How to Show Up like an Expert With Your Interior Design Clients
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Written January 2021 | Updated January 2025
When you show up like an expert with clients in your interior design business, a few things happen:
Your clients will pay more for your services
You reduce questions and set clear boundaries
Your clients will trust you and won’t try to take over the project
It can sometimes feel overwhelming to have to do all the work behind the scenes and then also “show up as an expert to clients.” However, if you build these simple steps into your process, your system should do the work for you to establish your expertise with clients, all while giving you more confidence and your clients a better experience.
Why Your Interior Design Clients Need an Expert
When you’re connecting with potential interior design clients, this is often the first and only time they’ve ever been looking to hire someone like you.
When they come to you they are typically:
overwhelmed and have no idea how to get from point A to point B
clueless about what to expect when working with an interior designer
unsure how to budget for what things will cost
starting from zero without any connections to trades/vendors
terrified of going it alone and making a costly mistake BUT also afraid of hiring the wrong person, which could also be a costly mistake
As an interior designer, you’re the expert, and it’s your job to create an experience that addresses those concerns right from the first inquiry (well, even before that, it should start on your website and in your marketing).
By addressing your interior design clients’ concerns in your client experience process, you can set yourself up as a seasoned expert who anticipates exactly how they’ll be feeling and has a solution for those pain points for them.
When Your Interior Design Client Experience is on Point
✔️ Your clients have all the info they need to see exactly why you're the one who'll bring them from point A to point B.
✔️ Your process, experience, and insights show them how you'll save them time, money, frustration, hours of googling, etc., because you'll steer them in the right direction every time.
✔️ You'll answer questions they didn't even know to ask, giving them so much confidence in working with you they'll be ready to book before even getting on a call.
✔️ Your clients will feel understood and trust you more because you showed care and concern for their feelings and never judged them for “not knowing anything.”
Here are examples of some of the client guides we include in our plug-and-play Client Experience Templates for interior designers:
How do you Weave These Expert Touchpoints Into your Interior Design Client Experience?
You show up as an expert by addressing your clients’ concerns at EVERY interaction (before they even share them with you).
✔ When a potential client first inquires, you should provide them with information about your services, a recommendation for services based on what they’ve shared about their project, and answers to some frequently asked questions.
✔ When you are on a sales call with a potential client, you should use their language back to them and have a step-by-step process you follow so the call is efficient and value-packed. By the end, you and the client should know if it’s a good fit, and they should be saying, “You’re the only one who has provided this much information.” They won’t be able to compare “apples to apples” or you to the designer down the street they are also considering.
✔ When you onboard a new client, your onboarding process should again provide them with tips for having an incredible experience with your company while also laying out the boundaries and the container within which you’ll work with them. Having boundaries alone will establish your expertise because clients will see that you expect them to respect your policies.
✔ When you’re delivering your services to a client, the way you communicate about what’s next in the process will show them that you’ve done this before and you know exactly how to anticipate what’s coming (good or bad).
✔ When you offboard a client, simply having a system in place will give YOU the confidence to ask for feedback and testimonials and will also give you the insight you need to consistently improve your services.
As you review each step of your interior design process, put yourself in your client’s shoes and think, “What would they need to know right now? What information could help them make a decision at this stage so we can keep their project moving along?”
If you are constantly one step ahead of your clients, they’ll be able to relax and enjoy their entire experience with you.
This usually shows up in your business as happier clients, more referrals and repeat business, and bigger budgets (they trust you, so feel confident spending more).
Ready to design a client experience that lets you show up like an expert for your dream interior design clients? Or is yours not currently working well, and you know it can be improved? Here’s how we can help:
Plug-and Play Client Experience Option: If you need to get your process nailed down asap, you’ll love my completely written out and designed plug-and-play interior designer Client Experience Templates, which give you the complete inquiry to offboarding system to manage your client-facing process. Email templates, client guides, thoughtful design questionnaires, feedback questionnaires, and tips and resources for running your projects like a professional.
Looking for more? Keep reading:
