Build Stronger Client Relationships with Mydoma’s New Client Experience  

This post is brought to you by our friends at Mydoma! Read the original post here.

Interior designers thrive on creating, not on managing the administrative demands of running a business. Enter Studio Designer Starter Powered by Mydoma’s new Client Experience, a revamped client portal for streamlined client management. This innovative feature enhances collaboration with clients, optimizing workflows and allowing designers to focus on their true passion: design.

With the tagline, “Spend less time managing and more time designing,” Ottawa-based Mydoma—acquired by Studio Designer earlier this year—offers solutions that benefit both designers and clients. The NEW Client Experience simplifies communication to keep clients informed without adding a complicated onboarding process for designers. This improved functionality of Mydoma ensures all team members have access to project information in one convenient location, paving the way for enhanced efficiencies and successful collaborations.

Key Benefits of Mydoma’s Client Portal

Inviting clients into your Mydoma studio offers significant benefits, such as streamlining client management, improving project communication, boosting client satisfaction, and transforming workflow. By providing convenience, consistency, and enhanced communication, while giving designers full control, this New Client Experience elevates collaboration for all parties. 

Convenience

When it comes to convenience, Mydoma offers clients seamless access to project information with a single login in one organized online space. Clients can access the information for which the designer granted them permission anytime, anywhere—whether it’s in the middle of the night, out on a job site, or on vacation. All they need is an internet connection. The best part? They can do this without needing to contact the designer. So even if the designer is inaccessible, clients get the information they need right away, making the process more convenient and efficient for all.

Clients can set alerts via email, text, or simply within the Mydoma platform to be notified when the designer adds new information, and the client can decide when they choose to access it. However, a good rule of practice is for clients to check Mydoma several times per week to ensure they don’t miss important notifications, and the project continues to flow smoothly seamlessly with no bottlenecks. 

Consistency

Mydoma brings consistency to designers’ workflow and enhances coordination by centralizing all project communication, contracts, payments, and more in your Mydoma studio. Thus, you eliminate the need to juggle emails, texts, and multiple platforms like Google Drive. Designers can create templates that streamline processes and facilitate client onboarding, ensuring a more efficient and consistent approach. As a result, you can deliver a higher level of service and a superior client experience. 

Communication

By conducting all communication within your Mydoma studio—including having clients sign contracts, complete tasks, approve proposals, and pay invoices—you maintain clear documentation of the entire project. Not only does this record of interactions and project touchpoints enhance overall transparency between client and designer, but this documentation becomes crucial just in case the project goes awry. Having consistent records at every step ensures you’re protected if challenges arise later. 

Control

A critical point to keep in mind is that Mydoma puts control in the designer’s hands. That means, as the designer, you set the boundaries and manage what your clients see and when. With complete control over project communication, you won’t feel pressured to respond to client texts late at night, on the weekends, or on vacation. With all vital data in the studio, clients can view content at their will. So you can rest easy, knowing everything is taken care of and you can address any queries when you are able.

Confidence

A smooth onboarding process with Mydoma’s New Client Experience will help to set the tone for the project. “Your client’s initial experience with your service is mission-critical,” notes Dixie Willard, the product manager for Mydoma and someone who has used Mydoma in her own design business since 2015. At a recent webinar where she shared the benefits of Mydoma’s New Client Experience and detailed the ease of onboarding, she said, “When your client’s onboarding experience makes them feel reassured that they’ve made that right decision [in choosing you as their designer], you can expect a long-term fruitful client relationship.” 

Simple Steps of Onboarding

Manually onboarding a new client to Mydoma can take about an hour, but most steps are repetitive and can be automated to save time. By automating key parts of the process, designers reduce their mental load, allowing for more focus on creative tasks like design. 

“We have created the all New Client Experience to make client onboarding super, super easy and super fast,” Willard explains. “We know that whether you’re doing a quick design project or a full-service 11,000-square-foot custom new built home, communicating with your clients is absolutely critical. The most difficult part is going to be documenting your design process from beginning to end.”   

A well-documented onboarding process ensures designers capture all essential details while seamlessly guiding clients through the platform. By presenting an organized and straightforward multistep onboarding method for Mydoma, designers instill confidence in their clients from the outset. 

Welcome

A warm welcome will kick off your relationship with your client on a positive note and boost their confidence in the relationship. After sending your client an invitation to join Mydoma, have an in-person sit-down or at least a video conference to initiate onboarding and walk them through the process.   

Mydoma provides a standard “welcome” message that designers can upload to the studio for clients, or you can create a custom message. As part of the initial onboarding, share a studio orientation video and detailed welcome packet that outlines what they can expect, so that they have all the information they may need available to them in the studio when they log on. Also, have clients complete an intake form to gather information about them. And be sure to show them how to find the help center in the studio with FAQs. 

Legal & Finance

After introducing the Client Portal, establish and share all legal details—including agreements, scope of work, policies, and procedures. Clearly outline your process, payment terms, timelines, and deliverables to set clear expectations and build trust. Ensure clients can easily review and approve documents, and allow them to e-sign in the studio.  

Be sure they understand when, how, and how much they will pay for each deliverable, and establish whether the initial deposit or retainer. Ensure the client’s project is “published” in the Mydoma studio so they can access all necessary details. And send the client your first invoice for the concept phase of your project. By providing comprehensive steps and transparent timelines upfront, you reinforce confidence and ensure a smooth project flow. 

Communication

The most critical component to any collaboration is communication. When onboarding clients, designate a specific contact on the design team for messages and/or create a dedicated chat room in your Mydoma studio in the messaging center to facilitate questions. Encourage clients to use the messaging center for all conversations so there’s a central location for dialog and everything is documented there. Share the mobile app so clients can review project details or reach out to the design team on the go. 

  Set clear expectations for response times, and let clients know when and how often they can expect updates. For example, set one a day per week for updates so clients know they can expect to hear from the design team on, say, Fridays so they can review any reminders or approvals over the weekend. 

Project Management & File Sharing

In your Mydoma studio, add your client to the project and any relevant views—even if those views don’t yet contain products. Create an initial to-do list, and assign tasks in the task manager, complete with due dates. Allow clients to ask questions or upload files related to specific tasks. This approach keeps communication organized and ensures that both you and the client are accountable.   

For file sharing, create dedicated folders for uploads, and grant clients access to these folders. You can request their approval on shared documents, and this space can also store specific deliverables like renderings and floor plans as the project progresses. 

Get Psyched!

The cornerstone of successful client onboarding lies in the enthusiasm you, the designer, exude—if you approach the process with positivity, your clients will mirror that energy. Conversely, expressing uncertainty or doubt can undermine your client’s confidence in the process.

Emphasize the benefits of Mydoma to clients: It not only keeps the design team organized but also simplifies the client experience by centralizing everything in one accessible hub online. What’s more, this platform streamlines communication and facilitates easy online payments and contract signing.

While adapting to a new system might seem daunting at first, effective onboarding and clear guidance on navigating the portal transform the experience into a straightforward and rewarding one for clients. This user-friendly online studio serves as a comprehensive, one-stop-shop for all project information, saving both clients and designers valuable time and effort. That’s definitely something to be excited about! Remember, your enthusiasm for the process is contagious.