Gail Doby will address that question in a complimentary webinar this Saturday.

“Is Interior Design a Dying Profession? 3 Fatal Business Mistakes You Could Be Making, and How to Prevent Them”is the name of the webinar scheduled for 1 p.m.(Eastern) on Sat., March 2.

You can register here:  http://www.designsuccessu.com/aff.php?p=fber&w=226web

This program — and this information — are too important to miss. Sign up now at  http://www.designsuccessu.com/aff.php?p=fber&w=226web

And it will be if you download my new FREE  report entitled: “13 for ’13: Thirteen Super Success Strategies for Interior Design Professionals.”

Follow 13 simple steps, and 2013 will be your most profitable year ever as an interior design professional.

Download this report, and you’ll get practical and powerful tips on sales, marketing,  time manzgement, fee, customer service and more.

Put it all together, and you have a recipe for a remarkable year.

The tips are terrific, the report is FREE, and the time is now to get your free copy at  http://fredforfree.com/.

Last year was a challenging one for many interior design professional.  Nearly 60% of designers who earned less than $45,000 in 2012, according to the Design Success University Annual Interior Design Fee & Salary Survey.

But that was then, and this is now. And now you’re only 13 easy steps away from a career year.

To get your FREE copy of “13 for ’13: Thirteen Super Success Strategties for Interior Design Professionals,” click here:  http://fredforfree.com/.

Fred Berns is a business coach and copywriter for interior design professsionals..

Interior design professionals from around the world wrote in to address the problem of the Atlanta designer who, after 22 years, is getting “shopped.”

Some said they could  feel her pain, others had ideas on how to overcome it.

A random sampling of the comments:

Hi Fred,

Interesting topic. It must be global, as I’m noticing the same ‘trend’ in Ireland.   Have already given some thought and although the solution to this problem is still ‘work in progress’, trust the best work of your portfolio and general sketch/idea without giving away too much detail is one of the ways protecting your IP.

Best Regards / Mit freundlichen Gruessen / Pagarbiai   EMA KERSULIENE, BA Int.Architect, IA Creative Director e m a r i Ltd.: residential & commercial interiors, Ireland

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Dear AD in Atlanta,

I feel your pain!  I am also an experienced designer with many high end residential projects under my belt but have also seen times changing.  This has concerned me so much that I have selected this very topic for my thesis.  I have been researching the effects the economic downturn and the advances of technology have made on our residential design business.

Here are a few things I have learned when surveying ASID designers in the DC area using the ASID list serve. -84% of the designers answered that clients shop for their products. -80% of the designers answered that clients compare prices on items on the internet thinking the quality is the same when it frequently is not. -68% said clients make their own purchases even if it is not part of the overall design scheme. -When clients are not buying from the designer, 71% are buying from the internet. 72% of the designers surveyed lose sales because their clients can find the items cheaper on the internet.

These are some of the negative impacts the internet has had on our industry.

According to Gail Doby of Design Success University, in the 2012 Interior Design Fee & Salary Survey eBook, 88.6% of the designers surveyed felt that prospective clients don’t really understand what the value of a designer is.

As designers, we have depended on a role as a vendor for revenue far too long.  As consumers continue to make use of all the available resources on the internet, our revenue selling product only continues to decrease. Revenues will need to increase in the the form of design fees in order to offset the loss in product.

So, long story short, give them a few appetizers (general ideas), gather your ingredients (define the scope of the project), and before dinner is served, sign an agreement and get your design fee!

Hope this helps

Victoria Sanchez

Alexandria VA

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In many cases these shoppers NEVER have the intention of buying. So one win you can get is to ensure that you ‘wow’ the person to the degree that they tell their friends how great you were. Do that whilst minimising time given and minmising freebie ideas given.

Verity du Sautoy

London, UK

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Hi Fred-

Love this- I look forward to hearing your thoughts and others ideas.   My suggestions would be to first, change how you do business.  Meaning, don’t give people ideas on the first meeting before you get a signed contract and money up front.  Ever.

Second, change the way you charge so that they can’t shop your price – charge for the scope of the project rather than hourly or with a mark-up.  Anything so that they can’t compare apples to apples.  And then let them know that they can’t do a comparison because you don’t work the same way that other people work.  And that your years of experience allow you to be more efficient and thus cost effective vs. others who are less experienced and charge by the hour- how many hours will it take them to do what needs to be done?

Third, don’t give proposals or quote numbers until you have an agreement that when you give it to them, if they like what they see, they will hire you.  That there won’t be a thank you, we need to think it over or talk to three other people before we decide now that we know how much you charge.

I guess what I’m really saying is that you only get shopped if you allow them to shop you.  It all comes down to how you operate, and if you do business differently enough from your competitors then there is nothing to shop or compare.

Best,

Tanya Shively

Scottsdale, AZ

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Hi Fred,

I’m glad she asked this question because it is the same question I’ve been wondering about.  We’ve had two prospects in the last three months who came to us cold from Google search who wanted to see my ideas for their space (not just a portfolio of past work) before they decided if they wanted to use me.  I can see right through this and wouldn’t do it, which consequently really made them irritated.  So, now I’m extremely hesitant about wasting my time with cold calls that come into my office. Referrals have a 100% closing rate.

That’s where I’m choosing to spend my time.  I’m also carefully prequalifying the prospects prior to wasting time meeting with them.  “How did you hear of us?”  “Have you had a chance to view our portfolio on our website?”  “What is your budget for this project?”  “Have you worked with a designer before?”  – This is the question that really answers it for me.  If they have not, I need to explain how we bill and see if that scares them.

If it does, then they’re not for us.  Good, I can keep working and not waste time finding this out two hours later.  The one thing that’s still bothering me is that these so called prospects seem to think that designers are so hungry for work that we’ll compete for their project like “Designers’ Challenge”.  It’s insulting and I’ve been wondering if it was something we’ve been doing wrong in our brand message.  On the other side, our office is extremely busy now, so maybe it’s just a matter of there will always be those types of prospects out there and you just have to weed them out.

Love what you do for the industry, Fred.  Thanks!

Loree O. Everette

Indianapolis, IN

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Hi Fred,

I read your your email today, with the question from the Atlanta designer regarding prospects “borrowing” designers ideas. From my years of experience in both residential and commercial design, I believe that your suggestion that she hand out “appetizers” vs. “entrees” is the right solution. I find myself saying much more frequently today… “That is part of the package that I would bring, if I am hired to design your project”.

However, I think that there is a bigger issue underlying this disappointing trend among prospects today, not just for this designer, but for most of us. I am not sure that we, as designers, are communicating our value well enough. We provide more than just access to product and creativity.

Several years ago, I remember learning in a sales course that “clients buy to either gain an edge or avoid a loss”. If a prospect doesn’t see the difference between a DIY project and one completed by a designer or hasn’t heard stories of disastrous outcomes, then my thought is that it is our role is to educate them.

In regards to this, however, I would really like to hear suggestions on how to do this in a positive manner. It would also be helpful, after so many prospects have been exposed to a lifetime of HGTV, to recognize what signs to look for when this would be a poor use of our time.

Thanks for any help that you can provide with this. If you do print any part of my feedback in your response, I would just request that you do not use my name.

Best,

Heather Higgins

New York, NY

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Hi, Fred,

Just read your article on being “shopped” by your clients.  It’s happening to me too, and I don’t know how to handle it.  I gave an estimate for Hunter Douglas window treatments to a client, and now she’s made an appointment with someone from Costco,  and asked if I’d come and be at the appointment with her!  Bless her heart, she doesn’t get it, and I failed to educate her in the beginning, but I don’t know how to do that tactfully and not sound money-grubbing.  I’d LOVE any advice anyone might have.

I enjoy reading your articles. Please keep me on your mailing list. 

Julie Nolta

Portland, OR.

What’s on your mind?

Tell me what you’re pondering, and I’ll tell you if you’re profiting. Your focus says a lot about your financials.

If you’re concentrating on lucrative projects, better clients, and higher margins, you’re attracting prosperity.

If you’re concentrating on obstacles rather than opportunities in this economy, you’re attracting poverty.   No magic, here, just mind control.

Think about big payoffs, and you’ll get them. Think, instead, about big problems, and you’ll get them.   What you think about expands.   As you sow, so shall you reap.

The most financially successful design professionals I know are the best time — and mind – managers.

They focus their day on the most productive tasks.   They focus their thoughts on abundance.   And they focus their attention on NOW.

Adopt that kind of focus, and notice how destructive feelings go out of focus.   Your fears, worries and regrets will go away.

Will you find financial success or scarcity this Fall?

You have a choice, you know.   It’s as easy to attain one as the other. All you have to do is put your mind to it. All you have to do is decide.

Too many design professionals make that decision without even realizing it.   They choose to lose.

They choose to charge too little. And give away their time and expertise. And work with low budget clients. And cave  into price objections.   They choose to struggle, rather than succeed.

They have every right to make that choice, of course. So do you.   If you choose to think impoverished thoughts, you’ll get impoverished results.

If, on the other hand, you practice prosperity thinking, abundance will flow into your design career.

Fred Berns is an interior design industry sales and marketing coach and trainer.

If you’re feeling strung out, stuck, or stressed by your interior design business, now’s the time to  get outta town.

If you’re uncertain where to go from here, go there.

“There” can be a mountain resort, or a sandy beach, or a nice town a few hours away. Get away for a few weeks, a few days, or even a few hours. Just…get outta of town.

Nothing can give you more clarity about your business than time away from your business. That means time away from your smartphone and email and blackberry and every other link to your workaday world.

A recent bicycle trip to Utah reminded me how renewing and energizing time away can be.

I was so busy enjoying myself pedaling along rustic country roads, passing through recreation areas and historic towns, and watching my son perform in a drum and bugle corps show that I didn’t have much time to think about business.

Nevertheless, I came back filled with fresh perspectives and exciting ideas about my coaching, copywriting and speaking business. And I returned with solutions to some challenges which had perplexed me for some time.

Time away is great for your mind, body and soul. And it’s great for your business, too.

Fred Berns is a marketing trainer and copywriter for interior design professionals, and the companies that serve them.

If not, how committed are you to change that?

Are you committed enough to invest 75 minutes by phone or Skype for an in-depth coaching session during the week of July 16 for the very special price of $175?

During this coaching experience, we’ll focus on your goals and challenges. And I’ll share my ideas on how you can substantially increase your sales and profits.

Your investment includes a 7-Day follow up period. Plus you’ll receive a FREE copy (hard or digital) of the Superstar Selling System for Design Professionals, the design industry’s No. 1  sales tool.

The offer covers the period July 16-20, only.

These coaching specials always sell out, so I have to schedule appointments on a first come, first served basis.

To register for your coaching session, simply contact me at Fred@FredBerns.com.

That’s my advice to interior design professionals looking to land more affluent clients this year.

You can break that  formula down to these five steps:

1/ Learn the Part.  Become the foremost expert on high end prospects in your area.

Find out who and where they are, what media  they follow and what groups they belong to. Discover what their key challenges are when it comes to interior design.

2/ Look the Part. Your website should wow ‘em, your bio should knock their socks off, and your client testimonials should be terrific.

3/ Act the Part. Act as if you already serve the high end market. Says Jack Canfield. “Act as if…and you’ll start drawing to you”  the very clients you seek.

4/ Charge the Part. If you want high caliber clients, charge high caliber fees. Affluent people are used to paying top dollar for top quality service.

5/ Market to the Market. Write, speak, tweet, text, blog and do whatever else it takes to get your foot in their door.

Fred Berns coaches and writes marketing materials for interior design professionals around the world.

Focus on a competitor’s career, and you overlook something far more important.

Your own.

Envy is easy.

It’s so simple to ponder over those professionals working with classier clients, and getting better projects with bigger payoffs.

Feel jealous, is what you could do. Get over it, is what you should do.

Dwelling on the success of others puts them on a pedestal – and you in the pits.

Comparison is a game without winners.

You’ll always find designers, and kitchen and bath professionals, and stagers, and retailers, and others getting greater recognition and rewards than you.

Some may lack your experience, or interior insights, or technical know-how, or eye for color.

Yet they’re making the money that you’re not. That’s not fair, perhaps. But it’s fact.

Merely yearning for their success won’t do any good.

Learning from it, will.

Ask yourself, what do they offer that you don’t? How do they promote themselves? How do they charge?

Figure out how they do their thing, then do your own.

It is you, not they, who determines your destiny.

Use this mantra in front of the mirror in the morning: “What is to be, is up to me.”

Bottom line is, you should mind your own business.

Celebrate the success of others if you like, but commit to your own.

Recall your past accomplishments. Remembering yesterday’s victories will empower you to tackle today’s challenges.

Put your failures in perspective. It’s not what you’ve lost. It’s what you’ve learned.

Finally, cut out comparisons.

It’s not just unfair to compare, it’s futile.

Fred Berns is a marketing speaker, coach and copywriter for interior design professionals worldwide.

As I listed the events I planned to cover that week, he suddenly slammed his fist on the desk.

“Berns, don’t give me that crap,” he shouted. “Give me your lead story!”

Humiliating to hear, but a good lesson on the importance of focusing on importance.

What’s your lead story?

How do you tell people what you do, once you’ve told them what you are?

How do you convey your importance and value as an interior design professional?

A good way to frame your lead story: explain how you help clients overcome their biggest design challenges.

Discuss how you help individuals update their homes when their lifestyles change and their kids move away.

Or how you help condo developers spiff up their common areas, so they can sell more units more quickly.

Awards and recognition make for cool lead stories. Have you won a window fashion competition? Has your office furniture been featured in an industry publication?

A key recent accomplishment can be an impressive lead story. Point out how you just designed the interiors of a spacious villa.

Or, “lead off” with other new developments in your business -– like your new design contract with a major hotel chain.

Your lead story should be concise, captivating and compelling.

Why?

Because you have less than a minute to capture the attention of prospects. After that, you lose it, and them forever.

A convincing lead story can convert a “contact” into a contract.

 The “Lead Story” Textbook

Even if you’re not crafty at crafting your lead story, one book can help you change that.

Sell Yourself! 501 Ways to Get Them to Buy from YOU is the textbook on how to pinpoint and promote your most powerful lead story.

This blow-your-horn, toot-your-flute success bible spells out how to use that lead story to wow anyone, anywhere at any time.

But it’s about more than selling your lead story. It’s about selling yourself.

It provides insights on how you can achieve peak performance and profits through personal promotion. It shows you how to communicate with confidence and establish your expertise.

You’re too good to be your own best secret. But you may remain one until you identify your lead story, and present it with polish.

If you’re serious about making yourself — and your lead story — memorable, get serious about adding Sell Yourself! to your business bookshelf.

For information and ordering details, click here: http://www.fredberns.com/SellYourself.html

Fred Berns provides sales and marketing coaching and copy writing for interior design professionals.

Students applying for a job with an architectural firm should be prepared to discuss a lot more than just architecture.

A recent study of the challenges facing these students underscores the fact that traditional design industry job hunting strategies just won’t cut it in times like these.

The study by the Geogetown Center on Education and the Workforce noted that the 13.9% unemployment rate of architecture majors far exceeds that of students specializing in other fields. Contrast that figure with the 5.4 per cent rate of health industry majors, the students with the lowest unemployment rate.

Once, students who showed up with a degree, resume, and portfolio could count on getting a job.

Not any longer.

Now their chances for employment hinge on their ability to identify key challenges facing prospective employers — and offer solutions to them.

They need to sell themselves, and explain how they can help a company increase profits, save time and money, etc.

Twelve  Career Concepts to consider when applying for a a job with an architecture or interior design firm, or starting your own:

1/ You’re in Sales. First and foremost, you’re not selling sofas and space planning. You’re selling yourself.

2/ You’re Self-Employed. You’re the CEO of your own personal corporation.

3/ Your Work Doesn’t Sell Itself. Success takes more than pretty pictures.

4/ Create a Killer Commercial. Spell out your specialness in 30 seconds or less.

5/ Sell “Now!” as well as “Wow!” Explain why this is the very best time to hire you — or invest in your design services.

6/ Spread the Good Word. It doesn’t matter how good you are if only you know.

7/ There’s Stength in Numbers. Add  mentors, coaches, financial advisers and others to your Personal Team.

8/ Think BIG. It’s as easy to catch the cahunas (the super employer or client) as it is to mix with the minnows.

9/ Don’t Try to be “Busy.” “Financially independent” makes more sense. Make the most valuable and productive use of your time.

10/ Consider “Questions from Hell.” Prepare answers–ahead of time–for the questions you least want to hear.

11/ Ask! You probably won’t get what you don’t ask for: a job, a raise, a promotion, a sale, etc.

12/ Don’t Quit. Quitters never win. Winners never quit. The most successful design professionals are the most persistent.

Fred Berns is a career counselor, trainer and coach in the interior design industry.