Dear Sean,

As we move into 2026, amid continued economic uncertainty, I’m seeing a shift in buyer behavior that’s squeezing client acquisition and elongating decision cycles across the board. Prospective clients are more cautious, the pitch-to-close timeline has stretched into what feels like slow-mo, and the old playbook for growth isn’t producing the same results. I need practical, forward-thinking guidance on how to adapt our acquisition strategy without sacrificing growth, profitability, or the long-term strength of our brand positioning.
What would you suggest?

Sincerely,
Looking Ahead

Looking Ahead,

Let’s start here: Practical and forward-thinking is an oxymoron. Change requires that you be impractical, until it doesn’t. But first you have to ask yourself if the current environment is a harbinger of a paradigm shift or just a momentary blip. If it is a blip, then the advice is to stay the course and believe in what you have built.

For instance, I had the firm belief that the shock of 2008 and its effect was not a paradigm shift, especially at the luxury level. History has borne this out. For the five-year period between 2009 and 2014, the growth of ultraluxury brands such as LVMH, Baccarat and Bentley was among the strongest of these companies’ storied histories. The wealth creation for the top 10 percent leading up to 2008 overwhelmed the effects of the crisis.

The devastation the Great Recession brought to the bottom 90 percent, and just how brutal it was for so many, is not lost on me for a second. All I am saying is that the market for luxury design did not disappear because of 2008.

Fast-forward to Covid. No doubt, the pandemic was a paradigm shift. First, it was horrific for everyone; then, people realized how important home is and was. Designers reaped the rewards of this shift and enjoyed the realization that design is a profession as important as any other. Hello, The Expert, where top designers are paid more than $1,000 for an hour of their time.

Wait. Inflation in 2022, the ongoing tariff chaos, and new worries of recession. And do not forget about the rise of AI that now does so many things designers get paid to do. Is this another shift?

My answer to that is, it depends on the industry and how we respond. Why are senior partners at corporate law firms worth up to $3,000 per hour? Because they went to law school for three years and passed the bar? No. It is because they have the ability to see and solve problems that their clients need solved for them at the highest level. Their professionalism is assumed because that is how we think about lawyers, doctors, accountants and architects. Their value is what they say it is. And designers today are different how?

If you make your value all about the effort and spend, or being just above retail, or the ability to handle the logistics of it all, you are making the decision to run away from the power and professionalism of design. You are deciding that the old way is the way, and that the aftershocks of Covid and the current economic environment show us that there really was not a shift.

If, instead, you recognize that the spend will be what it is, and you focus on the power of home, which Covid gave you, you will be able to overcome the pain of inflation, tariffs and the threat of recession. A client’s choice to invest in a designer is a choice to invest in themselves, with the faith that their lives will be dramatically improved.

Change your mindset from being the means to the end to being both. Be wholly agnostic to price and make the promise that you will spend your clients’ money well—with integrity, purpose, and the knowledge of the life to be lived once you are done.

Fear is a merciless tyrant. The way through is not into the fear with your clients; it is embracing the value of creation and the power of home. Get paid what you need—no more, no less. Or keep fighting for those hours and commissions. The choice is yours.

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Sean Low is the go-to business coach for interior designers. His clients have included Nate Berkus, Sawyer Berson, Vicente Wolf, Barry Dixon, Kevin Isbell and McGrath II. Low earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and as founder-president of The Business of Being Creative, he has long consulted for design businesses. In his Business Advice column for BOH, he answers designers’ most pressing questions. Have a dilemma? Send us an email—and don’t worry, we can keep your details anonymous.