A quote goes out in March. The client likes it, wants to proceed, and needs to settle on a colour first. In June she has eleven sample patches on the hallway wall and the job has not started.
The decorator has done everything right and is still waiting.
What clients ask
They usually ask whether you help choose colours, whether that costs anything, how many samples to try, where to paint them, whether a colour will look different in their room, what finish to use, whether ceilings should be white, what works with their flooring and whether you can match an existing colour.
Example conversations
These scripts use information a decorator might publish. Your answers should come from your own pages.
Client: I cannot decide on a colour. Can you help? Assistant: The colour consultation page explains what a session covers, including lighting, how colours behave in that room and how the scheme works together, along with the fee and that it is credited against the work. Could you tell me which rooms and roughly when you were hoping to start?
Client: Why does the sample look completely different on my wall? Assistant: The page explains why, including how light changes through the day, how the existing colour underneath affects it and why samples should be painted on a board rather than straight onto the wall. It also explains how many coats a sample needs to read accurately.
Client: Can you match a colour we already have? Assistant: The page explains how matching works, what is needed, how accurate it usually is and the limits where an exact match is not achievable. Could you tell me what the existing paint is and whether you have any left?
Explain why samples mislead
Painted straight onto a coloured wall, in one thin coat, in the wrong part of the room. Publishing how to test properly, on a board, moved around the room, saves weeks.
Offer a paid consultation
An hour, on site, looking at light, existing finishes and the whole scheme, with a written summary. Charge for it and credit it against the work. Clients who pay decide, and clients who do not deliberate.
Explain finishes plainly
What each finish suits, how it wears, which are wipeable and what works in a bathroom or a hallway with children. Clients choose colour and forget finish entirely.
Publish how many coats and what that means
Colour changes, dark over light, and what that does to the time and the price. This is where quotes get disputed.
Say what you will not do
Some decorators do not give colour advice at all, and saying so plainly is better than an awkward conversation on the first morning.
Ask about everything else in the room
Flooring, furniture, kitchen units and curtains. Colour decisions made against a photograph of a wall are the ones regretted.
Encourage the decision before the start date
A colour changed on day two costs materials and time. Publishing a cut-off for final colour choices protects the schedule.
Exterior work has its own constraints
It is covered in exterior painting enquiries and the weather question.
Contract work behaves differently
It is covered in trade and contract decorating for letting agents, single-room enquiries follow colour consultation and single room enquiries, and knowing where advice stops is covered in how financial advisors use chatbots to answer client questions.
Getting started
Publish your consultation fee, how to test samples properly and your finishes guidance, then capture enquiries at any hour. SpideyChat for builders and contractors answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about answers on the features page.