{"id":199460,"date":"2022-08-03T09:13:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T13:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?post_type=id_research&p=199460"},"modified":"2022-10-25T15:24:24","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T19:24:24","slug":"thinklab-what-matters-most-to-dealer-designers","status":"publish","type":"id_research","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/research\/thinklab-what-matters-most-to-dealer-designers\/","title":{"rendered":"New Research Reveals What Matters Most to Dealer Designers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\"designers<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

August 3, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n

Words: <\/span>Meredith Campbell<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

New Research Reveals What Matters Most to Dealer Designers<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

In our 2018 article, \u201cThe Rise of the Dealer Designer<\/a>,\u201d ThinkLab explored the evolving role that the dealer designer plays in the project process. We reconnected with one of our interviewees, Alexandra Tseffos, founder of Silent T Consulting<\/a> and The Design POP<\/a>, to see what has changed since then. At the time, Tseffos identified four shifts in the traditional dealership: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Technology<\/li>
  2. The focus shifting to service instead of just product<\/li>
  3. The need to position designers who have a variety of skills (there are more production-style designers than presenting designers)<\/li>
  4. Increased importance of the relationship between design and sales: Salespeople are responsible for relationship building, but they need the designer\u2019s knowledge of product, cost-saving measures, and the visual output to keep up with the growing expectations of today\u2019s customer. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Tseffos says that these four shifts still hold true. The biggest change? Acceleration. \u201cThe technology shifts we were expecting to see in five to ten years ended up happening in three to five years,\u201d she explains. \u201cThe changes that were underway then are already happening now, only accelerated.\u201d She noted that, when we spoke to her four years ago, there was not an expectation of the current landscape of mergers and acquisitions that has created \u201cforced shifts\u201d in certain categories. Tseffos cited technology as a great example of this in cases of dealer alignment changes: \u201cMany need to learn one or more new software platforms and the intricacies of countless new product lines as fast as humanly possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Since that 2018 interview, ThinkLab has been researching the role of the dealer designer, digging into their preferences and pain points. What we know from recent ThinkLab research:<\/p>\n\n\n\n