Getting a Client to Sign Your Contract
I realized something yesterday, interior designers have a hard job made harder by having to do something that is not our strength to get to the work that we do excel at. Interior designers have to “sell” our creativity. We literally have to do something that, let’s face it, most of us hate doing before we can do what we love. Getting a client to sign your contract and all the stuff to get to that point can be a struggle.
So what is all the stuff that you have to do to get to that signed contract? Because, and let’s get this out of the way from the beginning, you aren’t working without a signed contract, right?
Onboarding Clients
Client onboarding is the portion between when your marketing catches the attention of a prospect and the signed contract. It can also extend a bit past the signed contract, but for now let’s just focus on getting that signature.
When you onboard a client you are getting them familiar with your business, preparing them to work with you, gathering information that will help you perform your job.
If you’ve been with me for any period of time you know how much I love making processes streamlined and creating systems. But it’s not just because I despise redundancies and love organization. It is because systems and process allow the business to run more efficiently in the background while you focus on design. You don’t have to waste any effort or brain power figuring out what to do with systems. Systems also help your business appear professional, creates clarity for the business owner and ultimately, increases confidence.
Get Out of Your Own Way
So what I realized yesterday, is that when I created my onboarding system I was streamlining the selling portion and creating a system to eliminate my discomfort with selling as much as I could. My goal was to take myself out of the process as much as possible.
Now that sounds a little crazy, but I didn’t want to waste time in this onboarding period - I didn’t get paid until that client signed the contract. Plus, I wasn’t good at it. So if I could craft a process that did most of the selling without me getting in there and screwing it up it could transform my business. And it did. I signed more clients.
I signed more clients because I wasn’t wasting my time on prospects that weren’t a fit. I signed more clients because I had a plan I could follow. I signed more clients because I was being transparent and clear in my process. I signed more clients because they knew what to expect.
Want to know what that process is? … because I created a video training series for my client onboarding system.
I hope you’ll join me.
Free Training
I've boiled client onboarding down to 4 steps that I am sharing in this free online class.
This 4-part video training is for you if:
If you want to know how to attract the right prospects and increase your qualified leads so you don't waste time with clients who are not the right fit.
You want to know how to easily and efficiently onboard a new client.
If you seem to invest a lot of time into prospects who never end up starting their project with you.
When you get client inquiries, you think: now what?
(The trainings will be recorded and emailed to you when I release them. This training will only be available for a limited time - don’t miss out!) This free training is no longer available, join below to get notified of future trainings.
