How to Create & Automate a Luxury Client Experience

A luxury client experience includes carefully crafting every touchpoint that a client has with your design firm. It starts from the moment they discover you, continues throughout their project, and lasts long after their home is complete. 

The way you design and execute these touchpoints is a large part of what makes up your overall brand, your reputation, and the experience your clients have with you… and whether they refer you or return for another project down the track.

Each touchpoint is an opportunity to deepen your relationship with them. To build trust. To show you understand them. To connect, listen, and serve. 

However, for many new designers, the client lifecycle is something that gets set up in a piecemeal fashion. We know this because they usually come to us when they’re tired of feeling like they’ve DIY’d everything and are ready for a cohesive voice and quality level.

If all of this is resonating with you, today’s topic is for you. We’re going to take you through each step of the client lifecycle and offer some actionable tips on making it truly great — for your clients and for your own smooth internal processes.

We’ll be covering the follow checkpoints in the client lifecylce:

1. Discovery
2. Engagement
3. Initial Contact
4. Onboarding
5. Client Care
6. Service Delivery
7. Relationship Tending

Tip: If you’ve found that growth has shed light on just one or two of the weaker points in your process, skip ahead and take a peek at the stage that you need most. 

Checkpoint #1: Discovery

May Include: Marketing, SEO, Referrals

Potential clients can discover you in a number of ways. They may find you on Google, see you featured in their local magazine, discover you on Instagram or Pinterest, or maybe you designed their friend’s home last year and they gushed about your work.

Discovery may not be a problem for you right now, but that’s no reason not to address this phase if you can. Having a strong presence (even if you’re not the one managing it) gives you more control over future new leads.

The best way to exercise some control over this phase is to stay present, visible, and make sure that an impressive reputation precedes you…

• Have a digital presence that you regularly maintain, such as social media, a blog, or video content
• Make sure all public-facing content, such as your website, blog posts, Instagram, LinkedIn profile, etc., is on-brand, professional, and intentional
• Wow clients with the experience you provide (which is what we’re talking about today) so they feel excited to refer you or hire you again for a future project
• Stay top-of-mind with past clients (more on this in Checkpoint 6)

Checkpoint #2: Engagement

May Include: All marketing, from social media to blog posts, and especially newsletters

Next, we have the Engagement Phase. In this phase, potential clients know about your business, but they haven’t contacted you just yet. Instead, they are getting to know you in their own way, such as following you on social media, receiving your newsletters, or reading your blog. Have you ever digitally “stalked” someone you were thinking of hiring? It’s a normal part of the vetting process.

Someone who is referred to you may skip over this step and contact you directly, but even in those cases, most will do their homework first by checking out your design firm online. Wouldn’t you do the same with a professional you were considering hiring?

Whether they are ready or not, the client experience at this stage largely depends on your marketing. We’ve talked about this phase of the client lifecycle extensively in past posts, so here’s a roundup of ways to do it well — but you certainly don’t have to tackle all of these!

• Make sure all of your marketing is aligned with your Brand Messsaging Strategy
• Send out valuable and intriguing newsletters at least once per month
• Have a consistent, active online presence, be it via blog, social media, or even LinkedIn (yes, it’s okay to automate this or outsource it)
• Consider adding a complimentary resource (lead magnet) to your website in exchange for mailing list signups. A high-end, stunning magazine is a great way to go.
• Create a nurture sequence to follow the delivery of your complimentary resource and build the potential client’s relationship with you.
• Be VISIBLE, yes your or your team members’ faces, so potential clients connect with a real human.
• Share your brand story again and again to connect on a human level.

Checkpoint #3: Contact

May Include: Email response, scheduling, priming the potential client for the call (such as a services overview PDF), discovery call

The next phase occurs when a potential client bridges the gap from passively engaging with your design firm to actively engaging with you — they reach out to you directly. 

This will most likely happen via your website’s Contact page, but could also happen via DM or directly via email, if they’re a referral. 

You will likely respond to their inquiry, book a time to chat with them about their project, and potentially send them some useful information about your process or services to browse pre-chat for a more informed conversation. Then, you will connect via phone or Zoom, and the real-life connection has been made.

Be prepared… This is a pivotal point in the relationship! It is the moment when they are breaking that barrier of “outsider looking in” and entering your inner circle. It also sets the tone for the rest of their experience with you. Our advice? Exceed their expectations.

Tips:

• Have Contact page questions that will strategically pre-qualify them as your ideal client (e.g. a dropdown menu where they can choose the range of their project budget). This avoids too much back and forth or wasted time over the phone.
• Immediately reward their trust. Schedule an email to send automatically, letting them know you have received their inquiry. Establish a time frame for expected response.

• Respond within the time frame (building trust) to book a discovery call.
• When sending a booking link, give them a beautiful PDF with additional information about your typical processes, FAQs + what to expect. OR, save this for after your first call.
• Keep everything professional, on-brand, and high-quality.
• Set expectations and meet them.

Checkpoint #4: Onboarding

May Include: Proposal, contract, retainer, and welcome guide with what to expect, FAQs, project phases, and even “best practices” (such as not texting you on weekends…)

The Onboarding process differs from designer to designer and service to service, but it typically includes the client paying for the initial consultation, booking it, meeting with you on-site, and you following up with a proposal and requested retainer for the project. 

Having a clear, efficient, and highly refined onboarding process is a win on both sides of the table. It sets realistic expectations for the client’s experience, and your team has clear expectations, organization, and deliverables, too. And last but not least…

When you have a stellar onboarding process, you can move through these administrative steps quickly and get on to the fun design work. 

Checkpoint #5: Client Care

May Include: Varies from firm to firm, but can include progress updates, little things to promote longevity, a beautiful presentation, thoughtfulness + professionalism

The Client Care Phase could probably be broken down into several additional phases, such as “the design phase” or “the construction phase.” For simplicity’s sake, we call Client Care everything from reserving your services via retainer to the moment you present the client’s final space to them.

Yes, there are many, many touchpoints within that process, and they should all be thoughtfully designed to create a masterful and unforgettable experience. It will differ from firm to firm, but we do suggest being very thoughtful about the process and keeping it all branded. Really, branded?

Yes, we know that adding your logo and brand fonts to progress updates sounds trivial, but which would promote your confidence as a client — a Word Doc that looks haphazardly thrown together or a very professional looking report that matches everything you know about the firm? You have your answer.

You could also think of fun ways to help clients with project endurance, such as framing their design concept or a beautiful rendering, surprising them with gifts, such as a gift card for a nice dinner out (for kitchen renovations), etc. 

The point is, you know what you’re doing design-wise. When it comes to a lasting impression, being thoughtful goes a long way. That tiny extra effort will be remembered long into the future.

Checkpoint #6: Service Delivery

Delivery technically happens throughout the project — delivering the design concept and the materials and furnishings selections, and of course, the grand finale. Make. it. memorable. 

We highly suggest making the final reveal as special as possible. Yes, you will be walking through and making a punch list of issues to resolve, but that shouldn’t take away from the magic. 

You could consider bringing champagne, presenting them with a photobook that’s perfect for the coffee table, giving them a thank you/house-warming gift, or other neat idea that shows you care… and will remind them of you and your team each time they see it. 

Checkpoint #7: Maintaining the Relationship Long-Term

Most people think that your relationship with the client ends after the project wraps up, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Many design firms live on referrals, and chances are high that if you loved working with a particular client, you’ll love working with their friends, too.

So stay in touch. Stay top of mind. And do so in a really caring, positive way. Here are some ideas:

• Quick follow-up survey asking for feedback or a testimonial
• Add them to your mailing list and send interesting monthly newsletters, which may include tips for enjoying their home, peeks at other projects, or company news (if they loved working with you, they will love to hear about your success!)
• Automatically check in with them 3 months and celebrate their project anniversary
• Invite them to any in-studio events you might host in the future or to get involved in any philanthropies you support

There you go — a long-term relationship that feels supportive, uplifting, and just often enough that they’ll remember you the next time their friend says, “We’ve been thinking of renovating our kitchen…”

How Can We Support You? 

The experience your clients have with your business is a huge part of your brand, and brand strategy is a large part of what we do! 

Your brand lives inside of you. It is a code your team should live and work by. It’s what helps you stand out from your competition and deliver something special in the eyes of your clients. It’s the foundation of your business, and by extension, your lifestyle. And it starts with you.

Our goal with our 3-Phase Signature Process is to set an unshakeable foundation for your business: 

Phase 1: Brand Messaging / Defining your mission, vision, direction, unique market positioning & more

Phase 2: Website Copy / Crafting website copy that expresses your brand & attracts your dream clients

Phase 3: The Client Experience / Designing & writing copy for a client lifecycle that feels luxurious, personal, and unforgettable.

Together, these phases create a sales framework for a business that not only supports your goals for your firm, but supports your lifestyle goals while we’re at it. Do it once, and you have a foundation that is designed to work for you with little to no long-term maintenance.

Think our process might be right for you? Our team would be happy to hop on a quick call to chat more about it and see if we’re the right fit. Reach out to us here and let’s get to know each other.

Yours,
Team O&B