3 Review(s)

Clients are the lifeblood of any interior design firm and a sound understanding of how to manage those clients is essential. Interior Design Clients is an informative yet fun read for entrepreneurial designers interested in gaining a better understanding of how to build and manage their clientele. Tom Williams, designer, author, and blogger, deconstructs the pitfalls and challenges that can waylay even seasoned designers. As many professional designers learn, clients can be intimidated by interior designers and sometimes can even be fearful of the process. This unreasonable intimidation can often hinder the designer-client relationship and can even stop clients from asking for what they want. This leads to clients being unsatisfied and then walking away with a negative impression of their designer. Learning why clients fear their interior designer and developing strategies to allay those fears is essential for gaining and keeping a satisfied clientele. Everything from good client, project, and time management to interview techniques and staff and paperwork organization can all lead to making client interaction as rewarding as possible and are important aspects of the business rarely addressed by the interior design community as a whole. Interior Design Clients covers the subjects rarely taught in design schools such as specific presentation and interview skills and how to sell to market. Through frank discussion and practical examples, Williams weaves the art of selling into his lessons on interviewing, presenting, and pleasing the client as a natural part of the design process. Becoming a residential or commercial interior designer is not an easy undertaking, but Thomas Williams’ Interior Design Clients: The Designer’s Guide to Building and Keeping a Great Clientele provides the fundamental lessons and innovative solutions to help designers succeed in the ultra-competitive world of modern interior design. About the Author Thomas L. Williams is the author of 20/20: IFDA's vision for the Future, a series of articles on design and the business of interior design, and has taught business practices for interior designers at Monterey Peninsula College. As a co-founder of Hale-Williams Interior Design, he has drawn on his years of experience with interior design firms to create seminars and multi-day classes for private schools. With his straight forward, conversational style, Williams offers his success and experience in an accessible way to help the novice designer begin and manage their new business. Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Williams studied English Literature and Interior Design. In 1977 he started T. Lawton Williams Interior Design in Philadelphia and in 1981 he moved to England and co-founded Erithbond, Ltd., an interior design firm in London. In 2000, Williams and his partner opened Hale-Williams Interior Design in Carmel, CA. While in California, Williams has served as President of the local Chamber of Commerce, written regularly for the local paper, the Carmel Pine Cone, and worked as an adjunct instructor in business practices. In 2009, Williams published his first book with Allworth Press, Starting Your Career as an Interior Designer. Williams is an avid blogger and lives in Carmel, California.