How to Attract Luxury Clients for Interior Design Projects

In our recent post on why you should want to attract luxury design project clients, our goal was to whet your appetite for seeking high-budget projects. Today we hope to offer tips for doing so; taking you to the next step with a sort of roadmap on how to attract luxury clients for design projects.

To help us with this task, we again refer to a recent article in the “For Pros” section at Houzz.com. The author of the article, Erin Carlyle, drew from information shared by Designer Wendy Glaister and Liza Hausman, vice president of Industry Marketing at Houzz, when they led a continuing education course for pros on just that earlier this year. This took place before the pandemic struck but, in the face of the economic turmoil that resulted, the information may be even more relevant now.

Stated simply, we believe recovering from the slow down of the economy caused by lockdowns and stay-at-home orders could be easier if you can appeal to this segment of your market. With this in mind, we offer the four tips for attracting luxury clients outlined in the article.

4 Tips for Attracting Luxury Design Clients

1. You’re only as good as your last photographed job. When potential clients are scanning your work on your business website, photos really matter. “This is a really competitive industry. If you have lackluster photos of a $100,000 kitchen, it’ll make it look like a $10,000 kitchen and that won’t get you anywhere in the luxury market,” Glaister said.

Because photos are so important, Glaister recommends specifying in your contract with a client that the project will be photographed – no opting out.

2. Luxury clients are buying you as part of the whole package. Glaister, whose demeanor is upbeat and frequently smiling, told a story about changing her profile photo on Houzz and Facebook. In the new photo, she was unsmiling and styled like a sleek, serious, accomplished designer – a photo of herself she quite liked.

But the reaction from her followers was swift and overwhelmingly negative. “People watch you a lot closer than you think,” Glaister said. She switched her photo back to a smiling one. Her anecdote is a good reminder that in the internet age your online presence … must reflect your professionalism and personal brand. Glaister’s brand was smiling, and followers didn’t like it when she veered from that.

Glaister takes care to use correct grammar and spelling in her online communications and to present a professional and wholesome image. “There are designers who are photographed with many cocktails during the week,” Glaister said. “Great for them. I have found to get a half-a-million [dollar] reno … that does not work.”

Houzz’s Hausman concurred. “You’re crafting a public image for yourself that’s going to bring in this clientele. You can be true to your personality and style, and this doesn’t mean you can’t be more whimsical. Clients want to know that you are a confident professional who is still creative and fun.”

Treat Luxury Clients Like the Special People They Are to You.

3. Just good enough isn’t good enough for luxury clients. Everything for luxury clients – from cabinets to tile layout to electrical installation – needs to be customized and special. Just standard or just OK isn’t going to cut it at this end of the market, Glaister said. You will also need to provide high touch service.

High-end clients may have especially strong opinions, and they may also like to shop. With budget not a major constraint, they may be more likely than lower-end clients to purchase items for the project that may or may not work with the design. Some luxury clients may also want to comparison shop the products that you’re proposing. If they come up with cheaper alternatives, you may need to let them purchase products themselves. “Be ready to let go of some markups and some spaces,” Glaister said.

All this adds up to the fact that with a luxury project, though you probably will be able to make something beautiful and unique, as a designer you may not feel like you have a blank check and carte blanche to execute your vision.

Often, clients in the luxury realm have gotten there because they’ve been smart about their money, Hausman points out. They may want to be relatively involved in the project to make sure they’re getting not only a beautiful result but also a good value. (Remember our post about value as your purpose in the aftermath of C-19?)

4. Details help create that luxury experience. In addition to creating personalized, custom projects for luxury clients, Glaister stressed the importance of paying attention to service details that make the experience of working with you feel luxe.

For instance, Modesto, California-based Glaister takes her clients in a limo to San Francisco twice a year. They have mimosas and treats and fruit. They see the San Francisco Decorator Showcase house or visit the latest exhibit at the de Young Museum or the Legion of Honor museum with a private docent. They go out to dinner in San Francisco and then head home with a bottle of wine and a box of chocolate. The clients love it.

Those twice-annual trips are a significant marketing expense and experience, but Glaister also keeps the luxury feel going in smaller ways. Everyone who hires her gets a handwritten thank-you note on embossed stationery after they decide to work with her.

For her project presentations, Glaister places samples of the selected tile, fabric, and furniture tear sheets in a beautiful box with a big bow. It’s fun for clients to open, and it’s a tax-deductible marketing expense.

On demo day and photoshoot day, Glaister always brings along white orchids. These little touches “elevate the brand” and help shape client experience in a positive way, she said.

We realize, of course, that all of these ideas sound good – in theory. In practice, some will likely be too costly for a smaller design house but, you can let the market determine that. Remember what we always preach, that all interior design is local and your area may be less expensive than the California Bay Area, for example.

If you're still struggling to figure out how to attract luxury clients in your marketplace, Ted’s business consulting services may be exactly what you need. He’s worked in the luxury furnishings and design industry from New York to Utah and has more than 25 years’ experience helping designers grow their business.

Curious if he can help you? Get in touch with TD Fall today.