Design Projects….Scheduling…

So this is DAY 3 of our 6 Day (hopefully humorous) Blog Post on “Design Projects as Surgery”

Our 5 stages are: Consultation – Scheduling – Anethesia – Recovery/Rehab – Living Anew!

Today…SCHEDULING….better known as “Why Can’t I have it NOW???”

Aghhh…the bain of every Interior Designer’s Existence…the W A I T….

We have gotten through the Initial Consultation, Budget Questions answered, Styles fitting, Everyone is primed…

And then…radio silence…ummm…didn’t I just give you $$$$$$…..where is my STUFF??

A few answers:

Rome, and your home, will not be built in a day
Custom takes time
Paint has to dry on custom…which takes time
Orders are processed by Businesses which typically operate on a Monday – Friday 9 – 5 Work Week
Example…we agree on Item A. You pay in full for Item A. Our Accounting & Purchasing Departments then get involved. Receipt to you. Purchase Order executed. Custom Vendor receives PO, and often payment in full BEFORE any work of ANY kind gets started.
3-5 weeks later, sometimes 6-8 weeks later your Item A is in the cue
Fabrication can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months depending on Item A
Enter Shipping & Receiving…Item A will now transfer between a minimum of 3, often 4 or more Delivery Businesses or Trucking Services BEFORE it lands in our warehouse
Manufacturer to Loading Dock truck 1. Loading Dock to XCountry Truck 2. XCountry Truck to Transport Co Truck 3. Off loaded to smaller truck 4. Smaller truck to our warehouse 5. Even smaller truck to our office truck 6...to your home on install day trucks 7 & 8. Agghhhh...WHY we like to pay our Admin Assistants who actually KEEP TRACK!
When it lands in our warehouse, it is inventoried, inspected and added to all the other Items you have ordered
We install at ONE time everything

Now, I have friends who work with – lets just call them – tv shows….they do things quickly (sort of)

They also kick the homeowner out at some point 😉

We do this BECAUSE we like you! We are paid to "deal with the mess of install"...you can go have coffee & a massage & come home to a clean beautiful home.

The truth is…quality takes time. When we custom make a crewel, it takes about 5 months to make 100 yards. Everything is done by hand. The vegetable dyes, everything.

I do believe the SCHEDULING component is something we can tell a client over and over…but ultimately it boils down to trust. I actually had a client sit in with us for a day and watch how many phone calls and how many employees it took to oversee just her small (and it was small) job. She never complained again.

In fact, she became one of our most grateful relationships. THAT was about teaching. Teaching people how long it really takes for paint to dry when it’s raining outside. HINT: It NEVER dries when it’s raining…you’ll just have to wait till the sun comes out. Oh, and if it’s too hot…it dries too fast!