A client sees a sofa on a designer's scheme, finds it online for less and asks why they should order through the studio. Another client waits fourteen weeks for a bed and rings weekly. A third refuses to pay a deposit for goods they have not seen.
All three are procurement conversations, and all three were avoidable with one clearly written page.
What clients ask
They usually ask whether the designer buys the items, whether they get trade prices, how the designer is paid on purchases, what the lead times are, when deposits are due, who deals with a damaged delivery, whether they can source items themselves, what happens if something is discontinued and who accepts the delivery.
Explain your model plainly
Whether you purchase on the client's behalf and invoice, whether you specify and the client orders, or whether you do both depending on the item. Each has different implications for price, responsibility and your fee, and clients cannot guess which you use.
Example conversations
These scripts use information a studio might publish. Your answers should come from your own pages.
Client: Can I just buy the pieces myself? Assistant: The procurement page explains both routes the studio offers, what each means for pricing and lead times, and who handles a problem with an order. It also explains how the fee works in each case. Would you like the designer to talk it through on a call?
Client: Why is there a deposit before anything arrives? Assistant: The page explains that suppliers require payment before made-to-order items go into production, what percentage is due and at what point, along with how the balance is handled before delivery.
Client: What happens if it turns up damaged? Assistant: The page explains how deliveries are checked, what to do if something arrives damaged and how claims are handled with the supplier, including the timescales involved.
Lead times cause more complaints than price
Made-to-order upholstery, imported pieces and bespoke joinery run to months. Publishing realistic ranges, and explaining that a scheme is sequenced around the longest lead item, sets expectations that survive a delay.
Be transparent about margin
Clients increasingly know that trade discounts exist. A studio that explains its model openly, whatever it is, looks professional. One that appears to be hiding a markup loses trust permanently, even when the arrangement was reasonable.
Deliveries need a plan
Access, stairs, parking restrictions, who signs and where items are stored if the property is not ready. These practical details cause most project-day failures.
Discontinuation is inevitable on long projects
Items go out of stock between specification and order. Explaining that substitutions may be needed, and how they are approved, prevents a client feeling their scheme has been changed without consent.
The enquiries before all this
Budget and brief come first, as covered in interior design enquiries without a budget or brief and fee structures interior designers should explain.
Retail sets the expectation
Clients compare against shop delivery promises, which is the pattern in delivery time and stock questions furniture shoppers ask.
Writing the answers once
Drafting the procurement questions and answers is quick with the AI FAQ generator, and enquiry handling is covered in an AI receptionist for interior designers.
Getting started
Publish your procurement model, lead times, deposits and delivery process, then answer at any hour. SpideyChat for interior designers answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about answers on the features page.