WELCOME

Hi and welcome to my new blog. I am really excited about starting this blog where I hope to be able to give useful information and tips to interior design students who are planning to start their own businesses and to interior design professionals who are up and running but enjoy finding out more about this wonderful profession!

I thought I would begin today by talking about client or customer service! If you are working in your business on your own, there are so many hats you need to wear. Today, in my business I have typed invoices, hung a pair of curtains, arranged a couple of appointments, opened the mail, sourced fabric samples for a client scheme, ordered some furniture brochures for a client, typed a quote and now am writing this new blog:) Tomorrow I have a client meeting, need to do some accounts, file some paperwork, draw some plans and prepare a client presentation! How on earth will I find more time to check on client satisfaction!

However, we need to be aware that this is a really important aspect of our business. By checking on our clients satisfaction we can make sure that we know what clients expect from us and we can ensure that we give it to them! If we fall short of their expectations in any way, then we are wasting our time and all our hard work. After all we depend on our clients for our reputation.

Another good reason to ask our clients for some feedback about our services is to remind them that you are still around. By getting back in touch with them a couple of months after you have finished working with them, you may jog them into getting started on the next stage of their project.

A good way of getting client feedback is by simply posting or emailing them an easy to fill in form. If you want to have more of a chance of them returning a posted form you could include a stamped addressed enveope as well. A simple tick sheet where your customers can tick the options very good, good, not very good would suffice. Some questions you may ask could include:

How would you rate the intital contact with me?

How would you rate the way I communitcated with you?

How would you rate the designs I proposed

How easy was it to interpret the schemes I proposed

And then perhaps a section where the clients have to write a short sentance:

What did you like best about my services

What other services would it ahve been useful to offer you

What did you like least about my services

Would you be happy to recommend me to your friends and family

You could also ask them if they are willing to include a short testimonial about your services for you to include on your literature/website etc.

By asking these questions and getting this feedback you will be surprised how your confidence will grow, you will get more business, and you may find other related services that your clients are trying to find that you can start to offer them.