August 17, 2022

On our most recent KBB – From the Tap podcast, we spoke with Gail Doby, who is a coach and consultant for interior designers. She and her team at Gail Doby Coaching and Consulting have helped more than 10,000 designers in 76 countries move their business forward.

Doby talked about designers’ main concerns given the current state of the industry, and those include supply chain issues, the competitive hiring market and cost of materials. During our discussion, she took a deep dive into each of those concerns and offered some solutions.

For supply chain issues, she suggests sharing letters from your vendors with clients to help them better understand what’s going on – among several other things. Switching to a different vendor/brand isn’t always the most obvious answer, but making sure contracts cover all the issues up front is. Doby shared multiple tips for keeping contracts up to date, including adding a line on the arrival of damaged goods.

Next we moved on to setting fees versus charging by the hour, and Doby says there are as many fee structures as there are design firms. She shared with us what she feels is the smartest option for designers to earn as much money as they can for their projects – and avoid losing it. Hint: It is not all about ensuring clients’ peace of mind.

She said designers can also achieve higher profits through things like accessorizing, having professional photos taken of projects, and she talked about the ups and downs of adding a markup to products.

We moved on to talk about how to attract talented employees in a competitive job market, and Doby listed a handful of important things to consider. Offering flexible schedules and hybrid working arrangements were some of those. Successful leadership is also a must.

Learn about Doby’s myriad of tips for moving your business forward and the programs she offers by watchingthe full video above or listening to the podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Pandora and other outlets.