Pricing for Interior Design Business Success
Welcome to the fifth episode of the Interior DesignHer Podcast!!!
Interior design is a luxury business that revolves around function, form and fantasy.
But…if you want to run a successful interior design business, you HAVE TO move beyond the design side of the business and level up the business side of your business.
During my interview with interior design business coach Nancy Ganzekaufer, we discuss:
How accurate pricing is key to the financial success of your interior design business, and
How Nancy’s pricing tool - The KEY - is a high-quality, low-cost option for interior designers looking to improve the accuracy of their pricing with reinventing the wheel.
Listen…
Watch…
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:32 The KEY in 30 seconds
02:50 A real-life success story
03:11 Why is accuracy in pricing so important for interior designers
04:34 Does The KEY help experienced designers, not just rookies
08:46 What is the Project Scope Planner?
13:23 What about products - furnishing, lighting, flooring, etc
15:12 2 more real life stories
16:40 Profit is not a dirty word
19:10 The video tutorial
21:42 The nitty-gritty of how to use The KEY
24:31 What else can The KEY do for the business side of your business
26:14 Additional support
28:33 Outro
28:59 How to get The KEY
Read…
Douglas Robb - Interior DesignHer: If you had 30 seconds in an elevator with a group of interior designers, how would you describe The KEY and how it helps interior designers?
Nancy Ganzekaufer - Interior Design Business Coach: The KEY is the most detailed, comprehensive, and easy-to-use pricing tool for Interior Designers worldwide. It helps Interior Designers accurately estimate pricing for a new build, renovation, full-service design, or design-only project profitably every single time.
By including a detailed pricing video, The KEY spreadsheet (optimized for Google Sheets, Excel, and Numbers for Mac), four (4) customizable Canva proposal templates, and a Good, Better, Best Investment Guide for furnishings, an Interior designer can quickly, accurately, and confidently estimate their pricing and nail their presentation to their client. Nothing makes me happier than finding out an Interior Designer used The KEY to charge their worth, confidently present at the correct price point, and are excited they got the job!
Douglas Robb - Interior DesignHer: Why is “accurate pricing” important for interior designers?
How does having a system like The KEY help with profitability?
How would accurate pricing help with client expectations?
Can it help designers set their service rates?
Anything else?
Nancy Ganzekaufer - Interior Design Business Coach: First of all, I want to mention how The KEY helps you gain clarity around your pricing and how you charge. And with this clarity comes confidence - in yourself as a designer and in your willingness to charge what you’re worth. Many designers struggle to make a profit because their clients want them to justify their pricing… which leads to charging less than they should to get a client.
The KEY helps with this because it’s structured so that you list every aspect of every phase of the entire project. This not only provides you with “justification” for your pricing, but it eliminates any future surprises for your clients. The KEY gets everyone on the same page.
When paired with the Job Profitability Analyzer (a free resource found in my Business Building Boutique), The KEY can be instrumental in helping you determine what your service rates should be to reach the level of profit margin you desire.
Douglas Robb - Interior DesignHer: Based upon your years of design & coaching experience, you have provided time estimates for individual project steps/stages. How do you recommend designers use those estimated project times?
Should designers treat your estimates as 100% accurate to every job in every location with every client?
Should designers compare Nancy’s estimates to your own estimates & make adjustments to ensure profitability?
For designers who do not have time estimates, should they test Nancy’s estimates & track them against how much time is actually spent?
Anything else?
Nancy Ganzekaufer - Interior Design Business Coach: Just as every interior designer is unique, so is every interior design business. The time estimates provided are based on the combined experience from me and Associate Coach Lesley, as well as the majority of designers I’ve worked with. And while they are accurate in most cases, they are only estimates!
I have found, across the board, that most interior designers simply do NOT estimate enough hours for their design projects. This underestimation plays a big role in the overall profitability of the design job. I believe most designers will find that if they genuinely track the time they actually spend working on a job, they will be amazed at the accuracy of the time estimates provided. But again, all businesses are unique, so compare my estimates to your own and make adjustments as you see fit.
Douglas Robb - Interior DesignHer: As a companion piece to the pricing spreadsheet, you have provided designers with a Project Scope Planner.
How does the Project Scope Planner (PSP) help designers get the most from The KEY? For newer designers, I would assume that the PSP will be a huge help for estimating time, avoiding errors of omission, ensuring profitability & keeping clients happy.
Could you expand on benefits for designers of various levels of experience?
Nancy Ganzekaufer - Interior Design Business Coach: There are two sections in the Project Scope Planner – one for rooms with plumbing, and one for rooms without. I have found that there are many items and elements associated with design projects that are often overlooked in estimates. By taking the time to complete the Project Scope Planner, you will slow down long enough to think through every aspect of your project, room by room. This simple exercise can help you remember the small but important details! Not only does it prevent you from forgetting those details, but it also ensures that you include the elements AND your time related to them in your estimate.
Douglas Robb - Interior DesignHer: In addition to helping with service/design hours, The KEY helps designers estimate the cost of goods in their projects. Like the time estimates outlined above, Nancy has provided pricing estimates for physical products (furniture, etc) within the spreadsheet as well as a bonus Good, Better, Best Guide.
How should designers treat Nancy’s pricing estimates for physical products? (Same as with service estimates?)
Can you expand on the Good, Better, Best Guide and how designers can make the most of it?
Is it possible to differentiate the benefits for designers of differing experience levels. Newbies, experienced & organized designers, experienced & fly by the seat of their pants designers
Nancy Ganzekaufer - Interior Design Business Coach: Yes, the furnishing estimates found in the Good, Better, Best Investment Guide are based on a ton of combined experience, but they are estimates only. In many cases, we have provided cost estimates in price ranges to accommodate different business models and various demographics that can impact the price of furnishings.
This guide prevents you from underestimating the cost of furnishings and décor for your clients. It also informs your clients of the anticipated cost of furnishings for their project, ensuring they have estimated their investment level appropriately for the job.
Douglas Robb - Interior DesignHer: Not all interior designers are at the same stage in their career. Some designers have just started their own business. Others have years of experience but have never had an organized pricing tool like The KEY. Others have a DIY spreadsheet or document that helps them estimate jobs with some degree of accuracy. While others are super-organized and have created a pricing spreadsheet of Nancy Ganzekaufer.
What benefits do you see those different designer avatars receiving from the entire KEY package?
For new designers, I see this as a no-brainer. Organization, establishing good habits, profitability, clients not being surprised by inaccurate estimates, client referrals, Nancy’s estimated times & product prices, etc. So much support for a low price.
For experienced but unorganized designers, I see a ton of benefit as well. Even if they have the knowledge/expertise to create their own pricing spreadsheet, the amount of time required to complete the project would make the $397 price tag seem like a bargain.
For experienced AND organized designers, are there aspects of the spreadsheet that Nancy considers above & beyond which this level of designer could be expected to achieve?
Nancy Ganzekaufer - Interior Design Business Coach: Experienced designers are using The KEY daily to check and verify their estimates, speed up the estimating, delegate the first draft estimate to a staff member, and use the Canva proposal templates provided to make their proposals look as professional as possible. The KEY should be used with all job proposals with as much information as you can provide so you can start to see patterns in your process. Analyzing pricing patterns can reveal much about a design firm’s pricing issues, should they exist. For those designers who have been unknowingly underestimating and undercharging (which happens more often than most designers realize), or spending way too much of their time creating detailed client proposals, they should see a quick ROI from The KEY!
Douglas Robb - Interior DesignHer: Not all designers enjoy playing with spreadsheets. In fact, most interior designers probably detest playing with spreadsheets. To help those designers get the most benefit from The KEY, Nancy & Lesley Myrick have created a 1hr+ video tutorial to ease their transition into the world of accurate pricing & a profitable business.
Can you briefly explain how the video tutorial walks spreadsheet-phobic interior designers through using The KEY?
Nancy Ganzekaufer - Interior Design Business Coach: Rather than a quick video that highlights the features of The KEY, we wanted to provide an all-inclusive video training that takes you through the Pricing Tool - literally from start to finish. While it does include an overview of how to use The KEY, the most valuable part of the training is the walk through from the “Start here” tab through arriving at the final estimate. For those (like me!) who do NOT enjoy playing with spreadsheets, this training is so beneficial. It leaves no stone unturned and makes it as easy as 1-2-3. Best of all, The KEY does the math for you! You enter your desired hourly rate, your estimated hours per room, your sales tax, and your estimated furniture and décor investment. And The KEY calculates everything from there!
Douglas Robb - Interior DesignHer: In addition to the pricing spreadsheet & the video tutorial, Nancy has included 4 customizable client proposal templates as part of The KEY
What are the 4 templates?
How can designers customize them? (Canva)
How do the templates make The KEY more effective for designers?
Nancy Ganzekaufer - Interior Design Business Coach: The four (4) client proposal templates cover all types of design jobs: Decor/Virtual Design Only, Full-Service Decorating, Remodels, and New Builds.
Because the templates are Canva files, you can customize each proposal completely. I highly recommend adding your logo and your own images to make the proposal your own! Each element can be altered to reflect your branding colors. I’ve included space for a testimonial. The introduction text can be altered to fit your business and your persona. In fact, I’ve designed the templates so that you can edit any and all of the text throughout.
The proposal templates line up perfectly with the service levels covered in The KEY Pricing Tool. Each template includes a separate page for each design phase and comes color-coded, making the transition from one to the other extremely intuitive. Simply take your estimates from the Pricing Tool, add them to your branded proposal, and you’re done!
Douglas Robb - Interior DesignHer: If an interior designer is having problems working with The KEY itself or hasn’t been able to integrate it into their normal day to day business routine, can they reach out to you & your team for ADDITIONAL support? What types of additional support can they access?
Nancy Ganzekaufer - Interior Design Business Coach: A member of Team Nancy is happy to answer a one-off question related to issues using The KEY Pricing Tool and its resources. Contact info@nancyganzekaufer.com.
I find that Interior Designers work very hard and often don’t have the profitability or income that supports their lives or aspirations. The truth is that you CAN get out of overwhelm, you CAN create a sustainable and scalable business, and you CAN find joy in your work again!
If you’re feeling overwhelmed with your pricing, service levels, marketing, sales, or any other aspect of your business, get on my calendar! Schedule a business strategy call with me. You can also apply for FREE to my Profit Insiders Academy Group Coaching program for Interior Designers.
Douglas Robb - Interior DesignHer: Nancy…can you think of any questions I have missed that could help designers see the true value of The KEY?
Nancy Ganzekaufer - Interior Design Business Coach: I think you got it all but here’s a couple of testimonials that say it best!
“I just listened to the entire Key video and this is brilliant and so user friendly! Nancy, you were right, I am pricing my projects almost exactly like this because it's how I learned to do it in Profit Insiders, but obviously this type of calculator makes it so much easier!! I honestly have racked my brain trying to figure out how in the world I could get the remodel numbers to clients before beginning. So helpful! Thank you so much!”
~ Amy TerMarschCEO//Principal Designer
Amy Elizabeth Designs
“It's so eye opening. I'm like, really? Like that's so... it just takes every question out of you. You don't have to question your pricing, it just does it for you. So, it is genius!”
~ Gina Hacken
Lead Designer and Principal Owner
So…should you buy The KEY???
After analyzing The KEY and speaking with Nancy Ganzekaufer, we feel very confident in recommending The KEY to interior design business owners. For solo & small interior design business owners, the benefits it “should” bring to your business far outweigh the $397 US Nancy is charging for The KEY.
I say “should” because The KEY will only help those designers who actually put it to work. We’re all guilty of buying tools like The KEY or self-help books and then never putting them into practice. If you buy The KEY, please put it to work. It’s as close to a no-brainer as you can get.
Because we think so highly of The KEY, we jumped right in and asked Nancy to admit us into her affiliate program for The KEY. It's the first product or service that we've endorsed here at Interior DesignHer...so it's kind of a big deal for us.
If you (like we do) think The KEY can help improve the profitability of your interior design business, we would really, really, really appreciate it if you could follow our affiliate link over to The KEY website to make your purchase - https://bit.ly/TheKEYaffiliate
Additional Resources from Nancy Ganzekaufer
For access to a ton of free resources including Nancy’s Job Profitability Analyzer, head over to her Business Building Boutique. There you’ll also find Nancy’s Confident Interior Designer Membership Site - it contains 100+ PDF's, downloads, trainings, and strategies to help you successfully run your Interior Design business, achieve significant growth, and maximize your profitability. As a member, you can participate in my monthly Live Q&A sessions to get solutions to the challenges you’re facing today!
And if community is what you’re looking for, join Nancy’s free FB group, the Interior Design Business Forum where you can get advice, insight, and support from me and a group of interior designers like you!
And while you’re on Facebook, don’t forget to join the Interior DesignHer Business Group too!!!
For those of you on LinkedIn, you can also connect with Nancy, me (Douglas) and join the Interior DesignHer LinkedIn group.
Nancy Ganzekaufer & Interior DesignHer are both on Instagram too.
