The Buyer's Brain™
How clients really make decisions.
Clients don’t hire with spreadsheets and logic. They hire with instinct, emotion, and trust, and only rationalize the decision afterward. The Buyer’s Brain™ workshops take you inside that process and show you how to work with it.
In this track, we’ll explore the shortcuts and biases that shape client behavior and how they appear in real design conversations. You’ll learn how loss aversion influences budgets and approvals, how identity and trust position you as the safe choice, and how framing techniques move clients from hesitation to action.
By the end, you’ll understand exactly how psychology and behavioral economics apply to design sales — and you’ll have a practical way to use them.
The result is simple: you’ll stop over-explaining and defending, and instead lead decisions with authority so your proposals land as the obvious yes.
Scroll down to see when the first workshop begins.
JOIN US!
Workshop ONE
Say It So They Believe You
JOIN US NOVEMBER 5, 2025 12 TO 2PM CST
When your business is stuck, the problem is often not strategy. It’s positioning.
The words you use shape whether clients see your price as stewardship or sticker shock. This workshop teaches you how to communicate your value so clearly, so consistently, and so confidently that clients stop asking for proof and start asking for proposals.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:
✅ Refine your Value Bank™ into client-facing proof points that sell without overselling.
✅ Replace weak phrasing with authority-driven Language Swaps that reinforce trust and expertise.
✅ Use narrative and case study storytelling to defend your price without sounding defensive.
✅ Prevent the Itemization Trap by shifting focus from tasks to transformation.
✅ Keep your website, proposals, and consult language aligned — so your message always sounds like a business, not a plea
Suitable for Designers with at least 2 years of solid experience.
Workshop TWO
Full Service, Full Value
JOIN US November 6, 2025 12 TO 2PM CST
“Full service” is one of the most overused — and least defined — terms in the design industry. Without definitive service deliverables provided, clients fill in the blanks, cherry-pick what they want, and erode your authority. This workshop is about giving “full service” teeth. How to define it in a way that sets you apart, demonstrate why it commands higher fees, and communicate it so clients see it as the premium choice. We’ll cover how to build deliverables, visuals, and language that stop the “just a little bit of design” requests before they start.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:
- Build a concrete, client-facing definition that elevates your positioning.
- Stop clients from cherry-picking services or stripping scope.
- Confidently redirect when clients try to compare you to “Susie Decorators” selling smaller bites of design.
- Stand out in a crowded market by owning “full service” as your identity.
Suitable for designers who have at least 3 years of experience.
Workshop THREE
The Psychology of Yes
JOIN US NOVEMBER 13, 2025 12 TO 2PM CST
Clients don’t make decisions logically — they make them emotionally, then backfill with logic. Behavioral economics proves it. This workshop shows you how to use heuristics and cognitive biases to guide client decisions without gimmicks or pressure. We’ll cover the shortcuts clients use (loss aversion, anchoring, social proof, identity triggers) and how to build them into consults, proposals, and presentations. The goal: faster decisions, fewer stalls, and more yeses to your process and pricing.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:
- How to avoid being ghosted. No one likes to ghosted but there are reasons for it!
- Leverage Loss Aversion. Show what clients risk losing if they delay or cut scope.
- Reinforce Identity. Mirror client values and aspirations to lock in trust.
- Prevent Stalls. Lack of commitment by the client
Suitable for designers with at least 2 years of experience.
THE IDEA ECONOMY™
To view more info about additional workshops, click below to read more about our workshops on how to price your thinking, position your expertise, and sell what clients can’t touch.
OPEN FOR FALL 2025
SELLING BY DESIGN™
To view more info about additional workshops, click below to read more about our workshops on how to build a strong sales system that positions you as the obvious choice, and closes projects without discounting or second-guessing.
OPEN FOR WINTER 2025
Sarah B.
SBTB & BOB MEMBER
" I appreciated your program. I am a silent follower and don't often participate in the live zoom calls. But, my business has exploded the last few years and I can attribute the growth to the confidence I gained as part of this group. I've listened to every podcast, zoom recording and read through all materials posted. I appreciate the honesty and effort put into elevating the industry. When I feel unsure and a little beat up, I pull up a zoom recording and it resets my confidence. Thank you!"
Ryan W.
TDP DESIGNER
"Your business model of being a discount designer will pigeonhole you into clients looking for a bargain. I HIGHLY recommend talking more with Cheryl. She changed how I’ve billed after having the wrong mindset for 20 years. Trust me. I left so much money on the table and not because I’m not a damn good designer. My brain was just working against me due to how those who trained me thought."
Sasha B.
TDP DESIGNER
"Cheryl has not only a business brain but is insanely creative in the marketing realm. I have never had so many ideas to implement. She is just different than anyone else out there coaching today. All coaches have good things to impart. But Cheryl is the real deal and her philosophies challenge things said by others that get you so excited because they just make sense. And she shows you exactly how to do it and explains why first then how. She and Liz have renewed my passion in this business. I can do this!"
Success is for those who are willing to put the time and effort into being prepared and learning how to run a business. And not let the business run them.
Meet Cheryl Clendenon
A serial entrepreneur and owner of In Detail Interiors, a 7 person, multi-million dollar design firm based on the Gulf Coast. In addition to winning dozens of industry awards throughout her 25 years in business (proving she's a dang good designer who knows her stuff), she also has actual knowledge and experience in business that head and shoulders above the rest of those who currently coach and teach within this industry.
That’s why, instead of bringing you more fluff about how to sign luxury clients or social media marketing (🙄), she is going to teach you what you really need and WANT to know, which is how to increase your bottom line WITHOUT adding more to your workload.