Why Luxury Clients Aren’t Calling You

So you’ve watched all the luxury designers on YouTube and you know that it’s your dream to create interiors just like them, and you probably feel like you could design at that level right now. The only problem is that there is something you don’t know…

Let’s start with what luxury actually is, because the definition is different for everyone. In this post, I’m talking about projects in the multiple millions, where the design scope itself is often well over half a million. These are not first-time clients. They usually have multiple properties at this level. They’ve done this before. They know what they’re doing and more importantly, they know what luxury feels like.

The reality of those luxury designers and interiors that you love is that there is one key difference between them and you. They learned how to run small projects properly. That’s it. Yes, some designers had financial support, wealthy partners or families that allowed them to invest time and money into their businesses without needing to make it profitable straight away.

But if you don’t have that and most people don’t, you need your business to work. Which means you need small projects to work. Not just get through them, but actually make them profitable.

And if you try, you will go broke! Those designers who skipped that step often had someone else supporting them while they figured it out. If you don’t have that, you have to make your business work properly from the beginning. I started with zero projects and built a successful interior design and architecture business by making small projects profitable.

You can read more about my specific journey in my post: How I Built A Six Figure Interior Design Business In Year One. This is why I teach my SML (Small, Medium, Large) System.

It’s a different level of responsibility, a different way of thinking and a completely different way of running a project. If you try to apply one approach to everything, it doesn’t work and this is where most designers get stuck, get overwhelmed or go around in circles wondering why they can’t break through that project ceiling.

The thing with luxury clients is that they are experienced. They understand design at a different level, not just visually, but in how it feels to go through the process. Luxury is not just how something looks. It’s how it feels, how it sounds, how the experience unfolds. Most designers who aren’t ready for luxury clients think it’s about producing a “luxury look”, but it’s not. It’s about the entire experience of working with you.

And if you haven’t experienced that level yourself, you cannot deliver it. You need to see it, be around it, understand how it works, because it’s very different. It has very little to do with how something looks and everything to do with how it’s experienced.

There is also a practical reality. If you don’t know people who might become luxury clients, or who own properties at that level, it will be difficult to land those projects. Higher-value projects are built on trust, referrals and relationships.

If you’re not already in those circles, it’s unlikely you’re going to get a cold call from a high-net-worth client. They can afford the best, so they will go to the best, or someone they trust. But don’t let that put you off!

I wasn’t born into luxury circles. I grew up with very little and was the first person in my family to go to university and I still managed to work on high-end and luxury projects. I did that through networking, experience and learning how to operate at the right level.

I also became a luxury client after the success of my own design business, but I didn’t grow it with multi million pound projects, I actually grew my business predominantly with small and medium projects, so it is absolutely possible!

Most designers assume the problem is something visible. They think it’s their pricing, their portfolio, their experience or even the algorithm. And while those things can play a part, they are rarely the real reason. The real reason is much harder to see. It’s how you are running your business.

They are asking themselves whether you know what you’re doing, whether you can lead the project, whether you can handle problems and whether this is going to feel smooth and well managed and if f there is hesitation, they will sense it.

You might be capable, creative and full of ideas, but if your process isn’t clear, if your pricing feels uncertain, if your communication isn’t structured, you’re overdelivering or second guessing your own decisions. If you are still offering free discovery calls and finding yourself drained by the wrong people, it might be time to change your onboarding. I shared why I stopped doing them in this post: I Used To Give Discovery Calls… Until. Discovery calls are not for luxury clients and tehy’re not great for small projects either…

This is why aiming straight for luxury can actually slow you down. If you don’t know how to run a small project properly, how to structure it, price it and deliver it confidently, then a bigger project won’t fix that. It will expose it and highlight it.

The designers who move into better projects are the ones who know how to run projects properly at the level they are working at. If you want better clients, you don’t start by chasing them. You start by getting really good at the level you are at right now.

Learn how to run small and medium projects properly and profitably, because that is the foundation of a successful interior design business and projects! 

You don’t skip the steps. You build them. And when you do, you’ll find that the clients you’ve been waiting for start to see you differently. Not because your aesthetic suddenly changed, but because how you operate did.

If you’re not sure what’s wrong with your business right now, take our Interior Design Career Assessment and see where you currently lack the systems needed to scale to luxury and get a clear roadmap on how to fix it.

Jo Chrobak