We’re back talking with Michigan based SideDoor designer, Lauren Figueroa. Last week we had the opportunity to look at a project she designed using SideDoor. If you missed that email, you can see it on the blog here.
This week we’re asking about the success she’s found using SideDoor and how it’s impacted her business overall: process, sales, financials, oh my!
Let’s dive in!
CONVERSATION
SideDoor: To recap the last two weeks: we’ve heard a little about you and your clients, we’ve seen an awesome case study of a project you designed with the platform, and now we want to know, what motivated you to hop on board with SideDoor?
Lauren: I’ve been with SideDoor since the very beginning when you launched back in 2020. When I first discovered the platform, I was like, YES! THIS is exactly the tool I’ve been waiting for!
At that point I had just launched my Designed in a Day service, but I didn’t yet have a tool that let me easily search items, provide them to clients in a clean and tidy way, and also allowed me to make a profit.
Now, I use SideDoor with almost every client. Financially, it’s allowed me to step back from the more time consuming and stressful full-service projects and focus on the day session format, which I much prefer!
SideDoor: We love to hear that! Can you share about how specifically you utilize the platform with clients?
Lauren: Definitely! I’ll try to give you a summary without being too long winded...
During sessions, there’s a cadence of both working together with my clients as well as breaks for them. Initially, we walk through the space and talk inspiration, needs, etc. They then take a break while I measure and pull together a 2D floor plan for the space.
Once we land on a layout they’re excited about, they get another break, and I jump into sourcing on SideDoor. At that point, I create a new collection and speed source 5-6 of each kind of item I’d need for the space.
I then start pulling together a styleboard, where I tend to showcase only my top choice of each item. When I have a design pulled together, the client and I regroup to talk through the design and any pieces that might not speak to them, at which point I swap out one or two of the original items for another.
I’ll then save the last 45 min or so of a session to clean up their SideDoor collection, add a header image of the style board and floor plan to their collection, and email over a link to their collection with some info about the platform.
SideDoor: How about selling—can you talk about what’s worked for you as far as getting clients comfortable with the platform?
Lauren: Absolutely! For me, I like a soft sell and prefer to be very transparent about everything with clients. I’ll let them know how the platform and pricing works, that they aren’t obligated to purchase from it, but that if they do, I’ll receive a commission—they seem to be very responsive to that!
I also let them know that they have the option to quickly one-click checkout, or they purchase slowly over time, or, they can even use it as a size, style, and color guide to source their items elsewhere if the price points don’t work for their budget.
Many folks do purchase some or all of the items, so it tends to balance out well, and clients are always thankful to have the online collections to reference.
SideDoor: It’s great to hear how flexible the tool has been for you. Can you talk a little about the financial side of things for you? What’s been the impact on your income?
Lauren: Sure thing! As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, most of my clients work with me via a service called Designed in a Day. I’ve been averaging 3-4 sessions a month. Some folks will buy just one or two items from their collections, but a handful of clients purchase everything—and gosh, you can never guess who it’s going to be!
For some hard and fast math, last year I booked about 40 day sessions for the year, and my average SideDoor commission per session was around $1,500. So if we do the math, that’s a good chunk of change right there, all from SideDoor commissions.
SideDoor: That’s amazing! We’re so thrilled the platform is working for you in that way. Is there anything else you think designers should know about working with the platform?
Lauren: It’s really about finding a design and sales process that feels comfortable for you and your clients. I try new things all the time and regularly iterate my process when I figure out a better way to do something or when a new feature is released.
For example, after doing a few day sessions, I realized folks regularly had follow up questions in the weeks after their session, so I decided to include a week of email support in the price. That encouraged folks to get their questions to me quicker, and also encouraged a faster purchase.
SideDoor: Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us, and we can’t wait for our live SideDoor University episode featuring Lauren. This will happen next week and we'll announce the date and time soon.
We’ve loved introducing one of our SideDoor Superstars to our community of designers! If you want to follow along with Lauren’s design work, you can find her website here, as well as her instagram, linkedin, and facebook.
And don't forget to mark your calendars for our next SideDoor University episode featuring Lauren Figueroa with our very own founder, Lynsey Humphrey, happening this April 30 at 1PM EST. We can’t wait for this community conversation!
Are YOU a SideDoor Superstar? Would you like to be featured in our series? Just respond to this email and we’ll start the conversation!
