Impressed with Sonia’s most recent custom project, we contacted her to learn about the details of this job. She explained her personal experience of selling customs and why she actively promotes them
“For years, I have recommended and sold customs. When the time is available and when the designer is willing, putting together a custom is a rewarding experience.
THE THRILL OF CUSTOM
“Custom projects are exciting! They offer the sales rep and the designer the chance to come up with a combination of color, texture and design that are completely unique.
Also, custom work gives a sales rep a unique opportunity to better serve the designer. In creating a custom, the designer becomes more dependent on the sales rep. There is more back and forth communication. I always take advantage of this -- it’s an opportunity to get to know the designer better.
Customizing Althea from CCW
“For a recent project that is destined for a Renaissance Grand Hotel, I worked with designer Cliff Tuttle of Forrest Perkins. Cliff is a very creative designer who has done custom work in the past. He was familiar with the process and willing to take the time to create his true vision for the Renaissance.
The Althea Pattern is a very popular look right now. In the Classic Contract Book, it is printed on Grande, which has a heavy stucco texture. For the custom, we selected the Façade pattern from the Evans & Brown Studio Collection. When we printed the Althea Pattern on this refined texture with custom colors, the result was very different and very attractive.
“Working with the strikeoff staff at Rainbow Creations on custom projects is exceptionally easy because of their experience in custom work. They are always willing to go the extra distance to provide me with what I need to sell the job, whether it be extra support or specially-sized strikeoffs. For the Althea project, we needed larger than normal samples in order to really see the pattern. Rainbow Creations was able to produce these without difficulty.
Also, the Art Director, Phillip McDaniel, really listened to what we wanted to accomplish and intuitively figured out what colors would look good on the selected ground. Without his instinct and experience, we could have spent an additional 3 weeks going back and forth on possible colorways.
Tips for Custom Work
“I've found the following to be useful for selling customs:
1. Don't be afraid to ask for special pricing. Many people believe that a custom job is going to be much more expensive than a standard item. That is not always the case. Customs with Rainbow Creations are aggressively priced.
2. Because terra cotta means different things to different people, it's important to provide the person doing the strikeoff with as much information about desired colors as possible. It is preferable to provide exact color swatches or to reference color paint chips.
3. I've found that the more creative a designer is the more he or she will be interested in customs and able to pull them off.
4. Timing is a factor. The designer needs to be willing to go through 1 - 3 strikeoffs until the colors and grounds are just right, although this is not always necessary.
5. People need to be stimulated. You have to be able to show them something visual that incites their creative process. I like to present several strikeoffs from projects I have worked on in the past to give the designers a good feel for the possibilities.”
Special thanks to Sonia Bradford for sharing her experience with us.
