Streamline your interior design business client experience process from first inquiry to onboarding

Updated September 2023

Streamline your Client Experience Webinar with Home Designer Marketing Dakota Design Company Operations Consulting for Interior Designers

Last week I had the opportunity to talk with Debra Scarpa from Home Designer Marketing and her designers. We had such a fun conversation about streamlining your services, operations, and processes to improve your client experience so designers can raise their rates, avoid mistakes, and focus on what they love doing.

Debra is an award-winning designer and owner of Home Designer Marketing and helps home design professionals transform their businesses and brands to attract their dream clients, sell their projects for more, stay current online, and get their time back with automated systems.

Client experience is my passion, and we actually had to skip a few slides because the conversation was so good.

Below you can watch a recording of the webinar where we discuss onboarding, proposal process tips, setting boundaries, ways to ask for feedback, and so much more.

Watch the Webinar by Clicking the Image Below:

The Client Experience Blueprint

To help you kick start streamlining your client experience, you can download my Client Experience Blueprint which walks you through the key pieces you should have in place at each phase of your process to make the most impact. It will also help you to identify gaps in your process so you can improve them. Download the free blueprint below.

Start building a strong client experience through streamlined processes, smooth backend operations, and clear expectations so you can run your business in a sustainable and professional way. Don’t forget to check out my top client facing processes for interior designers.

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Debra: What is formalizing your clients’ experience?

Katie: For me, what I always say to my clients is you have a process. You have a client experience, whether you have it written down or you think you do or you don't. Because it's whatever your clients are doing from the second they inquire through your website to that first discovery call to getting a proposal from you to working with you all the way throughout.

So look at what you're currently doing and then formalize it. Make it easier and more professional in the sense of, when someone inquires on your website, have a process for what goes out to them. For example, these are my services, this is my pricing, this is my timeline. So create a beautiful document that goes out to them that says here's all this information and then again at your proposal phase, have that process formalized in the sense that you can look at your checklist and say, okay, these are the five things I do for proposals. I grab my proposal template, I fill it in with the scope, I update the pricing, I do whatever you need to do and then I send it in an email. Then, here's the email I send out with my new proposals and then a process for following up. So again, I think for me, when I look at that with my clients, we look at each of the high touch phases that you're already doing.

Then I ask: how can we just formalize it, make a process for it, and have it so it's cohesive across the board? So every client is going to get the investment guide. Every client is going to get the proposal. Whether it's a full service proposal or a designer for a day proposal or a new build proposal, they're all going to get that. When they're onboarded, they're all going to get a welcome packet. So again, formalizing each step. So every client has a consistent experience and then you on the back end have a simple process that you take your clients through that your team can then follow. So again, it's really all about documenting it and then having professional pieces that go out along the way.

Debra: I know we already talked about some of the benefits [of streamlining your client experience], but do you have any other benefits?

Katie: Yeah, definitely. I recommend the next time you do it, just start writing it down. If you're about to jump on a discovery call, write down, what did I do? What did I send them? What were the questions I asked? Just write it down as you do it. And it can just be in a notebook, something super simple. So once you do that [have it documented], now, if you want, you can hand that off to somebody else. You don't have to be the person to do it. So a lot of times when we're doing this with our clients we identify. Ok. Of your hundred-point design process, you only need to do 15 of those points. You are doing 85 other ones that you could hand off to an assistant or an admin or a studio manager or something like that. It doesn't have to be you unless you want it to be. And that's what's so beautiful about it. When you can identify that “I don't have to do all of this stuff” and you can see where you can bring someone else in. And now because you have it documented, you can give them that process and say, here's the process, go through it. And now you know how to do it so I don't have to.

So when you are ready to bring someone in, you've already got all [your processes] mapped out for them. So it's really going to be a couple of times they're going to use your process checklist to run through it, make sure they know what they're doing. And then it's a full on hand off. So even if you don't have anyone on your team now, I always like to say “start as you mean to go on”. If you know you're eventually going to bring on a team or even just one person (I think every designer should have one person to do their orders, because ordering, tracking client updates claims it could be a full time job based on your volume), but I just think “start as you mean to go on”. And then, just pick the thing you hate the most. The hardest thing for you and start processing that out. So you can give that to somebody as soon as possible. You give them that process, maybe it takes them 1 or 2 hours a week, and now you're going to pay an assistant a lower rate, and now you can take that 1 or 2 hours a week and bill that out at your design fee. You could sell products, or you can just take that 2 hours a week off and be with your family. That might even be more priceless than the money you would make!

I think definitely having a formal process allows you to delegate and see what you can give to somebody else, which now that's going to shift your workload.. So a lot of designers say, “I'm constantly spinning my wheels. I'm stuck in the weeds.” Well, if you can give up parts of your process that aren't design [related], then now your design load goes up. Even if your client load doesn't go up, even if your projects don't increase, if you're doing less admin, that means you have more time to do more design work.

Whether that's even just putting together flat lays you love and that inspire you for social media or getting inspiration by going to your showrooms and things like that, your job will change very quickly because now you have more time to focus on the design work. By just giving some of those other tasks that you don't have to do. So I think that's one, the team side. And then when you have a formal client experience in place, it makes it really easy for your clients. They’ll say, “This is so easy. This was a no brainer. You made everything so easy. You were a step ahead.”

So it's going to be really beneficial for your clients. And then as a designer, you're going to feel so much more in control because you have this process to fall back on, especially for solos, to have a process in place, it makes you feel like you're not so alone in your business. If I just follow my checklist and do what I mapped out and everything is going to be as good as it can be, I know that I did the best I could with this project because I followed the steps. Those are just a couple of the benefits.

Debra: What are the steps to formalizing your client experience? How would you suggest getting started?

So we kind of briefly talked about it. You already have a process. So it's essentially for me, the way I map it out with my clients is, I believe, especially for my designers and my wedding planners, you're taking them through the same phases, whether the process and the deliverables are different.

So I like to look at it like there's the inquiry phase. So they're not a client. They've just inquired there's going to be sending out initial screening information with pricing, your timeline, all of that. There's a follow up process, discovery calls. Maybe you do a consultation. So there's your inquiry phase process. So I like to actually look at that and say, hey, what happens here? What is your company policy on this? Even if you're a solo, you have a company policy. Like, do you do 15 minutes discovery calls? Do you never do consultations? Are consultations always paid? Are they sometimes not paid? Is there a travel fee? All of that. So I would say look at your first phase, the inquiry phase, then we move over in my mind to, you can have a proposal phase if you want, where you send them the proposal, and then now you're again following up with them until they sign and all of that.

And I look at it like you have the onboarding phase, which I think is just a pivotal and super critical phase of the design process, because, again, you are working with these clients for so long that getting them started on the right foot is so important because they probably haven't done this before. And if they have, it hasn't been with you. And if you're here today and you're focused on your client experience, other designers aren't, and you're going to be a different service provider than they've ever had. So I think having a formal onboarding process. So again, once the client pays and signs, you now send them welcome materials, like, here's how to make the most of our time together. Here's what you can expect. Here's what I need from you. Here's the timeline. Answer all those questions up front so they know what's next. So again, so many benefits to that. Then we move into your design phase. So maybe your design phase is going to have multiple parts. Maybe you're going to have a kickoff meeting, and that's phase one. And after the kick off meeting, maybe you do some general floor plans.

So that's the next phase of that process. So then you move over into your design phase, like concept and final design presentation. Or maybe you just do one design presentation. Then once that's approved, you move over into your install, project management, procurement, and then install, then offboarding. So I like to phase it out like that. So that way you can look at each of those areas and plug your projects in to see, OK, how many projects do I have in onboarding? How many do I have in the design phase? How many do I have in procurement? Project management? So I like to again, phase them out and look at each of those phases and see, okay, what does the client need to know? What's happening? What's the timeline of this phase? I feel like that is so important right now because we don't know the timeline. And even when you have a timeline from your vendors, it's subject to change at any time. You can't make any guarantees right now. But I think just putting your best foot out there and saying, okay, the design phase, our process is it's a six to eight week turnaround for your design.

We'll reach out a couple of weeks in advance to schedule your design presentation. The procurement phase could take anywhere from eight weeks to two years. I don't know. But during the procurement phase, we're going to place all your orders. We're going to send you updates every week, every other week, every month, whatever. So you always know the status of your project. So again, laying out those timelines for each of the phases and then letting your clients know what you're going to be doing during that time. So again, it's just going to reduce the amount of emails. Like, what's happening next? Do I need to do anything? When is this thing coming? Because they know, oh, she's going to send us an email every week. I don't need to email her. So, again, looking at each of those phases and seeing what are the questions your client is going to have, what's happening on the back end, and what are some ways you can stay in front of it for your client and then filling in those blanks. Like, okay, here's the step by step thing that we're doing behind the scenes. Here's the client facing things that are happening by way of email communication or project update emails, things like that.

So as you're going through each of those spaces, you'll identify, okay, at onboarding, I need to be sending them a design questionnaire. At offboarding, I need to be sending them a feedback questionnaire. So you start to identify the different pieces that you need to create to formalize that process. And if you maybe need to create a beautiful branded PDF to send out like, okay, hey, your install’s coming here's an installation guide so you know exactly what to expect during your installation. Now, again, you don't have to do all of those things. You don't have to do all of that. I think it's more formalizing it. So you have a formal checklist for each of the phases. For example, inquiry phase. This is what happens in the proposal and then building from there, adding in any templates or documents or links that you use in each of those phases. So it's easy for you as the designer, as business owner to just be like, oh, I'm just going to go through this checklist, everything's right here. I'm not searching through 100 tabs and trying to find that email that I sent that I loved.

That was so good. And now I want to use it again. And then you have everything in one place. And now you can just give it to your team, too, because you recognize they can manage five parts of the process. And you get to do the design part, your favorite, and install days (let’s say). So that would be super high level steps to formalizing the client experiences phases.

Debra: So when you think about the types of clients you have and you want like A plus clients, right, ones that you love to work with well, when you have a client that is maybe a C client or you're frustrated with the client, is it really the client, or is it that you don't have the processes in place to train the client to show up as an A plus client?

Right, exactly. Well, and I think when you're formalizing your client experience. Yeah. It's about your firm and your process and how you want to do business, of course. But it's also you have to consider your client. Like, who are they? Do they want a lot of meetings or do they not have time for that? Do they want a weekly check in email, or is that stressful for them? Like, what do they want and who are they? What are they coming to with the expectation wise. And then building your client experience. So it serves those clients while also serving your company and just making things easier for everybody. But yeah, absolutely. Setting the client I mean, that's what it's all about. There's so many benefits on the back end, but definitely setting those expectations is so key because again, your clients just don't know. They've never done this before. And I know. And you all know there's a million different business models for interior designers. There's a gazillion ways you could do it. And none of the ways are wrong. But if a client has worked with a designer who just does hourly as needed, it's going to be very different than the designer who does flat fee and then a retainer for project management.

That's going to feel different. So it's our job as the business owner to let clients know here's how you can get the most out of our time together. And who doesn't want that? Oh, my gosh. I'm paying $20,000 for a designer. I want to make sure that I am making the most of it and that I never late to the table with something, and then it causes you a delay. And now I missed out on something. And it forms every other decision and opinion they have throughout the process. If they're already nervous, they're going to go into presentation nervous, which means they're probably not going to wholeheartedly be like, yes, put it on the cart. They're going to be nervous. They're going to need to think about it a little bit more versus if they had this amazing experience and they're like, oh, my gosh, this is so easy.

So often they're looking for the good. When they're frustrated, they're starting to look for the bad, and then they're not going to be as willing to just say, put it in the cart, buy it. All right. No, we need more time to think about this because we have a chip on our shoulder and we don't want to make this easy for you anymore. So it's twofold for sure.

Debra: What are the key components of a strategic client experience process?

Looking at those different phases of your process and having something formalized to send out that is again, client focused and helps your company. It's helpful in the sense that it's strategic because it's designed to 1) screen out clients who aren't a good fit for you and then 2) set the expectation and like you said, to train your clients. Because again, they don't know what they don't know. Like, oh, I'm not supposed to go shopping and pick things out and show it to you. Like, I don't know. That's what I did when I worked with this other design consultant. And they loved it. So again, I think for me, the key components are sending out an investment guide. So that's going to be the document that goes out right when someone inquires from your website and you can automate this, you can have a hidden page redirect on your website to your beautiful PDF that walks through your services that you offer and shares your pricing.

I'm huge on sharing pricing. Even if you don’t want to, I recommend sharing your minimum. Okay, what's your minimum?

Is it your design fees begin at $5,000?

You must have one full room?

You must have a project budget of 10,000 or more for furniture?

No matter what your minimum is, set some sort of threshold so potential clients can screen themselves out if they only want to spend $1,000 on a room and that is not possible for you. There is no need for you to get on a call with them if that does not fit your ideal client and the types of services you offer. So again, you have this investment guide that strategically screens out people who aren't a good fit. It shares a little bit about your process and your timeline and that all orders must go through your or all orders can go through retail. Share those bits of information that will be a deal breaker for a potential client.

You want them to see this information before you get on a call with them. And they may say, this is perfect. This is exactly in line with what I'm expecting to spend. I have the timeline for it. I want to work with you. This looks great. So then you get them on the discovery call, and now it's going to probably be a higher converting discovery call. It's going to be easier. You're not going to be selling. You're just going to be talking, learning about their projects. So that would be the first part is having that investment guide, then I think the second part of it is having the welcome materials. To me, that is like the number one most important thing that you can have. And I do see a lot of designers that don't overlook it. They know what's important. But it's hard, it's hard to put it together. You don't have time, you're busy. So with the welcome packet, that's going to be once they sign and pay, you send them over onboarding materials. Like here's, again, how you can make the most of our time together. Here's what I need from you. Here's what you can expect from us. So that would be the second component of the strategic client experience. Again, it's letting them know again about timelines. Now, more specifically, the things that you need from them when you need them.

Your revision policy is all of those details. Again, those are in your contract, but you have them now in this beautiful document that's going out. They're super excited. They're the most engaged because they just sent over this chunk of money and they're like so eager to get started. So this welcome guide, one, it serves as a great thing to give them, to train them, set the expectation. But also, it's something they instantly get. So if you're on a waitlist and you're not starting projects for four months and somebody pays you today to confirm their spot for May, it could feel a little bit like, well, I just paid you, I got nothing. I got nothing. When I buy something, I kind of want something. It's that instant gratification. So by having a welcome process in place and onboarding process in place where they get something, even if it's an email with a PDF, they're still getting something and they're really excited. So it calms their fears of, oh, my gosh, I just spent thousands of dollars on this project. And like, can I even wait? Should I have just gone to Pottery Barn? What am I doing? It gives them something that's like, hey, you're in the right place. We're professional. We've got you. Like, this is the process. Here are some ways you can start preparing. So they're instantly, like, they instantly get something. So that would be the second part of a strategic client experience. (Check out the client waitlist email templates here.)

Again, that is setting them up. And by setting them up for success, you're setting your team up to have a better experience with this client. And then again, I love to know what to expect. I am very process minded and I'm a little anxious. I always want to know what's next. When is this happening? How much are we going to have to pay now then? So I like to have those big beefy emails of what to expect emails that go out throughout the process. So if you, within your process, you have these big key milestone meetings. Like I said, a client kick off, or maybe you have a site measure meeting, or you do a trade day or you do a concept meeting, write out the big email that lets clients know what to expect at each of those meetings.

How long are they going to be? Who should be there? Do I need to pay? Am I paying anything? Should I be bringing a checkbook? Like, When's the next payment due? Do you need anything from me? Where is it taking place? What's happening? Do I need to be ready to make a decision? All of that? So I think all of those again, they're strategic in the sense that they're preparing your client on the back end. They're kind of telling you what to do, telling you and your team what needs to be done for these meetings. And then also it's going to reduce questions, confusion, frustrations from your clients. So when I work with my clients and we formalize their client experience, some of the feedback I get is I feel like something's wrong. No one's emailing us like, no, it's because everything is right. Your clients aren't confused. And I've had clients who are like, oh, my gosh, there's just like, no emails coming in. Like, they just have everything they need. It feels so weird. So it's strategic and that it's really going to cut down on that, being in your inbox and drowning in those emails.

And then again, once you get over to the offboarding process, not so much strategic, but strategic with an offboarding process, because one, you want to let them know you're done. Because right now we're not ever finishing projects. I'm not a designer, but we collectively, me and my designers, we're currently not finishing our projects like we used to. So you might have an install, but then you still have seven pieces of furniture coming or the window treatments are late or whatever. So we want to still let clients know we're done. We fulfilled the terms of our contract. So with that offboarding process right now, in this COVID time, I think it's really important to let clients know, hey, we're done, but in a nice way. “I know we have a couple of items outstanding. We're going to keep an eye on them. We'll let you know when they arrive. We'll coordinate the delivery on your behalf. We’d love to know what you thought about working together. Here's our feedback form.”

Whatever your processes, but having something formal and strategic in the sense that it lets them know you're not going to call me and ask me, like, what should I do here? And I brought this thing, should I put that over here? Like, whatever those questions are. Where all of a sudden you sell open items and they think they can just keep emailing you and calling you. So it's strategic. And that formally wraps it up in a really nice professional way and lets your clients know, like, we're done. We're done. So those, I think, would be the key components of a strategic client.

Debra: What mistakes do designers typically make when it comes to their sales calls?

So I would say the number one mistake is not sending any screening information out ahead of time. I just always tell my designers, don't get on a call until someone knows your price because you don't have time. Like you truly don't know today. We're still dealing with projects from 2020. You don't have time to get on the phone with clients, for potential clients who can't afford your services, can't wait for your timeline, all of that. So number one mistake would definitely be getting on a call without sending out any preliminary information to the potential client, letting them know your pricing and your timeline for getting started.

Debra: How do you recommend designers improve their proposal process?

So with this one, I think there's a couple of ways. And again, I know we have a lot of slides get through, so I'll try to be like rapid fire. I think one of the things is to have a proposal template. Even if you are using a CRM, make sure your proposal or your scope of work is templated. For example, let's say you're a full service design firm and you do renovations, new builds, and you do full furnishing styling, the whole shebang. Well, create an entire scope of work that has everything that you would do for a new build, like from starting with the architectural blueprint print review to the electrical walkthrough to the selection of every finish, whatever. And then have all of your, like, your scope written out for the rooms that you do when you're doing a full service furnishing project. So what do you include especially for flat fee designers? What do you include in that scope? Like, detail it out specifically. Okay. This project is going to be the living room, the family room and the kitchen. And for each of those, we're going to do a floor plan. We're going to do blah, blah, blah, detail out everything you're going to do. Does it include site visits? Does it include styling? Does it include a rendering? What does it all include for each of those rooms? I think one having a master template, whether that's in a Google Doc, in your CRM, whatever software you're using to send your proposals out, have that master template where you make a copy for every new client that comes through that you're sending a proposal to, and then you just delete whatever is not applicable. So that takes the proposal process down from weeks to 20 minutes. So that would be number one. Number two, don't make them wait for a proposal. I think it is our responsibility as service providers to give our people the information they need quickly because they want to get started. You guys know your customers, like when we want to do something in our house, like we want it yesterday. And so it's like when we talk to you and we want to hire you, we want to hire you right now because we know the time is ticking. We know it's a long process.

We know, like, we want to get moving forward. We know delays and all of that. So I think tightening up the timeline from when you speak to them or do your consultation to when you are giving them their proposal, try to make that as tight as possible. And one of those ways is going to be to template it. Have a template for your scope and have your contract ready to go. So it's very easy. Like, you get back from your meeting, you plug in their scope, you look at the pricing, do your calculation, and then send it over to them. So that would be the other thing that I think, again, timeline. So what I see with a lot of my designers is two to three days. That would be like my max that I would recommend. So I know that might not be possible. You might be doing additional investment estimates and things like that in your proposal, but I think you've got to consider the client. They're ready to go. And you want to strike while the iron is hot. That sounds terrible. But you want to get them what they want. So again, because what happens is if they have too much time, they could be like, well, do I really need it? We could probably just work with the builders designer, or we could probably just do it on our own. Or you just don't want to have those doubts creep in. So when they're the most excited after they've just spoken to you, they've had a great experience with your firm. Get them that proposal as quickly as possible, and then let them know after you talk to them, okay, I'll have your proposal ready in two to three days or one to two days or within one week. So that would be some tips that I recommend for improving.

Debra: What mistakes do you see designers make once the project starts?

Katie: I would say, not having an onboarding process. So two things. One is onboarding a client before they paid and signed. That's very confusing. I've been a client that has received onboarding materials before I signed up. And I was like, oh, wait, so we're already working together. I haven't even paid or signed. I feel a little bit of pressure, like, oh, now I have to work with them because they already onboarded me. So there's that is one. So always get them to sign the contract and pay the first installment before you onboard them and welcome them into your company. Number two would be onboard them, have a formal onboarding process, send them an email within a day or two that's like, welcome to my company. I'm so excited to be working with you. Here's what you can expect during this process. Here's your welcome materials. And this details everything we're going to need from you, timelines, etc. So having that email and the onboarding process is so important.

The other thing I would say, when a project first starts and I hear this from a lot of my clients, we start and it almost like fizzles out before we even get started. So with that onboarding process. You might not be starting. So the client might pay and sign, and then you start their project in four months. Well, onboard them right away. Let them start preparing. Let them start gathering inspiration. Let them fill out your questionnaire. Let them really think about what they want. Then when you actually are like, okay, we're starting your project now. It's May 1 send an email. Ok. Hey, we're starting your project in a week. We're looking forward to it. Let's schedule a kick-off meeting, a kick off meeting, kick off call, client meeting, client interview, whatever, something to let them know, okay, now we're starting. And also let them know in those welcome materials, when you first onboard them, you're not going to really hear from us. But we have you scheduled for your kick off meeting on May 1. So in the meantime, work on all of this, review it, refine, etc. But we'll reach out before your kick off meeting to let you know how to prepare and what you can expect. So they are getting again, they're getting these things from you. You're guiding them already. You don't even start working with them.

So I'd say having that formal onboarding process and then having some sort of like a kick off meeting or even just like a kick off call where you review their questionnaire, you look at their inspiration images. You just check in, make sure you're in alignment with what they're wanting to do, make sure nothing's changed since you first put together their scope, just to check in, call again to really, like, kick off the project. Okay. This kicks off the project, which kicks off the timeline, which kicks off the next design fee whenever that's going to be due, all of those things. So those would be some mistakes I see designers not doing, and not that they're not doing them intentionally. They know something is missing from their process because it just feels really confusing. And clients have a lot of questions. And do we start? Do we not start? So I think having those two steps in your process will be really helpful for letting your client know what to expect and setting that expectation right from the start.

Debra: How do you recommend interior designer’s set boundaries with their clients?

Katie: So I think setting boundaries is huge I mean, designers are still dealing with clients from two years ago who are on their 2020 pricing, or maybe they're even on their 2019 pricing. So it is so important to set those boundaries. One: set them with your time by when you are working. What are your business hours? What are your response hours? Put it in your contract. What I see is that designers will have it maybe on their website or they'll let clients know. Here's how you can email me, etc. But what they don't do is they don't put it in the contract. For example, these are my business hours here's when you can expect a response. Responses received outside of these hours will be returned in subsequent business hours. No texting. I have so many clients who are like, oh, my gosh, the text messages on a Saturday morning are killing me. So put that into your contract and welcome materials. Example: We will use text messages for quick turnaround situations if the trades are at your house or we need a quick response. However, we do not use texts for project correspondence.

So that would be another one. Put that in your contract and then take it next to the next step and put it in your design questionnaire. These are our business hours. This is how we respond. We don't use text messages. Click here to let us know if you have read and understand this policy. So the hours, the communication methods, and then sticking to those methods. So don't respond to text messages; send them an email during business hours. “Hey, I saw your text, and I'm going to keep this in email so we don't lose any of your information because it's really important. I want to make sure the whole team has access.”