4 Ways to Turn Your Design Clients into Repeat Customers

The mark of a successful interior design business is having a bunch of new projects in the pipeline. But new projects don’t have to mean new clients. In fact, in a perfect world, you’ll have multiple projects scheduled for a select group of loyal clients who keep coming back to you with new design plans.

Tips to turn your New Clients into Repeat Customers

Schedule follow-ups 

It sounds basic, but excellent aftersales service is the most effective method of bringing a client back for more. Don’t just drop them an email either, make it personal with a phone call. Encourage honest feedback by asking straightforward questions. People will appreciate your candour and willingness to take their comments on board.

If a client has concerns, don’t panic. Dig into it and find out why they’re unhappy. What can you do about it? Make sure you action it immediately and don’t stop until you have corrected the situation to the client’s satisfaction.

It’s a good idea to schedule follow-up calls every three months for the first year after a project is complete. This gives your clients time to live in the space and identify anything they might want to change. They may not call you about a small tweak they’d like done, but they will be grateful to have the opportunity when you check-in. Going to this kind of effort builds loyalty and repeat business.

Help them imagine future projects

Even if the first project you do with a client is small, it’s inspiring to discuss what they could do in the future when they have the budget. People love to dream and you can facilitate this with ideas and suggestions.

To make it less intimidating, break a project down into phases. Phases can be completed independently of each other in the client’s own time. For example, the whole project could be to redesign the upstairs section of a home with the individual phases being the bathroom, bedroom, and landing area. The first phase is redoing the bathroom, which is not affected by future plans for the other areas.

When your client is ready to move on to the next phase, they will most likely reach out to you for the project.

Get to know your clients

Forming a personal connection with your clients is another obvious but brilliant key to repeat success. They’re far more likely to return to the designer who asks about their family and wishes them happy birthday than someone who only sends them briefs and invoices. Learn everything you can about them – how they live, what they love – so you can design spaces that reflect their lifestyle and personality.

Take notes so you don’t forget and brush up on them before a meeting. It takes a little effort, but the effort forms a bond that always pays off.

Become their expert advisor

Ask your clients if you can add them to your newsletter database. Don’t have a newsletter? Start one! It’s an easy and non-intrusive way to become their go-to expert for all things home. From design trends to new technology to how to remove stains from the couch, you (or your trusted assistant) can put together a weekly or monthly mailer filled with practical advice. Add a call to action saying you’re available to help with advice at any time.

You’ll be surprised by how many people just want a trusted connection to call instead of doing tons of research online. If you can be that reliable source, they’ll bounce ideas off you on ways to improve their homes and you’ll be front of mind for new projects.

If you need some help managing your projects, please try our powerful project management software – it’s free for the first year, that’s how much we believe in it. Designed for designers by designers, it does everything you need it to do and then some.