilitator to help me set forth a strategic plan for my own firm because, after 15 years, I felt a need to do some re-visioning. While I was outlining my strengths and weaknesses, the question came up: “Would my clients agree?” In other words, do my clients see me as I do? Do they know what I do best? Are they the right clients, considering what I do best – am I selling my professional services to the right market? What market is best for my unique skills?

I decided to survey my clients of the past three years – whose projects were still fresh on their minds – and ask them for specific input to determine the answers to my questions. This exercise would confirm my clients’ perceptions of me as well as to help me to understand what actually is important to them.

Answers – and Questions

I worked with my facilitator to establish the answers I wanted and from there we determined what questions to ask and how to ask them. It was very important to make the survey unintimidating and easy to complete and return so the length was limited to one page and the questions were to the point. We included a mix of yes/no, fill in the blank, value rated and open answer questions.

The format of the mailing was very carefully thought out. This piece needed to accomplish three things:

1. To demonstrate to my clients my interest in their satisfaction, their input and their honesty;

2. To reinforce my image as a true professional concerned with my process methods and their total satisfaction; and

3. To thank them for their participation, their friendship and their business.

Three elements became important to include: a brief personalized greeting including a reminder of the project we had recently completed together and an explanation of the purpose of the survey; the survey itself; and a gift that communicated my appreciation for their time in completing it. I wanted this piece to also serve as a public relations piece for my firm so the design and language of the correspondence were of utmost importance.

The survey was designed as a triple-fold, double sided, self-mailer. The questions comprised one full side and the upper third of the back. The remaining two-thirds of the back, where were the two exposed sides when folded for return mailing, included a block of copy for a short version of my firm profile and an block for the mailing label and return address and pre-attached postage stamp.

I wanted to make it attractive to my clients to complete the survey so I included a small “gift.” I know for myself, it I receive the “thank you” before I actually do something to deserve it – I am more inclined to perform as asked (a guilt thing!). So, I cut “details” from photos of my clients’ projects and attached them to business card-size magnets purchased at an office supply store. For those projects in process, I chose photos of the very worst “before” shots to remind the client of the welcome change my services had brought about for them. These magnets were a big hit – even in offices.

I wanted to give them something useful, and, at the same time, favorably remind them of my firm and the work we did together. Since a few of my clients have relocated since our lsat project, these reminders of their previous achievements were especially heartwarming for them.

The mailing was produced entirely in-house. My former education in graphic design and my office assistant’s expertise with the simple graphic options available on our word processing software, WordPerfect, have proven to be very valuable in producing all manner of office mailings and forms.

I mailed a total of 38 surveys and received 17 responses. I was very pleased with this remarkable 44.74% response rate. I learned that 70% of my business comes from referrals, 12% from newspaper advertising, 6% from show house work, 6% from the phone book yellow pages and 6% from my volunteer work in my community.

My clients were honest. I believe this was due, in part, to the “optional” signature requested, but then 14 of the 17 respondents signed their surveys! I learned that although I conduct post-occupancy evaluations at the time of completion of all projects, they were more willing to share more of what they were not completely satisfied with in this survey format. I think this may have been due to the non-threatening, not face-to-face nature of my survey. Also, the advantage of hindsight is invaluable and it takes a little distancing to achieve that.

Lessons Learned

One of the most important lessons learned from my survey was that I need to improve my communication skills. A couple of my clients commented that they experienced some discomfort in asking questions about my fees. Specifically, they were unclear at certain times during the project about how I had estimated and organized my billable time throughout the duration of their projects. They indicated that, at times, they were uncertain whether an unplanned meeting or a consultation that strayed beyond the original project outline would result in additional fees or would be included in what was already agreed upon. This lack of clarity made them feel uncomfortable on these occasions. This was very valuable input and I appreciated their honesty. I immediately took stock in my demeanor, reviewed when, how and how often I discuss my fees with my clients, and revised my communication procedures to create more opportunities for clarification throughout the entire process of a project.

A few clients confided that I gave them too much detail regarding net expenses on services invoices. I had always believed that the client really wanted to know where every dollar went – this is simply not true. As a result of this input, I decided to acquaint each client, at the start of the project, with the detailed records I keep and give them the option of whether or not to see the breakdown of their invoices. I also now consider burying my net costs in my hourly fee when preparing an estimate for my services.

One client informed me that I was overloading her with too many decisions at each meeting. This made me realize that my perception of what was considered efficient use of meeting time did not take into consideration the limits certain clients may have regarding large project presentations (certain clients who hire us because they can’t or choose not to deal with the confusion and details of the process). With each client it is very important to appreciate from the start their unique needs and preferences for process – separate from content. Learning how to work with each client is an acquaired ability which can mean more to the project than being the very best interior designer in town.

I have determined that the value of this survey goes far beyond the first mailing I made last fall. It has become integrated into my design process and will be included in my written follow up contact with each client six months after the completion of each project. It has also become a vehicle through which I can gain ongoing input resulting in ongoing improvement. In addition, I have received wonderful testimonials through some of the written responses that I plan to incorporate into the profile pages of my firm’s presentation packet.

I do plan to send surveys out on an ongoing basis; they will be edited and revised a bit over time as my own services continuum changes, new services are added and others revised for optimum effectiveness. I may also need to design another one for my repeat clients so that I can measure my performance over time. The content and format for this could be designed with the help of these faithful and trusted clients.

Lisa Bonneville, ASID is principal of Bonneville Design in Manchester-by-the-Sea, MA. At the time of print, her design business was about 75% residential and 25% commercial.

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