The Complete Guide to Onboarding New Clients Into Your Interior Design Business
Why is client onboarding so important?
In my six+ years of working with interior designers to better streamline their business processes, I have repeatedly seen ineffective client onboarding (or lack thereof) cause issues, mismatched expectations, lack of trust, and frustration throughout an entire project.
Client onboarding is a crucial step in working with clients that applies to all business owners - and one that is severely overlooked and underdeveloped, leaving much to be desired. When done right, it has so many benefits:
It sets the foundation for a smooth process and an informed client
It makes it more likely your client will have a great experience working with you
It increases the perceived value of your service
It establishes that you have officially accepted a client and their project into your pipeline
It allows you to manage your capacity better
It validates the client’s decision to hire the designer
It establishes the designer’s expertise
On the other hand, when there is no formalized onboarding experience, the client will feel confused, disconnected, and uncomfortable.
They aren't experts (that’s why they hired you!), yet without proper onboarding, you’ve done nothing to lay the foundation of what they can expect. Talk about an increase in emails and frustration from your client and a higher likelihood of you thinking the client is a “red flag” client when, in actuality, they just don’t know how your process works or what they should do.
NOT the best way to start a project.
When should onboarding happen with a new client?
A client should be onboarded into your company only after signing the contract and paying their fee or retainer. This means you wouldn’t onboard them if they were just inquiring about your services. You wouldn’t onboard them if they’ve seen your scope/LOA/contract but haven’t signed it. You wouldn’t onboard them if they sent the fee but hadn’t signed the contract.
You only onboard someone once they become a paid and contracted client.
Then, once they’ve paid and signed, you begin your onboarding process and send new client welcome materials within (wait for it, yes, this is possible) ONE DAY.
All too often, I see designers (and other businesses) onboard potential clients and send them “active client” information that isn’t relevant at all. I want you to think about onboarding a client as you would think about onboarding a new employee. You wouldn’t send new hire training materials, schedule an orientation call, or confirm a first day of work or start date with someone who hasn’t been offered the job or hasn’t accepted the job offer, right? This same thinking applies to clients.
Only after that point should you begin the onboarding steps described below.
So, in case you missed this critical sequence, here’s what triggers onboarding:
1. Contract is signed (for a standalone consulting service, you may not have a contract, so in this case, payment would trigger onboarding)
2. Deposit is paid
3. Client is onboarded
4. Design project begins
Another thing to realize: steps 3 and 4 DO NOT happen at the same. If they are happening at the same time in your firm, it could be the cause of 90% of your overwhelm.
When you don’t sequence these steps correctly, it sends a poor message:
Your process is loose.
You are willing to work without payment.
You don’t have boundaries.
After a major purchase, it’s human nature to second guess your decision. When someone pays thousands of dollars, they want to experience some sense of immediate gratification and be reminded they made a smart decision (especially with interior design where they likely won’t “get” anything for months/years until they walk into their completed space.)
When a client hears nothing, it’s a bit of a let-down that may leave a bad taste in their mouth about working with you. You want to avoid spending the rest of the project feeling like you need to regain lost ground.
What should happen during client onboarding?
Now that you know when to onboard, here’s what the process should generally look like. Bonus: these can all be automated right within your CRM, like Honeybook or Dubsado.
Once a client signs and pays, queue up your onboarding workflow.
Countersign their contract. Don’t forget this step!
Send a new client onboarding email* that reiterates to the client they’ve made a good decision and welcomes them to your company.
This email should be templated — so you don’t need to compose an original email for each new client. Again, be sure to send it within one business day of receiving a signed contract and deposit (easy to do quickly - because it’s a template!)
This email can also include an introduction to the person on your team who will manage the project and can include a link to your scheduling software to get an initial design kick-off meeting set up. To automate the scheduling process, we recommend using a scheduler like Acuity or the ones found in Honeybook and Dubsado.
Send your Welcome Guide*. This should be sent with the new client onboarding email. The Welcome Guide should welcome them to your company, introduce your team, walk through your process and key timelines, lay out policies and communication best practices, and answer FAQs related to delivery or key challenges your clients may experience when working with you. Once created, it should work for each and every client.
It’s also very important to establish within the Welcome Guide the way you want the client to communicate with you. Do you personally want to be emailed, or do you delegate client communications to a team member? Are you okay with receiving text messages? When should they notify you if they want revisions? Determine how you prefer to communicate that allows you to track projects easily, then include that communications policy in your Welcome Guide.
The fewer channels through which a client can contact you, the more organized your client correspondence records will be for everyone involved. It’s much easier to locate a specific past correspondence when you only need to look in one place rather than think: Was that in a text? Was it a voicemail? Was it in an email? Or was that in our meeting notes?
In general, explain more than you think you need to in your Welcome Guide, but refrain from using jargon. Over-clarifying any potential questions that might arise is much better than leaving key aspects of the client’s service up to their imagination. This document should make them feel comforted knowing you’ve thought of everything - further establishing their trust in you as the expert.
Send the Client Questionnaire* that you want completed by the client to gain insights into their preferences, needs, and expectations. Again, this can be linked within the new client onboarding email or Welcome Guide and should be thoroughly pre-developed and templated so it can be used for each client (you’ll likely have questionnaire versions for each project type).
Provide the client with a clear date when you need the completed questionnaire returned. When received, send a thank you email acknowledging that you have received it.
TIP: If you send your questionnaire via Honeybook or Dubsado, you can automate a thank you email to be sent upon receipt of the completed questionnaire.
Collect any other documentation you’ll need to start the project from the client. For every business, this is different but may include additional files, images, access information, inspiration images, plans, blueprints, measurements, etc.
If there are things you’ll need at the project kick-off meeting, collect those bits of information now. Otherwise, you’ll spend time trying to track things down or playing catch-up during the design and fulfillment phase.
Create a Google Drive or Dropbox folder for each client’s project so you can stay organized and share documents across your team or with your client (if applicable).
Create a bin or binder for your client project, however you store and manage any physical plans, samples, etc.
Invite the client into whatever software programs they will be engaging in throughout the process. If you will communicate via your design management software or request approvals there, make sure they know how to access it and understand how the system works (you can create a short one-minute loom video tutorial and include it in your onboarding materials).
Send a gift or hand-written thank you card on stationery printed with your logo and branding!
Remember, your service is a luxury (whether you work with luxury clients or not doesn’t matter), and hiring you is an indulgence for many people and one they likely don’t do every day. It’s a very big deal for them. Sending a physical thank you card or a gift shows your appreciation and celebrates their decision to work with you.
Items marked with an asterisk above are included in my Client Experience Templates for Interior Designers, which include emails, welcome guides, questionnaires, and more.
What happens after client onboarding?
After completing the above steps, you, your team, your client, and your business are well-positioned to officially begin the project. At this point, a project kick-off meeting should be scheduled. This is where you do a formal new client meeting, review any materials they’ve already submitted, confirm the goals and direction of the project, and officially start their timeline.
Read that a second time: the new client kickoff meeting is what officially starts the timeline. NOT the onboarding process.
Without a formal project kick-off meeting, clients may wonder, “Did we start yet?” or “Shouldn’t something be happening?” whereas if you have the meeting, they’ll know exactly what’s happening and will understand the timeline since all the upcoming milestones will be based on that meeting date.
What if I can’t begin design work right after the client is onboarded?
If you can’t begin the new client’s project right away because you’re busy, this is totally normal and to be expected.
Can you think of a single luxury service provider who can start the second a client signs the contract and pays?
Nope.
(And if they could start immediately, you’d be like, hmmmmm….WHY can you start so soon…)
This shouldn’t surprise your new client because the timing of the project start should have been thoroughly and honestly discussed during the inquiry call and subsequent communication. Your new client welcome email should also include your anticipated kick-off date.
Remember: NO SURPRISES!
Even if a client project needs to be waitlisted — due to other project completions — the client onboarding process should still be executed immediately after the contract is signed and payment is made. Still send the new client onboarding email, Welcome Guide, and questionnaire, and complete all the client onboarding steps listed above without delay. That way, things won’t be forgotten or overlooked, and your client will feel more inclined to wait patiently, as they know they have been onboarded and their start date is locked in.
What If I Have Multiple Services?
Yes, you’ll want to have an onboarding process for each service, though most services will follow the above steps. However, the content of your new client onboarding email, your new client welcome guide, and your design questionnaire will change.
You’ll want any onboarding materials you send out to be specific to the service the client booked. This feels customized on their end and ensures you’re gathering the information you need and setting the proper expectations.
So, for example, if you offer full service design and virtual design, you wouldn’t want your virtual design welcome materials to talk about how you’ll do site visits, an in-person presentation, an on-site installation, etc. That would confuse the virtual design client, or worse, make them think THEY ARE getting those things. GULP!!
Create Your Onboarding Process
Obviously, I think onboarding is KEY to the success of any project, and I also know it is one many designers and small businesses do not develop. SUCH A SHAME!
Again, it sets you and your client up for success. It gathers all the information you need to get started. It details how the client can make the most of their time with you. And it establishes you as the expert they will look to for managing their project (versus the client trying to take the lead because they don’t feel like you’re in charge).
If you have not been doing these things (and at the proper time) in your business, these steps are very easy to implement and will completely transform your client experience. We have created Client Experience templates for the full service design process and the design day service.
Both have everything you need to guide your potential clients and new clients from initial inquiry all the way through final offboarding. What took me YEARS to develop and even more years to refine can be in your inbox in minutes.
Check them out here:
Full Service Client Experience Templates
Design Day Client Experience Templates
*The Honeybook and Dubsado links are affiliate links, and I may receive a small commission if you sign up through my links. I only recommend software I use and love (and that we set up for our clients!).
Looking for more? Keep reading:
