Should the unthinkable happen and you
discover your client has chosen another design professional to work on a
project what should you do?
We had worked with a client to complete
a whole house renovation and had continued to keep in contact. About eighteen months after the completion of
the initial project I heard from another designer my client had signed with a
firm in San Francisco
to renovate an apartment they had just bought in a condo there. Yes, I was surprised. Almost immediately the client called to ask
about selections of fabrics we had made for the previous project. She explained she was starting a new project
with another design team and they wanted to look at what she had done
before. I told her we would call back
with the requested pattern numbers before the close of business that day and,
with her permission, contact the other design team to offer any help they might
need from our office. I don’t mean you
will be trying to “horn in” on the design job I simply mean as a professional
you are willing to offer assistance. The
design team never returned my telephone calls.
I didn’t hear from her for almost four weeks and thought she must have
been well on her way to a completed design for the new condo. The next day she walked into my office
without an appointment and in tears. The
whole awful story spilled out. She had
gone with these designers because they were referred by the realtor. She knew and trusted the realtor and for a
number of reasons it seemed to be a good solution to her interior design needs
in an area away from Carmel.
Many realtors work with designers for referrals to purchasers and we,
too, have a list of realtors who refer us when out of town buyers come to Carmel. The new design team she selected was young,
excited about the condo and persuaded her they could create the space of her
dreams within her budget. You know the
rest. They wanted only to create what
they felt was right for their particular interior design style and not what
might be right for the client. They
would not listen to any of her thoughts and continued to override any attempt
on her part to be involved in the process.
Now, she was in my office crying on my arm and wondering if I would work
with her. She was under a time deadline
and needed a lot of decisions very quickly.
Of course we complied. We never
spoke of the other design team and her new project moved forward in a timely
manner and with a minimum of complications.
She explained months later the only reason she even considered coming
back to us was the very professional and prompt way in which we answered her
request for fabric information when she decided to work with someone else. She said she knew we would respond to her
current crisis in the same professional manner.
I was glad to help and also glad I hadn’t put her off when she called
just because she chose to try another interior design firm. You never know what might happen in the
future. As they say, never burn a bridge
behind you. You don’t know when you
might need it again.
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