In this episode, ThinkLab holds a roundtable discussion with Byron Morton, VP and co-head of leasing for THEMART in Chicago, and Amanda Darley, VP of marketing for Mannington Commercial. Both bring their perspectives on how brands, events, and even buildings can be leveraged to create and customize experiences — and why creating these experiences matters more than ever for our industry as we move into 2023. 

 

In this episode: 

[0:23] Amanda references a new blog post about ThinkLab’s Five Buyer Personas. You can read it in full here. 

[6:28] Amanda explains Mannington Commercial’s Samplify program, which provided digital printed samples to showroom visitors. 

[13:34] Byron discusses the ways that THEMART has expanded its digital presence. 

[25:27] “With all of the social complexities that we have been facing, having some remote options has been a leveling of a playing field in some ways.” 

In this roundtable, Byron Morton and Amanda Darley discuss the current state of affairs for the industry and what lies ahead. Byron describes the new programs and enhancements being put into place at THEMART to create experiences for clients in the building, such as expanding access to the members-only club and focusing on events. Amanda explains how Mannington Commercial has been finding new ways to interact digitally with specifiers, by creating content via the firm’s blog as well as through one-on-one videos and other online elements. These efforts are intended to position the brand as a knowledgeable resource for any questions. 

 

Connect with our interviewees on LinkedIn: 

Byron Morton 

Amanda Darley 

 

This season of Design Nerds Anonymous is brought to you by Mannington Commercial, THEMART, and NeoCon, companies doing big things to move the design industry forward. 

 

Download our leading-edge playbook: 5 Personas and 50 Ways to Design Their Phygital Journey. 

Design Nerds Anonymous is a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Design Nerds Anonymous was produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group, with music from Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette, and Samantha Sager. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, ThinkLab interviews Zappos chief experience officer Stacey Wagner on what B2B companies can learn from the retailer’s renowned customer service model, which has won them legions of superfans. We also speak to two residential designers — Mark Woodman and Andrea Goldman — about what they look for in a brand partner and the new roles that innovative brands are creating in response to recent disruptions. 

 

In this episode: 

[8:00] “If you’re truly continuing to try to raise the bar for your customers, getting it right the first time and making it as seamless and as easy as possible on that first go-round is paramount.” 

[11:27] Stacey details a number of challenges retailers are currently facing. 

[23:42] Mark describes how supply chain issues have changed expectations for immediate results. 

[26:05] Andrea explains the new procurement role her design firm created in response to the pandemic. 

 

Our first guest, Stacey Wagner, chief experience officer for Zappos, explains the retailer’s driving ethos as a service company first and foremost. He shares four key insights for inspiring brand loyalty, such as empowering employees to personalize their interactions with customers. He also stresses the need for collecting data during these interactions to learn what customers are having trouble with and to continue to innovate.  

In chapter two, this episode explores brand loyalty in the design industry in a mini roundtable with Mark Woodman, an interior designer and trend forecaster based outside Washington, D.C., and Andrea Goldman, a luxury interior designer located outside of Chicago. For Mark, product brands earn his loyalty when they demonstrate their own loyalty, both to designers and to their own employees. For Andrea, she seeks consistency over all else: consistency in the quality of the product and in the communication with the main point person. 

 

Connect with our interviewees on LinkedIn: 

Stacey Wagner 

Mark Woodman 

Andrea Goldman 

 

This season of Design Nerds Anonymous is brought to you by Mannington Commercial, theMART, and NeoCon, companies doing big things to move the design industry forward. 

 

Download our leading-edge playbook: 5 Personas and 50 Ways to Design Their Phygital Journey. 

 

Design Nerds Anonymous is a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Design Nerds Anonymous was produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group, with music from Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette, and Samantha Sager. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, ThinkLab interviews David Schwarz, founding partner at HUSH, about the design firm’s innovative approach to sustainability, and Rebecca Best, head of sustainability at Material Bank, on how the world’s largest material aggregator is helping designers make more sustainable decisions. 

 Our first guest is David Schwarz, founding partner at HUSH, an experience design firm. Schwarz shares forward-thinking ways HUSH is leveraging design to connect the occupants of a space to how their own daily microdecisions affect the sustainability of a building. To that end, he describes an award-winning project, designed in partnership with United Therapeutics, which sought to make a building’s cutting-edge engineering visible and able to be appreciated by workers and visitors.  

Our next guest, Rebecca Best, is vice president of sustainability at Material Bank. She explains that sustainability is so complex — requiring designers to balance climate, human health, and social justice concerns — that it can’t really be simplified. She counsels design firms to focus on making the decision-making process more efficient and shares strategies for how to empower clients.  

 

In this episode: 

[4:12] David details the two-part mission behind HUSH’s memorable project with United Therapeutics. 

[15:55] “We don't want to require that our clients become sustainability and energy experts.” 

[24:17] Rebecca describes the most pressing sustainability concerns by sector. 

[28:56] Rebecca speaks to the importance of celebrating small wins as a way to encourage collective action. 

Connect with our interviewees on LinkedIn: 

David Schwarz  

Rebecca Best 

 

This season of Design Nerds Anonymous is brought to you by Mannington Commercial, theMART, and NeoCon, companies doing big things to move the design industry forward. 

 

Download our leading-edge playbook: 5 Personas and 50 Ways to Design Their Phygital Journey. 

 

Design Nerds Anonymous is a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Design Nerds Anonymous was produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group, with music from Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette, and Samantha Sager. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, ThinkLab interviews Julia McClatchy, an associate partner at McKinsey & Company, on how and why hybrid selling is becoming the dominant B2B sales role. We also share an excerpt from an episode of ThinkLab’s new podcast, MPowered, which gives practical advice on what design specifiers are looking for on brand websites.

Our first guest, Julia McClatchy, explores detailed research findings on how the B2B sale is evolving. She also shares four pieces of advice for brands trying to prioritize their investments and supercharge their hybrid selling strategy. Next, we share an excerpt of a recent episode of MPowered, ThinkLab’s new podcast, created in partnership with Material Bank. The clip discusses what designers need from a website at different points of their specifying journey.

 

In this episode: 

[13:26] Julia details what outperforming hybrid sellers are doing to get ahead.

[16:00] “Let’s listen truly to what our customer preferences are. OK, they’re different than they used to be. Therefore, we have to change, too.”

[19:25] Julia explains why offering more personalization leads to more sales growth.

[23:40] A clip from MPowered discusses the website features that most appeal to designers when they’re seeking inspiration.

Connect with our interviewees on LinkedIn: 

Julia McClatchy

 

This season of Design Nerds Anonymous is brought to you by Mannington Commercial, theMART, and NeoCon, companies doing big things to move the design industry forward. 

 

Download our leading-edge playbook: 5 Personas and 50 Ways to Design Their Phygital Journey.

 

Design Nerds Anonymous is a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Design Nerds Anonymous was produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group, with music from Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette, and Samantha Sager.  

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, ThinkLab interviews Colleen Stanley, author and leading sales expert on emotional intelligence, and Meena Krenek, global practice leader of interiors for HKS, about the insights and advantages you can gain from using your EQ and tapping into your clients’ perspective. 

 

Our first guest, Colleen Stanley, author of Emotional Intelligence for Sales Success, discusses why harnessing the power of your emotional quotient (or EQ) is more important now than ever. She also describes how our instinctual “reptilian brains” influence how we sell and our clients buy. And our second guest, Meena Krenek, shares what she's looking from product reps in terms of supporting her architecture and design teams. 

 

In this episode: 

[2:42] Colleen explains the difference between IQ (intelligence quotient) and EQ (emotional quotient). 

[10:49] Colleen names three common complaints she hears about incorporating EQ into sales models and shares how to overcome them. 

[13:46] “So the decision I made was to change self-limiting belief that I couldn’t be as good virtually as I was in person.” 

[19:29] Meena shares four insights to get ahead as a rep today and to truly empower those designers to influence their clients. 

 

Connect with our interviewees on LinkedIn: 

Colleen Stanley 

Meena Krenek 

 

This season of Design Nerds Anonymous is brought to you by Mannington Commercial, theMART, and NeoCon, companies doing big things to move the design industry forward. 

 

Download our leading-edge playbook: 5 Personas and 50 Ways to Design Their Phygital Journey. 

 

Design Nerds Anonymous is a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Design Nerds Anonymous was produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group, with music from Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette, and Samantha Sager. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, ThinkLab interviews two experts on the importance of buyer personas and how these profiles can help guide brands on how they go to market, as well as ease frustration with the specifying process in a phygital world. 

Our first guest is Jim Kraus, president of the Buyer Persona Institute, who defines how these personas work by walking through what he calls “the five rings of buyer insights.” Kraus also discusses how the wider world leverages personas for sales and marketing and explains ways that companies commonly fail to get the most out of persona work. 

Our second guest is Meredith Campbell, the host of The Learning Objective podcast and part of ThinkLab’s research and content development team. She shares an inside look at ThinkLab’s most recent design hackathon research, which explored the desired balance between human and digital interaction with brand reps today. From this proprietary research, ThinkLab identified and developed unique specifier personas specifically for the commercial interior design industry and captured each persona’s distinct preferences throughout the specifying journey. 

 

In this episode: 

[6:58] Jim explains “the five rings of buyer insights,” which includes desired outcomes and the buyer’s journey. 

[9:45] “If you just have demographics on a buyer persona, you’re not going to be able to get that deep. You’re not going to get to that layer of trust with them.” 

[17:28] Meredith explains the roots of the persona research drawn from ThinkLab’s hackathon sessions. 

[22:00] Meredith identifies the one key success factor shared by all personas and describes how each persona defines it differently. 

  

Connect with our interviewees on LinkedIn: 

Jim Kraus 

Meredith Campbell 

 

This season of Design Nerds Anonymous is brought to you by Mannington Commercial, theMART, and NeoCon, companies doing big things to move the design industry forward. 

 

Download our leading-edge playbook: 5 Personas and 50 Ways to Design Their Phygital Journey. 

 

Design Nerds Anonymous is a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Design Nerds Anonymous was produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group, with music from Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette, and Samantha Sager.  

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, ThinkLab interviews three design industry pros: Anya Ostry, head of a multi-market tenant representation team at CBRE; Shannon White, district manager for Mannington Commercial, covering the Colorado territory; and Meena Krenek, a global practice leader of interiors for HKS. These three women participated in one of ThinkLab’s earlier hackathons, and here, they share their current concerns and advice on how to adjust to the emerging “new normal” as sellers. 

 

In this episode: 

[5:15] Meena explains why there’s a greater need from clients for data, and what sellers can do to help meet that need.  

[11:41] Shannon describes her difficulties in identifying a decision-maker as designers shift to different roles, companies, or industries. 

[14:26] “What can we do different to bring a studio together so they see us as being valuable, and we're a partner to them?” 

[22:45] Anya discusses the importance of being aware of your digital presence.  

 

Connect with our interviewees on LinkedIn: 

Meena Krenek 

Anya Ostry 

Shannon White 

 

This season of Design Nerds Anonymous is brought to you by Mannington Commercial, theMART, and NeoCon, companies doing big things to move the design industry forward.  

Download our leading-edge playbook: 5 Personas and 50 Ways to Design Their Phygital Journey. 

Design Nerds Anonymous is a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Design Nerds Anonymous was produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group, with music from Blue Dot Sessions. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette, and Samantha Sager. 

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What do design clients want most right now? Where should I focus my efforts to amplify my impact? How can I engage the next generation of designers?

Join ThinkLab’s Amanda Schneider for a series of impactful conversations with visionary leaders as we answer all of those questions and more to navigate what’s next for today’s ecosystem of B2B interior design clients – welcome to season 4 of the Design Nerds Anonymous podcast!

This season, we’re sharing data-driven insights from our groundbreaking new research on buyer personas that represent the future of the design industry. Listen and subscribe for informative findings from six months of ThinkLab research + sage guidance from our experts to help shape your projects and equip you with actionable ideas about understanding and connecting with humans: from buyer personas to how we engage in physical space.

This season of Design Nerds Anonymous is brought to you by Mannington Commercial, theMART, and NeoCon, companies doing big things to move the design industry forward.

Design Nerds Anonymous is a proud member of the SURROUND Podcast Network. Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com. This episode of Design Nerds Anonymous was produced and edited by SANDOW Design Group. Special thanks to the podcast production team: Hannah Viti, Wize Grazette, and Samantha Sager.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We are thrilled to welcome MillerKnoll's podcast, Looking Forward: Conversations about the Future of Work to the SURROUND Podcast Network by SANDOW!

Host Ryan Anderson takes time to share some highlights from Season 1 and set the stage for Season 2 by answering the two most frequently asked questions he gets asked once people find out what he does for a living: What is the current state of return-to-office? And what does it mean for the future of the workplace?

Check out more episodes at surroundpodcasts.com/looking-forward

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode, ThinkLab interviews Byron Morton, vice president of sales and leasing for NeoCon and theMART, and Avinash Rajagopal, editor-in-chief of Metropolis.

Morton discusses the changes that are coming to NeoCon 2022 and beyond, as well as sharing details about MART 2.0, a renewal and renovation project of theMART that will expand on its amenities and sense of community. Rajagopal touches on three hot-button topics currently influencing the interior design industry and which will drive conversations at NeoCon: technology, sustainability, and DE&I (diversity, equity, and inclusion).

In this episode:

 

[3:01] Byron describes what kinds of products he expects to see at NeoCon 2022 now that the purpose of the office has changed.

[14:34] “A showroom anywhere other than at theMART is just a showroom in an office building. You don't get that sense of community.”

[17:45] Avinash discusses how developing hybrid experiences is becoming more central to interior design.

[24:09] Avinash explains the importance of considering the impact of interior design beyond just the occupants of space. “Every interior that you design, through the products and materials that you put in it, touches the lives of hundreds of people around the world.”

Connect with our interviewees on LinkedIn:

Byron Morton

Avinash Rajagopal

This season of Design Nerds Anonymous is brought to you by Mannington Commercial, Keilhauer, theMART, and NeoCon, companies doing big things to move the design industry forward.

 

Download our leading-edge playbook: 100 Ways to Create a Phygital Sales and Marketing Strategy.

 

Finally, thanks to Hannah Viti, our audio producer, and Blue Dot Sessions for providing the music for this episode.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.