From a marketing and design point of view working with clients in the luxury services industry, such as interior design, throws up a number of issues. Interior design companies, usually come to us with a wonderful selection of images of the work but don’t know what to do with them – as even though they are obviously talented and creative people they usually, but not always, have a problem marketing themselves beyond an on and off-line portfolio of past work.
DLK Partners, by no means has all the answers to help our creative clients, but we have found over the past few years, asking the right question in the right way, usually helps. Most recently we have worked with Pod Interior Style to re-design their web site, www.podinteriorstyle.com, previously the owner had run the interior design service as an add-on service to her luxury lifestyle shop in Lymington, but had decided that due to the success of that side of the business to focus her efforts purely on interior design. On our first meeting, our client was rather taken aback that we did not want to spend the first meeting looking at samples of her work, but actually talk about her instead.
Creating a personality
We asked questions that helped create a business personality, so the website would reflect Pod Interior Style and not her own clients. Amongst the many questions we asked were:
- Why do people come to you?
- Why would people not come to you?
- What type of client would you dream of having?
- What type of client is of no interest to you?
- How would you describe your interior design?
- What is your approach to customer service?
The last question on this list is crucial as when dealing with high net worth clients, your service standards need to be above average, and this is something that Pod Interior Style really excelled at, but was not even mentioned on their old website.
Our client also had a refreshingly open attitude to interior design, and felt it was not Pod’s place to impose a house style on her clients; her job was to make their dreams a reality. Rather like her attitude to customer service, she had never thought of putting this approach at the forefront of her marketing materials.
Selling – the dirty word?
In the world of luxury services – how do you sell without appearing downmarket? Our client was not alone in wanting to maximise her fees and profits, but did not want to appear like a second-hand car salesman. We asked her what aspects of her service offering, apart from the pure interior design, made her the most money – the answer was getting involved with any design and production of bespoke furniture.
We therefore made sure that this aspect of her business was mentioned on the ‘About Us’ page of the new website, so any new or existing client would pick-up on this additional service.
How to make your portfolio a marketing tool
All the above comments withstanding, an Interior Designer’s off and on-line portfolio is a key element in their marketing tool kit. However it could and should be more than just a series of photographs – however beautiful. It is important to stamp your own personality on your portfolio – one way in which we advise our clients to do this is to write a short paragraph/case study alongside each project explaining how their approach made the project successful. Rather than just describe what is in the picture, explain why your interior design company’s unique approach might have helped the project come in under budget, or maybe how you overcame a tricky technical problem. Whatever you write make sure it reflects your skills and approach.
To conclude….
- Ensure all your marketing materials reflect your company and not just your clients
- Highlight your approach – remember that you are offering a service
- Be subtle, but don’t be afraid to sell
- Make your portfolio a marketing tool and not just a collection of images
- Ensure there is a consistent brand personality across all your marketing items.
