Interior Design Options Online – Overcoming Online Competition

If there is one thing we have all learned about potential clients who spend time “researching” interior design options online it is this: the internet provides them with just enough information to make them dangerous, to themselves and us. In other words, regardless of how much time a consumer may spend online before they decide to buy, they really have little to no idea of what is truly possible for relieving their pain points or satisfying their interior design needs.Overwhelmingly, the online competition you face as a designer is based on price: cheaper furnishings, wall coverings, draperies, and rugs or carpeting. Of course, by doing this, today’s consumer may base their decisions on what they read and research online without consulting an actual expert. In fact, they’re encouraged to think that the “advice” they receive online is as good as that of someone with years of training and experience. As a result, they impatiently browse for a bit before clicking the “order” button.Online purchases like these can be misguided and are always impersonal, which frequently costs the consumer more money in the long term.As an interior designer you have a distinct advantage over your competition from online sellers and resellers who focus exclusively on price – you are face-to-face with the client. Nothing can beat building a relationship, the more personalized the better, and online stores are simply too impersonal to make the type of powerful impression that you are capable of making.

Be the Design Expert Your Client Needs

Although many consumers have shifted their attention to online sellers, nothing beats one-on-one consultation with a designer or retail personnel who can provide highly personalized advice on quality furniture that would accurately reflect their lifestyle and image. In order to do so, a designer or seller would need to first take a shift in perspective; moving from merely “making a sale” to offering the satisfaction of creating and fulfilling a design concept that satisfies the needs of the client.Regardless of market niche, today’s savvy consumer wants true value for their money. Therefore, the equally savvy designer must suggest that luxury furnishings can be a long-term investment that can go beyond generations and will never go out of style. In addition, high-end furniture is a direct reflection of a business or a person’s image that would certainly make a statement to prospective business partners, employees, friends, or family. Finally, quality sets or pieces can be sold again through online consignment shops and can still command a respectable price.Click here for tips on Helping Clients Focus on High-Value Improvements.Looking for more new design trends, marketing tips, and ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.

The Key to a Successful Design Business – Selling Value Over Price

At TD Fall & Company, our goal is to help designers by providing innovative solutions for their interior design challenges. We do this by providing you with access to outstanding products that will empower you to fulfill your client's dreams, enabling you to build a successful design business.Perhaps foremost among those challenges for most designers is the struggle with trying to convince their clients of the true value of buying a higher quality product that really belongs in their homes. From flooring to wallcoverings and from window treatments to upholstered furniture, many design clients become fixated on cost with little regard for value.There are basically two ways to handle this particular challenge:

• Target better – Create an ideal client profile that is based on your market research. In a perfect world, you would generate a client list for whom “money is no object”. In the real world, however, you’ll need to be a bit more practical. A well-researched and thought-out ideal client profile is a tool you and your team can use to identify the specific segment of customers that will bring you the best business. Then, once you begin focusing on certain types of clients, you're likely to attract more of them. As the old adage goes, “Birds of a feather flock together”, and referrals from such clients will help to bring you more of your ideal clients.
• Sell better – Known as “upselling” among professional salespeople, you must learn to create a compelling story that will convince your design clients to buy quality over price every time. Not only will this put more money in your pocket, you’ll also build your reputation as a designer who focuses on value, creating a greater sense of client satisfaction and trust, while increasing the odds of more of those referrals we mentioned above. Making an investment in a quality sales training program would certainly help with this approach.

Ultimately, your goal must be to sell the value and the benefits of your product or service to your customer. This can only be done by keeping your focus on explaining and expressing the impact of the choices they make on the client. If you focus on the benefits and value of a higher quality product, the price will become less and less important. If you don't focus on value, the only thing you can talk about is price – playing right into their perceived need to resist the more expensive options you present.Building your sales skills will have long-term benefits that are difficult to quantify; which is also true of researching your market and creating an ideal client profile. Both will generate increased confidence in your ability to “close the deal” with more prospects, even those who don’t match the profile.Regardless of your talents and skills as an interior designer, if you're a small business or solopreneur, you must accept that your ability to analyze your market and sell to a variety of prospective clients will determine whether you are able to build and sustain a successful design business.Click here for tips on Analyzing Your Market.Click here for tips on Helping Clients Focus on High-Value Improvements.Looking for more new design trends, marketing tips, and ideas? Get in touch with TD Fall today.