Shipping containers lost, cargo ships stuck, snow storms shut down Texas, and we’re low on foam! 

For those of you who haven’t heard, lead times are INSANE! Why? 

Well…

1. The pandemic has disrupted global supply chains
2. Cargo shipping company Maersk lost 750 shipping containers at sea
3. Snow storms in Texas caused power outages that have decimated the foam supply (meaning that while orders are UP 40%, workers are only working half days because they don’t have the supplies needed to fulfill the orders)
4. And to top it all off, a cargo ship is stuck in the Suez Canal, forcing all the other ships to reroute around Africa (where they’ll face uncertain weather and possible pirates). Seriously.

It can feel really frustrating, but remember, we’re all going through this together. Here’s an email I got about an order today:

“Our furniture delivery is delayed until mid August, possibly later. The foam for the couch cushions is manufactured in Texas and the plant still hasn’t had power restored since the storms. Looks like you can’t win whether ordering items manufactured in China (shipping containers falling into the ocean) or here in the USA with wild weather shutting things down. Based on that, it may be a LOOOONNNGGGG time before we’re able to have professional photos taken of the final finished product.”

So what are you supposed to do when you get a message like this?

💛 COMMUNICATE WITH COURAGE 💛

You probably want to hide your head in the sand and “hope” that your clients won’t be affected. 🙈

You might fear that you’ll lose potential clients if you tell them that “yes, you can design their living room BUT they may not have a complete room till the end of the year.” 🙊

Have courage!! Proactively share the situation with your clients, and help them understand that this isn’t an individual designer thing. Or a statewide thing. Or a USA thing. This is global. If they had tile coming from Europe, it may be on a ship rerouted around Africa – there is not a lot to do but wait. 

Offer solutions and guidance!! Depending on the needs of your client, perhaps there are solutions you can offer, like:

• renting furniture while you wait (for example, from Cort Furniture)
• buying in-stock upholstered pieces(places like our local Ballard Consignment have both new and used sofas ready to take home today. Maybe the client plans to furnish the rec room later – can this sofa sit in the main room now, then move downstairs when the “fancy” sofa comes in?)
• choosing in-stock tile from suppliers for clients on tighter timelines

Be proactive!! Don’t wait for your contractors and vendors to tell you the bad news. Take a leadership role and ask them how they are handling these unprecedented delays. Do they have a plan in place? Are they communicating contingencies with the client? Do they normally charge extension fees, and are they giving any extra grace right now? 

What if they say they should put the design-work on hold?

Help them understand that they may not have the room of their dreams as *soon* as they want, but getting started *now* will at least ensure they have that lovely room sooner than they will if they wait. If they choose to wait anyway, don’t consider them a lost client. (Remember, no one else can offer them a miracle solution either.) Nurture the relationship over the coming months with happy little emails, notes in the mail, updates on “the situation” etc. That way *you* are still top of mind when it’s time to move forward with the project.

It comes down to this: Everyone is much happier when they are prepared for the journey. Help them understand why this is a year to practice patience, and give them the encouragement and tools they need to keep perspective. The work we do is important, but in the end, it’s still just tile, tubs, taps and table lamps. Not having a sofa is *not* the end of the world.

NEED HELP COMMUNICATING POSITIVELY & PROACTIVELY WITH YOUR CLIENTS AND CONTRACTORS?

CHECK OUT MY MASTERCLASS: 
CLIENT COMMUNICATIONS ESSENTIALS

(aka, what they don’t teach in design school)

Don’t want to wait? Need to get better at communicating bad news *now*?

That’s what my Quick Fix Sessions are for! Each full session gives us a whole hour to dig into your biz challenges, and we can even role-play how to say the hard stuff, giving you practice *before* you have to say it in front of a client! 

I know you’ve got this, and we’re all in it together! Sending you all happy thoughts for your Seriously Happy businesses! (Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint!)

May your design business always make you seriously happy!

❤️ Rebecca