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.

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

Episode Transcript

Randi Lynn Johnson (00:00):
While many businesses focus on marketing
strategies or productenhancements, the environment in
which business is conductedoften gets overlooked.
Robin, is it fair to say thatmost business owners bringing on
an interior designer see it asa cost rather than an investment
?

Robin Pasley (00:19):
I think that is probably true, because they are
imagining, you know, all of thelayers 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 theconstruction guys in there, you
know the general contractors,and then if they're adding, you

(00:40):
know, walls and electrical, thenthey've got architecture and
MEP and I think they just think,oh, I don't think I need
somebody to make it pretty, soI'm going to just cut that layer
out.

Randi Lynn Johnson (00:52):
So how do we flip the script and help
business owners recognize theprofitability potential from a
well-executed design?

Robin Pasley (01:03):
Yeah Well, for us it starts with what sets us
apart and how we do design.
Is that we pay such closeattention in finding out who
they are as a business, why theydo what they do, how they do
what they do and what would makethem more successful?

(01:24):
Like that's literally how wetalk to them.
We don't talk to them aboutwhat's your favorite color,
right, right, um, and let's youknow, let's just make sure we
have desks for you to work at.
Like that's not how we approachdesign.
We ask them um, how do you wantto be situated in our community
as whatever business they are?
How do you want to be situatedin our community as whatever

(01:47):
business they are?
Who are your competitors?
How do you stand apart fromthem?
We talk to them with businessstrategy at the front of our
minds and how they can growtheir business, and we approach
design from that conversation.
And we understand, too, thattheir success is based on them

(02:07):
having the best employees topartner with them that are
working with them.
So we come in from that angle aswell to find out how can they,
how can we help them keep theirbest employees?
That's part of our discoveryprocess.
With them is what would makeyour best employees stay?
Because we understand thatthat's an investment for them.

(02:29):
When they train an employee,that goes a long way.
If they can keep that employeefor a long time, then that is
adding to the value of theirbusiness.
There's a truck backing up.

Randi Lynn Johnson (02:39):
That's great .
Sorry, it's great.

Robin Pasley (02:44):
Sorry.
So from that angle we believethat we're not just adding
something pretty.
Of course we're going to dothat because we are that's who
you are.

Randi Lynn Johnson (02:53):
Yeah, your designs all look really good.

Robin Pasley (02:57):
Thank you.
We are going to be addressingaesthetics, but for us, we
address them as a layer tobusiness growth and strategy for
how to make their businessessucceed.
Now we are assuming they'vealready been doing all of their
great parts of thinking abouttheir business and their sales
process, or whatever they do toserve people, so we're just

(03:20):
going to come in and be aninvesting piece of that.

Randi Lynn Johnson (03:27):
Yeah, no, that totally makes sense and I
think, because a well-designedoffice space is going to retain
the best employees and it'sgoing to make those employees
more productive, hopefullyattract more clients and
ultimately drive business growth.
So that's we believe for sure.

Robin Pasley (03:49):
And for me, the employee side of it, like I will
work with a client becausethey're thinking very much about
the material that they'reselling or the service that
they're selling or whateverthey're doing.
That is their business.
And then I'll start askingquestions about how do you
engage your employees?
Where do you have meetings?

(04:11):
You know we were just talkingabout this for a project the
other day that we had all theother rooms set aside but there
was no place for them to meet asa team and we started talking
about how important it was fortheir team to have synergy and
if they didn't have a place tocome together and, face-to-face,
get around a table and work outissues with their sales process
or whatever, that it was goingto impact them.

(04:32):
And that was a room that hadkind of been left off of their
own design plan and when theywere talking to us about the
spaces they needed, so we had togo back and design that into
the space because it was goingto be really impactful for their
future growth if they couldn't,you know, get that synergy with
their team.

Randi Lynn Johnson (04:51):
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense and, um, I
know, when it comes to designand thinking, we, you know, in a
previous podcast we talkedabout the first impressions and
how that matters and, you know,coming into a space and yeah
Well, so when you um I don'thave the data in front of me, I

(05:12):
wish I did right now.

Robin Pasley (05:13):
But if you have um , do any research.
Just a Google search on clientexperience and what it means to
people.
These days it is outpacingproduct or service when it comes
to what they're going back,revisiting a purchase or a

(05:33):
service.
It's more about clientexperience now than ever
Anything else.
It's not about price, it's notabout product, it's about
experience.
And I think I'm sure socialmedia has something to do with
this, because you know, now wepost, you know everything that
we do.
We're sharing where we are,what it looks like.

(05:54):
You get to go to other people'syou know social media accounts
and see where they've been andand to go to a place and just
even accept a service likeinsurance or you know whatever
thing that before in our lifewas just kind of the thing we
did to go do the other thing.
You know the piece of serviceor a product that we had to have
to go do the other thing.

(06:14):
Now it feels like that there isclient experience needed at
every level of our daily lifeengagement, definitely.

Randi Lynn Johnson (06:23):
And people really want an experience.
I mean, you can look at therise of coffee shops and it was.
Anybody can make a cup ofcoffee, but people are wanting
to go to comfortable spaces towork or places that feel good.

Robin Pasley (06:38):
Yes.

Randi Lynn Johnson (06:38):
Because they want that experience.

Robin Pasley (06:39):
Well, and you know , I think this is part of that
FOMO thing, right, and I thinkthis is where that social media
piece plays in is you arewatching your friend who just
went to this amazing coffeehouse and you're looking around
going where's my amazing coffeehouse?
I need to go right now, and Ithink that's piece of it is that
you know people want to feellike they're having their best

(07:01):
life.
And then there is that otherside of the coin of client
experience.
So there's the felt and seenenvironment, but then there's
the customer service side ofthat, and I think that's part of

(07:25):
what we work on with clientstoo is how is the space being
used to serve you and yourcustomer, client, patient,
whatever the best?
And so us helping them thinkthrough all of that engagement.
We never assume that we knowmore than them, but sometimes we
know more about space than theydo and we ask questions from
that angle, and I think so.
Another piece of the investmentside of it is just squeezing

(07:45):
every square inch out of a spaceto make it function.
Yeah, for the client is one ofour sweet spots.

Randi Lynn Johnson (07:52):
Well and because then that's going to
help them from a costlyexpansion or relocation?
Absolutely.
They can think ahead of time,be like, okay, we have this much
room to grow, or we canabsolutely, yes, an investment
in the future.

Robin Pasley (08:08):
And you know we partner with architects all the
time.
But because we are quasi, youknow, interior architects
ourselves, the way that we seespace and engage space is
different from architects, andso I think having us in on the
beginning process of talking tothem about how they're going to
use the space is super important.

(08:28):
We find this quite often thatif we get pulled in closer to
the end of the project, wherewe're just meant to go find
materials, well, we're going todo our process with the client,
no matter what.
We're going to ask all thosequestions and nine times out of
10, when we're with them, westart pulling information out of
them that wasn't discoveredpreviously, whether it's oh, you

(08:53):
need this special place for apiece of equipment, or you need
this much cabinetry Well, theygave you too much or not not
enough, you know.
And the layout of the cabinetryWell, they gave you too much or
not enough, you know.
And the layout of the cabinetryor whatever it is, whatever
space usage thing there is, weoften find out more information
than was discovered previouslywhen they were going into the
architectural phase, and it canslow the process down, because

(09:16):
that is important, that functionof that space is super
important and what we don't wantis for them to get into the
built environment.
Have spent tens to hundreds ofthousands of dollars to get
there and find out it's notfunctioning the way they need it
to, yeah, so we do put a lot ofstock in our discovery process
and just the way that we thinkabout design, the way that we

(09:37):
think about business and what itmeans for the final product
that's really great.

Randi Lynn Johnson (09:43):
So to sum it up, so if we are thoughtful
with our interior design, ifthey get somebody like you to
come alongside them and helpthem, think, okay, we're going
to keep our best employees,we're going to make sure that
the space is welcoming to theclients, we're giving them that
great thing.
And then we're also thinkingabout how the space will lend

(10:06):
itself to the future and avoidthose costly.

Robin Pasley (10:09):
Yes, the function, yeah, so it's that first
impression, the function andkeeping our best employees
that's the things that we want.
Those are at the top of ourlist, every project.

Randi Lynn Johnson (10:20):
Yeah, and that will help interior design
be an investment and not just anadditional cost.
Yes,