You have some sales via interior designers and want more but are unsure how to develop further this route to market.

You have built up some good relationships with interior designers, perhaps those who tend to work on residential and smaller commercial projects. You are aware that there are many other interior design and architectural practices, many of whom work on large commercial projects, and would like to have the chance to interact with these too but you are not sure how to analyse your current success and how to expand on it. 

If you are already working with creative specifiers this is a great foundation to build on however there are many types of interior design practice, as well as architectural practices, and these operate in different ways to each other. 

To extend your reach and engage with other types of B2D customers is entirely feasible with an understanding of the broader creative specifier market, what would motivate interior designers and architects to consider your products, which services you need to offer and, importantly, where in the lifecycle chain your purchase order is going to come from. 

Key differences between B2B, B2C and B2D (Business to Designer) markets

Creative specifiers do not respond to marketing that might engage a consumer or another type of business buyer. These are technical people in a hurry and not (certainly initially) interested in your brand or that your company has been trading for 50 years. A different type of approach, style, language and tone is needed.

Interior designers can carry out a range of roles within the design scheme such as Project Manager or even as an on-site contractor,  their remit is not controlled like a Facilities Manager or architect (believe it or not the profession of interior design is still unregulated). It is therefore necessary to understand the differing responsibilities interior designers assume in order to be able to meet their needs and “sell” to them successfully. These different responsibilities will greatly affect the priorities that are placed for each project and also dictate who will be issuing your purchase order.