The zone scoping sheet you fill in during the consult

Before you ring the doorbell

• Confirm who will be home and who signsA spouse who appears at hour two changes the scope and the price. Ask on the phone whether anyone else decides about the garage or the budget, and ask them to be there.
• Request one photo of every zone in advanceTwo minutes of looking at photos before you drive tells you whether this is a two hour consult or a ninety minute one. It also stops you arriving without a step stool for a nine foot pantry.
• Block ninety minutes and say the number out loudTell the client the consult runs about ninety minutes when you book it. Naming the length keeps the walkthrough from turning into a free sorting session in the first closet you open.
• Load the tape, the clipboard and one sample binA physical bin in your hand ends the abstract conversation about what a container is. Bring one shallow bin and one deep one so the client can see the depth difference in her own space.
• Check the first two install dates you could honestly offerLook at your calendar before you go, including product lead times. A date you name in the room and then retract in an email costs you more trust than a later date said confidently.

In each zone: measure and count

• Write the linear feet of shelf, rod and floorMeasure each run separately rather than estimating the room. Linear feet is the number that converts into bin counts and into your hour estimate, so it is the one field that cannot be left blank.
• Record depth and the clear height between shelvesDepth decides which bins fit and height decides whether they stack. A pantry with sixteen inch depth and eleven inch shelf gaps is a different product list from one with twelve and fourteen.
• Count categories, not itemsAsk what lives here and write the groupings: baking, canned goods, snacks, appliances, overflow paper goods. Category count predicts sorting time far better than a guess at how full the room looks.
• Photograph every wall from the doorwayStand in the doorway and take one photo per wall plus one of the ceiling storage. These are your before captures and your reference when you are building the product list that evening.
• Name the three things that must stay in this roomWrite them in the client's own words. The bread machine she never uses but will not move is a scope fact, and finding it on install day costs an hour and some goodwill.
• Note the doorway, stair and turn constraintsMeasure the narrowest point between the front door and the zone. A shelving unit that cannot make the stair turn is a return, a delay and a conversation you do not want to have.

Build the product list and the hour estimate

• Turn linear feet into a bin and insert countWork run by run and write quantities and sizes rather than a lump sum. A written count is what lets you price the handling fee and what stops you buying twelve too many on the day.
• Flag every item with a lead time over one weekCustom closet components, specific drawer systems and anything back ordered decide the install date. Mark them clearly so the schedule is built around the slowest item and not the fastest one.
• Estimate organizer hours for this zone aloneGive the zone its own figure in total organizer hours, not days. Add sorting time for each category and a decision allowance for a client who is sentimental about this particular room.
• Price the sort and haul separately from the installWrite the expected number of donation loads, the drive and the receipt run. Two haul trips is most of a half day, and putting it on its own line stops it disappearing into the labor number.
• Decide the handling percentage before you say a priceFix your sourcing and returns fee as a percentage of the product budget for this zone. Deciding it in the room prevents the quiet habit of absorbing the ordering work to keep a number round.

Price, plan and close in the room

• Read the zones back in the client's own languageSay the plan aloud zone by zone using her words for the rooms. Agreement on what you heard is what makes the price feel like a plan rather than a bill.
• Give every zone a price and a dateA whole house number invites a whole house delay. Zone prices with install dates let her sign the pantry today and add the garage in March without either of you renegotiating.
• Write down what is not includedName the exclusions plainly: hazardous materials, attic crawl spaces, hoarding conditions, moving furniture over a certain weight, and anything requiring a licensed trade. Exclusions in writing prevent install day arguments.
• Take the deposit and the product authorization togetherGet the deposit and a signed product spending limit at the same moment. Ordering bins against a verbal yes is how organizers end up financing a job out of their own account.
• Leave a copy and photograph the signed pageHand over her copy before you leave and take a photo of every signed page for yourself. A plan that lives only in your car is a plan you will be asked to re explain.