The DECIDE Method
Help clients make confident, timely decisions (& stick to them!)
>> A practical six-step decision-guiding framework for interior designers, design-build firms, builders, showrooms, and other professionals who guide clients through complicated, consequential choices.
Your clients don’t need more options.
They need better conditions for making the decision.
Client hesitation doesn't come from one single source.
It comes from simultaneously navigating unfamiliar territory, trying desperately to get it right, worrying about money, balancing competing priorities, and trying to please multiple people.
Different obstacles require different kinds of support.
Before asking:
“Why won’t they decide?”
We have to ask:
“What is making this particular decision difficult?”
That is where useful guidance begins.
"Whether they own a business or work for a firm, guiding decisions is the one skill every designer needs."
- Aaron Duke, Interior Designer, California
The DECIDE Method
→ Data
Gather the information that determines what is truly right for this client.
→ Edit
Separate what matters to this decision from everything that merely could matter.
→ Curate
Select a purposeful set of options aligned with the client’s goals and constraints.
→ Inform
Explain your recommendation, the meaningful differences, and the tradeoffs.
→ Decide
Ask for a clear choice and establish what happens next.
→ Encourage
Reinforce confidence so a good decision stays made.
→ Better-supported clients make better decisions.
The DECIDE Method helps you:
- Present fewer, more purposeful options
- Explain recommendations without overwhelming clients
- Respond to hesitation without pressure
- Secure clearer, more timely approvals
- Reduce reopened decisions and unnecessary research
- Lead with greater empathy and authority
"The approach worked like magic! I had solid decisions & was able to order materials within two days!" – Suzanne Z.
The goal isn't getting clients to say yes to whatever you want.
It's helping them understand the decision well enough to confidently choose what is right for them and the project. 💪
Why I created The DECIDE Method:
I knew how to help clients make decisions.
I didn’t know how to teach my team to do the same.
For 17 years, I ran a residential interior design firm, helping clients navigate unfamiliar, expensive, and emotional decisions without rushing or overwhelming them.
But when I began training my own team, I discovered that doing this instinctively and teaching it were two very different skills.
I looked for a practical framework that would help clients understand their choices, trust professional guidance, and make informed decisions without being pushed or manipulated, but everything I found focused on persuasion, overcoming objections, and closing the sale.
So I developed The DECIDE Method.
Today, I teach the framework to interior designers, design-build teams, and other professionals responsible for keeping complicated client decisions—and projects—moving. I would be delighted to teach it to your team, too! 
Rebecca