Make no mistake, they are joined at the hip! If you are a regular reader of my Interior Design column, you may recall I have touched on this connection from several angles. Here I go again — and there are plenty of angles to go around!
Bottom line is this: when a customer or client walks inside the door of your store, office or shop, you have to fulfill the promises you made with your outside promotions! If not, it just could be that “bottom line” that suffers.
“Interior presentation” means everything about your Interior: the space planning, the volume of inventory, the density of furnishings, your personnel, the professionalism of your staff, the appearance of your staff, cleanliness, lighting, merchandizing, customer conveniences, the sound level, maintenance …and the bathroom! I could break it down further, but I am sure you get my drift.
Conclusions are drawn from first impressions! To use a storm season example, when your client or customer steps in your door, how’s the floor? Do they risk breaking their neck (and tweaking your insurance) by falling on a wet, slick floor? Calling out to “Watch out! It’s slippery!” hardly compares with appropriate attention to the realities of the climate in which you are located. How about mats that absorb and don’t slip? Or, better yet, perhaps carpet tiles designed for such conditions and locations.
Carefully considering good solutions for a “transition” aspect is worth the time, materials and money. Designing your Interior entry space in keeping with seasonal environmental changes just makes sense. Some handle that issue by dedicating a few dozen square feet, just inside the door, as an entry, vestibule, or foyer that separates the weather from your deeper Interior space floor coverings. It also gives your visitor a small opportunity to get pulled together after battling harsh weather. Entryway considerations seem minor but they have their importance. Add an urn for dripping umbrellas, and maybe a mirror for a quick-check after being windblown!
Extremely hot and blinding sunlight streaming into a client’s eyes because your furnishings are incorrectly oriented isn’t good! It could be the window coverings don’t do the job of controlling external light and heat. It sends a message about consideration and awareness!
When your display advertising, brochure, business cards and other materials suggest such virtues as efficiency, service, economy and quality, those virtues need to be reflected in what your visitor observes when they come to your facility. We don’t automatically know what a person’s criteria may be for judging those virtues. Using the entryway points as a comparable, it’s easy to extend the test to bathrooms, reception and hospitality stations, and trash management. Giving your customer restroom a lick-and-a-promise in the early morning only is not enough! Check throughout the day to be sure that the investment you made, in attractive fixtures and gorgeous tile-work, is not overshadowed by overflowing trash receptacles, un-flushed commodes or wet counters.
When a client has invested in new Interior design, remodel, refurbish or refresh, it’s easy to think: “There! That’s done!” But, it’s not. Not without several ongoing vital considerations. One is conscientious maintenance. Another is vigilance – for new special needs, for seasonal adjustments and for careful coordination between marketing and promotional promises, and the realities just inside the door!
Your professional Interior designer can do a critical walk-through with you to analyze, trouble-shoot and help!
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.
