How to Create Interior Design Packages
Creating interior design packages can be great additional revenue streams in your business. They can be quick ways to generate a bit of income without a huge time or effort commitment from you.
It’s also nice to have an option for prospects who contact you, but may not be a fit for your signature service or meet your project minimums.
However, if packages aren’t your signature service, make sure that your signature service is super solid. You don’t want to take attention away from your main product or service - both in distracting clients and/or in your own attention on your business . You don’t want to spread your CEO time and business development time too thin by introducing a package when your signature service still needs work.
Be Specific
The key to creating interior design packages is to really hone and refine them. They can’t be open ended. They need to be for a specific type of client. Packages need to have a very specific scope. They can’t be ambiguous - either to the client or to the designer.
The more efficient you are in creating and executing your packages the more money you can make. You don’t want to be spending hours sourcing the perfect mirror/table/rug because that eats into your profits. Packages aren’t the time to explore new vendors or do custom bookcase elevations (unless that is your sweet spot, which you’re really fast and efficient at).
It should be understood and explained to your clients that packages are a budget offering and if they’d like a lot of customization, choice, project-management or hand-holding, they should be considering your full service design.
Here are some things to consider when creating specific packages:
amount of hours included
what’s included / deliverables
how it’s delivered (phone calls / digital document / in person /
the amount of choices or reselects
how purchasing is handled
is there follow-up?
By spelling out exactly what is included and how the package is delivered will set up your client’s expectations from the very beginning so that there are no misunderstandings in what they’re buying or what you need to deliver.
Interior Design Package Ideas
Interior design packages should be a lean, mean machine. Efficiency and being streamlined are what will make packages profitable.
Here are some ideas that would work as packages:
initial consultations
rooms
color consults
design-in-day
holiday decorating
blocks of hours (10 hrs / 20 hrs)
pick-a-designer’s-brain
home sale consultation
e-design
staging
accessorizing
There are several ideas above and the type of packages you offer should be a compliment to your signature service or specialty - in other words, packages should still be on-brand. You should keep your package offerings to 1 to 3, any more and you’re probably going to cause decision fatigue for your prospects, which means they become overwhelmed and click away.
You should make it as easy as possible for clients and prospects to buy your packages. Ideally, they should be able to buy a package without any input from you.
Remember: streamlined and efficient.
If you can add a buy now button to your website so clients can prepay, then schedule their own appointments (I like Acuity Scheduling). If there are documents that need to be completed before you can start or meet with the client, have those automatically emailed when they book an appointment.
Packages are a fixed, flat rate. This means that the less time you can spend on them delivering the same value, the more profitable they will be for you.
Next Steps: If you have a solid signature service, think about adding a complementary package for clients with lower budgets.
About The Author
Hi! I’m Capella and I’m an interior designer who helps fellow designers build their businesses. Forget secrecy and competition, I believe designers should support and uplift each other. By helping and boosting one another, we can elevate the business of interior design together! Hang around a bit and I’ll share all the business “secrets” no one else wants to talk about.
