Joana Galvao – Clients By Design

Clients By Design is a self-paced client acquisition course by Joana Galvao, an award-winning agency owner and branding expert. Drawing on more than a decade of experience, she presents a relationship-led approach to finding leads and turning them into clients without relying on expensive ads or daily content production.

The course runs for under two hours and includes videos and PDFs. Its approach combines referral outreach, lead tracking and sales conversations for designers, consultants, marketers and other service-based business owners.

Client acquisition skills in Clients By Design

• Master the art of client acquisition without relying on expensive ads.
• Implement a proven word-of-mouth referral strategy to enhance your network.
• Utilize effective email scripts for nurturing leads and maintaining relationships.
• Establish a structured sales pipeline template to track opportunities.
• Follow a clear 7-step formula for successful sales calls, boosting your confidence.
• Spend no more than 15 minutes daily on client engagement for maximum impact.

A relationship-led approach to finding clients

Galvao focuses on developing relationships with people in an existing network, including past clients, friends and partners. The referral approach pairs regular contact with adaptable email scripts, giving business owners a way to reconnect, encourage introductions and nurture potential opportunities.

Rather than depending on complicated funnels or frequent social posts, the method makes relationship-building a manageable part of a daily or weekly routine.

Tracking prospects and guiding sales calls

The course pairs outreach with a structured sales pipeline. It explains how to categorize prospects, keep important details together and schedule follow-ups so that each lead’s position is easier to see.

A seven-step sales call formula and accompanying scripts provide a roadmap for client conversations, including working toward a verbal yes before spending time on a proposal.

For freelancers, agencies and established businesses

Solo freelancers and small agencies can use the approach to organize prospecting alongside project work and client communication. The course presents short, focused outreach sessions as an alternative to treating lead generation as a constant task.

Established businesses can use the pipeline and referral system to bring more structure to follow-ups with warm prospects and maintain relationships that may lead to further collaborations.

Lesson 1: Bring in more leads

The first lesson introduces the word-of-mouth system used by Gif Design Studios to attract clients through its network. Galvao explains how to adapt the relationship-building approach to another business or industry without depending on ads, content marketing or a large social media budget.

The routine is designed to take 15 minutes a day or one hour a week. Six email scripts provide starting points that can be adapted for prospective leads and partners, including messages intended to open conversations and encourage referrals.

Lesson 2: Build your sales pipeline

The second lesson introduces a ready-to-use sales pipeline template for keeping lead information in one place. It helps organize who to contact, where a prospect stands and what follow-up is needed, rather than relying on scattered notes and old emails.

Sales email scripts complement the template at different points in the client journey. They cover introductions, follow-ups, qualification correspondence and scheduling calls, with adaptable outlines for maintaining a consistent, professional tone.

Frequently asked questions

What does Clients By Design cover?

The course covers word-of-mouth referrals, email outreach, sales pipeline management and a seven-step sales call formula. It also addresses follow-ups and organizing prospect information.

Who is the course for?

It is designed for freelancers, agency owners, designers, consultants, marketers and other service-based entrepreneurs. The approach can be used by people starting out as well as established businesses refining their client acquisition process.

What materials are included?

The downloadable materials include videos and PDFs, a sales pipeline template, six referral email scripts and sales email scripts for stages of the client journey.

How much time does the course and outreach approach require?

The self-paced course takes under two hours. Its referral approach is designed around up to 15 minutes a day or one hour a week.