Designers aren’t just hired for taste. They’re hired for how working with them feels. When you design a client experience that’s thoughtful, consistent, and emotionally resonant, you transform your services into something clients remember, refer, and return for.
What is Client Experience?
Client experience is the sum of every interaction a client has with your business, from the first touchpoint to an inquiry and further to post-project follow-up. It goes beyond basic customer service – it’s about delivering a seamless, enjoyable, and results-driven journey that turns clients into long-term advocates.
For design professionals, architects, and decorators, client experience is the critical key to building a reputation, securing referrals, and ensuring repeat business.
The best client experiences are intentional. They’re built on clarity, consistency, and an understanding of client needs. This is where service productization plays a crucial role – by defining clear deliverables, timelines, and communication strategies, you can create a structured, efficient, and scalable experience that enhances both client satisfaction and operational efficiency.
Signature Experiences are just the starting point. To truly elevate your services and stand out as the go-to expert, you need to intentionally shape each phase of your client journey—from the first inquiry to the final handoff and beyond.
Here’s how to design a client experience that drives loyalty and business growth.
Designing a Client Experience That Builds Loyalty and Growth
Begin With Emotion: What Should They Feel?
Before mapping your processes, decide how you want your clients to feel at each stage. Confident when they discover you. Empowered when they sign the contract. Heard throughout the project. Celebrated when it’s complete. Supported long after.
Designing client experiences is about engineering those feelings – on purpose. Every email, proposal, and meeting is an opportunity to reinforce your values and elevate your brand.
Map Their Journey From Their Perspective
Step into your client’s shoes. Break down the client journey into stages: discovery, inquiry, onboarding, delivery, offboarding, and follow-up, and think through what they’re experiencing at each point.
Ask:
- What do they want or need to know?
- What emotions are they navigating?
- What might make them hesitate or move forward?
Typically, a person about to make a high-ticket purchase needs multiple layers of reassurance before saying yes. They want to feel confident that they’re choosing the right partner, that the process will be smooth, and that the outcome will be worth the investment. That’s why, you content at this stage needs to highlight your professionalism and answer their questions – whether they ask them or not!
Truly understanding their perspective is where standout experiences begin.
Identify Key Touchpoints & Make Them Count
Touchpoints are moments that influence perception: emails, proposals, meetings, handoffs. Each one shapes your client’s impression of your business. These should be more than functional—they should be intentional.
When designing your touchpoints, think about two layers: the seamless process and the unexpected magic.
On the process side, make sure you’re collecting information efficiently, guiding decisions clearly, and removing friction at every step. For example:
- Use smart intake forms to gather project details upfront.
- Automate calendar bookings to reduce back-and-forth.
- Offer a client dashboard where everything is in one place.
On the magic side, layer in human moments that surprise and delight:
- A personal note tucked into your welcome packet.
- A thoughtful gift that speaks to their personality.
- A voice message instead of just another email.
When done right, these touchpoints feel like care – not process.
Proactive Communication & Expectation Management
Clear and consistent communication is the backbone of a great client experience. Clients should never feel left in the dark.
Regular updates, whether through weekly check-ins or structured email reports, ensure that clients stay informed about progress. Transparency in challenges means addressing potential delays or changes early, keeping trust intact. Defined client communication tools and channels, such as Slack, email, or dedicated portals, streamline interactions and reduce misunderstandings.
Systemize to Deliver Consistently
Even the most thoughtful experience will fall flat without consistency. Build systems that support you in showing up the same way, every time. This includes:
- Email automations for onboarding, updates, and offboarding
- Project timelines and dashboards visible to clients
- Templates for every document or message
- Task checklists that ensure no detail is missed
Having a system doesn’t make your client experience feel robotic… it’s what allows you to deliver a thoughtful, high-touch experience every time, without reinventing the wheel or dropping the ball.
Personalize Where It Matters Most
The best systems create space for personalization. Call your clients by name. Reference their goals. Send a handwritten thank-you when you wrap a project. Share a resource tailored to their needs.
But, personalization isn’t just about names and gifts, it’s also about providing the right information at the right time. For example, if your client has been asking specific questions, you could gift them a guide that answers them (and while you do it, use the guide for future clients too).
Communicate Like a Pro, Especially When It’s Uncomfortable
Nobody enjoys sharing bad news. But in client relationships, silence is far riskier than honesty. Projects shift, suppliers miss deadlines, samples arrive wrong – it’s part of the business. What matters isn’t avoiding problems; it’s showing that you can handle them with calm and clarity.
Clients don’t lose trust when something goes off-plan. They lose trust when they’re left wondering what’s going on. When you’re upfront early and bring solutions with you, it shows that you’re in control and committed to protecting their investment.
You don’t have to overexplain or apologize for every small hiccup. What you need most is composure. A simple update like, “The fabric shipment was delayed, but I’ve already sourced an alternate option to keep us on schedule,” tells your client everything they need to know: you’ve got it handled.
The way you communicate in those tense moments defines the client experience. It’s leadership in action. It builds more trust than flawless execution ever could because it shows who you are under pressure—steady, transparent, and capable.
Great experience isn’t about perfection. It’s about how safe your clients feel in your hands, even when things get messy.
Set Expectations Early (and Protect the Relationship)
Every great client experience starts with clarity. When expectations are clear, clients relax. When they’re not, tension builds fast.
Your clients want to feel taken care of, not confused. They need to know what’s included, what’s not, how things move forward, and how to reach you when they have questions. Think of it as designing peace of mind.
Lay everything out from day one. Explain how communication works, what they’ll receive and when, how revisions are handled, and what the payment process looks like. When clients know what to expect, they stop guessing and start trusting.
This doesn’t have to feel cold or transactional. Clarity is kindness. It protects both sides and keeps your creative energy focused on what you do best – delivering an incredible result.
Always be Guiding – and Refining
A strong client experience isn’t about letting clients lead the way, it’s about guiding them with confidence from the very first touchpoint to the final handoff.
Your clients come to you because they trust your eye, your process, and your ability to make decisions that move them closer to their goals. They don’t want to manage the project; they want to feel guided through it. That sense of direction is what creates safety and trust.
At Aveny, our POV is simple: you are the guide your clients need; always be guiding. Every email, update, and deliverable should remind your clients that they’re in capable hands. Leadership doesn’t mean being controlling, it means anticipating what they need before they know they need it, and gently steering the process forward with clarity and care.
And just as you guide your clients, you should also keep refining how you guide. The best client experiences evolve. Make it a habit to pause after each project and ask what worked, what didn’t, and what could feel smoother next time. A single tweak can elevate the entire journey.
Service Productization for Clarity and Consistency
Productizing services means turning them into clear, repeatable offerings with set processes, pricing, and deliverables. This removes ambiguity and ensures that clients know exactly what to expect, as do you and your team. A well-structured service minimizes scope creep, reduces misunderstandings, and improves overall satisfaction.
- Defined Packages & Pricing – Offering tiered service options with transparent pricing.
- Structured Workflow – Establishing clear project phases and milestones.
- Deliverable Timelines – Setting realistic deadlines and sticking to them.
- Client Portals & Dashboards – Providing real-time access to project progress.
Read more about how to productize your services for better client experience!
Thoughtful Follow-Up & Post-Project Care
Client experience doesn’t end when the project is completed. A well-planned follow-up strategy strengthens relationships and encourages referrals.
A final walkthrough and satisfaction check ensure that all deliverables meet expectations. Post-project surveys provide valuable feedback, helping to refine future services. Exclusive offers for returning clients create incentives for continued collaboration, fostering long-term loyalty.
Lastly: Empower Your Team to Deliver the Same Standard
If you’re not the only one delivering the experience, your team becomes the bridge between your vision and your client’s reality. Every email they send, every update they deliver, and every handoff they manage shapes how your brand feels to the client.
Don’t assume they’ll “just get it.” Great experiences are consistent because they’re intentional. Give your team the tools, training, and language they need to uphold your standard of care. Build internal playbooks, document your workflows, and review them regularly so everyone knows not just what to do, but how to do it in a way that reflects your brand values.
Your team isn’t just behind the scenes – they are the experience. When they’re confident, aligned, and supported, your clients feel it instantly.
Leveraging Technology to Enhance Client Experience
Of course, technology is a huge part of the experience, as it streamlines the client journey, making interactions more efficient and enjoyable. Here are a few technologies that you should look into:
- CRM Systems – Managing client interactions, tracking project status, and automating follow-ups.
- Project Management Tools – Platforms like Asana or Trello for transparent task tracking.
- Automated Email Flows – Ensuring timely communication throughout the project lifecycle.
- AI-powered Personalization – Using data-driven insights to tailor recommendations and updates.
If you need more guidance on how to select the tools and implement your signature experience, get in touch!
Measuring and Refining Client Experience
So, how do you measure the experiences? One thing for sure is that when your client experience is well-thought-out, you will have fewer headaches. Keep a diary of the trouble you have with clients, and you’ll notice that they get fewer. Of course, there will always be some situations, but that’s how you learn where you need to tighten your settings! You should also measure client satisfaction. Here are a few metrics to keep an eye on:
- Client satisfaction surveys capture structured feedback post-project, revealing strengths and areas for improvement.
- Referral and repeat business rates indicate the success of relationship-building efforts.
- Online reviews and testimonials offer insights into client perceptions and provide valuable social proof.
- Internal performance audits review project timelines, communication effectiveness, and potential process improvements.
Prioritizing client experience is not just about delivering great service – it’s a strategic growth tool. By productizing services, streamlining communication, and leveraging technology, design professionals can create an experience that keeps clients coming back and referring new business.
The result of a well-designed client experience? A stronger reputation, a more efficient workflow, and sustainable business growth.
One thing I’d like to add: When designers start to think about their client experiences, they often default to thinking about the premium gifts and luxury moments they could add to elevate their services. While premium gifts are a great idea when they make sense, by simply making the experience seamless and delivering what you promised, communicating consistently, and guiding your clients towards their dream result, that’s often enough to position your business ahead of the competition…
Your Experience Is Your Brand
No matter what your website or portfolio says, your brand is built by how clients feel working with you. If you want to become the number one choice, don’t just perfect your design work. Perfect how you guide your clients through it.
Client Experience Is the New Marketing (Especially in the Age of AI)
