In this episode, I’m sharing a tip that will change your life and your business. As an interior designer, you are first and foremost a problem solver! High-level clients want solutions, not a menu of options!
The best thing you can do to help clients understand your value is to hone in and define your core offering, a prime service that will be the pillar of your business. This helps to establish your professionalism and that you’re not winging it until you find what sticks. Having a core offering, let’s you be clear about what service you provide and the problems you solve for your clients!
Through the episode, I share a few scenarios of my own and some questions to ask yourself so you can give your clients what they really need, erase all the fluff, and allow you the freedom to be the expert in your business.
Episode Highlights
- Rebecca shares how high-end clients don’t want a “menu” of services—they want a clear solution to their problem.
- Do you feel like you’re bending over backward for your clients, saying “yes” to everything just to keep them happy? Rebecca breaks down why having one core service offering is a game-changer. She shares her personal journey, plus real-life examples of designers who successfully streamlined their services to attract premium clients who trust their expertise (and pay for it!).
- Rebecca reveals how premium clients aren’t looking for the cheapest option—they’re searching for the best experience. She explains how shifting your approach to a “problem-solving” mindset will help you attract dream clients who value and respect your work.
Episode Resources
Read the Full Transcript ⬇️
00;00;00;00 – 00;00;24;21
Rebecca Hay
You need to have the solution. So your offer is going to be unique to you, but it should be done in such a way that that one process, that one way of doing things, can serve different clients who are coming to you with different problems without you constantly needing to tweak how you deliver your service. Because high value clients don’t want a menu of options, they want a solution.
00;00;24;23 – 00;00;56;24
Rebecca Hay
All right. I’m Rebecca Hay, and I’ve built a successful interior design business by trial and error, podcasts, online courses, and so many freaking books. Over the last decade, I’ve grown from an insecure student to having false starts to careers. And now I’m finally in the place where I want to be. Throughout my journeys. It’s been pretty obvious that I’m passionate about business and helping other entrepreneurs do the same.
00;00;56;26 – 00;01;27;12
Rebecca Hay
Each week, I’ll share tangible takeaways from my own experience and the experiences of other badass women to help you build your confidence and change your business. Hey hey hey, it’s Rebecca and you are listening to Resilient by Design. Today I want to talk about attracting clients who value your expertise. I want to talk very specifically about your service, about what it is that you do.
00;01;27;12 – 00;01;50;08
Rebecca Hay
What is your service offering? What are the services that you offer? Like what is it that you do to help clients? Because there’s so many different types of services out there and there is no one right answer. But and I say this inside Power of Process all the time, you need to pick one. This is going to change your life.
00;01;50;09 – 00;02;14;26
Rebecca Hay
So hang in there. Today’s episode is going to be a doozy haha. Do you sometimes feel like you’re bending over backwards for your clients? Like haha. They ask you to jump and you basically say how high? Or maybe they just don’t appreciate your work. Or maybe they don’t say oh my god, that’s so amazing. It looks amazing, looks so good.
00;02;14;26 – 00;02;44;02
Rebecca Hay
Or maybe they’re questioning your pricing. This is you. You’re not alone. But the good news is it doesn’t have to be this way. So what happens is you start offering a smorgasbord, a shark coterie, if you will, of services that potential clients can pick from. Because we believe as service providers, the client is always right. We want to meet the client where they’re at.
00;02;44;07 – 00;03;07;17
Rebecca Hay
We can do all of these things. So we will make sure that we make ourselves available to do all these things. So we say yes to everything, but then what happens is we spread ourselves too thin. We’re tired. The clients then are frustrated. They become more demanding. We jump through one hoop. So then the clients like, well, they jump through the first hoop.
00;03;07;20 – 00;03;31;12
Rebecca Hay
I’m going to now see how far they can jump through the next one. When you give an inch, they take a mile. Can you relate? I know this has been a lot of learning for me, and I do see it a lot with my students when I talk to them about this concept. The concept is one core offer insight, Power of Process I talk about.
00;03;31;12 – 00;04;03;25
Rebecca Hay
I have an entire lesson about it actually, how you need to have a single core offering and the reason I use the word core is because I’m not saying that you can’t add on and have additional offerings. However, I think I believe, and I have experienced this firsthand, that having one single core offer, one type of service that you are known for is going to be a game changer for you to attract the clients who truly value what it is that you do.
00;04;03;27 – 00;04;34;27
Rebecca Hay
If you want to level up and attract higher-end clients, and you want to make more money, then you need to get clients who want the service that you’re offering. And a lot of that is going to come down to understanding what your offer is, and how you can do it better than anyone else. I can tell you that high-end clients do not want a menu of options.
00;04;35;00 – 00;04;58;09
Rebecca Hay
They want you to have the solution to their problem. When a potential client comes to you, they’re not necessarily knowing what the solution is like. They know that you have it. Let’s use an example. Kitchen renovation. They’re not happy with their kitchen. They need a designer because they want a new kitchen. But they want to make sure that this time the kitchen ticks all the boxes.
00;04;58;10 – 00;05;16;29
Rebecca Hay
They want to make sure that their kitchen is done right. If they’re going to invest a ton of money, then they want to make sure it’s done right. And damn, wouldn’t it be nice if it also looks really beautiful and maybe unique, like something you could see in a magazine? Oh, that’s what they’re coming to you for. They’re not coming to you to place orders.
00;05;17;01 – 00;05;37;16
Rebecca Hay
If they are, there’s probably not the right client for you, because you’re not going to have any freedom to be the designer. So they come to you and they say, you know, we’ve got it. This is our problem. We’ve got a kitchen, and they want you to come to them with the solution. They do not need you to go to them and say, well, here are the ways I could help you.
00;05;37;18 – 00;06;12;09
Rebecca Hay
Let me show you the ways and you pick. Because what happens in those situations is it can backfire in two ways. The first way it can backfire is you overwhelm the client because they don’t know which options best for them, and then they step back and they decide not to make any decision at all, and they maybe end up going a different direction or they don’t hire you, or they drag their heels or two, they do hire you for one of the services, but then they are constantly wondering if they picked the right service, does it include what they need?
00;06;12;09 – 00;06;34;26
Rebecca Hay
And they have so many questions because it’s not clear to them what’s included, what’s not included. You’ve probably experienced this yourself in different realms, I can tell you that I had this experience. I’m trying to think this happened to me last year when I was looking to overhaul my website, and I was like, I need a new website, like, this is what I want to do.
00;06;34;28 – 00;06;57;09
Rebecca Hay
And the person is like, okay, well, I’m going to present you with like three different options. And I’m like, oh, that sounds cool. Okay, great. Three options. Awesome. And then the three options were laid in front of me and I was like, okay, well, which one do you think I need? Like, do I just need a refresh of the WordPress site and updates?
00;06;57;09 – 00;07;18;15
Rebecca Hay
Do I need to move it to show it because you’re saying this is going to look better, or do I need the additional package of aid or whatever? And honestly, I felt like I came to them with my problem. I wanted to know what the cost of the solution would be like. I wanted to know what the timeline would be for the solution.
00;07;18;17 – 00;07;38;16
Rebecca Hay
I did not want them to turn it back on me. It’s like throwing the ball back in my court. Here’s a bunch of things we could do. You decide. Well, fuck, I don’t know. I’m not a web designer. I don’t know what I need. I just wanted to look good. I want it to function well. I want it to be like, whatever.
00;07;38;16 – 00;08;21;05
Rebecca Hay
And I want it to be within a certain dollar amount. The same thing happens when you show up to a client with a million options. Okay, maybe not a million, but like three ways, four ways. Here are some common examples I see designers offering consultation only paint consultation like color consultations, staging services, decorating, construction management, construction drawings. It’s a smorgasbord of choose your own adventure, which works for some clients but not typically clients with deep pockets who are looking to you as the professional expert to just take care of their problem.
00;08;21;08 – 00;08;48;27
Rebecca Hay
Now, I’m not suggesting that you only need to do full service design, but what I am saying is you need to have the solution. So your offer, however your process is set up is going to be unique to you, but it should be done in such a way that that one process, that one way of doing things, can serve different clients who are coming to you with different problems without you constantly needing to tweak how you deliver your service.
00;08;48;29 – 00;09;23;26
Rebecca Hay
Because high value clients don’t want a menu of options, they want a solution. Your core offer matters. I want you to take a minute and consider what clients have you had in the past where the service was exactly what they needed, and it was their solution? I don’t know, maybe you don’t have one, maybe you do. I also want you to consider is there one service that you offer that you love to do the most?
00;09;23;28 – 00;09;46;12
Rebecca Hay
Is there? In my 14 day bootcamp, I’m going to share with you why this matters. And truthfully, I’m going to give you some examples to show you how a premium client is thinking and what type of offer they’re looking for. Premium clients don’t shop for the cheapest designer. They look for the best experience. So who are those premium clients for you?
00;09;46;14 – 00;10;13;05
Rebecca Hay
They’re going to value your expertise, right? They want you want them to value you as a professional. You also don’t want them to micromanage you, right? That you want free reign to design in your own in some ways in a vacuum, right? And so that is what this bootcamp is for over a two week period. I’m going to show up inside the Facebook group every single weekday with morning mindset sessions to get you amped for the day.
00;10;13;11 – 00;10;44;11
Rebecca Hay
You are going to have three live Zoom trainings, plus a bonus training where you can show up to learn and implement immediately what you’re learning. I am going to show you and walk you through those first three steps that you need to do and what you need to change inside of your business so that you can get those premium clients and lock them in with a paid consultation that you will then convert into a full design project.
00;10;44;11 – 00;11;09;27
Rebecca Hay
Are you with me guys? I am going deep on this one area because this is what matters. You need to get super clear on how you are showing up and what are you doing. When people are coming to you? Are you deterring clients unknowingly? I will show you exactly what to do inside my two-week live bootcamp. Head on over to rebecca.com/bootcamp to join us.
