Growing your business by adding on clients feels great―until it doesn’t. If you’re not careful, you might build up a client base of the wrong people, and even though money is coming in, you’re burned out and too busy to expand in the ways you need to. That’s because while your business was busy leveling up, your brand voice kept speaking to the same people you wanted to attract three years ago. To attract the kind of powerhouse client you need, you need to change the language you’re using.
It’s not uncommon in the interior design industry, or really any creative industry. Those first few clients are often the most difficult to land, so to make ends meet, you create exceptions. You accept a lower rate, you take on a type of project that you wouldn’t normally, or you position yourself as a helper rather than an expert. In this article, we’ll go through some of the traps that many designers fall into with their brand voice, and how to get out of them and attract clients that will pay more, take less of your time, and make you truly enjoy the work you do.
Dabbler Language
When your business is new (and even as it grows!), you may feel like an imposter, or like you don’t deserve to be in charge of designing people’s homes. This is common, and the feelings are valid, but the real problem arises when it leaks into your marketing and sales language. A few subtle shifts can make a big difference.
- If you say you like to “fix things”, instead say that you like “create things”. This moves your brand from refining something that’s already there to starting with a blank slate.
- If you say you “would love to help you with your home”, instead say “I would love to design your home.” This shifts you from a helper role to a leader role, solidifying who will actually be pushing the design choices forward.
- If you say you can “work with any budget”, instead say “these are my rates for these services”. If you give discounts or exceptions to clients, you may get stuck doing it forever. If you give a client a lower rate, and they refer you to a friend because you were so affordable, you’ll either have to offer that same low rate or risk losing the client.
Using this people-pleasing language will land you clients who think they can squeeze as much as they want out of you. Stand your ground! It will also attract indecisive or slow clients who are focused more on price than on the final product. They will also see you more as a helper than an actual expert. If you want to be seen as the expert, you’ll need to act like it and talk like it.
Moving the Business Beyond You
Outside of just attracting clients, there is an important language shift that will aid your business in the long term. If you are the founder of the business, you probably see it as your baby, and letting go sounds awful. But eventually, you will want to step away―either due to age or other life changes―but there is no reason to shut your doors just because you’re personally done. You can sell the business, either to an outside entity or to an employee whom you’ve mentored into taking on the firm.
Prepare yourself, your employees, and your clients for this eventual transition by making small shifts in language. Instead of “I”, say “we”. It’s not “me” or “my business”, it’s “the firm”. This has more immediate benefits, too. If a client recognizes that the business is more than just you, they will be more likely to reach out to the appropriate employee rather than calling you late at night! Being the single point of failure, or the bottleneck through which everything flows, is a recipe for disaster. Even if you’ve created great internal systems that alleviate these issues, it’s good to reflect this reality in the language you use, with employees and with clients.
Speaking Their Language
Whatever your ideal client is, you need to speak their language and appeal to what they want. And to do that, you need to actually understand what they want! Start by creating an ideal client profile, and really dive into your research to challenge your expectations. Talk to past clients (or just people you know) who resemble this ideal client, and see what they value. For example, affluent clients tend to care less about your pricing, but base their decision on how well they get along with the designer, the designer’s commitment to privacy, and the designer’s ability to curate unique pieces.
You may need to reframe your selling points. While it is true that you “love designing beautiful homes”, that doesn’t really mean anything to most clients. Instead, you can say that you “create functional and beautiful spaces for busy executives to relax and recharge in after a busy day” or “create spaces where families can grow together for generations”. Be aspirational, and when possible, be specific. You can further appeal to your ideal client by projecting confidence. Don’t waver, and speak with authority when discussing timelines, investment amounts, and materials suggestions. You don’t need to lie or be stubborn, but be bold in your statements!
How to Upgrade Your Voice
Depending on your ideal client, auditing and upgrading your brand voice may look different. However, there are a few things that your average higher-paying, no-nonsense client will appreciate, almost universally.
If you don’t already have them, create case studies of successful projects. While it might be tempting to highlight key furniture pieces or creative decisions, these will not always be the highlights the client wants to hear about. Think of it this way: they have eyes! They can clearly see your previous work and how beautiful it is. But basically every designer has created beautiful spaces. You need to sell your ideal client on the less-tangible but critical elements that you excel in. So instead of focusing on the design itself, highlight how you maximized a limited budget, how you handled sourcing during supply chain disruptions, and how certain aspects of your design helped the homeowners live more efficiently or comfortably, or simply how you made their dreams come true.
On social media, be aware of the audience you seem to be speaking to. Depending on your audience, influencer-style personal stories that you filmed with your phone might not be cutting it anymore. It might be that your ideal client wants to see expert deep dives into things affecting the design industry, like tariffs and luxury trends. These things will impact their work with you.
Finally, look for informal language scattered around your branding. A simple “DM me for info” on Instagram may work for more casual clients, but if you’re trying to attract a more sophisticated clientele, this could be a turnoff. Consider rephrasing to “Apply for a Discovery Call”, for example. This does a few things. Obviously, the language is more formal. But beyond that, it is a subtle signal to clients that you are a valuable and limited resource, and it filters out clients who need constant hand-holding. It’s a small (but real) investment in time to fill out an application, so those who see that as too much of a commitment won’t even bother. These aren’t the clients you want, so you don’t mind that they don’t bother engaging with you.
Shifting your brand voice goes well beyond just marketing. It’s all about perception, including your own perception of yourself. Don’t be afraid to filter out non-ideal clients through the words you use, because you’ll end up attracting your ideal clients. And ideal clients will lead to increased happiness, free time, and revenue! But you don’t need to reinvent the wheel―sign up for a Discovery Call with us, and see if Pearl Collective can give you what you need to reach the next level in your business.