How to Convey Visual Information to Clients When Working Remotely
Photos, 3D models, materials sent by mail and even drones can help bridge the gap when client meetings must be virtual
As a remodeling or landscape pro, you no doubt are skilled at visualizing what a project will look like when complete — it’s one of the things that makes you good at your job. You’ve probably also found that many of your clients don’t share this ability.
Communicating visual information is challenging enough when you can meet with clients face to face. But the remote client meetings that have become common during the pandemic bring additional obstacles. We recently spoke with remodeling, design and landscape pros to find out how they help clients visualize a project when meeting remotely. Read on for their tips, then please share your own in the Comments.
Communicating visual information is challenging enough when you can meet with clients face to face. But the remote client meetings that have become common during the pandemic bring additional obstacles. We recently spoke with remodeling, design and landscape pros to find out how they help clients visualize a project when meeting remotely. Read on for their tips, then please share your own in the Comments.
Capture the Power of Photos
Photos, too, can be helpful in guiding clients through design choices in a virtual conversation.
“I use a ton of photos,” says designer Carolyn Rebuffel Flannery of Workroom C in Emeryville, California. Throughout the pandemic, Flannery has been working on a project for a home in Bridgehampton, New York. Normally, she’d fly across the country multiple times to meet with the client and oversee the process, but given New York state’s COVID-19-related requirement that visitors from California quarantine for two weeks, a site visit just isn’t practical.
So recently, to help her client decide on the details of a bench seat for the home’s mudroom, Flannery searched for photos of modern mudrooms on Houzz and shared examples with the client during a videoconference call. Those photos helped her client “isolate all of the details in a way that she completely understood,” Flannery says. The designer was able to forward the selected details to the drafter to come up with the bench design.
Photos are helpful not only for communicating design ideas midproject, but also for demonstrating to a client that you understand their vision and aesthetic and will be able to create a project they’ll love. “Using photos is always huge for us,” Flannery says. “This is often the way I will close on a project.”
Photos, too, can be helpful in guiding clients through design choices in a virtual conversation.
“I use a ton of photos,” says designer Carolyn Rebuffel Flannery of Workroom C in Emeryville, California. Throughout the pandemic, Flannery has been working on a project for a home in Bridgehampton, New York. Normally, she’d fly across the country multiple times to meet with the client and oversee the process, but given New York state’s COVID-19-related requirement that visitors from California quarantine for two weeks, a site visit just isn’t practical.
So recently, to help her client decide on the details of a bench seat for the home’s mudroom, Flannery searched for photos of modern mudrooms on Houzz and shared examples with the client during a videoconference call. Those photos helped her client “isolate all of the details in a way that she completely understood,” Flannery says. The designer was able to forward the selected details to the drafter to come up with the bench design.
Photos are helpful not only for communicating design ideas midproject, but also for demonstrating to a client that you understand their vision and aesthetic and will be able to create a project they’ll love. “Using photos is always huge for us,” Flannery says. “This is often the way I will close on a project.”
Use Visual Tools To Share Design Concepts
Landscape designer Anna Brooks of Arcadia Gardens in Stevensville, Michigan, helps clients visualize their projects by creating plant palettes and compiling concept boards that show the direction of the project. She also provides clients with plan view drawings that show the design from above so homeowners can see how the layout will look relative to the overall property. All of these can be shared in a video meeting, including ones you can schedule through Houzz Pro.
Introducing Video Meetings for Builders on Houzz Pro
Leverage the Possibilities of 3D
When it’s helpful, Brooks also uses 3D tools to help her clients visualize a project. “We do use a landscape design software program that simultaneously creates a 3D model as we create the 2D drawings, so in some instances can easily generate a model of what their project will look like if it’s more complicated or changes the exterior appearance of the existing buildings significantly,” she says. Examples of when 3D would be helpful in her practice include when the design involves adding a trellis, an arbor or a screened porch to an existing residence, or changing siding and veneer colors, Brooks says.
Tiara Holloway of Vivacious Interior by Tiara in Richmond, Virginia, has used the 3D tools within Houzz Pro during the pandemic to help her clients understand how to lay out furniture when she can’t be there to oversee installation. One such client was a hair salon for which Holloway created an e-design. “A week later, furniture started coming in and she was lost on how to set up,” Holloway says. So Holloway quickly built out a 3D floor plan using Houzz Pro and shared that with the client to guide her in laying out the furnishings. “She was actually able to set up it up,” Holloway says. “It worked out perfect.”
Architect Jimmy Crisp of Crisp Architects in Millbrook, New York, goes a step beyond digital 3D plans for some clients and makes physical models. “We build them simply and quickly,” he says. “We have a lot of printers and we print out the elevations of the buildings and apply them to foam core with little stick pins. I would say for most clients that is the most effective way — they love it.” Typically, Crisp delivers his 3D models to the clients in person, but he’s also mailed them across the country.
Another tool Crisp likes to use to help clients visualize is drones. “I have a couple of drones I use almost every week, where I either am taking site photos of construction and sending it to our clients, or if I’m meeting a new client I can pick a drone up and show them exactly what the view will be from their second-story bedroom window.” Crisp also shares these drone images with clients via email or an online file-sharing program.
See more resources for pros in Houzz Pro Learn
Landscape designer Anna Brooks of Arcadia Gardens in Stevensville, Michigan, helps clients visualize their projects by creating plant palettes and compiling concept boards that show the direction of the project. She also provides clients with plan view drawings that show the design from above so homeowners can see how the layout will look relative to the overall property. All of these can be shared in a video meeting, including ones you can schedule through Houzz Pro.
Introducing Video Meetings for Builders on Houzz Pro
Leverage the Possibilities of 3D
When it’s helpful, Brooks also uses 3D tools to help her clients visualize a project. “We do use a landscape design software program that simultaneously creates a 3D model as we create the 2D drawings, so in some instances can easily generate a model of what their project will look like if it’s more complicated or changes the exterior appearance of the existing buildings significantly,” she says. Examples of when 3D would be helpful in her practice include when the design involves adding a trellis, an arbor or a screened porch to an existing residence, or changing siding and veneer colors, Brooks says.
Tiara Holloway of Vivacious Interior by Tiara in Richmond, Virginia, has used the 3D tools within Houzz Pro during the pandemic to help her clients understand how to lay out furniture when she can’t be there to oversee installation. One such client was a hair salon for which Holloway created an e-design. “A week later, furniture started coming in and she was lost on how to set up,” Holloway says. So Holloway quickly built out a 3D floor plan using Houzz Pro and shared that with the client to guide her in laying out the furnishings. “She was actually able to set up it up,” Holloway says. “It worked out perfect.”
Architect Jimmy Crisp of Crisp Architects in Millbrook, New York, goes a step beyond digital 3D plans for some clients and makes physical models. “We build them simply and quickly,” he says. “We have a lot of printers and we print out the elevations of the buildings and apply them to foam core with little stick pins. I would say for most clients that is the most effective way — they love it.” Typically, Crisp delivers his 3D models to the clients in person, but he’s also mailed them across the country.
Another tool Crisp likes to use to help clients visualize is drones. “I have a couple of drones I use almost every week, where I either am taking site photos of construction and sending it to our clients, or if I’m meeting a new client I can pick a drone up and show them exactly what the view will be from their second-story bedroom window.” Crisp also shares these drone images with clients via email or an online file-sharing program.
See more resources for pros in Houzz Pro Learn
Send Samples and Lean on Showroom Visits
As much as technology has advanced to allow for sharing visual information with clients, some parts of the decision-making process just aren’t ideal to do remotely. “I have a client who is trying to select paint colors right now. That’s almost impossible to do remotely,” says Flannery, the Emeryville designer. “I’ve been sending him colors off the paint deck and telling him to get the little pots” of paint and try them out on the walls. But without Flannery seeing the light in the room in person, the decision-making process becomes more challenging for the client. So she’ll need to visit the site to help him make a final selection.
Similarly, for the Bridgehampton project mentioned earlier, Flannery will eventually need to travel across the country “to ensure correct furniture placement, add accessories, select and place art and generally finesse the end result and bring it all together,” she says.
If your remodeling or landscape firm helps clients with their decisions on items such as fabrics and finishes, you’re probably aware that many clients find it hard to make a decision without seeing materials in person. “If you can, send a sample box,” Danielle Perkins of Danielle Interior Design & Decor in San Diego says. “Physical touch and really getting that emotional connection to the pieces” can help, she says. For big decisions, like a statement countertop material, a showroom appointment — with COVID-19 safety precautions in place — might be best to help a client make a choice.
Machmeier, the Wisconsin builder, says remote meetings don’t work very well for design tasks such as picking out a unique slab of granite for a countertop — clients often need to see the pieces in person. She also likes for clients to see materials and finishes in the space where they’ll be used, which, if the clients aren’t living in the home, requires an on-site visit.
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As much as technology has advanced to allow for sharing visual information with clients, some parts of the decision-making process just aren’t ideal to do remotely. “I have a client who is trying to select paint colors right now. That’s almost impossible to do remotely,” says Flannery, the Emeryville designer. “I’ve been sending him colors off the paint deck and telling him to get the little pots” of paint and try them out on the walls. But without Flannery seeing the light in the room in person, the decision-making process becomes more challenging for the client. So she’ll need to visit the site to help him make a final selection.
Similarly, for the Bridgehampton project mentioned earlier, Flannery will eventually need to travel across the country “to ensure correct furniture placement, add accessories, select and place art and generally finesse the end result and bring it all together,” she says.
If your remodeling or landscape firm helps clients with their decisions on items such as fabrics and finishes, you’re probably aware that many clients find it hard to make a decision without seeing materials in person. “If you can, send a sample box,” Danielle Perkins of Danielle Interior Design & Decor in San Diego says. “Physical touch and really getting that emotional connection to the pieces” can help, she says. For big decisions, like a statement countertop material, a showroom appointment — with COVID-19 safety precautions in place — might be best to help a client make a choice.
Machmeier, the Wisconsin builder, says remote meetings don’t work very well for design tasks such as picking out a unique slab of granite for a countertop — clients often need to see the pieces in person. She also likes for clients to see materials and finishes in the space where they’ll be used, which, if the clients aren’t living in the home, requires an on-site visit.
More for Pros on Houzz
Read more stories for pros
Learn about Houzz Pro software
Talk with your peers in the Pro-to-Pro discussions
Join the Houzz Trade Program
The good news is that many of the tools that help communicate visual information when you meet clients in person are still helpful when the meetings are remote. Custom builder Linda Machmeier of Signature Homes of the Chippewa Valley in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has found that video meetings can be surprisingly effective for sharing plans and helping clients quickly make decisions.
“I work with a drafting technician on some of my plans,” Machmeier says. During the pandemic, she’s held remote meetings with both the technician and the homeowner and shared her screen to go over plans. “I can say, ‘What if we moved that window here?’ and I can tell them why, and the drafting technician can show them that change. And in a really short span of time we can make that change. It works well.”
In fact, Machmeier says that working this way is more efficient than the old way: calling or emailing the homeowner, getting approval, redlining the plan and sending the change to the drafting technician. “It’s the telephone process of passing along this information, with too many touches,” Machmeier says.