Staying safe when visiting new interior design clients in their home
Let’s talk about personal safety when we meet new clients in their homes.
I don’t think enough designers think about the fact that we are quite vulnerable when we go and meet new clients.
When we knock on the door and enter someone’s home we have absolutely no idea what we are stepping into.
I’m not saying this to scare you or make you feel worried.
But I do want you to take your personal safety seriously and at least make sure you have thought about this and have a few ideas in your head for what you would do if you ever found yourself in a dangerous situation.
Here’s a few things I used to do to make myself feel more safe going into people’s homes by myself.
Pre-payment
✅ I always took pre-payment for initial design consultations.
I felt like there was a lower chance that serial killers would pay to murder me 😳🤣
This was the main way that I felt safer going to visit people. My payments are all taken online and require credit card, contact and address details to all be stored. Of course people could get around all of this if they wanted to - but it makes it much less likely.
If you’re doing free initial consultations with clients I would stop that immediately.
Apart from anything they are also just a complete waste of your time and any client who isn’t willing to pay for your time, even for an initial meeting, is not likely to be a great long term client anyway.
Plan in advance
✅ I would research as much information as possible about the client and their home before I visited.
I looked up floor plans, found out the exact location and what was around the neighbourhood plus I would also search the clients on LInkedIn or Google to find out what they did for a living or anything else about them.
This helped me prepare for the meeting itself but it also gave me a better sense of who I was meeting and what to expect.
Make sure to also read this blog post next - it’s got even more tips about how I prepare for an initial design consultation with new clients (and what I take with me). Read it here >>>
Park as close as possible
✅ I would park as close to the home I was visiting as I could, so I could leave quickly if needed.
Many years ago I did some research about personal safety when visiting new clients and an article I read advised to be cautious to not park in any location where you could easily be blocked in by another vehicle (e.g. in a driveway) and to also park in such a way that you can easily drive out forwards if you need to.
This seems overly cautious and ridiculous to write out like this - but remember if you ever need this advice you’ll likely be very glad you have taken it and can get out of there as fast as possible.
Hold your phone as you arrive
✅ I always held my phone as I arrived - if anything at all felt off then I could pretend to take a call and leave straight away.
I had planned with myself that I would never, ever go inside if I felt uncertain in any way. I had to make that pre-plan with myself because I’m a people pleaser and needed to remind myself not to go in just to avoid an uncomfortable confrontation.
Listen out as you arrive on the doorstep - is there any arguing or anything off about what you hear going on inside?
Also - if anything at all seems strange as the client opens the door, do not go in. I don’t know what that might be - but trust your instinct.
I have never had to do this - just to be clear - but I always had it up my sleeve if I ever needed it.
Look around the house as you arrive
✅ As I would step inside a house I would do a quick assessment of the surroundings.
I would take note of who appeared to be home, how I could get out again easily if I needed to and whether there was anything else that was a potential danger (e.g. large or angry looking dogs).
I personally am a little afraid of dogs so I used to ask clients if their dog could be kept outside during the consultation (especially if they were large).
Keep your phone with you throughout the entire consultation
✅ I also kept my phone with me throughout the rest of the consult as well - just in case I needed it for whatever reason.
This did sometimes look weird (to drop my bag but keep my phone) - so I would just tell the client I was going to keep my phone with me to take notes and any photos I might need as we walked through their home.
Seems like an obvious additional tip - but make sure your phone is fully charged before every new consultation!
Tell someone where you’re going
✅ I always made sure someone knew where I was going and when I would be finished.
My husband has tracking on my phone for this purpose plus we had the address of all consults in a shared Google calendar.
You could do the same with team members if you have them.
There are also quite a few personal safety apps that you can get for your phone that allow you to alert and get help in a subtle way. If you’re particularly worried about your safety you may like to install something like that on your phone.
Trust your instincts
✅ Finally, I had a deal with myself that if I felt uncomfortable or unsafe at any point during the consultation then I would trust my instincts and make an excuse to get out of there.
Again, the people pleaser in me would find this difficult, so that’s why I had the discussion with myself in advance to make sure I really was prepared to do that.
The most important thing is to trust your intuition and never put yourself in a situation where you feel uncomfortable.
Although it's extremely unlikely you will be in any danger, make sure you take some precautions to ensure you stay safe.
Thanks for reading and catch you in my next post :)
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy
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