Our Client Experience: The Discovery Phase
Our Client Experience: The Discovery Phase
Getting to know our clients is one of the most important parts of being an interior designer. We really pride ourselves on designing unique interiors for each and every client and always want our clients to see themselves in their space.
This means we spend a significant amount of time at the beginning of the project to dig into not only the scope of their project but also the aspirations they have for their home and most importantly how they want their home to feel. We call this our Discovery Process!
1. Discovery Call:
This is the first step in getting to know some general information about you and your project. After receiving your contact form from the website, we like to schedule a brief 15-minute call to find out more about your project and if we can help. Think location, timeline, general budget, etc. Not every project is a good fit for us so we like to use this call as a precursor to scheduling a consultation.
2. Consultation:
If the stars align on the discovery call and the project sounds like a good fit for us then we move on to scheduling the consultation. This is really where we gather the technical information for the project so we can provide the most accurate budget and develop our Fee Proposal.
We spend up to 2 hours discussing the home, which gives us a good opportunity to see how our personalities mesh. I mean… who doesn’t want to work with people they like? We’re also able to get a really good feel for how you live in a space and how we can transform it.
3. Fee Proposal Approved, Design Fee Paid, and LOA Signed:
After the consultation, we send over our Fee Proposal that outlines the scope of work and all the fees involved. We like to set expectations early on in the project (timelines, investments, communication) so there are only good surprises ahead! Once everything is approved we move through our onboarding process with all the necessary documents and welcome you to the LMI family!
4. Client Intake Form:
This is where we really start to dig into who you are and what you love! We have developed a detailed questionnaire that asks some specific questions like colors to avoid and more broad questions like how you want this space to feel. We give our clients the option to complete it on their own time, chat about it over lunch, or even zoom and hash it out.
We know our clients are busy and have their preferred way of communication so we want to set ourselves up for success by letting them dictate how they get us the information. I must say I love being able to talk these things out because we always learn way more about one another through an organic conversation…with just a little prompting of course!
Once we feel like we have all the information we need to design a beautifully tailored and customized home, we hit the ground running and move into the Design Phase!
