If you’ve checked in on Pearl Collective over the years, you may have seen an evolution in our contact page and the language around it. It’s been labeled “Hire Us”, “Apply For a Discovery Call”, and “Take The Next Step”, currently leading to a program application form that helps us determine if your business is a good fit for our interior design business coaching. This change in wording and forms hasn’t just been for fun or for variety. It’s a proven and effective strategy that attracts ideal clients via exclusivity and deters non-ideal clients via the additional work required and the self-filtering questions. The mistake designers fall victim to is assuming that making it as easy as possible to contact you will result in more clients. But what a lack of friction really does is invite low-fit leads, tire-kickers, and price-shoppers. In this article, we’ll share why qualifying design clients with applications is superior to using generic contact forms, and how using strategic friction can drastically increase your conversion rate among serious, high-budget clients.
The Lure of Exclusivity
Some designers are hesitant to throw up barriers between them and potential clients. But clients, especially high-net-worth ones, value the feeling of exclusivity that something as simple as an application can provide. A qualifying application positions your firm as one that doesn’t just take every project that comes their way. Working with you is a privilege that is not available to everyone. By interacting with this structured application form, it should be clear to prospects that you value your team’s time and expertise, and that they should too. Focusing on exclusivity can be a difficult mindset shift. It requires a mental shift from explaining, “This is why you should hire us” to asking, “Are you the right fit for our design studio?”
Qualities of a Good Design Application
Name, email, and a field for an applicant to put their message just doesn’t cut it. You need to go beyond this basic information and instead ask for specific data that can audit the fit before a phone call is even scheduled.
A good application form should include the following:
- Project scope and timeline: This can be as simple as asking what rooms or specific services the client is looking for, but the goal is to determine how large a project is and how it might fit in your timeline.
- Budget parameters: Provide several options for rough budget ranges. While you may feel that including many options is good, you can actually filter applicants out by what you don’t include. Make the lowest category your minimum budget range. Don’t bother with anything below that, or with a wishy-washy answer like “I Don’t Know”. Rather than manually excluding people with those answers, you can simply let them self-eliminate by being unable to select their desired answer.
- Decision-making structure: Ask who holds financial authority (especially important when working with couples or families) and whether they have worked with design professionals in the past. This information won’t necessarily disqualify someone, but it can reveal potential points of future friction that you can work to avoid.
- Alignment: Ask your prospect why they chose your studio over another so you can gauge their respect and appreciation of your work and your process.
After the Application
Applications must be reviewed, either by a human or with automated software. If you left in budget options that would disqualify someone who selected them, automated decline emails are an option. To add a human touch, you can include referral links to other local designers who might be more appropriate for the project. Either way, this application means fewer discovery calls with unqualified leads. Instead, you can only get on the phone with serious clients who fit the profile. When it comes time to take qualified clients to the next stage, try to do so within a few business days of the application, and send a tailored brief before the call, as well as a calendar invite. This needs to match their level of investment.
Overcoming the Fear of Lost Opportunities
Because many designers (and small business owners in general) suffer from a scarcity mindset, it’s easy to give in to the fear and accept every job that comes your way. But you need to address the fear that tightening the pipe will result in less flow. Losing your low-margin inquiries leaves more room for higher net profit projects. It’s all about quality over quantity. Do you want two highly lucrative projects, or a dozen little projects each with their own overhead to manage? Position the application not as a barrier to entry (even though it is) but rather as a commitment to potential clients that they will receive your full attention and that they are part of an exclusive inner circle.
True market authority is defined as much by who you don’t serve as who you do serve. Review your website’s contact form today: is it just a basic contact form or is it a true multi-step application with qualifying questions? Remove the generic text box and ask for specifics that actually inform the fit. And while you’re auditing your application form, consider raising your minimum project budget, just to see what kinds of clients you attract.