Have you ever felt like you’re leaving money on the table by undercharging for your design service while also feeling afraid to raise your prices? You’re definitely not alone!
I think pricing our services is one of the hardest things we do as business owners. Not only is it daunting to figure out where the fine line is between profitability and bleeding money, but our inner critiques can get loud in those moments demanding to know, “Just who do you think you are charging that much?!”
In light of all that, I get why interior designers are hesitant to act when business coaches and industry experts encourage them to raise their prices. Even when you know you’re underpriced, it’s not always as simple as just slapping a higher number on your services.
Having been through raising prices with many of my interior designer clients (it’s all part of building a messaging strategy that supports their goals), I think it’s important to navigate this change in a way that makes it feel aligned for you in the value you deliver to your clients and in your mindset. Otherwise, you’ll struggle to present your new numbers confidently.
So what goes into a good strategy for raising your rates?
First and foremost, I like to check in with my client to see what they’re thinking and feeling. If I can see they’re struggling but a price increase is truly in order for their business, we talk through their mindset challenges. It’s often enough for them that I–as someone who knows their business and the design industry deeply–can objectively point to specifics about the amazing value they provide their clients and affirm they’re justified in charging higher rates.
If that doesn’t resolve their hesitancy, you have to understand that the clients who got you here, may not get you there. When trying to reach the next level in your business, raising your prices probably means shifting to attract a different type of client (unless you know for sure your previous clients are growing with you and will be willing and able to pay your new rates).
As a brand strategist and copywriter for interior designers, I know that raising prices is about much more than just the money. It’s about delivering value, creating a luxury experience, and cultivating a trusting, fulfilling relationship between designer and client.
In order to successfully raise your rates, you need to make sure you’re delivering a premium client experience and top-quality designs, but you also need to use your brand messaging to position yourself as a high-end designer worthy of higher fees.
1. Start delivering a premium client experience
When you begin to move towards a higher level of clientele, (the level of clientele that’s able and willing to pay premium pricing) it becomes all about their experience. For these types of clients, it’s a priority to not only provide a smooth, stress-free experience for them, but to go above and beyond to fully handle every aspect of the project that they want you to, because these clients place a TON of value on this!
They want their designer to be the person that stands in the gap for them; the person who will make sure their design project gets from A to Z, by managing all of the things that come up along the way. They want you to manage all of the aspects that they don’t want to, and they’re willing to pay you the big bucks to do it!
That’s because this level of clientele doesn’t want to sacrifice their lifestyle for an interior design project. This is more than just providing a white glove experience, or treating the client like a VIP. This type of client wants their designer to take ALL of the project stress COMPLETELY off their shoulders, so they don’t have to think about anything but enjoying their lives!
For some clients, this means minimal involvement in the beginning, and then they want you to fully take the reins from there. Others will want you to run every major decision by them throughout the whole project, because a higher amount of involvement is enjoyable or even comforting to them.
Whatever the case, it becomes your job to meet them where they’re at, and deliver whatever type of experience and relationship to their designer that they want.
This requires you to cultivate an elevated level of empathy, intuition, and communication with your clients. (Don’t underestimate the value of these skills!!) That way you can ensure their experience working with you is enjoyable, highly catered to their needs, and luxuriously stress-free.
2. Shift your competitive edge to providing excellent quality design and service, instead of the lowest price
As a designer, if your primary competitive edge is to have the cheapest prices around, then the only way to increase your revenue is to sell more and work more. (No thank you!!) And if you’re nonstop hustling and stretching yourself too thin, you don’t have the time or bandwidth to deliver superb quality or a premium experience.
And that’s not going to attract the luxury level of clientele that will pay higher rates!
As business owners, we’re always trying to work smarter, not harder, so you need a sustainable way of operating that allows your business to grow in revenue. Not to mention, you want to be known for delivering top-notch quality!
For a lot of designers this means taking on fewer, but better-aligned projects at a time, (especially if you don’t have a large team.) That way, you have the capacity to give more focus and attention to each client project, allowing for an excellent level of quality that you can charge higher prices for!
It’s a “slow down to speed up” kind of thing. Take on less client projects per year, so you can knock those projects out of the park. (But make sure the projects you decide to take on are in alignment with your business growth goals!) In doing so, you’ll allow yourself the time and energy to deliver a luxury experience and top-notch quality that you can confidently charge a premium for.
3. Use brand messaging that positions you as a high-end designer
In order to attract a luxury clientele, you need to position yourself as a high-end designer in all of your brand messaging.
The copy on your website, emails, and social media should all reflect the premium experience you’re offering, and speak directly to the needs and desires of your upleveled ideal client.
Recently, a design firm reached out to me because they noticed their website copy was no longer in alignment with where they were at. They had gone through a major period of growth, and had reached the next level of success in their business! (Cue the champagne!)
But their brand messaging needed to catch up – It was still speaking to their previous type of client. So we created messaging that’s on par with the higher level of clientele and projects they’re now attracting. They even let go of their old tagline that they ADORED, because we knew it didn’t quite fit their new clients!
Now that their website copy speaks to their current ideal clients, they’re able to easily attract more and more of them. And their business will continue to soar to new heights!
After helping many designers with this process over the years, I’ve gleaned some valuable brand messaging tips to use when raising your rates. Here’s what NOT to do, and what to do instead.
- Don’t go after clients who just want showy results. Instead, be mindful to cater your messaging towards those who value your time, creativity, and talent, and are willing to pay more for it!
- Don’t make the mistake of talking about staying within the client’s budget or hint at saving them money. Instead, highlight the value you provide, especially how you make the process working together so simple and seamless for them!
- Don’t use generic language that you think sounds high-end. Instead, draw them in emotionally with stories about what’s possible for their homes. Help them imagine what life will be like in the spaces you design for them!
- Don’t stay attached to old messaging, as hard as that may be. Messaging that got you here, may not get you there, so be open-handed and ready to release anything that won’t work for achieving your new goals and pricing.
- Don’t feel like you have to justify higher prices with larger scopes. Instead, think about your process and what you do for your clients beyond what’s obvious or expected. Then communicate how your clients will benefit from these things by highlighting them in your messaging.
Successfully charging higher rates takes an upleveled mindset, followed by strategic action steps that get you there. We can’t do the same things we did to get here, and expect them to get us where we want to be next, right??
If you’re ready to get your design business uplevel into motion, and don’t want to tackle the brand messaging part alone, I can help! It’s truly one of my favorite things to do!
Contact me here to schedule a no-pressure chat, so we can discuss your business goals and dreams. I’d love to hear about where you’re wanting to go, and see if I may be of service in helping you get there via your messaging.
