A lot of you aren’t going to like what I’ve got to say in this post 🫣😬.

But if you keep finding your clients go behind your back and try and “shop around” with your suppliers to find a better deal, it’s because they don’t trust you.

Here’s why….

Unethical business practices

Trust is the most important currency in the client/designer relationship. If you have a client that "shops around" behind your back, it signals a lack of trust.

And lack of clarity around trade discounts is one of the main things that erodes client trust. Clients aren’t stupid! They are fully aware that many designers in the industry hide their mark-ups or lack transparency in the way they deal with trade discounts.

This is why if they hint there is any unethical, dishonest or shady stuff going on, they will go behind your back and see if they are able to secure a better price themselves. Designers then get mad that their clients do this. But they don’t understand that if they were just honest about the way they handle trade discounts from the start then the clients wouldn’t feel a need to “shop around”.

What Happens When Trust is Lost?

Once trust is lost between a designer and client, a series of problematic events start to unfold:

frequent questioning of choices
delays or disputes about payments
seeking alternative quotes
asking for more options
questions about invoices
approaches to your suppliers directly
and they may even end the project.

How to Avoid All of This

The first step is to be transparent.

Disclose your fee structure, including how you deal with trade discounts, up front. That way clients can decide if they are comfortable with this way of working before they sign with you.

The second step is clear communication.

Document how all of this is handled in your contract and make sure they understand how you work from the start.

This is yet another reason why I always passed my trade discount on to clients in full. There was never a reason for a client to go behind my back in search of a “better deal” as I always was able to secure that for them.

This approach helped us work as a partnership and that's how trust was built.

Trust is hard to build but easy to lose

When trust is missing, the entire project will suffer and clients will question all your decisions.

Be ethical in the way you do business and fully disclose if you intend to take trade discounts or mark things up.

If your clients know what is happening from the outset they won’t have any reason not to trust you.

Thanks for reading and catch you in my next post :)

Clare x

Dr Clare Le Roy

PS: If you enjoyed this then don’t forget to follow me @thelittledesigncorner for my daily tips on growing a profitable design or architecture business.

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