More than just a showcase of products, your design center should help your team sell upgrades. An effective design center will demonstrate that you, as the builder truly cares about and understands your buyers’ needs. It can illustrate that you know the importance of providing your buyers options empowering them to create their home the exact way they want it to be. Below are just a few ways in which our designers create design centers that sell.
Focus on the Customer
First and foremost, you want to create a design center that is customer-focused and makes the buyer feel relaxed and in control. Merchandise and furnish the space with plenty of comfortable seating. Provide food and drinks as no one makes good decisions when they are hungry. Also, playing soothing background music is never a bad idea. You want to provide a welcoming space where people will enjoy spending time and money.
Include White Space
Next, it is important to showcase all your options while including plenty of white space. Don’t undervalue your design options by crowding them together. Instead make your design options pop by contrasting them against white space. This will eliminate buyer overwhelm, while still displaying a plethora of options.
Display Appropriate Options
On the topic of options, you’ll want your design center to display enough choices so that the buyer feels as though they are seeing “everything that is available” but at the same time, not so many choices that they won’t be able to make any decisions. Decision fatigue is a real thing. Many people become overwhelmed by too many choices and find themselves paralyzed and unable to make even the smallest decision.
Also, as just an aside, there is a theory that we all have a finite decision-making reservoir. That every time a decision is made, we tap into our mental energy reservoir and over time we deplete our overall decision-making ability. Be sure to keep that in mind when determining which options to present. Provide an abundance of options for your buyers while resisting the temptation to include products that don’t fit their budget or lifestyle. For example, don’t display twenty high-end marble tile options for an entry-level multifamily community.
Understand your Buyers
This leads us into our next point, target market. Don’t attempt to be everything to everyone. Get to know your buyer profiles and psychographics, then design accordingly.
A design center is an excellent opportunity to enhance your brand and increase overall project revenue. If done correctly, a well-thought out design center can make a huge difference in the overall success of a product.
Want to create a design center that sells? Partner with Lita Dirks & Co. today.
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