Working with your interior design clients requires asking a lot of questions, but also the right ones at the right time. Having a detailed interior design questionnaire ready to use when you meet with a client will help ensure that you’ve gathered all the necessary information to understand your client’s needs, and if they’ll be a good fit for you and your business.
In this Houzz Pro Learn guide, you’ll get a thorough understanding of what an interior design client questionnaire is all about and how they fit into your consultation process. You’ll also learn the right questions to ask at each stage, how to make your questionnaire, tips for getting your clients to respond and more.
Click a link below to jump to the section you're most interested in:
- What is a client questionnaire and why are they important
- Questions to ask during the discovery call
- Questions to ask pre-consultation
- Questions to ask during the initial consultation
- How to make a client questionnaire with tips and tools
- Additional FAQs about client questionnaires
We've even provided you with a free interior design questionnaire template you can use to help prepare for your next interior design new client meeting.
Download our Free Interior Design Questionnaire Sample
What is an interior design client questionnaire & how does it fit into the interior design consultation process?
An interior design questionnaire for clients consists of a set of questions to help you understand who your client is, what they need, if they’re a good fit for what you offer, and key information you need to know to help bring their vision to life. Not all questions will be asked upfront in your initial call, which would be overwhelming for both you and your client. Instead, a great interior design client questionnaire fits into the pre-consultation and/or actual consultation stage of the process where you’ll be able to ask more in-depth questions of your client.
Why are interior design questionnaires for clients important?
Your interior design client questionnaire is an essential tool in your business. It’s a detailed, comprehensive and thorough way for you to not only get on the same page as your client, but it can also help you save time and increase your bottom line. When you have as much information as possible about your client and their needs up front, you’re better able to determine if they’re the right fit for what you can offer. Your interior design questionnaire will help you to better hone your design so you can achieve your client’s vision without endless change orders and revisions if and when you decide to work together.
What questions should an interior designer ask a client?
The goal of asking questions before you start working with your interior design clients is to help clarify what you need to know about a project and clear up any doubts you might have about working with a particular client. This will save you time and money in your business in the long run. The questions below form a great interior design client questionnaire example you can start to use in your business.
Interior design discovery call questions
During the discovery or intro call, you’ll want to learn the overall needs of your client’s project. After understanding what your client is generally looking for, you can share some of your strengths that speak to their vision. You’ll also want to know if they’ve worked with a designer before and how involved they want to be in the project. From the sales side, you should also ask how they heard of you and what caught their eye about your design work.
1. What are your overall needs and vision for the project?
2. Have you worked with an interior designer in the past? If yes, how was the experience? If it wasn’t positive, what would you like to have seen done better?
3. How involved would you like to be with the process?
4. How did you hear of my business and what drew you to my work?
Questions to ask in your pre-consultation client questionnaire
The pre-consultation stage is where you’ll delve more into whether or not the client is the right fit for you and your offerings, what their budget and timeline are, as well as learning more about the space, its use, and their design likes and dislikes.
5. What do you love about the current design/space?
6. What do you dislike about the current design?
7. What is your ideal budget and timeline/deadline?
8. Do you want your design done in phases or all at once?
9. What will be the primary function of the space and who will be using it?
10. Do you have any images of your vision to share?
Here are some of the key sections to include within your pre-consultation client questionnaire:
- Contact information
Name
Address
Email
Phone number
Social media profiles (if relevant)
Preferred method of contact - Assess the current situation
What are the current issues with the space?
What needs to be changed/altered?
What can be kept the same? - Determine the intended use of space
Who will be using the space?
What is the primary use of the space? What are your goals for the space?
Are there any technical or accessibility needs? - Assess design style
What design styles do you like?
What design styles do you dislike?
Can you share some visual examples of what you envision for your space? - Determine client fit
What did you like about my work and how did you see that incorporated into your space?
How would you prefer to work together? (Very involved, more hands-off, etc.) - Determine budget
What is your maximum budget for this project?
Are you open to cutting down on your ideal vision to achieve your budget? - Open note section
Any other questions or details to note that may come up during your pre-consultation
Questions to ask in your first interior design client meeting
The actual consultation is when you’ll get all the information you need to submit your proposal. You’ll also want to understand all the finer details of what your client envisions with their space by asking many more thorough questions to assess their design style, what they may want to keep in the space and what can be eliminated or altered.
11. What colours would you like to see in the space?
12. What colours do you dislike and would like to avoid?
13. What design styles do you envision for the space?
14. What design styles would you not like to have?
15. How do you feel about patterns?
16. Can you describe your overall vision in just a few words or adjectives?
17. Do you have any preferences for the following?
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18. Are there any product brands you prefer or particular pieces (furniture, hardware, lighting, or other) you’d like to include in your space?
19. Are there any current furniture, decor, art pieces or other items you’d like to keep? What is non-negotiable and what can be removed or altered?
How to make an interior design client questionnaire
If you don’t want to use a pre-made interior design client questionnaire template like the one we offer, you can create your own for your business. This section will share a few tools for making an interior design questionnaire, as well as tips for getting responses from potential clients.
Tools for making an interior design questionnaire for clients
- For creating the form: Microsoft Word, Google Forms, Adobe Acrobat, Typeform
- For sending the form: email, mobile text, WhatsApp, or social media (Note: it’s best to confirm your potential client’s preferred way of contact)
- Paid tools like Houzz Pro allow you to send the form and keep it organised via the cloud with all of your other project communication
Tips for encouraging clients to respond to your questionnaire
In order to get your client to respond to your questionnaire, you’ll want to strike the right balance between asking enough questions to get the information you need without asking too much that could overwhelm your potential client. Make sure to ask only what you need — nothing more, nothing less — and be mindful of your client’s time. Your service is to make things easier for your client overall, and that includes the interior design questionnaire.
You’ll also want to send a polite, yet timely reminder to your client, if needed, via their communication channel of choice (email, text, phone, etc.). It’s best to wait one week after sending the questionnaire before sending a reminder. When sending the reminder, ask your potential client if they have any questions about filling out the questionnaire, or if you can be of any help.
It’s also useful to set verbal expectations about returning the questionnaire when you send it to your client. This can be done in combination with sending your questionnaire digitally and then calling your client to let them know it's been sent. You can then share that potential clients typically return their questionnaires within a week and that they can reach out to you for assistance if needed. This will help set good expectations from the start and help keep the process moving forward.
Interior Design Client Questionnaire FAQs
Q: How does the client questionnaire work when you are charging for an initial interior design consultation?
A: When you’re charging for an initial interior design consultation, you’ll want to make sure that you have enough questions answered to create some deliverables or initial concepts for your client, so your client questionnaire may be lengthier in this case. The deliverables may include sketches or digital mock-ups so that your client feels they can take something away from the paid consultation, instead of it feeling just like another meeting. If you’re torn between charging or not for consultations, read this article to help you decide.
Q: How do you do an interior design consultation?
A: Interior design consultations can be done in a variety of ways, but they should always work best for you and your business. The length of time, virtual or on-site all depends on what you’d like to offer your clients. During your consultation is when you’ll want to get the full picture of what your client is needing, as well as getting a view of the space (either virtually or in person). So be prepared with your interior design questionnaire to get all your remaining questions answered. The goal of the consultation is to be able to create a detailed proposal and initial design plans or sketches to win your client over and seal the deal.
Q: What questions are asked in an interior design consultation?
A: While you’ll be asking your own questions during the interior design consultation, your potential client will also have questions they’d like answered. These questions may include:
- Details about your work with past clients in a similar regard to their design project
- How you’ll keep them updated on progress and how client communication is handled
- What your rates are and what your invoicing process entails
- How they’re best able to collaborate with you throughout the process
Now you’re ready to ask the right questions at the right time with your prospective interior design clients to help create more success in your business. If you’d like to keep reading, check out How to Build an Interior Design Proposal + Template.
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