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Leslie Carothers
Retail Ideas columnist

Hi, I'm Leslie Carothers, principal of The Kaleidoscope Partnership, a national company specializing in helping retailers and manufacturers use the internet and their websites to powerfully drive traffic and profitability. I have been involved in all aspects of the retail home furnishings business for over 25 years-especially with respect to sales, sales training, writing, speaking and consulting. By writing this blog, I hope to educate, inform and stimulate you to try new ideas in your own businesses that can help you make money and engage with today’s customers in ways that are fun, personalized and relevant –to them. I welcome all of your comments so we can have a shared dialogue benefitting our entire industry. Please feel free to either email me at leslie@tkpartnership.com or call me at 713-705.2482.

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Retail Ideas

Friday, 11/17/2006

Where is the money in home office?

I am actively seeking my perfect home office solution-I want a computer armoire. Has anyone seen it? As a trainer, consultant and (sometimes) writer I have a well-defined set of functional requirements. Easy enough to go to a big box store, an office superstore or similar outlet for an inexpensive solution to my functional requirements.

But, and this is the huge but, I can't find ANYTHING that resonates for me emotionally. And herein is the opportunity for my retail readers..

I have checked out every website I can find and "googled" for others that I didn't even know existed. I typed in lots of different series of keywords hoping to strike it rich (By the way, one very large, well known brand didn't even make it onto page 2 of search results on Google!!!). Guess what? There are thousands of desks and computer armoires being made-no surprise.

However, none of them and I mean none of them, allowed for any type of personalization based on my particular needs. What am I looking for (I am, by the way, your typical female consumer running a business who needs to put together a home office).

Here's a list of what I'd like:

A footprint that isn't a big rectangular box.

A way to personalize my computer armoire with the interior options that are important to me. For instance, I need lots of file space but work with a laptop so I don't need the space that usually is reserved for the computer underneath.

Side pieces that I can add on now or at a later date that allow me to display my books and personal mementos- with options for glass or enclosed doors and lighting.

A way to personalize the front of my armoire-right now, most of what I'm seeing is wood. Why can't I have the option to paint the wood a color of my choosing, have several different decorative finish options to choose from or have it covered with fabric to match the rest of my room or have it covered with blackboard paint or corkboard? Would it be possible to switch these options out -just like you do with slipcovers?

Extra coordinating file cabinets and book cabinets that complement (not match) the computer armoire.

And, I want to make sure that the lighting I need is present and that it is easy to change the bulb and manage the wires.

Did I say I might need to move it at some point so it would be terrific if it could be disassembled in two pieces or more so that it would be easy to get around stairways and into elevators?

Ok. Now you have a blueprint of what your female consumer is looking for when you go to market in 2007.

A unique, personalized solution that appeals to the female consumer with money to invest in an environment that supports her functionally and resonates with her emotionally has a surefire winner on their hands-are you letting me know through your website and advertising?

I also want to share one more thing...I have shopped every brick and mortar store in my area and, since I travel, several others around the country. I have never had a sales consultant, upon hearing that I needed a home office, ask me any of the following questions:

What equipment do you need space for?
How do you use your office?
What style of furniture do you prefer?
What else is your home office used for that I have to take into consideration?
Can you describe for me what else is in the room where this furniture will be going?
Can you tell me the architectural details of the room-can you sketch your home office area for me?

You get the picture!! Seriously, when it came time to talk to me about home office, all of the associates focused only on price. Now, this is not usually the case when I've been looking for upholstery or other case goods, but price has always been the first focus for home office.

Let me say this to all of my valued retail readers-please know that their are, according to a 2004 Bureau of Labor Statistics report, 20.7 million Americans working at home. Of these, 7 million have a home based business only. Of these, 45 percent are in managerial, professional and related occupations and an additional 15 percent are in sales occupations.

Employed persons with a bachelors degree or higher are 6 times more likely to have a home based business than those without! And the percentage of men and women who have home based businesses is about equal. So, that is a market(in 2004) of approximately 3.5 million female consumers who work full time out of home offices and are seeking(one might surmise) more than a utilitarian solution to the place where they are spending upwards of 45 hours a week and willing to pay extra to get just what they want!

Opportunity is lurking-please ask your manufacturers to talk to us -give us a forum and we will give them our feedback.

This is a huge growth juggernaut for your business if you really hear what your female consumer is saying to you, find and floor the product and then let us know about it through email blasts and your advertising.

One last thing...I know there are a lot of men reading this who might want the same things, too( the ability to have a map of your favorite golf course on the front of your armoire maybe?), but it just seems there are lots of armoires already designed for a more masculine sensibility.( I see a GREAT opportunity here for a private label line designed by a female designer who is also a mom working from a home office)

As always, please email me at leslie@tkpartnership.com and, if you have the home office of my dreams, please let me know! (Remember, ask me those questions first..)

Post a comment

at 12/6/2006 9:21:19 PM, Salesmen & Woman said:
As a sales rep in the Houston area, I see a high percentage of men working the sales floor. Your exactly right I really don't ever see these guys asking your type of questions to their customers. What I do see is alot of successful saleswoman in this area. I believe they do have a better knack for home furniture sales. Thank you for the insight!

at 12/11/2006 9:47:25 AM, leslie carothers said:
Thank you for your response. I agree, there is a big need for training men who have been in the business quite a while how to sell to the female consumer in a way that resonates with her emotionally as well as addressing her needs for function and space. Leslie

at 1/3/2007 1:42:31 PM, Katrina O'Nan, Interior Decorator said:
Loved your brief on difficulty of home office: There's no office like home! I would like for you to consider a couple of options, and yes it could probably become a private label business. One, a company like a murphy bed type company or even a california closet type can in fact customize almost any shape you want. Many of the products can be wall mounted and are able to disassemble if needed, (on castors is the pur-fect way to do it- ideas for construction). They have numerous finishes as well. However, I am an interior decorator and faux finisher, so I believe that any surface can be custom created through paint and canvas. Wood doors can easily be transformed into glass doors through such companies as dream doors that just cut out a part of the wood and insert the glass. But put your theory to test, you can send your floor plan to me and what you would like in it. I always ask first, HOW MUCH STORAGE and what kind? Files, boxes, how much paperwork do you keep verses discs or email. What type of lighting is in your room, as its sooooo easy to buy a $40 track light with multiple lights from home depot replacing your existing ceiling light (or fans- like escampa? by fanimation). BUDGET IS ALWAYS THE CORE of design. Give me a budget and I'll give you a range of products. File cabinets are a b#@%h in floor space so lets go up the wall and over the doorway for shelving and drawers. A hanging wire rack on back of door is a clever way to store supplies, front and back! I love to faux paint around a doorway on the outside to simulate an office entry, for example, paint a beautiful trompe l'oeil Italian column entry with the door painted as though it were an iron gate that you get to enter into everyday. Carry that theme into your office with soft Venetian plastered walls. This type of look would allow for some vintage desk pieces and bookcases. Creating beauty and elegance that reflects your personality as well as the practical functioning side of office layout. You don't have a shopping problem girl, you have a creative problem! Let your mind pretend that you could have your office anywhere in the world- decide on that look and your desktop may be a replication of a yacht helm instead of an armoire. Best to you, Katrina O'Nan- Home Galleria, St. Augustine FL

at 1/4/2007 1:24:11 AM, leslie carothers said:
Dear Karina: What an amazing response-thank you for all of your excellent suggestions! If I ever need a designer-I'll know where to come! I hope everyone who reads this blog "gets"-once they read your comments- how powerful creative design suggestions can be in winning over customers. This is a principle I teach when I am training for retailers-hence the name of my course, "Creative Design Sales Training for the Home Furnishings Professional." I am still looking for the perfect armoire, however-without having to buy one and spend even more money on customization when I get it. And I want to say to all of the readers here that I have had SEVERAL people respond on my private email with different suggestions for me, however, only ONE of the responders- a retailer and manufacturer-offered to work with me to customize what I am after as it does not seem to exist. Folks, there is a market opportunity here. I have talked to so many women after posting this blog and they are all after the same thing- a customizable, colorful home office solution which has a feminine touch! wkj

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