When hiring an Interior Designer it's more than just seeing beautiful pictures on their website and taking the plunge, it's personal.
It's your home, so how could it not be personal? If you have ever attended a sales conference, you have probably heard of the 4 Buyer Personality Types. The idea is that you understand each type and learn how to effectively sell to them. Here is the thing, when meeting with an interior designer, you can use these same reference points to understand whether or not your personality type will work well with that of the designer. Of course you should check out the website and reviews of an interior designer you are considering, but the other consideration is whether or not the rapport between you is easy and natural. The importance will become clear when you start making decisions within the project. If your designer "speaks your buyer personality language" you are going to feel much more comfortable making decisions on the big ticket items involved in a remodel project.
Picture of me having fun at a showroom event.
You can probably take one look at the picture of me kicking back in a luxury recliner at a local showroom and guess that if you are an Expressive, Amiable, or even Assertive type, we are going to hit it off swimmingly. If you are an Analytic, we can still work together, but we both might be happier if we didn't. Sound harsh? The truth hurts. As an Analytic, you want to stick to the facts and data and I will probably be too casual and familiar for your taste. Of course I can handle the data and run the project efficiently because I wouldn't be in business if I couldn't do those things; but as an Analytic you might be less convinced that is the case, and we will both feel your doubt. That doubt will hang in the air like a "poot" that no one wants to get blamed for, but that stinks up the entire room. It was the dog... That's not going to be a productive dynamic.
When I look at the 4 buyer types, I mostly relate to the Assertive, although the Expressive is a very close second. You might think that interior designers are only going to fall into the first 3 types themselves, but actually I can think of at least 2 designers that I know personally, that have a lot in common with the Analytic. Look, you will know after the first in-person meeting with a designer whether it is a good fit. They know too, but once in a while both sides can be guilty of trying to place a square peg in a round hole. The project will be completed and it will be beautiful, but the journey there might be more stressful than it needed to be. We want you to feel easy breezy like the couple below.
Her: "Melanie has it handled." Him: "I know."
Lastly, what if you are half of a couple? Whose type do you cater to? Well, even if both of you will be involved in decision making, it is my experience that one of you will be doing most of the "work" with the designer. Whoever that person is, should be the main consideration when matching to an interior designer. Most designers are going to ask you for one "main contact" person for the project. This is to help the project run smoothly and efficiently. Make sure that person's personality is compatible with the designer you choose.
Want to learn about the 4 buying types? Check out this link: https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/how-to-sell-to-different-personality-types
Want to learn more about working with Happy House? See our contact page and book a discovery call or fill out our contact form. We can't wait to find out if we are a match!