How to leverage your language during consultation.

Let’s be honest per usual. Most closet consultations don’t fail because of bad design. They fail because of boring conversations.

Yep, I said it.

Your CAD can be flawless. Your measurements pristine. Your features endless, but if your language doesn’t land? If the conversation doesn’t connect? You’re leaving money (and momentum) in the closet.

So let’s talk about how to leverage your language during consultation, and why the words you choose before you walk through the door matter more than the ones you improvise on-site.

The Question That Changes Everything

Here’s a deceptively simple question I want you to sit with:

What is your favorite topic that comes up during a consultation?

Sounds fluffy. It’s not. The topics you naturally lean into, the ones you light up talking about are where connection happens fastest and connection is the shortcut to trust.

When you intentionally lean into what gives your clients the most value and feels natural to you, your language becomes confident, conversational, and wildly effective.

I'm not suggesting scripting, I am suggesting strategy.

Mind-Blowing (But True): Planning What You’ll Say Makes You a Better Listener

Here’s the part most designers get backwards.

They think:

“If I plan what I’m going to say, I won’t listen.”

In reality?

Considering your language before the consultation increases your ability to actively listen.

Why?

Because when your brain isn’t scrambling for what to ask next, it can fully focus on what the client is actually telling you.

And the better listener you become, the better questions you ask.

It’s really that simple.

My Personal Obsession: Habits (You’ve Been Warned)

I’ll go first. I am deeply, unapologetically interested in people’s habits. Fair warning, questions about habits can become… habitual. (Don’t overthink it. I already have.)

Asking clients about their day-to-day routines allows you, as the designer, to mentally move into their life.

A Little Mind Candy for Your Next In-Home Consultation

If you’re wondering where to focus your language, here are powerful topic buckets you can pull from: naturally, conversationally, and without interrogation vibes.

Daily Life & Friction (What’s Not Working)

Where do mornings break down? What’s the most annoying part of this space?

How the Space Is Actually Used (Not Just What’s Stored)

What lands here when you walk in the door? What never makes it back to its “home”?

Clothing, Items & Lifestyle Details

Workwear vs. weekend? Shoes you love vs. shoes you need to cull...

Growth, Change & the Future

What’s changing in the next 3–5 years?

Aesthetics, Feel & Emotional Outcome

How do you want this space to feel at 6:30 a.m.? Calm? Energizing? Effortless?

Decision Style & Buying Concerns (Often Unspoken)

How do you usually make decisions? What makes something feel “worth it” to you?

Success Criteria (What “Worth It” Looks Like)

When this is done, what tells you we nailed it? What does success look like in your words?

Here’s the Real Magic

When you lean into your favorite topics and align them with what matters most to the client your language becomes:

• More confident

• More fluid

• More human

You stop selling. You start guiding and that’s where predictable, repeatable sales live.

I'm Heather Fedewa from The Business of Closets and I teach sales to custom closet companies!