Read this Free Report for
Anyone
Considering
Becoming or
Hiring an Interior Designer or
Decorator...
Becoming or Hiring an Interior Designer or
Decorator...
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You may already have the attributes necessary for a successful interior-design career and may be considering this type of employment or desire to own your own interior-design business sometime in the future. Review the following to see if you could be successful with a lucrative design career.
Interior Designer?
Interior design and decorating is a people business. Customers whom you will work with on decorating and designing their interiors will run the gamut in preferences for different types of styling, color favorites, fashion consciousness, and general wants and needs. Customers will vary culturally and economically in their attitudes, personalities, and lifestyles. Ask yourself the following questions to determine if you would make a good interior designer:
If you answered positively to the above questions, you should consider design school (a list of schools can be found in the appendix of our book Start Your Own Interior Design Business and Keep It Growing!) and also read our books, Secrets of Success for Today's Interior Designers and Decorators and Start Your Own Interior Design Business and Keep It Growing. All of these books are listed at the end of this report. Start Your Own Interior Design Business... is full of ideas even for non-entrepreneurial, non-business-owning designers. It tells you how to be successful with an interior-design career. Both books give you a true overview of what to expect in this business.
Are you considering hiring a designer for your next design project? If so, review the following key information to achieving successful results in working with an interior designer.
Before hiring a designer, sit down and decide what exactly you expect from the designer regarding the design project and what do you want them to do for you. Jot down notes on the following areas:
If possible, try to have a designer or decorator come to your home or business to help you with the design project. Review the differences below between an interior designer and decorator.
An interior decorator is usually educated in interior design, works on commission only and therefore, earns a percentage of what you purchase without charging you an hourly rate. They offer suggestions, solutions, and will be able to show you the latest selections in a wide range of fabrics and products. Decorators can be more experienced than designers, due to having a constant stream of customers, day in and day out. Insist on a very educated and experienced decorator if you decide to work with a decorator. They are usually people oriented. Some companies will hire people with sales experience and you may be one of their first decorating customers. They may not know anything about interior design and they will fake it until they make it at your expense.
A true interior designer is educated in interior design and works on an hourly rate plus usually a percentage of their sales. They may not offer you as low prices as others but they usually offer sound suggestions, ideas, and solutions. For a cost, you can have the designer make up boards of their ideas, selected samples and suggestions.
Before starting your hunt for a decorator or interior designer to work with, decide what level of service you are seeking and get a overview of the interior-design business. You may be confident in your taste and abilities to get the desired look on your own after reviewing Successful Window Dressing and Interior Design, or Secrets of Success for Today's Interior Designers and Decorators. If so, do it. This is what to expect from a competent decorator and/or designer:
Consultation only:
Some designers can be employed for consultation only. They
come to your home and work with you
by the hour, take notes, give you suggestions and ideas on what
to buy, estimate yardage requirements
and consult with you on possible sources for you to use to obtain
the items. They can put together design
boards, outline furniture purchases, select fabrics and colors.
You may decide to purchase the
better-quality items through them, while buying some of the more
seemingly overpriced items elsewhere.
This is a great way to get ideas and save money. But you will
have to do all the buying through other
decorators or specialty shops or sources, make all the decisions,
and coordinate all of the installations
regarding the project. This is a good design plan to use, because
a good designer will attempt to prevent
you from purchasing the wrong-quality product or the wrong
items.
Design firms:
Designers with their own design studios or firms have access
to most of the design market and will
try to find the right items for you (you will be charged
accordingly, and this will cost you a lot of money if
they are doing much legwork). I say most, because many furniture
vendors will not sell to firms that are
not "stocking dealers." Stocking dealers must keep a certain
amount of the vendor's furniture as floor
samples and buy so much per year from selective vendors to retain
buying rights (larger furniture stores
that carry certain brands of furniture fit into this
category).
Smaller firms pray that your project goes in well the first installation attempt. You will probably buy here at a lower price, and wait a minimum of time for the products to be installed. Insist on name-brand products that are warranted by the manufacturer.
Department-store decorators:
Decorators employed by large department stores are confined to
show you samples of the line that
they carry. They do not have access to anything else. However,
most department stores carry
well-rounded lines of products. Since a large department store
with many stores across the nation are
huge accounts, some vendors will come out with new products and
give the department exclusive rights to
that product for a time period.
At larger stores, you'll usually pay more, wait longer, but generally be sold proven products that the store's buyer knows they can guarantee. Larger stores have a reputation to uphold and will also usually give you some service or until you are satisfied or you just finally give up.
Unfortunately, large and small companies of late have taken to hiring salespeople, rather than educated and experienced decorators and designers. The bottom line in this business is the same as any other business, sales and dollars.
If the designer is a great designer, but lacks desire and ability to push and twist your arm to make you buy and sell you up to an unnecessary higher quality of goods, then they just don't last in the den of wolves with a monthly sales quota.
Companies have gone to hiring anyone who they think can sell. Fake it until you make it is their theme song. The customer gets shortchanged here. Insist on an educated, experienced decorator or designer. You don't need to work with someone who will put you in anything - appropriate to your needs or not, insensitive to what you really should have, instantaneously rushing you into a fast, unthoughtout, inappropriate sale. Slow down and think things through. Be careful and trust yourself, unless the designer can prove his or her experience through references, prior jobs, education, and of course, happy previous customers.
Review the fee section of Successful Window Dressing and Interior Design, or Start Your Own Interior Design Business and Keep It Growing!" to see the various ways you can be charged for design help. If you already have ideas of what you really want, paying by the hour will be less expensive than a flat fee. On the other hand, if you don't have any ideas and you tend to change your mind a lot, opt for the less-expensive-in-the-end, flat fee. In the past, most designers made their money on the markup of 30-40% for purchases. Today, more are opting for an hourly rate, plus a small percentage of purchases.
Call your local design center listed in Start Your Own Interior Design Business and Keep It Growing! and ask them if they have an in-house referral service. Some of the design centers do. Others rent space to referral services. The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) or the International Society of Interior Designers (ISID) have referrals services. Their addresses and telephone numbers are in the appendix of Successful Window Dressing and Interior Design or Start Your Own Interior Design Business and Keep It Growing! under organizations. Any designer belonging to ASID or ISIS has much experience and education and is probably a safe bet.
Referral services help match you to the right person for your particular job and personality. Regardless of the referral, make sure you are comfortable with the designer's personality.
A successful design project takes much cooperation and interaction between both parties. And you will be working closely with this individual for quite a while. Make sure you feel comfortable approaching this person about changes on the project.
Since belonging to these organizations is voluntary, many quality designers do not belong. It is, however, an indicator of a designer who is trained and experienced.
Interior design businesses are sales businesses. To be successful in the interior design business, you must be capable of closing the sale. If you can't close sales with prospective buyers, then design ideas, money and time spent marketing, planning and estimating jobs, and wining and dining the customer will not be paid for.
There are several ways that a designer must sell. First of all, she must be able to "sell" herself and her company to the customer. Next, the designer must sell her ideas and solutions. Finally, the designer must sell the furnishing products.
The main purpose of the first consultation is for the designer to convince the prospective customer to buy his or her products and services. At the end of the sales call, the designer wants the customer to feel as if he or she is obligated and committed to buying the designer's products and services to solve the customer's wants, needs, and problems.
A quality designer should give some design tips to you while on the in-home visit. Doing so helps establish them as an expert in the customer's eyes. These ideas may or may not be used by you, even if you hire that designer for the job.
Since a consultation at the home costs the designer lots of money in time spent - time they might have spent elsewhere making a sale, if the in-home consultation doesn't turn into a sale - many companies are starting to charge for this service. They charge a minimum service- call fee that may be applied to the purchased products and services.
The Various
Competitors
Who are the interior-design businesses competing for your business? Besides small firms, there are quite a few sources of interior-design products. Many stores specialize in one type of product or another or have several. Let's review and analyze the different interior-product sources generally available throughout the country.
Department stores:
Usually high-priced for the limited goods and services
available. While they have tremendous
buying power, there are more people to pay in their management
chain. They have available a limited line
of products and cannot get an item they don't already carry. They
generally take a very long time to
deliver special-order items and employ higher-pressure sales
professionals that are less-experienced
decorators (they do train them and some come in with previous
experience). They are learning with each
new customer and making major mistakes on the majority of their
jobs. So, although they charge a lot,
they absorb the decorator's errors and never seem to turn a truly
healthy profit.
Department stores will generally attempt to take care of the customer, as the rest of the store management (who try to always stay clear of the custom-decorating, carpeting, and furniture departments) will come raining down on their heads, should the customer call them with complaints. Department stores not only accept VISA and Mastercard, but also their own credit cards. Department store also have their inexpensive ready-made department, accessory department, and some have catalog shopping.
While generally, the ready-mades on the shelf are skimpy and cheap looking, the made-to-measure lines are not so chintzy looking. They are fuller in the amount of fabric used and generally made from expensive fabrics. Customers bring in their own measurements. Generally, the salespeople (who may or may not be paid on commission) are fairly sharp. They get a lot of practice, fast. They are also trained. This is a lower-pressure (and usually more knowledgeable) salesperson than the custom-decorating, carpeting, or furniture-department salesperson.
Department-store catalogues offer a wide range of window products, area rugs, accessories, and some furniture items at a reasonable price. Many of the items also go on sale regularly.
Franchise stores/vans:
Usually high-priced for their line of goods and services. They
have a monthly franchise fee to pay.
They co-op advertising with the main headquarters. Generally, a
customer is paying for the name and
goodwill of the company. They generally have only a limited line
of products, and usually can't get what
they don't carry. Franchise companies are usually well organized.
The main headquarters does not
appreciate customer complaints and strives to maintain customer
goodwill. They dictate how the company
owner is to run his or her company and how to handle customer
complaints. They provide training on how
to run their decorating business, but expect the franchise owner
to be somewhat experienced in
decorating when they take over the reins. They are usually
higher-pressure sales professionals (they have
to be to survive with their pricing structure). Franchise
companies usually accept VISA and
Mastercard.
Chain stores:
High-priced to moderately-priced. Familiar sources are blinds
stores, hard-surface
window-treatment shops, wallpaper stores, floor-covering stores,
and furniture stores. Usually they have
higher-pressure, commissioned sales professionals. Some of these
stores' selection is limited to the lines
and fabrics that they have available, while others can
special-order other products.
Interior-design firms:
High-priced to moderately-priced independently-owned shops and
stores. Can generally get
whatever the customer would like. They use a full range of
sources and contractors. They are striving to
build repeat business by providing quality service and the use of
superior ideas and products. They
usually hire decorators and designers ( who may or may not be on
commission) that are experienced. If
not, they generally have the jobs reviewed and remeasured before
specifying items. They usually accept
VISA and Mastercard.
Discount interior stores:
Usually independently-owned, moderate- to lower-priced
interior-product sources. These may
come in the form of discounted interior fabric stores with or
without decorators on staff, the discounted
flooring store with salespeople, the discounted furniture store,
the discounted paint-and-wallpaper store
with its various lines of window treatments. They may be able to
obtain other lines in addition to what
they already show and sell. They usually offer a measuring
service for the customer. They usually accept
VISA and Mastercard.
Catalog stores:
These
come in the form of
independent membership (you pay a few dollars a year to join) and
non-membership stores. They are
usually a very reasonable source for a customer to use to order
from for all types of interior-design
products. They can special-order and do get a wide range of
products. If a customer wants a particular
furnishing product that he doesn't have the information for, they
will try and get it. Customers shop other
sources and select what they want. They bring in the item number,
color number, and manufacturing or
distributing source and give this to the catalog-store
salesperson. Some catalog stores will measure for
the customer, others will not. They usually take VISA and
Mastercard.
Workrooms:
Many drapery workrooms will sell to customers at a price
slightly over wholesale labor. The fabrics
are also generally discounted. They usually have a fair to
moderate selection of fabric or they can
special-order from any other fabric source. They generally do not
accept VISA and Mastercard, since
their mainstay is not retail, but wholesale. But they don't
usually turn down sales. Generally, customers
must bring in their measurements, just as designers and
decorators do. They may have a commercial
salesperson or other decorator on staff that will measure for the
customer for a measuring charge.
This report has been excerpted from our book, Successful Window Dressing and Interior Design (will be available May, 1997), and portions adapted from Start Your Own Interior Design Business and Keep It Growing!
About the author: Linda M. Ramsay is owner and president of
Southern California-based Touch of
Design® . She has a well-rounded business and
educational
background in the interior-design field and is
the author of Secrets of Success for Today's Interior
Designers and Decorators: Easily Sell the
Job, Plan It Correctly and Keep the Customer Coming Back for
Repeat Sales, Start Your Own Interior
Design Business and Keep It Growing! Your Guide to Business
Success, Interior Design Furnishing
Directory of Discounted 800-Number and Hard- to-Find Companies,
and available in May, 1997,
Successful Window Dressing and Interior Design: Your Guide to
Achieving Excellent
Results!
Having spent 18 years in the interior design field running her own business and also working for other companies, Linda, an entrepreneurial type, feels there is a definite lack of available information and sources for both consumers and design professionals on where and how to get better prices and higher quality for the amount of money spent on interior decorating furnishings.
Now, prospective and current interior-design business owners can find answers to their business questions and needs. The problem with most start-up and existing interior-design businesses is that the business owners are creative people - not entrepreneurial types. They just don't have the necessary well-rounded business skills and experience to make their businesses survive, let alone grow, during troubled economic times. Many designers and decorators are throwing their money away on start-up attempts that have no chance of surviving due to not having overall current business knowledge and details. Designers often lack the marketing savvy to motivate the prospect to take immediate action - to pick up the phone, ask for the appointment, or buy what is being sold, NOW.
Start Your Own Interior Design Business and Keep It Growing! is packed with business survival skills and techniques that getprospects to respond quickly. Here's precisely what you really need to know to make all your business and marketing efforts profitable. Twenty-five information-packed chapters in this how-to book will take the reader step-by-step through every business process necessary to be successful in this business.
to be Successful Today!
This book is a must for new ID businesses - but should be read by all ID business owners who want to prosper and flourish in today's business climate. All will benefit and earn more money from this new book. Extremely comprehensive and complete. 384 pages (81/2" x 11"). $39.99. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED!
These books offer much value for the money and time spent reading them. They should be required reading for interior designers and customers in the market for products and services striving to get the most for their interior-decorating money! Both of these books are filled with details to ensure your success and are real values.
We offer a 30-day SATISFACTION GUARANTEE on Secrets of Success for Today's Interior Designers and Decorators and Start Your Own Interior Design Business and Keep It Growing! if returned in resalable condition. A 25% restocking fee will apply on all returns. If you buy both of these books together, today, you will receive a discount of $10.00 and get a price reduction on postage. The majority of people who buy one of the books buy the other one within weeks. Order Today! See ordering instructions at the end of this report.About the author: Linda M. Ramsay is owner and president of
Southern California-based Touch of Design®. She
has a well-rounded
business and educational background in the interior-design field
and is the author of Secrets of Success for Today's Interior
Designers and Decorators: Easily Sell the Job, Plan It Correctly
and Keep the Customer Coming Back for Repeat Sales, Start Your
Own Interior Design Business and Keep It Growing! Your Guide to
Business Success, Interior Design Furnishing Directory of
Discounted 800-Number and Hard-to-Find Companies, and available
in May, 1996, Successful Window Dressing and Interior Design:
Your Guide to Achieving Excellent Results!
your decorating success and are real values.
interior-design field or interior decorating about these books.
How to reach us:
Touch of
Design®
PMB#290
475 College Boulevard, Suite 6
Oceanside, CA 92057
USA
Email: todesign@touchofdesign.com
Web Site: http://www.touchofdesign.com
Copyright 1996 © by Touch of Design®
Phone: 760.945.7909
Fax: 760.945.4283
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