Quality does not automatically mean very high cost. I have known prospective Clients who cringed at any mention or suggestion to “improve quality!” All it meant to some was giant dollar signs! In some ways and in some contexts, quality has gotten a bad name — as bizarre as that may sound.
Equating quality exclusively as very high end, expensive, out-of-reach and financially scary, is simply inaccurate.
Assumptions such as those can effectively deter business or home owners from going forward with needed interior facility improvements or entirely new facility projects. It can be a really “hard sell” to convince some prospective Interior design project clients that quality, per se, can and does exist at nearly any cost level. It is an exact and specific fact to the experts who know, recognize and assess the determinative factors: workmanship, proven performance, durability, compatible materials, value for dollar, etc.
If a prospective client with an Interior design vision and negative assumptions actually makes it to an initial exploratory conference (with an expert in the field) they often arrive in a defensive crouch. When a prospect is armed with some quite typical wrong assumptions, concerning how to get from here to there, that first conversation can be tough!
The “assumption culprit” is usually the simple fact that the prospective Client most likely is not familiar with the extremely wide range of choices in all aspects of an Interior design project (of any size). And it’s a fact that quality is a major competitive factor for the manufacturers of products, materials —and service!
It’s pretty basic that any choices must balance cost and quality at all levels and in all applications in an Interior design project. Nevertheless, the truth is that everyone has their own specific paradigm concerning “quality” — and too often the paradigm is driven by assumptions! That’s one very important reason to be sure to work with an experienced, qualified professional Interior design team. It is their responsibility to know the sources of quality products and materials — in all price ranges, at all levels and definitions of “quality.”
It would be very easy to write a book of horror stories concerning potential damage caused by assumptions in the course of Interior design projects — maybe someone already has! The range of definitions of “quality” is broad. The scope of the relationship of “quality” to perceived “value” is even broader. It simply cannot be pinned down to one semantic! No wonder, then, that there may be understandable conflicts — for some — when quality (value) or quality (cost) appears to be arguable concerning your Interior design choices.
And, that “quality paradigm” I mentioned earlier can also be loaded with the complex factors of emotions and feelings! Most of us have strong motivations concerning quality that may not have anything to do with logic, reasons or penciling in the numbers! Rolex and Timex surely both have quality! Their qualities are hardly impeachable when judged from the perspective of expectations; yet, their comparable value, in terms of cost, is significant.
It’s a good idea to explore, with your Interior design team, your concerns about cost as it relates to your own personal view of the value of “quality.”
Robert Boccabella, B.F.A. is principal and founder of Business Design Services and a certified interior designer (CID) in private practice for over 30 years. Boccabella provides Designing to Fit the Vision© in collaboration with writingservice@earthlink.net. To contact him call 707-263-7073; email him at rb@BusinessDesignServices.com or visit www.BusinessDesignServices.com or on Face Book at Business Design Services.
