One of the keys to having a design practice full of ideal clients is learning to say “no.”

I don’t just mean during the initial consult when you feel like the client might not be a good fit (I cover that in this blog post) but also when they *are* your client.

Over the last fifteen years I’ve said “yes” to a client (letting them be in charge instead of me) when I should have said “no” waaaaay too many times. I’d like to save you from my mistakes! 😩

When might you need to say “no” to a client?

• When they call/text/email at all hours and expect you to be available.
• When they want you to work outside your normal methods.
• When they want to increase the scope (without paying more).
• Your client wants to see your vendor invoices, or argues about your markup.
• When they want you to “just” do this one extra thing – for free.

Basically, any time they are asking for something that will make it harder for you to do a good job for them, either because it stretches you too thin, or sparks even the tiniest bit of resentment in you. That just sets the stage for a relationship to go downhill.

In any good relationship there are simply times when you have to say no.

Do you need to say “no” to a client? Wondering *how* – exactly – you’re supposed to say it?

Let’s talk about 5 ways you can say ‘no,’ maintain a great relationship, and still sound like a professional!

5 WAYS TO SAY NO TO A CLIENT

#1: If they’re asking for something outside the scope of work

Hopefully you either have a contract with your client that spells out – VERY CLEARLY – the scope of work you’ve agreed to (and all the fine print for what happens if things don’t go as planned). If you don’t, please get that in place right now! It doesn’t have to be a lengthy contract full of legalese, but it does need to be a doc that keeps everyone on the same page. (BTW, I’m happy to share the exact agreement we use with our clients – you can book a coaching session here and I’ll spill all the beans! 🤓)

Assuming you do have a contract or letter of agreement (LOA) with your client, then redirecting them when they ask for something out of scope is actually straightforward. It doesn’t even require saying “no”! Isn’t that great!?

How to say NO:

When a client asks for you to do work not covered in the scope, *and* you have time in your schedule to add that item in, try:

“Sure, we can totally add that in! Since it isn’t covered by the original scope of work I’ll just need to write up a quick addendum so we’ve got what you want in writing. That’ll add X dollars to the design fee, and I can write that up and send it your way for approval on [date]. Does that work?”

I find that a LOT of times, when our clients ask for something, we designers assume they are asking for a freebie. Whether they are or aren’t, innocently assume they expect to pay, and pretend that they literally asked what it’ll cost to add on to the project. If they do expect it for free, make them say that, and then finish with “I can’t add that in for free, but if you decide it’s important to invest in, just let me know and I’ll write up the additional scope.”

Are you allowed to throw in freebies? Of course! But be honest with yourself about how much effort that freebie is going to take. For example, as part of some other project a client might ask if you can “just” help them with window treatments. In my experience, quick questions are never that quick, and if you are trying to keep it quick (because you aren’t getting paid) you might not do as good a job for the client as you could.

Just make sure when you throw in a freebie it’s *you* deciding to overdeliver, and consider the long-term consequences of the action, both on yourself and (if you have one) your team. Remember, saying no is not just for your benefit, it’s also for the client’s benefit, too, helping them have a great experience and successful outcome! 😊

#2: If they want you to work faster than you are able

Sometimes the perfect client brings you the perfect project, but they need it sooner than you’re available. Should you squeeze it in?

Most of us have fallen victim to the squeeze-it-in situation at least once. 🙈 Maybe you just couldn’t turn down the cool project, or maybe the design fee was just too profitable to turn down. But you have to be really careful. First, you have to ask yourself if you can sincerely give the client the service they deserve. If not, you owe them a “no.”

Second, you have to ask yourself if it’s *healthy* for you to take on this client. Sure, you can pull a couple all-nighters and survive, but do that too many times in a row not only will your health suffer, but so will your kids, your cat, your social life, and/or your marriage… Always ask yourself: the paycheck worth the price?

How to say NO:

When a client asks you to do work sooner or faster than is reasonable try:

“I’d love to get that done by then, but I wouldn’t be able to deliver my best work for you. I totally understand if you need this done faster and need to find another designer. But I’d love to work with you and can start as soon as ____. What do you think – can that work with your timeline?”

Remember, it’s not worth letting your work – or your health – suffer just to squeeze in another project, especially if it’s becoming a habit!

#3: If they want a champagne result for a beer-level budget

A budget mismatch can show up in two different forms:

1. Someone’s budget might be too low for the scope of their project
2. Someone’s budget might be too low *or* too high for your service structure

The first scenario is pretty clear. Based on your experience, you know that what they want costs more than they want to spend. If you aren’t able to get on the same page with the client, then it’ll be nearly impossible to end up with a happy outcome. Either they’ll spend more than they wanted (and blame you) or they won’t fully execute the project (or execute it at all) and feel like their design-investment wasn’t well spent. No matter what, you end up the bad guy. You’ve got to either say no to the client, or limit the scope to what they can afford.

The second scenario might surprise you… sure, a budget can be too low, but how can a budget be “too high?” Well, if you’re like us at Seriously Happy Homes and you’ve built a company designed to serve “real people” rather than the luxury market, then, like us, you can definitely have someone come to you with *too high* a budget. Sure, we could help them spend all that money, but we don’t do a lot of custom-design furniture, or source multi-thousand-dollar light fixtures… it’s just not in our wheelhouse. So just like a luxe-level designer would struggle to put a living room together for $10 or 20K, we might not be at our best trying to help a client source at the luxe-end of the market.

It all comes down to asking yourself: “Am I the best one to help this client get happy in their home?” If not, say no, and save that project opening for a client you’re perfectly suited to help!

How to say NO:

When a client asks you to do design something impossible to build for budget reasons, try:

“I am excited to help with this project and I know we can come up with a design you’ll love, but it won’t be for the budget you have in mind. Do you want to go ahead any way and execute over time, or do you want to change the scope of work so it fits in your budget?”

The key here is that you only give them options that you can confidently deliver on. Don’t let your clients bully you into overpromising, and then hurting your brand when you can’t help but underdeliver! 😟

#4: If they want to change the way you work

If you’ve been in business for a while then you’ve probably nailed down how you do what you do.

But have you also nailed down what you *don’t* do?

In our company, for example, we offer two kinds of services: “Quick Action Sessions” for folks who just need some design guidance, and “The Works” for folks who need a full design plan. As part of defining these services, we’ve gotten clear on a few things:

• We only do in-person design within 10 miles of our office in Greenlake.
• We source retail and make NO purchases for our clients.
• We create fully executable design plans, but we do NOT execute them (ie, you will not find project management listed in our services).
• We focus on homes that are 3000 sf and smaller.

Do we have clients who ask us to work outside those boundaries? Sure!

Do we stretch those boundaries? Sometimes, sure!

That’s the joy of owning your own company – you can choose when to bend your own rules. But by setting the rules in the first place you can easily say no to projects that aren’t a fit, and then *carefully* say yes when there is something about the project that is just too delicious to pass up.

Just remember: if you’re going to say yes when you “technically” should have said no, make sure you have the resources (time, skills, confidence, etc) you need to truly deliver for your client. Otherwise, you owe them a “no” for their own benefit!

How to say NO:

When a client asks you to change your processes, try:

“I appreciate you asking if we can take a few meetings out of our normal process to reduce the cost, but we’ve found that all these meetings are important to getting to a successful end result. Knowing that we’ll need to meet X times, do we still feel like the right team for you?”

The power here is in being willing to let the client walk away. YOU are the professional in the room, and YOU know what you need to do to deliver a successful project for your client. If they are fighting you now, how are you going to work together in the future? Decide what’s important, and stick to your guns!

#5: If they are trying to communicate outside your methods / hours

Yes, I know, it happens ALL THE TIME.

They text at 10 pm.

They call on your weekends.

This one’s easy! Don’t answer back. And if that’s not enough, or if you feel you need to set some boundaries, make sure that how and when you communicate is spelled out in your design agreement, and then remind them of the “rules.” But don’t worry, you don’t have to be punitive about it. In fact, it’s always best if you can frame what you’re asking of the client in a way that benefits them.

For example, in our company, we don’t allow texting. When clients do text, we email them back. That, on its own, retrains our clients, but it’s also easy for us to say:

“We do all our communication by email so that it’s easy for us to keep track of all the details of your project. Texts make it too easy for important information to slip through the cracks.”

When they understand that our policy is better for them, too, getting them to follow the “rules” is surprisingly easy!

👉 Have courage!

It’s far too easy to let our clients get away with bad behavior. We tell ourselves that “this project will be over soon enough” or “it’s easier just to get this over with” – but every time you do that you’re building a company that you hate. Have courage, set your boundaries and spell them out in your policies, and trust that your best clients want to be helpful partners, not annoying pests.

I hope this post gives you some tools for saying no when you need to! Stay tuned for a future post turning what is a “no” project into a happy “yes” project by getting clear on your processes and boundaries!

You’ve got this! 💕

PS: Is it time to tell someone “no?”

Feeling nervous?

Let’s practice together!

I can help you find the words you need and role-play with you as the client so you feel confident going into the real conversation! Yet another great use of a Seriously Happy coaching session! 🎉