12 skills you need to be a successful interior designer
Most design schools do a terrible job of equipping students with the skills they are really going to need when they get out in to the 'real world'.
Making miniature scale models is NOT what you are going to be doing when you have your own design business (sorry to be blunt!)
In fact very little about running a successful design business is to do with being a talented designer.
I tell the designers I work with that you need to be around 40% great designer and 60% marketing/business expert in order to grow a thriving, profitable design business.
Here are the 12 skills I think are needed to become a successful interior designer as well as my tips for how to develop these skills.
⭐️ 1: Extremely strong communication skills
How to develop this skill:
be friendly and relatable
have strong emotional intelligence - be empathetic and able to build rapport with people
learn how to communicate with a wide range of people - e.g. how you communicate with a high end commercial client will be different to how you communicate with an apprentice builder.
develop good non-verbal communication skills - e.g. eye contact, body language, making clients feel relaxed
develop your active listening skills - paying close attention to what potential clients/other stakeholders are saying and being able to ask clarifying questions
learn how to communicate ideas clearly - e.g. your design vision/ideas
have strong written communication
have professional presentation skills
be good at identifying problems and finding solutions
develop your good negotiation skills (e.g. when a client comes to you with a budget that is unrealistic for what they want to achieve!)
be able to convey design ideas to non-designers - e.g. break down jargon or technical language so they can understand
⭐️ 2: Know how to find leads and nurture them to paying clients
How to develop this skill:
build a strong knowledge of effective lead generation strategies - teach yourself if you need to
have the discipline to work on lead generation every single day (even if you’re busy with client work)
always be talking about your business and sharing what you’re doing with others - you never know where a client might come from
always be trying new ideas for finding leads
If you need help with lead generation strategies then - this short course gives you heaps of ideas to start implementing today.
⭐️ 3: Strong organisational skills
How to develop this skill:
be highly self-motivated and self-disciplined
learn strong project management skills
learn strong strategic planning skills
be able to manage multiple projects and competing deadlines and tasks
have good time management and tracking skills - know how much time projects take you and know whether or not you are actually making money from them
be able to make quick decisions, often under pressure
be able to set goals and the discipline to meet them
be able to manage a team (especially important as your business grows)
have a systems mindset - build systems as you grow your business so you save yourself time and document what you’re doing
⭐️ 4: An understanding of how to position and present yourself in a way that gets people to want to work with you
How to develop this skill:
be on time or a few minutes early
make potential clients feel important
be confident - potential clients will be able to tell if you’re not confident in what you’re doing and this will lead them to believe you’re not capable (even if it’s not true). Confidence will build as you gain more experience - in the beginning simple things like making eye contact, shaking hands, leading consultations are ways to show confidence.
improve your public speaking skills (important even for just speaking to one person)
show passion and enthusiasm
listen more than you speak
take care of your personal appearance - dress appropriately, good grooming - first impressions do matter!
⭐️ 5: Strong marketing skills including staying on top of latest social marketing trends
How to develop this skill:
have an obsession for learning about marketing and staying on top of new trends and ideas
create copious amounts of really good content on a consistent basis - if you aren’t sure how you need to teach yourself
share as much as you can for free - this builds your profile as an expert and allows potential clients to get to know and trust you
track marketing metrics so you know what is working and what isn’t working (do more of what is working!)
study and obsess over the marketing of others in the industry (especially those who are successful). What are they doing that you aren’t doing?
be willing to be on video - marketing is increasingly moving to video-first so you must be comfortable talking to a camera - push past the fear if you need to, this one is a must!
⭐️ 6: Know how to sell
How to develop this skill:
be comfortable with selling - many designers are afraid to sell themselves and undercharge. This is not how you build a profitable business
know your market better than they know themselves - understand their lifestyle, pain points, problems, challenges. The better you know them the better you’ll be able to sell to them
know the psychology of sales - a good book on this is ‘The Power of Persuasion’ if you need to learn
have a strong sales funnel and understand the metrics you need to hit revenue targets
know how to tell which clients to walk away from (i.e. not worth the money or effort!)
⭐️ 7: Understand budgets and financials
How to develop this skill:
be comfortable working with numbers and spreadsheets
be able to set and manage budgets
know how to read balance sheets
have basic book keeping skills
know how to read financial statements (e.g. P&L, budgets, financial reports)
know the basics of how to use your accounting software - e.g. Xero, MYOB
seek help (e.g. from an accountant) or teach yourself these skills if you don’t have them
⭐️ 8: An understanding of how to mitigate risk and protect yourself in business
How to develop this skill:
engage a lawyer and have them create contracts especially for your business (i.e. don’t write these yourself)
know your local building laws/codes
know what you can and can’t be doing as a designer in your jurisdiction (laws and rules vary around the world)
know what risks are involved in the type of work you do (e.g. interior decorators/stylists have a different risk profile to interior designers working on full home renovation projects)
have the appropriate business insurances in place
know how to manage cash flow
document everything in writing (especially decisions made verbally)
know how to manage client expectations - many issues in a design project are resolved via excellent communication
⭐️ 9: Be a lifelong learner
How to develop this skill:
take responsibility for your own learning, growth and improvement
have a desire to seek out ways to improve areas you have weaknesses in
always be learning - read, watch videos or listen to podcasts every day
make the most of in between times (e.g. when folding washing, cooking dinner) to learn about business and marketing
have a growth mindset and take the attitude that everything is ‘figure-out-able’ if you seek out the right information
regularly take online courses that will help you up-skill in your areas of weakness
⭐️ 10: The ability to track business metrics and use these to inform changes you make to your business
How to develop this skill:
know how to set and track business and project metrics
always be tracking basic metrics - some examples include;
revenue
expenses
profitability
cash in bank
social media/marketing metrics (e.g. follower numbers, website visits)
project budgets
time spent delivering client work
sales targets and performance (e.g. how people move through your sales funnel)
if you aren’t tracking metrics you have no idea what is happening in your business and whether you’re growing, making money or losing money
⭐️ 11: Solid design knowledge and technical drawing skills
How to develop this skill:
be creative, have good design ideas and have a natural talent for design (this isn’t really able to be taught but is an essential skill for anyone wanting to be a designer)
solid design knowledge (if you’re not formally trained it’s your responsibility to teach yourself strong design fundamentals)
always be up to date with latest products, suppliers and trends
learn how to run a design project from start to finish
solid technical drawing skills to allow you to present your work professionally (e.g. SketchUp, AutoCAD, Vectorworks, Revit).
drafting skills (i.e. know how to correctly draft documentation drawings)
develop your knowledge of sustainable design practices (increasingly important as many clients want this)
If you want to learn SketchUp then take a look at our online courses for interior designers here.
⭐️ 12: A strong desire to succeed
How to develop this skill:
have a passion and love of what you’re doing - if you don’t love it as you are getting started you really won’t love it when things start getting hard (which they will!)
be willing to work harder than others - success rarely comes without extremely hard work
be able to keep going, even when things are tough
have a strong desire to be the best you can possibly be
focus on the right things - there’s only so many hours in a day, don’t waste them on the wrong activities - successful designers know where to put their attention (hint: it’s normally on revenue generating activities)
be extremely persistent and disciplined
be willing and able to pivot - if something isn’t working try something else, don’t be wedded to bad ideas
make self-care a priority - if you’re tired, unfit or fuelling your body with bad food then you’re unlikely to perform at your best
Now you know the skills have a think about where your deficiencies are.
What do you need to get better at and where do you need to learn and grow?
Make a list from the dot points above and think about how you can find ways to improve these areas - e.g. via books, podcasts, videos or online courses.
Courses and Templates for Designers and Architects
DO YOU WANT TO….
Improve your professionalism?
Find more clients?
Bring in more revenue?
Create better systems and processes?
Then check out my business courses and templates for designers and architects.
These courses and templates leave you with work done - not just a long list of things you need to do next. We have a really strong focus on taking action and getting things created that improve your business.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy
