The Rip Cord Method..

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Transcript

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Welcome to Designing Success from Study to Studio. I'm your host, Rhiannon Lee, founder of the Oleander Finch Design Studio. I've lived the transformation from study to studio and then stripped it bare and wrote down the framework so you don't have to overthink it. In this podcast, you could expect real talk with industry friends, community, connection, and actionable tips to help you conquer whatever's holding you back. Now let's get designing your own success. Welcome to episode 97 of Designing Success. Today, I wanted to talk a little bit about a post I did recently, actually, which I know has resonated with some of you because it has a crazy big number of saves. I'm going to talk I want to talk about what we do when our design project changes from us having all of the creative input and actually saying, based on your brief, this is what would look great in the room, et cetera, et cetera, to, to when it feels more order taking than creating. And I think we all have been in this situation before. Either you've missed a red flag in the onboarding process and suddenly you feel like you work for them, not with them. It's not about whether or not you align. It's all about, do this, do that. I like this. I like that. It's an awful feeling. I have had it multiple times in my business, more so in the early days, but certainly occasionally I even had it with one client last year. So it does come up from time to time. So the biggest problem I see when that happens and we're no longer, we don't have the reins, the client seems to be running the show is that we can doubt ourselves. We can think, Oh, maybe we didn't do it right. Like it can start to foster that kind of feeling, but it also really fosters resentment. If you get an incoming email with that from the title of that client as the sender, or you get a text or something like that, you tend to be like highly anxious about it and thinking, Oh, when will this job ever Finish. You just become really resentful. You're no longer enjoying it. You're no longer having a good time. And that's not something we want to be seeing much of. I do know that it does happen, as I say, once or twice, but if this is happening to you a lot, there's a fair chance that there is some miscommunication in the way that you are presenting your services, in the inclusions that you're selling, or the way that your clients are actually understanding what your process is. So definitely keep an eye on whether there's work to be done in the communication side of things. So just to be clear, I'm sure you know what type of client I am talking about, but if you have not dealt with this sort of thing before, or if you're quite new, there's generally the type where you end up offering 30, 40 selections per item okay, do you want me to just do a roundup of alternative coffee tables for you? Cause you didn't like Five of the previous ones I've suggested across the two concepts. Or did you want me to do just some pendant light roundup and a dining table roundup and dining chairs roundup? And then you ended up doing menus or roundups for absolutely every item that is on the board. But the thing is it's 10 times the work per item than it really needs to be. We should be able to give two concepts and concept a is a fabric chair concept. B is a timber chair. Happy to chat colors with you. Happy to chat about shape. If you, if it needs to change, if it doesn't really gel with you, I'm really open to a collaborative approach, especially if you're inside of the time that I allow for edits in my own individual services. But I think there's a danger sometimes of people going, can I see more blue rugs? Actually, can I see some gray ones? What would it look like if I went earthy tones? I can, it just gets really out of hand. The second thing you might notice when a design consultation has cheese has slipped right off its cracker and no one knows what's going on is that they might text you like all sorts of suggestions or text you when they're out shopping at 10 a. m. at a warehouse sale in on a Saturday morning, or, late at night, they're scrolling Pinterest and screenshotting things and texting those to you. So they're crossing boundaries. Perhaps boundaries you haven't even put in place properly, but they are also sometimes warning signs that things are not going well. This is not the kind of design interaction that we want to promote. You may even notice that they take your concepts or the design and they want to run it past their friend or their sister in law, the next door neighbor, and suddenly the brief looks completely different because Generally, the people giving feedback weren't in the original consultation where you gathered the brief when both parties say they are a professional couple, both of them were very keenly looking for a monochromatic color tone, a minimalist look, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then the friend comes in and is like, why don't what about this artist? Or I've seen this. And the friend's house has an amazing mixed mesh pattern clash kind of eclectic vintage twist. And that is not at all what your clients have asked for. So there's, it's real danger and we do see it happen. So the way I see it from here, you have two options. You can continue the way it's going and just not contribute your full potential. You'll be resenting the job. You'll be resenting the clients. You're not using any of the after photos because none of it is what you would have actually put in the room. Trade carefully with this one because it, no one wants to work on a job that they hate, but that is one option for you. You can just get through it, bite your tongue, be like, yep, no problems. Okay, cool. Send me another picture of the barstool. I'll see what I can do. You can do that. Often doing one of those jobs end to end will teach you so much about what you need to do in terms of implementing stronger boundaries and tightening up your communications to your client and getting your welcome packet really addressing all of the issues in advance. So even though it's painful, it's not the worst thing when it happens. If it's only happened once, you're like, okay, it really is a learning experience. It's going to highlight for me what I need to change. The second choice I have for you is one that I use very rarely, but it is very effective and that is to use my ripcord method like a parachute that I save only for extreme circumstances. But when you've lost complete reins with the client and you're feeling frustrated and you feel resentment building and you don't know what to do, this will work. Get on a call to realign. First thing you should do is try to rescue this design consultation. It could just be that you've accepted texts, you haven't said you didn't want them and they think that it's totally okay. I would be jumping on a call and saying, Hey, we've had a lot of back and forth. It hasn't all been inside of your client file in my database that I use in Notion. And I don't want to miss any details. I just wanted to realign our design brief before I do these last. Most recent requested edits, don't forget you only get that one round of edits or whatever it is that you have included in your package. And you try to take control, again, reiterate all of the processes and systems that exist in your business, reiterate your expectations, what you do, what they do, and make sure that they understand. If they apologize and they seem genuinely oh, okay, yep, no, I get it now, I'm really sorry, that was wrong, I shouldn't have done that, etc. The conversation into writing into an email and say, it was really great to get back on the same page today. Just some notes from the call. I do this. You do this. This is what the outcome is. This is what's paid for included in the scope. This is next steps. Just really jot it down for them and then make sure that's sent across in writing because that gives you a good Place to reference if things do not change. But if you can't regain control, you could use the rip code method, which is to offer to switch them from the selection model that they've actually engaged you for, which is where you as the designer go out and make selections that are appropriate for that room, and you can flip them to a fulfillment method. Rather than you making the selections, you're going to say to them, look, it's the same cost, but you will now show them all of their own ideas as a visual representation of what they're trying to design. I often will say, look, I'll let you know if there's any major design flaws. I will flag things, but if you would just like to see all of your ideas, I am the one that can bring it to you in 2D. I can bring it to you in 3D. I can bring it to you as a mood board. I can package it up as a lookbook that you can save on your phone. Whenever you're out shopping, you can see how the things that you're looking at fit into your overall ideas. And that is a fulfillment method because that doesn't have my logo on it. That doesn't carry my IP. I didn't create it. I will just pull it together for you in a way that you probably haven't learned to do unless you've been to design school. I'm always very clear that this is not using my design skill. And so again, highlighting you've had an opportunity for me to engage a selection model, but I've switched to a fulfillment model. I also make sure to set up expectations of exactly what this concept delivery will be and if they do or do not get any edits to it, etc. I don't want to be working for these people for the next six months and that's what happens when we lose the reins. We can't wind up, we can't get final balance paid and we end up working with people for them. Four months on a simple room design because they think that, Oh, I'll know it if I see it, blah, blah, blah, blah. I will do a separate episode on this at some stage. But one thing that I learned along the way with Oleander and Finch is, especially with e design and with so many clients that I was getting, I was trying to timeframe them and build them in. And I had a wait list. And if one client decides to be, really indecisive and go on and on. Actually, can I see it like this? And can I have this change and that change? I could end up working for them for absolute months where I could have turned around another 10 jobs, one hour at four 95. That's 5, 000. That I would not have in my business because I simply don't have the time because I still have this open job and I, and also cashflow. I don't have the payment. So it's not a good idea. We have to. Look around, notice the flags, notice when it's become a problem, be honest with ourself. A lot of this is a bit of self talk as well hang on, were you clear enough? Do they understand the service? Are they breaking a boundary or barrier or did they simply not know that it exists? My next step and last step is always reflection the number one cause for this all happening in the first place will be that we're a bit vague on the process, we're a bit vague on the inclusions, our communications aren't clear, or perhaps we're just new. And it's, look it's going to happen to everybody. So no shame whatsoever. But I think the quickest way to get through it without resentment and without hating on And get paid is to say, Hey, do you know what? You're actually much more capable than you think you are. And you've got a beautiful eye for design. Always give them a compliment. Be fair. I never engage this ripcord method with Without it being an amicable kind of nice offer. It's never you're really annoying me. And I just think you should just tell me what you want and I'll get it done. And then you get it done once and you get no edits and you've got to pay the balance. Like I do not operate like that, but I would often say to people you're actually a lot more capable of this than you Probably thought that you were, maybe with just a bit of coaching and with working with a designer who will give you that validation and that stamp of approval, perhaps you'd like me to pull together what you're thinking into a visual representation and a mood board. And then you can use that to go out and shop the pieces and shop them with confidence. Cause somebody's actually seen them and signed off on them. And in the couple of times that I've ever had to do it, both, People were like, Oh, that would be amazing. Thank you. Yes, you might be right. That might be all I need. And what they were actually fighting with and where some of the problem was is that they actually have strong ideas. They just don't have strong confidence. So they've employed someone to help them feel confident in their choices. And they've misunderstood that they actually employed you to make choices. So it just gets really messy and it can absolutely be ironed out. I have a post on Instagram that goes through the ripcord method and all of today's episode, basically. So you can go over and save that for next time if you, I hope you don't need it. I hope it never comes up for you, but you can absolutely go over and save it over at oleander underscore and underscore Finch. I've got to get back to it. I'm about to dial in for a call with the frameworkers, and I am also pulling together the very last parts of the established designer course. I do have a strong wait list of designers who are not beginners, and they've been waiting to work with me on a more one on one basis and also look into advanced business and marketing strategy and skills. I think. Just quietly there or here for the free AI support assistance and all the automations who doesn't want to automate I was writing an email yesterday and I was looking at the Michelle Obama thing Like when they go high where they go low we go high and all I could think of is like where they do manual We do automated because I just think whenever people do things manually I'm like, there's got to be a process system or way to do this faster. I've got things to do I'd rather sit out in the Sun like today in the park with Marley and look for frogs Anyway, that's me for this week. I will chat to you on Tuesday. Bye for now. You can find more details on that course in the show notes. Just jump on the wait list because the offer will be going out this week and I'm only taking five because it's a small group. That wraps up another episode of Designing Success from Study to Studio. Thanks for lending me your ears. Remember, progress over perfection is the key. If you found value in today's episode, go ahead and hit subscribe or share it with a friend. Your feedback means so much to me and it helps me improve, but it also helps this podcast reach more emerging and evolving designers. For your daily dose of design business tips and to get a closer look at what goes on behind the scenes, follow at oleander underscore and underscore finch on Instagram. You'll find tons of resources available at www. oleanderandfinch. com to support you on your journey. Remember, this is your path, your vision, your future, and your business. Now let's get out there and start designing your success.