A few years ago, when r.o.i. Design was in the midst of a large project, the construction project manager joked with us saying, “You should create t-shirts that say Trust Your Designer and maybe folks would relax and not try to second guess recommendations”. We all had a good chuckle, but we actually did print those t-shirts. We proudly wear our shirts, not to say we have all the answers, but that we might have some really good ones and ask to be heard.
Here are some comments from our 2014 customers that support the “Trust Your Designer” philosophy:
Customer #1
“I would have never thought to use so many colors in the office. I thought it would look kiddish or unprofessional, but it looks great and our customers love it.”
Customer #2
“We thought you guys were nuts when you asked us not to replace the carpet but seal the concrete instead. We didn’t want a cold environment or to look like we didn’t have enough money to carpet the place. Well, we had to take back our words when we saw the final product. It looks like amazing.”
Customer #3
“Stripes, not just stripes but yellow stripes! You had to convince us to let the painter paint one to show us. We were ready to kibosh the whole scheme and were second-guessing the rest of the paint colors after that. We hate to admit it, but it looks amazing! We almost had a heart attack in the process, but we have gotten so many compliments and our staff loves working in a youthful energetic place.”
Customer #4
“We really wanted a first class office and were ready to pay for it. We couldn’t believe you were telling us to spend less money. When you came to us with a budget that was 75% of what we wanted to spend, saying that it would be great, we had our doubts. We thought for sure that the actual costs were going to end up being closer to our original number and were getting annoyed at the delay of the start of the design process. Well, we did spend more than 75% of our first budget, but not by much and the style and look of our offices actually looks like we spent more than we did. We won’t say that we will never doubt you again, but the next time, we will be more willing to listen to your pre-design ideas than we were last time.”
Customer #5
“When we hired you, we told you we just wanted consulting on finishes and that the plan was set. We didn’t want to engage in any conversation about layout since we had been through several months of space planning. We believed we had the best possible plan. I remember when you came to a meeting with some tracing paper and a Sharpie pen. You said, “We have to show you something on the plan that we believe is a mistake”. Do you remember how upset we were? But you went on to demonstrate that we had eaten up space with hallways that weren’t needed and we ended up with a 2nd conference room and a facilities office that we sorely needed. We probably have told a dozen people about our experience with r.o.i. Design. We didn’t realize all your experience in so many areas of design and how you could offer us a return on investment if we let you.”
Providing a return on investment is our goal for all our customers. We want the fees that are paid us to be returned back to them with improved performance and customer satisfaction. r.o.i. Design has been in the business of helping our customers create environments that “work” for more than 20 years. It is our passion to partner with them in creating positive change.