5 Ways to Prevent Client Panic During a Renovation
Lean into your expertise, teach clients that some anxiety is normal, and help them to see more than one answer
Given the financial and emotional investment involved in renovating a property, it’s only natural for homeowners to feel anxious at some point during a project. Your job as a pro is to help them through it – and to work to prevent client anxiety as much as possible before the project even starts.
We asked pros how they manage projects and client relationships in order to support homeowners through the process. Read what they said below, then please share your own thoughts in the Comments.
We asked pros how they manage projects and client relationships in order to support homeowners through the process. Read what they said below, then please share your own thoughts in the Comments.
Show the client you’re the expert
Another effective way to alleviate client anxiety is to consistently demonstrate you’re in control and can manage their project. This is something you convey through confidence and how you handle the relationship. “I think where younger or inexperienced staff make a mistake,” Cathy Cherry of Purple Cherry Architects in Maryland, says, is “when you work too much to always do what a client asks of you. Then you begin to be perceived not as the professional, but as the order-taker.”
There’s an important difference between helping clients achieve their goals and saying yes to everything they want, Cathy says. “Your job is to tell them if what they’re thinking or liking or wanting is right or wrong for the design. You’re the person that has the greater knowledge – that’s why they hire you.”
Treating the relationship as a partnership in which you’re the one managing the project helps build clients’ trust. It also makes it easier for them to let go of control when problems arise. “When you build that confidence, and they start to panic, all I have to do is say, ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it,’” Cathy says. “They have that level of confidence in my skill set.”
Another effective way to alleviate client anxiety is to consistently demonstrate you’re in control and can manage their project. This is something you convey through confidence and how you handle the relationship. “I think where younger or inexperienced staff make a mistake,” Cathy Cherry of Purple Cherry Architects in Maryland, says, is “when you work too much to always do what a client asks of you. Then you begin to be perceived not as the professional, but as the order-taker.”
There’s an important difference between helping clients achieve their goals and saying yes to everything they want, Cathy says. “Your job is to tell them if what they’re thinking or liking or wanting is right or wrong for the design. You’re the person that has the greater knowledge – that’s why they hire you.”
Treating the relationship as a partnership in which you’re the one managing the project helps build clients’ trust. It also makes it easier for them to let go of control when problems arise. “When you build that confidence, and they start to panic, all I have to do is say, ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it,’” Cathy says. “They have that level of confidence in my skill set.”
Acknowledge more than one right answer
Clients commonly experience stress during a design or renovating project over a specific product or material choice (or several). Selecting paint colours or a worktop material can put them in a state of anxious indecision, Cathy says. When that happens, she reminds them they’re not going to make a mistake – she won’t let them.
“In the world of design, there are a lot of right answers,” she says. “If a client is stressing over two different reds, and both reds work, you have to give them the confidence that they’re not necessarily making the wrong decision. When you can educate them about the bigger picture, it helps them not to see it so intensely.”
Put clients in the driver’s seat on budget
Of course, for many clients the biggest stressor in a renovating project is cost. So when reviewing potential vendors and products, Brenda explains to homeowners the benefits and trade-offs of each option. Clients learn that a particular paint finish might be higher-cost, but also longer-wearing and with lower VOCs, for instance. Then the choice is up to them.
“We put the clients in charge of building the budget alongside of us, so we don’t feel as if that number is being dictated to them,” Brenda says. “That typically helps significantly” with client anxiety.
Another way that JayMarc, Brenda’s firm, works to alleviate client anxiety is by insisting all selections be made before construction begins. Working with allowances – placeholders used when a particular product is not yet called in – can backfire emotionally for clients if costs go higher than expected and push the budget beyond their comfort level. Better for everyone to call in the selections and keep the budget on track.
You might also like How to Keep Your Client’s Project On Schedule and On Budget.
Clients commonly experience stress during a design or renovating project over a specific product or material choice (or several). Selecting paint colours or a worktop material can put them in a state of anxious indecision, Cathy says. When that happens, she reminds them they’re not going to make a mistake – she won’t let them.
“In the world of design, there are a lot of right answers,” she says. “If a client is stressing over two different reds, and both reds work, you have to give them the confidence that they’re not necessarily making the wrong decision. When you can educate them about the bigger picture, it helps them not to see it so intensely.”
Put clients in the driver’s seat on budget
Of course, for many clients the biggest stressor in a renovating project is cost. So when reviewing potential vendors and products, Brenda explains to homeowners the benefits and trade-offs of each option. Clients learn that a particular paint finish might be higher-cost, but also longer-wearing and with lower VOCs, for instance. Then the choice is up to them.
“We put the clients in charge of building the budget alongside of us, so we don’t feel as if that number is being dictated to them,” Brenda says. “That typically helps significantly” with client anxiety.
Another way that JayMarc, Brenda’s firm, works to alleviate client anxiety is by insisting all selections be made before construction begins. Working with allowances – placeholders used when a particular product is not yet called in – can backfire emotionally for clients if costs go higher than expected and push the budget beyond their comfort level. Better for everyone to call in the selections and keep the budget on track.
You might also like How to Keep Your Client’s Project On Schedule and On Budget.
Get on the same page from the start
While many strategies can help ease client anxiety along the way, the key to eliminating the kind of client panic that can lead to a disastrous project experience is to make sure you and your client are a good fit right from the beginning, says Daniel Lajoie of Departure Architecture in Oregon. “It’s just managing the client from the beginning, not trying to do it as you’re going along,” he says.
Daniel is careful in his screening to make sure a client both understands and is on board with the costs and process of working with him. And he only works with clients with a reasonable budget for the project they want to bring to life. Also, he works exclusively with general contractors with a track record of accurately predicting a project’s cost. “The only time when there’s a little bit of angst is when we’re on the Zoom call and it’s me and the contractor [and the client] and we’re looking at those numbers,” he says.
There are too many horror stories of projects going way over budget or timeline and unhappy homeowners stuck with a big bill and a bad experience. That’s unacceptable, in Daniel’s view. “That’s not what our role is. It’s about people,” he says. “It’s about solving their problems, not making their problems worse.”
One way to keep everyone on the same page from first contact through to project completion is with Houzz Pro. With Houzz Pro, you can give clients a personalised dashboard with all the documents and information about their project in one easy-to-access place.
Tell us…
How do you help to avoid client anxiety during a project? Share your tips in the Comments.
While many strategies can help ease client anxiety along the way, the key to eliminating the kind of client panic that can lead to a disastrous project experience is to make sure you and your client are a good fit right from the beginning, says Daniel Lajoie of Departure Architecture in Oregon. “It’s just managing the client from the beginning, not trying to do it as you’re going along,” he says.
Daniel is careful in his screening to make sure a client both understands and is on board with the costs and process of working with him. And he only works with clients with a reasonable budget for the project they want to bring to life. Also, he works exclusively with general contractors with a track record of accurately predicting a project’s cost. “The only time when there’s a little bit of angst is when we’re on the Zoom call and it’s me and the contractor [and the client] and we’re looking at those numbers,” he says.
There are too many horror stories of projects going way over budget or timeline and unhappy homeowners stuck with a big bill and a bad experience. That’s unacceptable, in Daniel’s view. “That’s not what our role is. It’s about people,” he says. “It’s about solving their problems, not making their problems worse.”
One way to keep everyone on the same page from first contact through to project completion is with Houzz Pro. With Houzz Pro, you can give clients a personalised dashboard with all the documents and information about their project in one easy-to-access place.
Tell us…
How do you help to avoid client anxiety during a project? Share your tips in the Comments.
Just as with any love affair, there comes a point in every renovating or building project where the object of a client’s affection (the plan and project) no longer appears ideal – they begin to perceive flaws and question fit. But that doesn’t mean there’s a problem with the project, Brenda Gage of US-based JayMarc Homes tells her clients.
“I explain to them, even from the first meeting, that they’re going to have moments where they question the decision,” she says. For example, homeowners are often euphoric after they’ve bought a piece of land, and also seem to enjoy demolition. But after that, Brenda often observes a shift. “All of a sudden, you have this expensive mud pit that just cost you $1 million,” she says. That’s when homeowners question what they’ve done.
When this happens, Brenda reminds clients that, at this point in a project, anxiety and self-doubt are normal. Building a bespoke home is a long process, and she finds that keeping in touch with homeowners regularly to create positive interactions – for instance, dropping by with gifts during the festive season – helps to keep them motivated. Similarly, weekly site visits to view progress helps to keep clients engaged and the sense of momentum going.