Why Hire A Design Firm vs Sales Designers at a Showroom

Why Hire A Design Firm vs Sales Designers at a Showroom

Okay friends — buckle up. This is going to be a fun one. Look, this post is not meant to be a drag on any type of scenario or situation but we do get this question A LOT and I want to shed some light on what the differences are.

For those of you that have no context for what we are talking about, today we are chatting about that the difference is between hiring a design team (or design firm) versus using design services (most the time free, but not always) within a retail showroom. Why does it matter and when is it best to use one versus the other? Well, here are the top 7 differences and how they impact the end result.

1) Sales designers are limited to recommendations based on their specific offerings within that showroom.

As you can imagine, if I am hired to sell lines within my company, my selections are always going to be biased or exclusive to those specific products. This is great if you have a lot of trust in what is being offered or that you have a simple design that you are comfortable being replicated to others. If you are wanting unbiased design advice based on what your specific goals are, then you would want to go with a design firm or team that is design first. Some design companies, like ours, offer procurement as a value added to the build team and project flow but even in that scenario, we are pulling from the vendor we think is best for you, not that we have a contractual obligation to sell.

2) Sales designers may not have technical experience or skills.

Again, not meant to be a dig, just is what it is. Typically sales designers are heavy at sales. Makes sense right? So you are not going to get help with your floorplan evaluation or lighting plan with you sales designer at a tile showroom. Your advice will be ad hoc based on the retailer you are talking to (lighting, tile, etc.) so if you are wanting a holistic view and advice, we’d recommend going to a retailer with all the offerings in one place (so you can get advice from one sales person across a plethora of selections) or work with a design firm.

3) When you work with a firm, you get a team.

Part of the energy we love is the cross pollination and team synergy when working on a project. With sales designers, they are typically commission based and, thus, concerned about their personal investment. You loose the team think that you get with a non-sales based design team.

4) Design firms are more knowledgeable in a wider array of products and offerings.

Again, because we are not limited to selling a specific product, and we seek to know what the latest design options are (and subsequently invest in going to product markets and conventions), we tend to have more options for unique solutions or products that fall outside what the majority of consumers would be likely to want, and therefore is brought into a showroom to sell.

5) Design firms are vested in the projects success more.

We are integrated into the process. We want to see it through outside of just selling the things. We are there to help troubleshoot and make the trip out to the site to see how it’s going. Not everyone is looking for this level of involvement but if you are overwhelmed with the thought of advocating for yourself and getting through the process, a design firm would be a good choice.

6) We are comfortable telling you when something will not look good vs trying to sell you something.

Look, we are here to tell the truth. That means telling you if that white subway tile is going to make it look like you completed your project in 2010 and that it is not timeless. This comes from a place of being free from product bias and truly wanting to advocate for your needs and your needs alone.

7) You get what you paid for.

Guys if you want to have some thing special, you have to pay for it. You pay for expertise and experience. It’s like going choosing between Supercuts and Aveda. They are just so different. One is not better than the other, they are just very different business models and offerings.

So all in all, hope this clarifies some of the reasons why it is beneficial to use a design firm vs sales designers! Any thoughts or questions? Drop them below!

Thinking about working with us? Get in touch here!

Cheers!