Today with Jenny Madden Welcome to A Well-Designed Business. April Jensen of St. Louis-based ADJ Interiors was in business for 25 years before she created an onboarding doc for her high-end interior design business. April and LuAnn walk step-by-step through her onboarding doc as April lets us in on how it has helped her handle client expectations and sticky situations. Pick it apart: [16:13] April shares her response to a client who is unsure of their budget   [22:44] Why mutual respect with clients is necessary for a successful project    [27:40] April advises how to respond to a client who is worried about a single product   [36:33] April and LuAnn share their mutual frustration with clients who text   [42:55] LuAnn and April chat about how to handle clients who don’t pay LuAnn and April Jensen’s Ah-Ha moments: “I’m a designer, and it’s okay to be a business person too.” - April Jensen   “You asked for a burger and a coke. If you want fries, it’s more money.” - LuAnn Nigara   “You have to put the whole picture together before you judge.” - April Jensen   More About April Jensen: Prior to founding ADJ Interiors in 1994, April Jensen worked for interior design firms in Chicago and St. Louis. She works equally as hard to create seamless and enjoyable design experiences for her clients as she does to foster a fun, collaborative, and creative work culture. April received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interior Design and a certificate of Art History from Michigan State University. She is a Professional Member of ASID and is NCIDQ Certified, having completed specialized courses, necessary experience, and a rigorous examination. Under April’s leadership, ADJ Interiors has been featured in several publications and has received a plethora of design awards. For more, please visit www.adjinteriors.com April Jensen of ADJ Interiors was originally scheduled for an interview on September 15th of last year but had to reschedule to the 24th of February due to Covid. I wanted to get approval for a topic idea before we sent back the guest prep questions. April would like to talk about ADJ’s new “Rules of Engagement.” They are proprietary to ADJ and they detail parameters to set with your client before engaging in a project in order to make sure it runs smoothly, efficiently, and effectively. The rules follow the basics like creating and sticking to a budget, and committing to the scope of work, but also some unique items that designers may not think to include at the outset of a project, or formalize with clients: deciding on details as a family at the beginning of the project; making confident choices; functioning as a team/avoiding going rogue mid-project. A Hallmark of ADJ is their professionalism and commitment to completing projects in an effective and creative manner. We think the formal nature that they approach client relationships is a best practice for designers in keeping clients happy and getting outstanding results, consistently on every project. Let me know if this sounds like a good topic or if you have another direction you would like to take the interview! Connect with April Jensen: Website Instagram Facebook What’s new with LuAnn Nigara: luannuniversity.com http://www.luannnigara.com/cob Get The Goodies! For checklists, resources, and extra goodies from A Well-Designed Business sign up for free here. To Get on LuAnn’s Email List, text the word designbiz to 444999! Purchase LuAnn’s Books Here: Book 1: The Making of A Well – Designed Business: Turn Inspiration into Action Book 2: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Pre-Order Book 3: A Well-Designed Business – The Power Talk Friday Experts Volume 2 Connect with LuAnn Nigara LuAnn’s Website LuAnn’s Blog Power Talk Friday Like Us: Facebook | Tweet Us: Twitter | Follow Us: Instagram | Listen Here: Podcast A Big THANK YOU to Today’s Podcast Sponsors: Mydoma’s 2nd annual 19 Hours Interior Design Conference is almost here! Join us for 2 days, with 10 prese