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The thought of landing a commission, especially when you first start out, can be exciting, enthralling even.

So much so, that it’s easy to get caught up in the rapture and overlook some important points that mean the difference between a successful commission and a nightmare off an experience for both you and the client.

So what’s the secret to guarantee a successful commission process that leaves your client so satisfied, they’re already planning the next piece for you to build (and prevents you from being swallowed up in the process of landing it)?

Set parameters

Unless you want to be swamped with work you have no interest in doing, you need to set the boundaries for the type of work you want to be contracted for as well as who the ideal person to work with would be.

If you just hang your shingle out as “Joe Woodworker” who’s willing to take anything and everything that comes through the door, all the while secretly wishing you could design and build more challenging and self-expressive work, then you have no one to blame but yourself. You opened yourself up to that scenario by failing to set parameters.

It’s important even before taking your first commission to define what type of work you truly desire to take in. This is a matter of examining what you enjoy working on the most and also defining the way you work best. If your desire is to do work that involves a lot of handtools, then it doesn’t make any sense to allow yourself to accept a commission for 13 plywood topped cafe tables.

Also set the parameters for the lowest amount you would be commissioned for. In other words, define at what point a job becomes too small for you to do and end up being just a waste of your time and the client’s money.

Control the process

Conventional wisdom tries to tell you the customer is always right.

The reality is, that the customer is looking to you for guidance and control during the commission process. They’re looking to you as an expert in the craft to guide them through the areas they haven’t got a clue about.

It’s easy to believe you need to defer to the customer for every decision, and that this is in their best interest. But that actually ends up making their experience much more stressful than it should be.

The right customers are working with you because they trust you. They trust your judgement, your knowledge, and your experience.

It’s up to you to prove to them right in working with you for those reasons.

So, instead of letting the customer control a process they have no desire to, allow yourself to assume that role and guide the customer through these seemingly grey areas and prove your value in bigger and better ways.

Limit the choices

Imagine walking into a store and all they sold were Lie-Nielsen #4 smoothers. But, here’s the catch.

There were 25 varieties of this smoothing plane. They’re all #4′s but you have 13 different handle materials to choose from, different patinas on the bronze, engraving options, some with LED headlights, others with a built-in iPod…the list goes on.

As cool as it sounds to have this many choices, I’m willing to bet you’d be wandering around all day in that store completely unable to choose your favorite. You’d be suffering overwhelm due to choice overload!

Well, the same goes for your potential clients. When they’re coming to you for your work, it pays to make it easy for them to make a decision. Michael Fortune talked about this in our interview.

He suggests limiting the clients choices to just two variations. I can tell you from experience, this makes a huge difference in the decision making process. I found that just offering a third choice made it infinitely harder for a client to come to decision.

So, limit the clients choices and you actually allow for them to express greater freedom in the decision making process.

Get half up front

This is a big one. A lot of woodworkers starting out, don’t think to do this.

Let the client know from early on, that you won’t begin work until half of the agreed upon price is paid. Even then, it would be in your best interest to not sound over eager to begin.

It will get you in a bind later (More on that next). This is the money you need to order supplies, and to cover the time you spent and services you provided in communication with the client.

This weeds out the serious from the curious. People will indeed walk you through the whole design and estimate process just to get an idea of the piece and price, only to end up not working with you.

Being upfront about how much money needs to be invested for the project to happen will help encourage those who are serious to keep moving forward with you.

Bonus tip: Charge a design fee. Let it be known that you do not design a piece, even for consideration for free. You need to charge a fee for the design work and the client is responsible for paying it if they don’t go ahead with the commission.

Finish ahead of schedule

This one’s obvious. Exceed their expectations by finishing ahead of the agreed time.

This takes some preparation on your part before the commission is ever agreed upon. Before finalizing anything, calculate your approximate time for completing the piece…and then double it. Yes. Double it.

This may seem like a lot of time, but what happens if you have problems with materials and have to order more in the middle of the project (a far to real scenario on several of my past commissions)?

Also, what if you get sick or injured or burnt out and need a small break? It’s all things you need to account for. Doubling your time also means you get the chance to finish way ahead of schedule. That is a win for everyone.

Here’s another tip for you on time. Don’t set a deadline.

At least not with the client. If the subject of time comes up, one of the smartest moves you can make is to simply tell them you’ll let them know as soon as you can start, and when it’s almost finished.

Most people are very content with this answer. Especially if you’ve done your job in communicating that it’s an organic process and can take more or less time than expected.

This can really save a lot of pain in case something happens to severely delay the process and delivery of the piece.

If you’re the type that needs a deadline for accountability, then set one for yourself and seek to beat it by a few days to a week. That way you  over deliver on value and prove to yourself that you can indeed meet these self imposed deadlines.

To sum it up, if you want to be successful with every commission you take on, and avoid getting swallowed up by the process, simply remember that the foundation for excellence is over deliver on value, prove you worth by demonstrating your expertise, and make the customer feel like they’re part of something very special and elite.

Because they are. They’re coming to you for your designs, your style, your voice. That puts them in a league all their own.

Be successful with one, and you will be successful with the many others that your first one sends your way.

If you’re ready to make every commission wildly successful for you and your client, grab your copy of the Woodworking CAN Pay Your Bills E-Course today!

So what does it take to have successful commissions? What’s included in your process?