Strategic Design for Business Growth

Can a beautifully designed office space really drive business success? Discover the transformative power of interior design in the workplace as we challenge the misconception that hiring an interior designer is merely an extra expense. In this episode, we uncover how strategic and thoughtful design decisions can elevate your business by boosting growth, enhancing employee retention, and creating an unforgettable client experience. By sharing compelling examples, we reveal how a well-designed environment can significantly increase productivity, attract more clients, and ultimately become a vital component of your business strategy.

Join us as we explore the importance of early collaboration between interior designers and architects to optimize space usage and support future growth. Learn how a thorough discovery process ensures that every square inch of your space is functional and aligns with your business needs, potentially saving you from costly expansions or relocations. By engaging employees and creating welcoming environments, we'll show you how interior design can contribute to long-term business success. Tune in to see how the shift in consumer priorities towards client experience, influenced by social media, makes interior design a strategic investment rather than just an additional cost.

Randi Lynn Johnson is your host for the Pasley Commercial Interiors podcast conversation on everything that connects business growth and interior design. Each episode features powerful insights from Robin Pasley, NCIDQ, Founder & Design Principal.

We welcome your questions! If you would like to learn more about us or connect for a conversation, please visit www.pasleycommercialinteriors.com.

Chapters

• 0:00 The Value of Interior Design"
• 7:15 Strategic Interior Design Investment

Transcript

Randi Lynn Johnson: 0:13

While many businesses focus on marketing strategies or product enhancements, the environment in which business is conducted often gets overlooked. Robin, is it fair to say that most business owners bringing on an interior designer see it as a cost rather than an investment?

Robin Pasley: 0:32

I think that is probably true, because they are imagining, you know, all of the layers of costs that are going to go into their new space. You know they have, of course, the basics of just the lease and the utilities. Then we have to get the construction guys in there, you know the general contractors, and then if they're adding, you know, walls and electrical, then they've got architecture and MEP and I think they just think, oh, I don't think I need somebody to make it pretty, so I'm going to just cut that layer out.

Randi Lynn Johnson: 1:05

So how do we flip the script and help business owners recognize the profitability potential from a well-executed design?

Robin Pasley: 1:16

Yeah Well, for us it starts with what sets us apart and how we do design. Is that we pay such close attention in finding out who they are as a business, why they do what they do, how they do what they do and what would make them more successful? Like that's literally how we talk to them. We don't talk to them about what's your favorite color, right, right, um, and let's you know, let's just make sure we have desks for you to work at. Like that's not how we approach design. We ask them um, how do you want to be situated in our community as whatever business they are?

Robin Pasley: 1:57

How do you want to be situated in our community as whatever business they are? Who are your competitors? How do you stand apart from them? We talk to them with business strategy at the front of our minds and how they can grow their business, and we approach design from that conversation. And we understand, too, that their success is based on them having the best employees to partner with them that are working with them.

Robin Pasley: 2:25

So we come in from that angle as well to find out how can they, how can we help them keep their best employees? That's part of our discovery process. With them is what would make your best employees stay? Because we understand that that's an investment for them. When they train an employee, that goes a long way. If they can keep that employee for a long time, then that is adding to the value of their business. There's a truck backing up.

Randi Lynn Johnson: 2:52

That's great. Sorry, it's great.

Robin Pasley: 2:57

Sorry. So from that angle we believe that we're not just adding something pretty. Of course we're going to do that because we are that's who you are.

Randi Lynn Johnson: 3:06

Yeah, your designs all look really good.

Robin Pasley: 3:10

Thank you. We are going to be addressing aesthetics, but for us, we address them as a layer to business growth and strategy for how to make their businesses succeed. Now we are assuming they've already been doing all of their great parts of thinking about their business and their sales process, or whatever they do to serve people, so we're just going to come in and be an investing piece of that.

Randi Lynn Johnson: 3:40

Yeah, no, that totally makes sense and I think, because a well-designed office space is going to retain the best employees and it's going to make those employees more productive, hopefully attract more clients and ultimately drive business growth. So that's we believe for sure.

Robin Pasley: 4:02

And for me, the employee side of it, like I will work with a client because they're thinking very much about the material that they're selling or the service that they're selling or whatever they're doing. That is their business. And then I'll start asking questions about how do you engage your employees? Where do you have meetings?

Robin Pasley: 4:24

You know we were just talking about this for a project the other day that we had all the other rooms set aside but there was no place for them to meet as a team and we started talking about how important it was for their team to have synergy and if they didn't have a place to come together and, face-to-face, get around a table and work out issues with their sales process or whatever, that it was going to impact them. And that was a room that had kind of been left off of their own design plan and when they were talking to us about the spaces they needed, so we had to go back and design that into the space because it was going to be really impactful for their future growth if they couldn't, you know, get that synergy with their team.

Randi Lynn Johnson: 5:04

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense and, um, I know, when it comes to design and thinking, we, you know, in a previous podcast we talked about the first impressions and how that matters and, you know, coming into a space and yeah Well, so when you um I don't have the data in front of me, I wish I did right now.

Robin Pasley: 5:26

But if you have um, do any research. Just a Google search on client experience and what it means to people. These days it is outpacing product or service when it comes to what they're going back, revisiting a purchase or a service. It's more about client experience now than ever Anything else. It's not about price, it's not about product, it's about experience. And I think I'm sure social media has something to do with this, because you know, now we post, you know everything that we do. We're sharing where we are, what it looks like. You get to go to other people's you know social media accounts and see where they've been and and to go to a place and just even accept a service like insurance or you know whatever thing that before in our life was just kind of the thing we did to go do the other thing. You know the piece of service or a product that we had to have to go do the other thing. Now it feels like that there is client experience needed at every level of our daily life engagement, definitely.

Randi Lynn Johnson: 6:36

And people really want an experience. I mean, you can look at the rise of coffee shops and it was. Anybody can make a cup of coffee, but people are wanting to go to comfortable spaces to work or places that feel good.

Robin Pasley: 6:51

Yes.

Randi Lynn Johnson: 6:51

Because they want that experience.

Robin Pasley: 6:52

Well, and you know, I think this is part of that FOMO thing, right, and I think this is where that social media piece plays in is you are watching your friend who just went to this amazing coffee house and you're looking around going where's my amazing coffee house?

Robin Pasley: 7:05

I need to go right now, and I think that's piece of it is that you know people want to feel like they're having their best life. And then there is that other side of the coin of client experience. So there's the felt and seen environment, but then there's the customer service side of that, and I think that's part of what we work on with clients too is how is the space being used to serve you and your customer, client, patient, whatever the best? And so us helping them think through all of that engagement. We never assume that we know more than them, but sometimes we know more about space than they do and we ask questions from that angle, and I think so. Another piece of the investment side of it is just squeezing every square inch out of a space to make it function. Yeah, for the client is one of our sweet spots.

Randi Lynn Johnson: 8:05

Well and because then that's going to help them from a costly expansion or relocation? Absolutely. They can think ahead of time, be like, okay, we have this much room to grow, or we can absolutely, yes, an investment in the future.

Robin Pasley: 8:21

And you know we partner with architects all the time. But because we are quasi, you know, interior architects ourselves, the way that we see space and engage space is different from architects, and so I think having us in on the beginning process of talking to them about how they're going to use the space is super important. We find this quite often that if we get pulled in closer to the end of the project, where we're just meant to go find materials, well, we're going to do our process with the client, no matter what. We're going to ask all those questions and nine times out of 10, when we're with them, we start pulling information out of them that wasn't discovered previously, whether it's oh, you need this special place for a piece of equipment, or you need this much cabinetry Well, they gave you too much or not not enough, you know.

Robin Pasley: 9:13

And the layout of the cabinetry Well, they gave you too much or not enough, you know. And the layout of the cabinetry or whatever it is, whatever space usage thing there is, we often find out more information than was discovered previously when they were going into the architectural phase, and it can slow the process down, because that is important, that function of that space is super important and what we don't want is for them to get into the built environment. Have spent tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars to get there and find out it's not functioning the way they need it to, yeah, so we do put a lot of stock in our discovery process and just the way that we think about design, the way that we think about business and what it means for the final product that's really great.

Randi Lynn Johnson: 9:56

So to sum it up, so if we are thoughtful with our interior design, if they get somebody like you to come alongside them and help them, think, okay, we're going to keep our best employees, we're going to make sure that the space is welcoming to the clients, we're giving them that great thing. And then we're also thinking about how the space will lend itself to the future and avoid those costly.

Robin Pasley: 10:22

Yes, the function, yeah, so it's that first impression, the function and keeping our best employees that's the things that we want. Those are at the top of our list, every project.

Randi Lynn Johnson: 10:33

Yeah, and that will help interior design be an investment and not just an additional cost. Yes,