Quality is what you want when looking for a service or product, isn’t it?
As a successful man it is what you feel you deserve, it is what you expect or imagine, and it is what you are keen to pay for.
But quality goes beyond the mere craftsmanship, uniqueness or cost of a product/service, it is quality for you because that object or service is aligned with your values and life style, it is personal, it is personal to you.
I think many of you would agree with this point. However, in a world that is full of options: How do you discriminate? How do you choose? How can you be convinced you are making the right decision when purchasing those products?
The answer is simple: Go to the one that offers you the best customer service.
This is what will make you feel like a royal or take you down to a beggar’s position.
How many times have you visited a tailor with good quality suits but where the service is appalling? Long waiting times, a lack of understanding of what you want, you are one more on the list, etc. Do you really need to keep your loyalty just because he/she is good? The big answer is NO. Research, go to another tailor that shows respect and care for you as a customer, besides being excellent of course.
For products, this is a relatively easy step to follow but it is not so straightforward when looking for a service.
One of the most challenging services of course to select is interior design.
Below are five points to look for from your interior designer that will translate into a great customer service experience for you:
Clarity on the Proposal
When hiring a professional you, automatically expect that individual to advise you on the right route to follow and how to follow it. Sometimes this involves listening to things you would prefer not to hear but that certainly, when the process is over, you will be grateful arose at the time.
This is why it is so important before starting work together you have a proposal that clearly states and defines boundaries, responsibilities, scope of works, procedures, payment schedule and budget.
Good customer service has to start with clarity and certainly the designer should do his/her best in fulfilling what has been offered/agreed.
Having that proposal will help both of you to measure the result as it will act as a very valuable reference.
Listening Skills
Interior design is about ideas, beauty, creativity and style but in order to make this real your interior designer has to be able to understand your needs, your vision, your reality and your dreams.
The only way for the designer to do this is by asking questions and listening carefully to what you are saying and just as importantly, what you are not saying.
With a clear set of notes and observations the outcome is certainly going to be more in tune with what you want.
Goal setting
Yes, interior design is a creative profession but a business one as well, and as such goals have to be established and written.
Deadlines, milestones, lead times, etc have to be clear to you, the client, so you feel that you are in control of the project.
Follow up
Having in place all the targets, ideas, multidisciplinary teams, suppliers, contractors, plan of action, etc is very important and crucial for the good development of a project.
The best way to make you feel at peace and informed is for your designer to constantly communicate, the frequency of which will depend on the scale of the project and complexity of it. A designer should inform, report and act after decisions and agreements have been agreed.
Quality Control
Your designer should work with you in understanding the levels of quality expected and quoted for and suggest those suppliers and/or contractors that can back those decisions up.
There must be a consistency between what you requested/paid for and what you are receiving.
There are of course other factors that will affect this outcome, like quality of builder, who is the project manager, criteria used for choosing the suppliers/contractors, supervision by the designer, etc.
It is in the interest of the designer to help to achieve the quality you expect. Probably after you, he/she is the person whose motivations are as strong as yours for getting it right.
That motivation should lead the project towards excellence.
There are of course many points when giving you an excellent customer service, but certainly these five must be part of that list otherwise you take the huge risk of becoming a beggar in your own palace.
