5 ways to find more interior design clients

If you want more interior design clients you need to be attacking the problem from multiple angles and avoid only having one source of leads. ⁠

You also need to be doing some form of lead generation every single day (even when you’re busy delivering client work). This is the way you will have a constant pipeline of clients waiting to work with you, with work booked for months in advance.

Most client lead generation activities aren’t particularly scalable - they take hard work, consistency and perseverance. And most designers I meet who aren’t getting enough work just aren’t putting in the required amount of effort to see the results they want.

Here are five strategies that are proven to get more interior design clients…

✅ 1: Take action and be responsible for the effort you’re putting in

it’s actually hard to find interior design clients, especially when you’re first starting out and nobody knows who you are
too many designers post a few times on Instagram or tell a few people what they are doing and then wonder why people aren’t knocking down their doors to work with them
finding design clients takes way more effort than most people are wiling to put in
for designers who aren’t getting enough clients I often quiz them about their lead generation strategies and those who aren’t getting enough work normally aren’t putting in anywhere near enough effort
You need to:
- build daily lead generation habits that you do no matter what (every single day!)
- tell every person you come in to contact with about what you’re doing - even if you’re scared to do so or feel silly
- create as much free, valuable content as you can (much more than you think you need to)
- post regularly to social media

✅ 2: Build Partnerships

building partnerships with other companies/people who are already working with your ideal clients is an extremely powerful way to bring in a steady stream of work
here’s who to reach out to to try and build relationships (first) and partnerships (later, once you’ve established a relationship and rapport):
- architects
- draftspeople
- builders, contractors, other trades you meet on site at projects
- cabinet makers (joiners, millworkers)
- handymen/people
- tiling and flooring suppliers
- bathroom fixtures/fittings suppliers
- appliances suppliers
- painters
- textile/window dressing suppliers
- lighting suppliers
- furniture, accessories and art suppliers
- other interior designers who have too much work on and would like additional help - or can send projects to you that may not fit the type of work they do
think about the list above - if you had relationships with a few from each category and you were passing work back and forth between you and recommending each other a few times a month think how many new leads you would be bringing in without any extra work required on your part
and the best thing about partnership referrals is that they come pre-qualified - most of these referrals will turn in to actual paying clients as there is already a trust and rapport that is automatically transferred via the partner who is referring
make sure you develop a reciprocal relationship - ensure you are sending work their way if they are sending work your way (or they will stop referring you!)
here’s some ideas for how to find potential partners:
- search local hashtags on Instagram
- use local building directories (e.g. HiPages)
- see who is commenting on posts in Facebook groups and reach out to them
- people you meet fulfilling client work (e.g. contractors engaged by other clients etc.)
- actually being open to finding people - if you have an open mindset of always being ready to build a new relationship you will be surprised at how many people you meet who have the potential to become a partner
- look on Houzz or other similar websites for people servicing the same area as you
- use good old Google searches!

⚠️ Warning: Lead with relationship building first - NOT with just approaching someone and wanting something from them.

There’s nothing worse than getting cold emails, calls or DMs from people who quite clearly have no work and want to piggy back off your success. Trust me I get these emails daily and I delete every single one of them!

Building partnerships is a strategy that takes a lot of effort on your part. It also takes time to build relationships and grow these to the point where people will be willing to send work your way.

But if you put in the effort it will definitely pay off in the long run and this is one of the core strategies I used to build my own interior design business.

✅ 3: Create a website that actually converts

make it easy for people to do business with you - most websites are way too wordy with no clear call to action
have a clear path to work with you (I had everything on my website pointing straight to an initial paid consultation including booking and payment system directly on my website)
don’t make people have to think too hard
if they are comparing your website with another designer and the other designer makes it easy to work with them (with all else being equal) - they will go with the other designer!
also make sure your website is mobile friendly and easy to read on phones and devices

💡💡 I share more tips on improving your website in this YouTube video if you need more help with this. 💡💡

✅ 4: Use Facebook groups strategically

join local Facebook groups and then answer every single question that comes up about design, renovating, building etc.
don’t answer in a spammy way offering your services - actually answer with free, helpful advice
become known in the groups as the person who knows everything about design and renovation - you build your profile, you show you’re an expert and you also show that you are friendly and generous
don’t spam your website or business details in the groups - this is how you’ll get removed and it feels spammy - but it is OK to throw in lines like ‘ in this situation my clients often find that….” or ‘I had this problem last week with one of my clients…” - those sorts of lines are enough to show you are clearly a professional and anyone who finds you helpful will look you up or message you about work.
trust me that this strategy works if you’re willing to put in the time and effort

There is more to this strategy to really get the most out of it - I share details in my lead generation short course.

✅ 5: Be exceptional

by far the best way to get more work is to be exceptional and deliver the best possible experience and outcome for your existing clients
the better the client outcomes from projects you are currently delivering the greater the chance of those people talking about you with their friends, family and work colleagues.
make sure you have systems in place to ask for referrals and reviews from former clients
there’s so many ways to be exceptional and improve the experience you are giving your clients. Here’s just a few ideas:
- make sure you onboard clients in an exciting way - and remember to send out a client welcome pack
- be generous with your time and knowledge - even during initial consultations where many designers feel they need to hold back their best ideas
- be on time and deliver work within time frames you have said you will (and ideally earlier)
- over deliver and over communicate - many client relationship breakdowns occur when there is a lack of communication or mismanaged expectations

If you want even more ideas for how to improve your client experience then - check out my short course ‘Upgrade your Client Experience’.

Another instant improvement you can make to your business today is to put together your Client Welcome Pack. Here’s one I’ve created for you - all you need to do is drop in your business information and start sending it out.

Most good designers get the bulk of their work from referrals (which is fantastic as it means you’re doing a great job).

BUT…the problem with this strategy is that many designers rely on client referrals as their only form new clients. They think their business is going to continue to always thrive on client referrals so they put no effort in to other lead generation strategies. If you’re working like this then you’re exposing your business to a lot of risk as you never know when that stream of referrals might slow down or even stop.

⭐️⭐️ The most important message I want to leave you with from this post is that lead generation is something that you should be consistently tackling from lots of different angles. ⭐️⭐️

Even if you’ve currently got more work on than you can handle you should still continue to work on lead generation so your sales pipeline is always full.

Want more interior design clients?

If you got value from this post then remember these are just some of the strategies you should be doing every day to ensure you have a steady stream of new leads coming in to your business all the time. ⁠

If you want to even more ideas that's what I unpack in my business short course - Lead Generation Strategies for Designers⁠