Understanding the Customer Design Journey

Clients are more involved in their design than ever. While some attribute this to education and control issues, it is partly motivated by their desire for life experiences and stories.

Business theorist Peter Druker once said, “Quality in a product is not what the supplier puts in. It is what the customer gets out and is willing to pay for.”

I find that quote to be very instructive these times. In my industry, interior design, I often hear colleagues and friends complain about how attached clients have become to their projects.

It used to be that the designer presented a conceptual design, and the clients offered some input at certain points, maybe made some tweaks, but they didn’t lead the process. Today, clients are involved in everything, from A to Z, starting at the very beginning with the conceptual design phases.

But, some of my associates say, the designers are the professionals — they are the ones who know best. So why don’t their clients let them do what they were hired to do, without interference?

Guiding Customers in Their Design Journey

CREATING AN EXPERIENCE: SCOTT COHEN

One reasons clients have changed so much over the past 10 years is they’re so used to information being instant. They order a pizza, and they can watch it being made, they can see the delivery guy bringing it to their house. They can order something online and watch their package being delivered.

It’s just an age of information. We have clients who email three to four times a day for updates. To address this, we recently added jobsite cameras to our projects. It’s $200 for a pair of battery–operated cameras that come with a special device to wrap them on a pole. They’ll stay for months on a single battery charge. We put it up on the jobsite, give the client the app, and they can watch whenever they want. We email them once a week to explain what to expect. Then for day-to-day information, they can watch it on their computer.

We also use virtual reality as we go over the concept sketches with the client. They can put on the goggles and fully immerse themselves in the experience of their backyard.

We help them document the experience as well. We send them home with a foam poster-board — 3-by-2 feet — with oversized photos showing what their yard will look like. During excavation, if they have children, we will sit the kids on a tractor and take a picture. At the end of the project, we always send them before-and-after photos.

We know people want to share their stories, so we create a 1-minute video of each project. We email the video to the client, so they can post them on social media.

Throughout the project, we have regularly scheduled site meetings, to check in with the client in person. Sometimes we have things to discuss, sometimes we have a drink. At the completion of the project, we set the client up with robes and beach balls. — Scott Cohen, president, The Green Scene, Northridge, Calif.

READY COLLABORATOR: ANDY KANER

I have clients on all levels of involvement. Some definitely are involved from the composition of the contract all the way through the design process. A lot of times when they are involved to that extent, it kind of helps. Since they make decisions, it helps keep the project moving, and there’s never a question as to whether they like something or not, because they tell you. And sometimes they’ll push us out of our comfort zone, to be more creative and innovative, to take more risks.

It’s true that they are looking for an experience, not only in the end product but in the design process. But the whole idea of a pool in itself is all about the experience.

These clients can require more time. They tend to want more meetings, because they want to see the design progress in person. Some even want to add stipulations in the contract, establishing how many site visits and meetings will take place. We approve some stipulations, and others we don’t. But we often will accommodate their requests for additional visits and meetings.

We understand going into it that these projects might take longer, and we try to plan more time in our schedule. It also may affect our price.

To make the process even more collaborative and add a little fun, I’ve had some clients do sketches for us during meetings to help us understand their ideas. Actually drawing something out and seeing that incorporated makes them feel like they contributed in a big way.

It’s all just about attitude. If you go into it thinking, “They’re changing our ideas and we can’t let them do that,” then it’s going to be a bad experience for you and them. But if you say, “Yeah, they may have some good ideas, they may not, but if they don’t, we’ll tell them and we’ll work on it,” then in the end, you become a team and create the best project.

— Andy Kaner, president, Aquatic Consultants, Miami, Fla.

STEADY GUIDE: GUY WOOD

I like to involve my clients in the process. If I’m working directly with the homeowner, I have more fun working with a client who has interest in it than someone who just says “Draw me something and let me see it.”

I try not to go in with too much of an agenda. Everybody has a design style — there are things I like that you might not like, and vice versa. So I keep an open mind and I focus on being a good listener.

But I also want to be in a position where I’m not afraid to disagree with the client. I explain that they hired us as a professional based on work that we’ve done, so it’s a two-way street. They should be willing to listen to our suggestions and feedback on their ideas, because my job is to try to guide them and not let them make a mistake that they’re going to regret later. You have to be their best consultant and help them create the picture in their head by guiding them through the process.

But ultimately they’re in control. If they don’t want something that I feel strongly about, I might be disappointed but I’ll do whatever they tell me to do, because my job is to give them what they want.

At the end of the project, we’ll give the client a gift bag. Usually it contains some high-quality embroidered bath towels or beach towels with our logo on it. During the process I’ve gotten to know the client, so if I find out that they drink pinot noir, I might bring a bottle of wine at the end when we do our pool school.

Then every job we build comes with free pool service for one to three months. We like to hand-hold them — we don’ t just hand them a brush and say, “See you later.” We handle the start-up, we monitor the pool for a minimum of a month. That also helps us retain those customers for our service business.

— Guy Wood, president, Westside Watershapes, Fort Worth, Texas

Believe it or not, product quality holds less value today than it did in the past. It’s no longer enough for a consumer to find the perfect product or solution. They want to enjoy the journey of gaining that product. In fact, the journey — in our case, the design and construction process — is as important as the end result. In some cases it’s even more important.

We also have to realize that consumers today have changed their idea of what their personal space should reflect, as well as how they buy and interact with the end product. Luxury has been redefined to suggest an experience more than a product or service.

A rare experience

Everybody likes a good story and, ultimately, many clients want both the design/construction process and the final product to provide them with some anecdotes.

Every time I go into a home that’s newly redesigned — say I’m visiting a friend — I will hear a story from that homeowner. They’ll tell me about the designer, what they did, how they got involved, maybe how they traveled together. They’ll talk about the hours they spent together. And they’ll share a personalized story: “Well, we found that window in an abandoned church.”

They also want a finished product that is absolutely customized and tells a story about them. At one time, the consumer would basically bring a picture or two, or choose photos from a book provided by the designer. It was almost like choosing out of a catalog: “I like this one.” Then the designer went to achieve it. There would be slight changes — a little shift in color or moving something from here to there.

Now the consumer is coming in and saying, “I don’t want to keep up with the Joneses — I want to stay away from the Joneses. I want something for me.” There’s a hunger for customization. People bring their initials, family crests and heirlooms to be incorporated into their pool designs. I design mosaics, and I receive plenty of requests for customized mosaic murals, whether it’s a small medallion or covers the entire pool. That creates a personal connection.

I think of it like they’re getting a tattoo — it has to represent something in their lives, and they want that to be a part of the story, so they can tell others what that mural means to them. It’s not good enough to look good — it has to connect them personally to that environment.

And then many of these clients are looking for an educational journey — a learning opportunity. For instance, they may not care about the technical aspect of the job, and they’re usually willing to trust you with that. But they’ll still ask, “What type of pump are you using and why? What’s the capacity?” It’s information that’s not necessarily going to help them in any way — they have the warranty and everything they need to know if something were to go wrong. But I honestly believe they just want to learn. Because they’re emotionally connected to their environment, they’re curious about what’s happening to it.

Adapting to the task

I have to admit, this shift in the power dynamic can have a little bit of an effect on the ego for a designer.

I also come from an old-school approach where you’re the designer — you’re the professional, almost like a surgeon or doctor. So when you sense an attitude of, “I’m not going to take medical advice from you,” there can be ego involved.

I first realized that this shift was occurring when I was presenting a client with a portfolio of my work. They looked at it as if to say, “Good for you, but that’s not what we want.” It felt a bit like a personal attack. I asked, “But if you don’t like my work, why are you here?” They explained that they liked the work, but they didn’t want to copy any of it for themselves.

Those clients helped me figure myself out as a designer, that I am more than just a specific aesthetic — that I create meaningful, functional spaces that really connect with that specific consumer. They helped me understand that it’s not just the final look that matters, it’s really that higher-level connection. I had to check my ego and really think about how to make design not about me, because it’s more about their vision, ideas, stories and journey. My job is to make sure they get all that, not just a nice, pretty end result.

We designers have to adjust because this is a reality in the new world of the consumer. They are in charge, they are in the lead. Even manufacturers are following the lead of consumers, not of the designer, to learn what they want and need. This has not only occurred with pool or interior design: We also see fashion designers relying on consumers for input. Furniture companies will publish 10 designs on social media and ask consumers to vote for their favorite to help determine what gets included in their next line.

I enjoy this interaction with clients, because I know that, ultimately, the space is for them. It’s appropriate that they take charge of what they want their environment to look like, how it feels, and how they interact with it.

The designer’s ideas and input are still very important. A client can pick a paint color they like, but they have no idea what to do with it. But that customer acts almost like a project manager, leading the designer down the right path, so they can create this beautiful masterpiece.

True partnership

I often am asked what I do to bring clients in the passenger seat with me.

Make them your assistant versus your client. Open the dialogue completely, and make it all about them, not about the design or the outcome of the design. You also have to allow them to be in the passenger seat to enjoy the journey with you, not just the destination. Shoot for the customer’s heart, not just their business.

Engagement and creating an emotional connection will make a customer relationship the driving force for loyalty and differentiation. It also gives the customer something very special: they will want to tell others about it. Over a lifetime, emotionally connected customers are more than twice as valuable as highly satisfied customers. These emotionally connected customers buy more of your products and services, visit you more often, exhibit less price sensitivity, pay more attention to your communications, follow your advice, and recommend you more — everything you hope their experience with you will cause them to do. All of this because you have allowed them to be a critical part of finding the solution and not just getting there.

Let’s face it: Today’s consumers are more diverse, interconnected and demanding than ever before. Their expectations are rising while their propensity to be loyal to you is declining. If they are not in the passenger seat, they are in the driver’s seat.

It is in our nature to tell stories. It’s what makes us human, and it’s essential for our survival. There is a psychological comfort in telling our own story. These stories connect us to our emotions and the physical relationship to our environment.

Let your customer tell their story with you. Let them enjoy the journey and be a part of it as much as possible. Allow them to get credit for some of the journey and be a part of the final solution. Most importantly, make them a part of their own story and their journey with you. It is the story they will tell over and over because they helped to write it.