How to Get Better Architecture Clients
Most design professionals (architects, interior designers, decorators) - myself included - are so busy doing the work, we rarely take time to think about about how clients discover us… the process they navigate as they choose who to hire. We simply take what comes, respond to inquiries as they reach out. We’re overeager to be helpful and demonstrate our expertise.
If you’re like me, you’ve given away your most valuable asset (your expertise) for free, upfront, without any attempt to consider fit, budget, or even whether it’s a serious inquiry.
I’ve wasted countless hours on people who were never going to hire me.
The fact is, even if you think you don't think you have a client acquisition process, you have one. It just may be broken, inefficient, and attracting all the wrong clients!
The Hidden Cost of this "Non-Process"
I had a prospect reach out with what seemed like a dream project: 1000'+ of ocean frontage with an old saltwater farm on-site. He loved Tom Kundig's work and that was to serve as inspiration for a Corten-clad art gallery and entertaining space to house his extensive Keith Haring collection. Amazing opportunity, right? He was very descriptive and enthusiastic about the design goals (I was too!) but equally vague about his budget and he kept deflecting when I asked about the timeline.
Despite these red flags, I moved ahead, visiting the site multiple times, sketching rough concepts for him, and eagerly replied to every emailed idea.
A few weeks later, as I circled back on a start date and my contract again, he replied that he had decided to, "put the project on hold indefinitely."
Leaving me with nothing but many hours (!!!) of (now) unbillable work.
I’m ashamed to admit that this was hardly the first time this had happened. It had become a pattern at this point.
I’d regularly receive emails like:
"We want to build a vacation home. What do you charge?
“We’re in town for the weekend meeting with realtors. Can you walk some properties we’re considering tomorrow? We're pressed for time as there are other offers pending."
"We have a design in mind already, just need a floor plan to get a permit. Hoping to start construction next month."
Early days I would jump at the chance to prove my worth to a prospect who hardly knew anything about me or what I charged, saying yes to nearly every request that came in. “Sure, I can walk your site on July 4th weekend, I’d be glad to!” (True story.)
You're Training Clients to Devalue Your Work
When you make yourself completely available and give away expertise for free, you're signaling to others that your time and knowledge aren't very valuable.
My "non-process" was actually a process, it was just a flawed one that meant:
Wasted Time: Hours spent on calls, site visits, and meetings with prospects who weren't serious or a good fit
Misaligned Projects: Taking on work that didn't inspire me or capitalize on my strengths
Burnout: Spreading myself too thin, sacrificing quality over quantity
Bad-Fit Clients: Attracting people who didn’t value my work or respect my time
So, realizing something needed to change, I started experimenting.
Customized Emails: I sent detailed, personalized emails to each inquiry, outlining my services and process. While this added a personal touch, it was incredibly time-consuming and actually invited more questions.
Informational PDFs: I created a PDF brochure anyone could download. It saved me time but I had no way of following up with those who downloaded it and it didn't fully convey the unique value of my services.
Waitlists: I tried creating a waitlist for interested prospects, thinking it would create urgency and help me prioritize serious inquiries. But without proper qualification, or retainers I ended up with a list full of unvetted leads who flaked out when their "turn" came up.
Personalized Phone Consultations: I offered personalized phone calls to discuss potential projects. This helped build rapport but often led to scheduling challenges and still consumed a lot of time (usually much more than the 30-minutes I allotted) with prospects who weren't the right fit. It also invited the same requests for site visits or brain-picking sessions.
None of these fully addressed the problem and some actually made things worse! I was still giving away my expertise for free, just in different formats.
A realization
I was deep into research for a new car. Like most buyers, I wasn’t ready to talk to a salesperson yet, I just wanted information. I downloaded spec sheets, combed through subreddits and downloaded buyer’s guides as part of that process.
And I realized: this is exactly how prospective clients approach significant purchases too (like hiring an architect). They’re curious, but not committed. They want to understand the process, the cost, and what working with you looks like, without having to get on a call.
If you don't have the information they need readily available, they'll continue searching until they do and often that means finding it on your competition’s site.
Offering a downloadable resource - a buyer’s guide - that explains your process and pricing, and asking for an email in return, does two things. It positions you as the expert professional and filters out casual browsers. It signals to the serious leads that they’re in the right place.
A better system
So I got to work making my own branded “buyer’s guide.” Over time, I renamed it to be more aligned with how I want my ideal client to see their project as an investment. Thus, the Investment Guide. Over the years, I created an automated system to collect email addresses, deliver the guide, and follow up with them over time. This automation has saved me countless hours of answering the same questions over and over and it’s led to better aligned clients with better projects that I’m actually excited to work on.
Knowing that most people try to find answers on their own before reaching is important when consider the traffic to your website each month too. Ask yourself (if you don’t already know) how many people visit each month? A hundred? A thousand? Now, how many of those visitors actually reach out to you? Probably very few, right? But some of those visitors could be your next client. Ideally, you want to turn those casual visitors "just browsing" into "new leads" for your practice.
To do that, I needed a system to capture those visitors and follow up on a set schedule. In the marketing world, this is a common lead generation strategy. Offer something of value in exchange for an email and then build a qualifying process automation on the back end.
To illustrate how effective this can be: in the last 30 days, I had 12,000 visitors and collected 853 contacts from four dedicated pages on my website. That's 853 people I can begin educating about: who I help, what I charge, how long it will take, and how they can take the next steps if they're a good fit.
Most of them I don't ever engage with. With an automated follow-up process designed to help them self-qualify, most realize we're not a good fit to work together. This saves me so much time! No more answering the same rote questions over and over. No more guessing whether they're going to balk at my fees or want to get started 'next week'. No more free site walks.
From This...
"We want to build a vacation home. What do you charge? Can you walk the site with us tomorrow?"
To This...
"I've read through your Investment Guide and understand your process and fees. Our project aligns well with your expertise, and we're ready to move forward when you have availability."
The difference? A system that prequalifies leads, builds trust by clearly explaining your process and pricing, elevates your brand, and automates the manual work of qualifying new clients.
What this could look like for you
Imagine no longer wasting time in email threads that go on forever, or taking consultation calls that go nowhere. You meet the client at their site ONLY after they've passed your automated pre-screening process and you've determined the project goals, aesthetics, budget and program are reasonably aligned.
The system I built has generated multiple six figures for my business each year. At minimum it saves about 2 to 5 hours a week. No more back-and-forth with people who can't afford your services or aren't serious about moving forward.
I created the Investment Guide Toolkit to help other design professionals save time using my exact setup. It bundles all my learnings into templates and video lessons designed to help you implement the very same system in your practice.
You could build something similar yourself, absolutley. Start with the questions you answer repeatedly, organize that information into something comprehensive, and require prospects to engage with it before contacting you.
Or, use what I've already built and tested.
Either way, stop training prospects to devalue your work by giving it away for free. I hope this helps you start attracting the projects you actually want to work on.
What You Get with the Investment Guide Toolkit
The Investment Guide Toolkit helps you build your own branded process to attract and identify the right clients with confidence and transparency:
✔ Get more leads on autopilot - Turn website visitors into qualified prospects
✔ Screen out bad fits before they waste your time - Let automation handle the vetting
✔ Show clients how you work - Build trust through transparency
✔ Educate on cost, schedule, and expectations - No more surprise reactions to your fees
✔ Set a premium tone from the first touchpoint - Attract clients who value quality
What's Included:
Beautifully designed graphics, editable Investment Guide template
Instructional video lessons showing you exactly how to implement the system
Automation workflows for seamless delivery and follow-up
Email templates for consistent communication
BONUS: My Welcome Guide onboarding system for new clients (automated next steps)
what others are saying…
"After a few weeks of hard work on it, the automation + investment guide is officially in place! Thanks for your guidance. It would have taken me years to figure it out by myself." – Jean-Michel H., Architect
"Running a small practice means wearing a lot of hats...The Investment Guide Toolkit gave me a simple system for bringing in new projects. It's like having a virtual assistant." – Maria K., Architect