Tips for a Smooth Client Onboarding Process

Onboarding is the process of welcoming and familiarizing your new client with your company and the project journey ahead. After signing the contract, it's the first point of in-depth contact, so it's time to anticipate needs and exceed expectations. The onboarding process is all about forging a relationship with your client. They want to feel heard, informed, and taken care of, throughout the project process. While many interior design clients may not be repeat customers, their experience with you from the earliest phases will define your company's reputation and also unlock the potential of word-of-mouth marketing.

At a glance, a successful client onboarding process:

• keeps competitors at bay

• gives you the opportunity to upsell or cross-sell services

• helps you set expectations and avoid scope creep

• allows you to build a loyal client community

• provides insights into how to keep improving your business methods

Now, let’s look at several ways you can ensure a smooth client onboarding process.

Get to know the client and personalize their journey

Ask your client to answer a short online questionnaire to identify their pain points. Organize a meeting with the team to introduce yourselves. This is a personal touch that will facilitate future communication and demonstrate your commitment to the project. Follow up with a welcome email to your client to tell them how much you are looking forward to working with them and briefly outline the next steps that were discussed in the meeting.

Avoid information overload

While it’s vital to be transparent and make information accessible to the client, the goal is to streamline the process and facilitate the experience. So walk them through the main points and give them access to a Client Dashboard, where they can refer back to information like the contract, process outline, design options, and anything else that may be relevant. This will reduce unnecessary back and forth, give clients peace of mind, and prevent oversights that can lead to unmet expectations as the project progresses.

Include visual and interactive material

In the same spirit as the previous point, you can make the experience lighter and more enjoyable by incorporating different forms of media and interaction. Having videos on your website and social media allow clients to know you and understand better how you work. Consult a UX Design pro to fine-tune the format and functionality of things you send to clients: questionnaires, documents, inspiration images for feedback, or furniture options.

Stay available

Although you need to have a defined scope of work that includes a limited number of site visits and meetings, it’s important that clients can count on you to respond in a timely manner and resolve their concerns. That excellent service is one of the aspects that will have the greatest impact on the overall feeling and memory of the client’s experience. And it's what they’ll talk about when they recommend you to their family and friends.

Train and communicate with your teammates

The first step of onboarding is to be clear about who will be responsible for each step of the process. Everyone on your team should understand their role in order to keep things flowing, avoid redundant work and communications with the client, and so that no detail falls through the cracks. This kind of professionalism shines through to clients.

Celebrate small victories

Even if clients are well-informed, the interior design project process often turns out to be more complex and stressful than one might imagine. That's why it's so important to point out and celebrate project milestones with them along the way. This good energy will come across in your communication and site visits, helping to make the journey more enjoyable and convey confidence in the progress.

Review your onboarding practices

Be sure to write down all the steps you want to include in your client onboarding process. It should be detailed enough to be able to hand this process off to someone who is able to execute it. Put the process in a neat document, so that you can make any revisions over time and simply go through the steps each time a new client comes on board.

The chances of maintaining a positive relationship with a client are infinitely higher when you conduct a thorough onboarding procedure. While creating a successful onboarding plan may require some work upfront, it will ultimately save your team time and make your business run more smoothly.

xx, Danae

New Courses Available at Elite Design Assistants!

As a successful business owner, I’m sure you realized early on that in order to grow, scale and be successful you really need to be a lifelong learner. We are always learning and growing and strengthening our skills. If you are looking to polish your skills and/or learn new ones we’ve updated our courses page with some amazing new courses offered by industry partners.

The Standard, created by Sandra Funk at House of Funk, is an amazing course that teaches you step-by-step how to streamline your process and grow your firm into a luxury design business while giving yourself more freedom, creativity, and a job. This is the only program of its kind that not only provides a proven pricing model and turkey processes, but also the strategy, and tangible methods behind attracting and retaining luxury clients. This course is only open for enrollment twice per year! You can reserve your spot here, the next enrollment most likely will be around March 2023.

Chief Architect for Interior Designers is a Teachable-hosted course series, Kelly Fridline will broaden your knowledge of Chief Architect, Home Designer Pro, Sketchup, and Enscape. Kelly is an architecturally-trained designer and holds a Master of Architecture from Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and almost a decade of professional experience, with 5 years working with Chief Architect software. Finally — a course specifically tailored to the Interior Design industry! You can either take the 6-course bundle or take the courses individually. The bundle is available here.

If you want to pick and choose from the individual courses, they are:

Chief Architect for Interior Designers – this is perfect for beginners.

Home Designer Pro – learn the ins and outs, and you’ll learn more than just the basics.

SketchUp Pro Organic 3D Modeling – Advanced 3D modeling in SketchUp Pro.

SketchUp Pro 3D Modeling – A full course on 3D modeling in SketchUp Pro.

SketchUp Free for Beginners – Learn 3D modeling in the SketchUp Free program.

Enscape for Interior Designers – Learn how to render in Enscape and create renderings that will make your clients say WOW!

We also have a Passive Investing course in the stock market for interior designers who are interested in learning how to increase their wealth. The course teaches you the ins and outs of starting your own brokerage account, and how to choose which stocks to buy and when to buy them. This course is perfect for those who are interested in learning how to get their money to make more money. Check it out here.

We are still working on passive investing in real estate and hope to see more information on that coming soon!

If there is something you are looking for in particular that you don’t see here let us know. We are always eager to help interior designers grow, scale, and create the business of their dreams!

xx, Danae

SEO Tips for Interior Designers & Remodelers

Jason Lockhart From Kitchen and Bath Marketing Solutions (KABMS.com) Gives Tips and Tricks For You To Get Noticed Online

Search Intent

You must produce the kind of content that users are seeking if you want to be found on Google. Aligning your content with search intent is what is referred to as, and it's arguably the most crucial aspect of SEO. If you sell kitchen cabinets online, for instance, you might want to rank for the phrase "Efficient storage & waterproof kitchen cabinetry." Your initial thought might be to make a product category page where you can list all the waterproof cabinets and effective storage solutions you offer. But if it's not what searchers are looking for, doing this would be a mistake. Regional search shows the top-ranking pages in Google for this keyword is a listing of blog posts, as you can see here.

Image: Google Ranking Websites based on Searcher Intent

Crafting Title Tags

The primary purpose of the title tag is to describe what the website's visitors and search engines can expect from it, in the most concise way possible. The significance of title tags includes:

Initial Impressions:

When conducting a search, the potential visitor will typically notice your title tag first. Consequently, this is your chance to leave a good impression.

Leverage Your Brand:

People believe in brands. Ensure your brand name is prominently displayed in your title tag if you are a household name in your industry. Once more, this encourages the click and increases traffic.

Search Engine Bots:

Additionally, remember that Google (and other search engines) considers your title tag among other things.

Image: Title Tag Truncation in SERPs

Page Experience

In 2021, Google updated the mobile page experience. The business started rolling it out on desktops in February 2022. The following are the components it has for desktops:

• Core web vitals

• No intrusive interstitials (Intrusive interstitials and dialogs are page elements that obstruct users' view of the content, usually for promotional purposes)

• HTTPS (Network Security Protocol)

Although page experience indicators like Core Web Vitals are crucial for SEO, it's important to maintain perspective. One of more than 200 ranking factors is Core Web Vitals. They won't likely be a particularly strong signal, but if they're subpar, it's always worth fixing them to improve the experience for your visitors.

Image: Google Search Console Reports on Core Web Vitals

Want to know more? This information was provided by Jason Lockhart at Kitchen and Bath Marketing Solutions. They offer specialized digital marketing solutions for the Interior Design and Home Remodeling Industry. Kitchen and Bath Marketing Solutions offers a complete suite of digital marketing services to help interior designers and home remodeling professionals boost their brand recognition, promote their services, and convert casual onlookers into customers. Our services include but are not limited to: SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – Pay-Per-Click Advertising – Reputation Management – Customer Relations Management System (CRM) – Campaign Tracking – Public Relations (PR) – Consulting.

Visit their website KABMS.com and feel free to connect for a free consultation call.

xx, Danae

Introducing Metrique Solutions: A NEW Financial Software for Interior Designers to Help Increase Profits

I know you are busy building your empire so I’m here to keep you educated on what’s new and beneficial in the interior design industry! Today, I am sharing information on the new financial software for service-based businesses called Metrique Solutions.

Metrique was developed by someone you may already know - Michele Williams, an interior design business coach who is also a strategist, profitability consultant, podcaster, author, and speaker. Michele combined her background in financial software development, business ownership, and coaching & consulting to create the perfect financial software for service-based businesses.

So what does Metrique Solutions do?

Metrique integrates with all of your most loved financial tools and puts all your money data in one easy to understand dashboard.

Metrique will build your confidence at it:

• Provides interactive visuals of your business's financial performance.

• Makes creating a budget so much easier.

• Knows if you stray from your budget.

• Tells you which stats you should be watching.

• Simplifies your income statements.

• Highlights your most important financial trends.

• Includes built-in security for all users.

Metrique will help you build your business because it:

• Uses data from other platforms.

• Tracks conservative / aggressive budgets automatically.

• Compares your current financial year with prior year.

• Gives you a revenue breakdown graph.

• Tracks your employee billable time.

• Works with American and Canadian currencies.

FEATURES & BENEFITS – Understanding what Metrique can do.

• It isn’t a billing software or a project management tool. It is the motherboard of the empire you are building!

• It works with both American and Canadian currency.

• It will upload your data from other platforms.

• It will compare current financial year with prior financial year.

• You will know right away if you stray from your budget.

• It will track employee billable time.

“As a business advisor to entrepreneurs with mixed or ‘complicated’ relationships with money I knew there had to be a simpler, more aesthetically pleasing way to analyze and truly understand financial data,” Michele Williams CEO & Founder of Metrique Solutions shares.

‘What you don’t know won’t hurt you’ doesn’t apply to business growth and many of Michele’s clients were suffering from this lack of knowledge and ensuing lack of confidence.

“Metrique Solutions started as a spreadsheet that I gave to my private coaching clients. It was incredibly helpful at increasing profits, not just revenue, in their businesses – but I wanted it to be even easier to use, prettier to look at and simple to understand. Today, Metrique is a full-fledged software program that can be used by any service-based entrepreneur who wants to grow, scale and create a legacy business,” Michele explained.

If you are interested in learning more about Metrique, please click my affiliate link here. https://www.metriquesolutions.com/?via=danae

xx, Danae

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WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

In an effort to offer the best services and products possible, we are interested to know what you want! How can we help you? Please take a few moments to complete this survey so we can help you grow and scale your business even more in the New Year.

The Best Organizational Tools for Interior Designers

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WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

In an effort to offer the best services and products possible, we are interested to know what you want! How can we help you? Please take a few moments to complete this survey so we can help you grow and scale your business even more in the New Year.

Gifts to Get Your Design Clients: Elite Design Assistants Guide for Client Gift-Giving

Throughout the design project journey, we forge relationships with our clients by sharing the very personal process of creating their home. And because an interior design project often spans several months or years, you are a fixture in each other's lives throughout the passing of the seasons. So whether you want to offer a thoughtful gesture to celebrate the winter holidays or a token of appreciation at the end of the project, a small gift can go a long way in acknowledging your clients and strengthening those relationships.

Gifts to clients should not be outrageously expensive, but you should budget for them in your company's financial planning. Even if the project has come to an end, it's worth this small final investment, because it will impact how clients remember you and speak about your firm. It also just feels good to give. Here are some ideas of gifts you can get your design clients.

COFFEE TABLE BOOKS

A fabulous go-to gift which is aesthetically pleasing and can be personalized to their interests.

DRINK THERMOSES

A practical choice for your coffee or tea drinking clients who are always on the go.

FLORAL ARRANGEMENT

A gorgeous touch to liven up your client’s space, whether they’re already moved into their new home or not.

PLANTS IN A BEAUTIFUL POT

If your clients are some of those people who can never have too many plants, it’s an easy win.

SERVING TRAYS WITH GOURMET FOOD ITEMS

Gift them a nice decorative wooden board and with a selection of delicacies to try, like a cheeseboard.

BOTTLES + BARWARE

Find out their drink of choice to pop open and celebrate, and consider adding accessories like a set of coasters.

FANCY SOAP

Nothing ruins a fantastic bathroom design like a tacky soap bottle, so treat them to a pretty dispenser and great-smelling hand soap.

CANDLE SETS

Timeless and warm, surprise them with a large candle in a lovely container, a set of holders, or accessories like a snuffer and wick trimmer.

PREMIUM SLIPPERS

A cozy detail that makes walking around their new home feel a bit extra luxurious.

SOMETHING FOR THEIR PET

If they are obsessed with their pet, they might get the most joy out of receiving a beautiful engraved collar or set of food and water bowls.

GOODS FROM LOCAL ARTISANS

Support local makers by gifting handmade ceramics or a nice hand towel set.

And finally, a few more tips on the do's and don'ts of giving gifts to clients.

DO

• Accompany the gift with your logo on a brief handwritten note signed by your team.

• Consider allergies or dietary preferences when sending edible or drinkable gifts.

• If you can’t or don’t want to purchase a gift for your client, it’s still much better to send a beautiful card on their birthday or holiday than nothing at all.

• Include your vendors on your card mailing list, particularly smaller businesses you work with.

DON’T

• You don’t have to give the same gift to all your clients; each one should be somewhat proportional to the scale of that project.

• Don’t assume which holidays your clients celebrate, and make sure you find out before specifying the occasion.

• Don't give something that makes it seem like your project was delivered incomplete, like another sofa cushion.

Happy gift-giving! xx, Danae

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WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

In an effort to offer the best services and products possible, we are interested to know what you want! How can we help you? Please take a few moments to complete this survey so we can help you grow and scale your business even more in the New Year.

Trend Forecasting: Most Popular Interior Design Trends Forecasted for 2023

Can you believe how fast 2022 has flown by? The interior design industry is already forecasting trends for 2023 and you know what that means… the end of the year is near!

Someone with either a crystal ball or ESP has spoken …here are the most popular design trends of the future.

Nature

As nature continues to be connected to wellness, 2023 will be full of organic and cozy materials. Think cotton, clay, velvet, wool, ceramic, and wood.

Instagram-able Walls

Yes, you read that correctly. A wall in homes that are so amazing they are Instagram-worthy! These perfect statement walls will be for video calls, Instagram and whatever social media comes in the future.

Arches

Arches are not only a renaissance architectural feature they are softer and will be returning to furniture, decor elements, and doorways.

Digital Realism

Think cyberpunk, neon lights, and geometric shapes. Many people are living in the Metaverse and they love it so much they want their real-life décor to mimic what they see in cyberspace.

Funghi Décor

This iconic 70s revival is known for its whimsical effects applied in shapes and prints.

Instagram-able Lounges – Hospitality

Businesses want to be seen on social media, too. They will go for more eye-catching interiors worth sharing!

Lavender

Lavender is predicted to be the star color for 2023!

Luxury Monochromatic

Used in kitchens and bathrooms along with golden accents.

Private Spaces

Now that we do EVERYTHING at home now, people desire more private spaces for work, school, fitness, etc.

Reinvented Heritage

A design trend that will merge classic decors with fashion design.

Have you seen any other trends for 2023?

xx, Danae

Shop the Look for the Best Works Bags for Interior Designers!

It’s time to go purse and bag shopping! We have compiled some of the best bags and purses we know of for busy interior designers like yourself to take to client visits, work site visits, and even to the grocery store.

Click the SHOP NOW button below to buy your favorite bag!

Happy Shopping!

xx, Danae

Creating Vision Boards for Life and Business

As interior designers, we are no strangers to composing material boards or mood boards. The unique combination of images and textures we create tells a story about our vision for the project ahead. As we progress, they can serve as a reference point to return to, helping us stay consistent with our concept and keep us on track to achieve it. So why not do the same with your business or personal life?

A vision board is an inspirational board created with photos, images, clippings, phrases and words that represent the ideal lifestyle you want to reach or the goals you want to achieve. There’s no perfect formula to making a vision board, because it’s completely personal to you.

The most hands-on approach is a physical vision board, which you can make with a classic cork board or wire wall grid, among many other options. But you can also create a digital board made with an app such as Canva, and make it your desktop and phone background. Attach photos you’ve taken yourself, cut out magazines, or find images or quotes online. You may already have an existing collection of aspirational images on Pinterest to get you started.

Life Vision Board

Creating a vision board is an excellent exercise in its own right. Think of places you want to go, inspirational people whose energy you would like to channel, phrases that encourage or resonate with you, milestones on the horizon, objects that have meaning to you, or even fashion photos that inspire you. You can include images that evoke your values in relation to family and friends, spirituality, hobbies, projects or health. Anything that represents the life you want to lead in the future: near or a little more distant.

Business Vision Board

As with your life vision board, ask yourself what values or keywords represent your company, as well as the kind of work environment you’d like to cultivate with your team. Is there a number that represents a goal you have for this year, like a number of projects you’d like to complete? What image would represent your expansion goals? You may also like to work in your corporate fonts and colors in a creative way. Creating a vision board can actually be a great opportunity for team-building, as well, as you put your heads together to add insights.

While it’s important to be grateful for what we have and give ourselves credit for how far we’ve already come, having a vision board will help you to focus on where you want to go and how you want to continue growing. So the most important thing is that your vision board is somewhere you’ll see it often, such as at home first thing in the morning, or in plain view from your office desk.

Just as with all goal-setting, it’s best to choose attainable targets for yourself. Aim high, but if you overload your board with impossible objectives, it will only serve to discourage you rather than fulfill its purpose. Looking at your vision board should make you feel good and contribute to a more positive outlook. So don’t wait till the New Year to reflect on your goals. It's just a matter of dedicating a little time and creativity; nothing you're not willing to do to achieve your dreams, right?

xx, Danae

Make Life Easier With Menu & Grocery List Planning

One day you spend three hours in the kitchen only to see your creation disappear in ten minutes. Another day you open the fridge and find it empty and end up grabbing fast food. Another day you go shopping for ingredients for a recipe and when you get home you realize you already had many of the ingredients, plus yesterday's leftovers. If this sounds all too familiar, the good news is that the solution is easier than it sounds.

For some reason, planning ahead can seem like a daunting chore, but when it comes down to it, isn't the hassle of not planning worse? Investing just a little time at the beginning of each week will save you time and money, and help you eat healthier and live more relaxed. If you're up for giving it a try, read on.

TAKE INTO ACCOUNT

• What day of the week you are going to plan the menu and do the shopping.

• How much time you have to cook.

• The days you will eat out or take lunch to work.

• If you have kids who eat lunch at school, check the menu for that week to avoid repeating dinners.

• Whether you will plan breakfasts and snacks, or focus on lunches and dinners.

CREATE YOUR MENU LIBRARY

Mindful menu planning also ensures a more balanced diet. Although nutritional guidelines are constantly evolving, you can follow the principles of a source you trust to include plenty of protein, healthy fats and carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. One such model is known as the "Harvard Plate," which maps out healthy proportions and examples of vegetables, proteins, grains, fruits and oils. With this starting point, you can begin to build a collection of well-rounded meal menus. An example would be fish with wild rice and green beans, cooked with olive oil, and fruit salad for dessert.

You can store your menu ideas in digital format, write them on cards, or hang a poster in your pantry. You may want to organize your menu by categories, such as meat, fish or vegetables. Magazines, food blogs and Pinterest are good places to start for inspiration. Over time, you'll add more options, and this will take the work out of thinking about meal planning and grocery shopping each week.

PLAN YOUR WEEKLY MENU

Before you sit down to choose the meal menus for the week, take inventory of your fridge, freezer and pantry to see what needs to get used up to avoid waste. Now, what recipes do you have that could incorporate those ingredients? Can you include several recipes that are different but share common ingredients? Write down the remaining ingredients you'll need to complete the week's recipes, either in a note app like Google Keep on your phone or on paper. Then, there are countless templates on Canva you can edit and print off to display your weekly menu. See what format works for you, print out a dozen copies and grab one to jot down your menus each week. Another option is to laminate a copy and use it as a reusable dry-erase board and hang it on your fridge.

GET COOKING

To save time during the week you can prepare several dishes in advance or cook some foods and have them ready in the fridge just to heat and eat. You can allocate a couple of hours on a day that suits you and advance dishes for the week. This is known as batch cooking, and it can be a lifesaver when you get home late and the last thing you want to do is stand in front of the stove.

The best way to save time in the long run is to prepare the main dishes that you can store in the fridge or freezer. Or, you can just make a large batch of rice or pasta, or whatever base you’ll be using in different recipes throughout the upcoming week. Dishes that break down rapidly, like certain salads, you can chop up the same day you eat them, but thanks to your thoughtful planning, you’ll have all the ingredients on hand and ready to go!

Especially at first, you might find that you have leftovers that you don’t want to throw out, or things will come up that will throw your plan off-kilter. Don’t let this put you off the idea of meal planning, because with a bit of practice, you’ll start to get a better idea of portions and flexibility. And remember, you'll probably still waste less food than if you didn't plan your groceries.

FINAL TIPS

• Save your old menus and write the date on them. This way you can repeat the plans and quickly find seasonally appropriate menus in the future!

• If you have never done it before, it may take you longer to do this planning, but you’ll see that once you’ve done it a couple of times, it will become a built-in habit and make your meal prep a breeze!

xx, Danae