Designed to Inspire Seminar 2: Managing the Client Experience

Navigating the treacherous waters of client interaction can be just as important to your business as a great design concept. 

The way clients perceive interactions with your firm defines their experience and is a reflection of the entire business. Is the client enjoying the design process?  Are you giving them opportunities to sing your praises?  Creating a premier client experience through guided and strategic interactions transforms a design project from a daily grind to a grand adventure and creates opportunities for the client to promote you and your work in ways that are exciting and authentic.

Learn the nuances of effective client communication this Wednesday as internationally recognized interior designer Scot Meacham Wood hosts session 2 of our Designed to Inspire Summer Designer Workshop Series: Managing the Client Experience. Come get involved and learn tips to not only help your projects run smoothly but also be able to communicate in a way that turns your clients into brand advocates.

Learn how to:

Communicate project status in a way that consistently highlights what’s going right

Best communication tactics and strategies for when things go wrong

Creating sound bytes and talking points that allow clients to promote you that are aligned with your brand

Make the process of design an enjoyable experience for the client through guided interactions and communication techniques

There are only a few seats left, buy your ticket here

http://workspaceseminarseries.eventbrite.com

Scot Meacham Wood hosts Designed to Inspire Summer Designer Workshop Series

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The Adventures of Tartanscot continue!

Coupar Consulting is thrilled to sponsor a three-part seminar series hosted by the Tartanscot himself, internationally recognized interior designer Scot Meacham Wood. Known for his blog, The Adventures of Tartanscot, this renowned designer has a massive social media following and personality to boot. He has been featured in multiple publications including Style at Home and the SF Chronicle. One of our favorite projects from Scot is the space he designed for this years’ Peninsula Volunteers Decorator Show House.  With a healthy mix of pattern scale and color, this bright and preppy “Card Room” lets Scots vibrant personality shine through.

The Card Room

Join us as Scot shares his trade secrets of running a successful design firm in his three-part series Designed To Inspire.  The first of his three sessions is coming up on July 17^th and is focused on Marketing Through Partnerships. Learn how to tap into your connections and partner with other industry professionals to increase your outreach. 

Scot Meacham Wood

Light fare and refreshments to follow, come mix and mingle with us. 

Purchase Your Tickets Today! 

Lecture Series: "Picture This: Trends and Tips for Interior Photography"

Workspace at SFDC and the Bay Area photographer David Duncan Livingston are co-sponsoring a three part series called Picture This: Trends & Tips for Interior Photography. The three two hour presentations will be a feast for the eyes, fast paced with the takeaway of solid insights to promote your design practice. The three sessions are on April 24^th, May 15^th and June 5^th.

David Duncan Livingston

Renowned photographer David Duncan Livingston has been published in numerous books and magazines and has collaborated with Restoration Hardware, House Beautiful, California Home & Design, and Chronicle Books among many others.

David Duncan Livingston 

The first of the three sessions will dive into PR for Interiors and a few of the topics covered will be branding, positioning and placement and long tail seo. The second seeions “Photo Styling Trends Interiors/Shelter Magazines” will breakdown what is being shown in magazines today. Learn how to stay current in your photo styling and marketing efforts and learn the tricks of the trade to make your photos feel engaging to writers and editors. Session three will cover the framework for shooting your next project to get the look and feel of the photos you want.

We highly recommend this three part series to any interior designer wanting to take the next step and get their projects published. To learn more about the sessions and to register click here.

Around for Winter Market? Stop by Workspace: Now Open at the SFDC!

Coupar Consulting is pleased to announce the opening of Workspace in the San Francisco Design Center. Workspace was created with the independent interior designer's needs in mind. Located at Suite 315 inside the Galleria Building, Workspace offers daily workstation rentals for design professionals seeking a work environment away from their homes.
Starting at $85 per day, your office space comes equipped with a dedicated desk space and computer, a common space worktable for working with floor plans and design concepts, and an on-hand design assistant to help answer any project related or technology related questions to help you better access the office amenities, design center offerings or feedback on project best practices from budget conceptualization, to space planning to CAD and hand renderings.
Twice a month we offer 1/2 day full space rentals for client meetings for $295. For a 3 hour block of time you can use the space to meet with your client in a more formal setting.  The rental rate comes complete with a dedicated design assistant to help conduct the meeting, an initial orientation of the space and its amenities, and light food and beverage during the meeting to give the client the premier high-end experience.    

Need an extra hand completing design tasks to keep the project on track?  Our team of designers can assist you in project sourcing, budget development, space planning, CAD and hand renderings.  These are just a few of the project support offerings we provide.  For a full list click here.  Rates start at $65 per hour, and a complete account of time is provided to you for easy client billing.  

Workspace is not only conveniently located, making it easy to source for projects and feel inspired but also presents a collaborative environment that encourages designers to get out of their daily routine that sometimes can feel like "designing in a bubble" and begin engaging with other like-minded design professionals; accessing the creative expertise of this fantastic community we are privileged to be a part of.

Whether you need a workspace for the day to work on client projects, or need a large space to present and hold client meetings, Workspace has all the tools and services you need. Workspace offers the most up-to-date technology, presentation amenities, and hands on assistance when you need it, offering the designers the flexibility of an office environment or conference space when they need it.    

Make your reservation today and see what all the buzz is about!

Shiny, Happy People

The last week of December I always take some time to reflect on the past year and set my intentions, or goals for the new year.

For me, 2012 was a magnificent year both personally and professionally.  I think when you are able to balance and merge work and life magic happens, and that certainly was the case for me this year.

I was blessed with an exceptional group of clients that were not only talented and a joy to work with, but were INSPIRING.  I was continually inspired by the people I surrounded myself with professionally this year.  Seeing designers hitting their professional stride, watching their stars rise, and take risks were just a few of the things I was able to be a part of this year.

Watching how technology expanded and broadcasted their successes was amazing.  I am excited to see how we innovate technology over the course of 2013 to celebrate our successes and deepen our relationships through the information we share.

One of my major intentions for 2013 is to savor what I am creating through deepening my happiness.  So often we get caught up in the day-to-day lists of what we must accomplish I often find myself more frazzled by my full life rather than focusing on the joy of the abundance that I have.  So here's to a 2013 that is light and happy!  And a reminder below from author Stephen Covey on some tips on how to integrate happiness into the everyday experience.

The pursuit of happiness not only enriches our personal life, it enlivens our professional life touching each person we interact with in positive ways.  I love interacting with the clients who operate at the baseline of happy.  I leave the meetings feel energized and excited about the work we do together.  So this year, I'm paying it forward with happiness.    

Here's to happy!  

xoxo,

Showcase Alum Tinsley Hutson-Wiley a semi-finalist in Grange's Colorful Exceptions Contest

Marin based designer, Tinsley Hutson-Wiley was chosen as one of seven semi-finalists for the Grange Colorful Exceptions contest.  Her 'Stars and Stripes' finish was created by the concept of intermeshing the French and U.S. flags. Her contemporary graphic design uses red, white and blue stripes offset by an oversized silver star.  The juxtaposition of the traditional lines of the piece with a modern graphic design creates an updated traditional feel reflecting her approach to interiors. 

Online voting from now until February 3 will determine the grand-prize winner. Tinsley’s winning design can also be yours: 'Stars and Stripes' is available for purchase via Grange's online auction, with 75% of the proceeds donated to San Francisco’s Raphael House.


To see the final entries and to vote or bid for your favorite, visit: www.grangeny.com.

5 Marketing Resolutions for your Interior Design Business in 2012

The new year seems to be off to a good start for the design community.  Closing 2011 with a busy client load for most designers and then kicking-off 2012 with the anticipation of the San Francisco Showcase House, there is definitely a buzz in the air about this upcoming year.  With that in mind, here is a life-hacker (a la interior design) version of your 2012 marketing goals that will allow your business to flow in the coming year.   

Make your 2012 shine with these 5 marketing resolutions

Kathryn Macdonald photography  Interiors by Grant K. Gibson

1.  Photograph your projects with a professional interiors photographer.  I know, your photographer friend does a trade for you for photos.  But if you want to compete, or endeavor to be like the bigger firms you need to present yourself in the manner that they do.  And with that in mind, you need a professional interior photographer.  Hire a good one and your projects start to adopt a photographed "look," that in turn becomes your visual brand.  A good photographer can give you tips on styling for the camera and will shoot a project, and in turn, projects with consistency.  The images can be used for your portfolio, contest submissions that require magazine-ready photos, ad campaigns (Decorator Showcase Catalogue and The Fall Antique Show Catalogue should be on your short list), website, and general marketing collateral.  My tip is to set aside a minimum of $2500 from each project for photography.  If you do a mark-up on goods, use the mark-up profit and set it aside in savings ear-marked for photography. Right as your project wraps, choose a day where you won't be under foot and get the project shot. Expect 5-10 photos for a days worth of work.  One of my favorite interior photographers to work with is Kathryn MacDonald, you can find her contract and fee structure here and a portfolio of her work at www.macdonaldphoto.com.        

2. Visually organize your projects in a dropbox folder for easy pitches to magazine editors. 

Free marketing and PR in the form of editorial is always at the top of the list for designers.  Make it easy on you and your staff and organize the images you just had your professional photographer take into folders organized by project.  In each project folder should be a brief project biography that explains the project, any unique features, design solutions, or collections that emerged during the design process.  List the clients names, whether or not they want to be anonymous if their home is published, or if they want to be listed.  If the client opts to be featured detail any family story that makes them unique that the reader would want to know about.  For example, were there any design requirements the client imposed on the process -- all green products, child friendly, or thematic in nature?  Are there any design elements you incorporated that were special to the clients -- collections from travel, smart design based on client's profession, etc.  These biographies coupled with images are your go-to elements to pull from for editor requests.  Most requests come in with a time crunch attached so having everything at your fingertips ensures that you breathe easy when compiling your submission.  Sign up for dropbox at www.dropbox.com. 

3. Get on the social media bandwagon and post consistently.   One of the easiest ways to drive up your visibility in search engines is to link your business website to social media websites and post on them frequently.  Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, & Pinterest should all be listed on your company website.  If you do client testimonials like some designers do, having your clients post through Yelp is the most effective way to add value to those references.  Again, make sure that Yelp! links to your website.  Meta sites and aggregator sites are also important for your search visibility.  These are sites that list your company among other designers in your industry like Houzz.com, Gilthome.com, & the Elle Decor Designer Registry.  On these sites you can register and create your own listing for your company, add your contact information and brief biography as well as portfolio images.  Because these sites change their content frequently, they are registered higher in the Google searches, increasing the likelihood your business is easily found when searched for.  Again make sure that any external sites that contain your company information are linked to your business website for easy and more efficient search-ability.     

SFDC Design San Francisco

4.  Make time to network.  I mean in person.  Go to industry sponsored events, lecture series and openings for showrooms, product launches, trunk shows, showcase houses and industry sponsored fundraisers.  The SFDC's Design San Francisco is coming up in February, and that could be the first networking event of the year you can commit to doing.  Other events and networking opportunities I recommend are  becoming a member of the Dining by Design Steering Committee (fabulous group of people to work with), The Decorator Showcase opening Gala, The Fall Antique Show opening Gala, and the Dining by Design Table Hop n' Taste to name a few.  If you subscribe to the SFDC's Designwire, you will get an email sent directly to your inbox of all seminars, lectures, trade shows and other design-related happenings at the design center.  Being present increases your visibility and I've seen referrals happen as frequently through industry connections as they do through client referrals. With more clients doing some of the shopping on their own, you never know who they might run into that eventually leads to a referral to you.

San Francisco Decorator Showcase

5.  Participate in industry events that allow your designs access to a larger audience.  Any showcase house or large-scale industry design event (think Dining by Design), opens up opportunity for increased firm visibility for up to a year after the event.  That means increased editorial features on your room design, increased editorial features on your firm, opportunities to be discovered by design bloggers, and general design community awareness by virtue of name recognition in conjunction with the event. Of all the clients I work with in the design community, the ones that have participated in these types of events are recognized by showrooms and vendors I work with almost immediately compared with the designers who have never been featured in an event.  The name recognition has historically made it easier to get items on loan, get items in a shorter turn-around time, or allowed access to inventory for other design events and photo shoots for the recognized designer.       

Feel like you have these top five under your belt?  Send me an email and I'll send you numbers 6-10 marketing musts for the new year.  krista@couparconsulting.com.

Questions on the top five or marketing related?  I'll answer those too.  

Here's to a wonderful 2012!

 

      

www.dropbox.com