If you’re running an interior design business and not yet using AI, you’re missing out on lots of benefit.

Tools like ChatGPT and Claude aren’t just there to spit out generic answers - they can help you make smarter (and more strategic) decisions and grow your business faster.

But AI is only as good as the prompts you give it.

If you just ask it for “marketing tips” or “how to get more clients,” you’ll get the same surface level advice everyone else is getting. The real magic happens when you use AI like a business strategy partner, guiding it with the right prompts to get detailed, actionable insights. That’s the way I use AI in my own business at the moment.

To give you some ideas I’ve put together six AI prompts you can copy, paste and tweak to fit your needs.

Tips for writing AI prompts

But before we get to the prompts, here are some tips you can use to get the best results from ChatGPT, Claude or whatever chat bot you are using:

Clearly state what you aim to achieve with each prompt
Make the prompts long and detailed - the benefit with AI is it doesn’t get bored by detail (like a staff member might!)
Offer background information about your business, target audience and/or market to provide context
Request detailed, step by step strategies
Use examples to illustrate what you’re looking for
Use the AI tool as a business strategy partner for brainstorming and generating creative ideas rather than for just spitting out information
Ask for different approaches or strategies to achieve the same goal
Ask for ideas that aren’t obvious or typical
Ask follow up questions to clarify and get more precise information
Specify any limitations or constraints within the prompt (budget, time, resources)
Treat the interaction as an ongoing conversation you might have with a business mentor
Use your brain and don’t just take what AI says at face value - combine it with your personal experience and industry knowledge

1: AI prompt for defining your ideal client

This prompt helps tailor your services, marketing and communication strategies to attract and retain the right types of clients, leading to higher quality projects with clients you enjoy working with.

Example prompt

I want to create a comprehensive persona for my ideal client. My business focuses on [high end residential projects, primarily serving clients in their 30s to 50s who value family friendly, functional design. Most clients are women]. Can you help me outline the demographics, psychographics, lifestyle preferences, design preferences, common pain points and key motivations of this ideal client? Also, provide suggestions on how my services can specifically address their needs and aspirations and what value I can offer them. This will help me to price my services and explain my value to them.

2: AI prompt to help with marketing

Use ChatGPT/Claude as a strategy partner to help you think through a detailed marketing strategy to help promote your design business and attract new clients.

Example prompt

Please act as my marketing consultant and help me write a detailed marketing strategy to grow my interior design business. I specialise in [residential interiors for high net worth clients who want a full service offering]. My target market are [affluent homeowners aged 35-55 living in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs]. First let’s outline a marketing plan that includes social media tactics for Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn plus content marketing ideas for my blog and YouTube channel. After that we will create an email marketing strategy and I will ask you to recommend local advertising methods or partnerships/collaborations that could provide me with lead generation opportunities. Let’s start with the social media tactics first...

3: AI prompt to do a website review

Use this prompt to do a website review. A strong website is a crucial tool for converting leads into clients.

Example prompt

I am an interior designer and want to improve my website to attract more high end clients. My website address is [ENTER]. Act as my website consultant and visit my website and read what is there.

Once you have done that please suggest innovative ways to improve the website including tips on layout, content, project descriptions or other ideas you have using industry standards and best practice.

4: AI prompt for client communication

Proactive and regular communication with clients will help you build their trust quickly. Use this prompt to create a weekly email update to help clients stay up to date. An email like this is also a good paper trail for your business risk mitigation.

Example prompt

I am an interior designer working on large residential projects with my clients. Create a flexible weekly project update email template that I can adapt weekly for each client. The template should start with a greeting, followed by a place to add a brief summary of the past week's progress. Include sections for completed tasks, new developments or decisions and a preview of upcoming work for the next week. Also create a section for addressing any potential issues or client concerns and a call to action for feedback or questions. Please also suggest any other parts of the template that may be helpful or that I have missed.

5: AI prompt to help stay ahead of industry trends

This prompt will help you gather specific and localised information about design trends and industry issues in your area.

Example prompt

I am an interior designer in [Sydney]. I work maingly with clients who [explain]. Provide a detailed analysis of the current trends and industry issues in the interior design market in [Australia for 2024]. Include information on trending design styles, products and innovations that are gaining traction locally. Also identify key industry challenges and opportunities specific to the [Australian] market. Highlight any significant upcoming events, such as design fairs, exhibitions or conferences that might be interesting for me. Finally, suggest ways I can leverage all of this information to improve my services and stay ahead of my competition.

6: AI prompt for scaling ideas

If you’ve hit capacity in your business and are now completely booked with clients use this prompt to help you plan your next phase in business.

Example prompt

I want to scale my interior design business to reach a larger audience and increase revenue. Act as a business strategy partner to help me find my way forward. This might involve giving me a step by step plan for expanding my team, including hiring strategies, role definitions and onboarding processes to maintain high service quality. Or it could be outlining how to develop and offer online services or products. To start with this discussion ask me 10 questions that will give you more information about my business and my aspirations moving forward and we can then brainstorm the best plan forward that will meet these goals and aspirations.

AI isn’t a replacement for expertise or original thought - but when used strategically, it can be a really powerful tool for productivity and business growth. Hopefully this post has given you some new ideas for how to think about your interactions with ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini.

Thanks for reading and catch you in my next post :)

Clare x

Dr Clare Le Roy

PS: If you enjoyed this then don’t forget to follow me @thelittledesigncorner for my daily tips on growing a profitable design or architecture business.

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