There was a time when a person could buy a treasure map, and then have to pay a small fortune. As more and more treasure maps started to become available in the marketplace, sellers upped the ante and began to lower prices and provide free tools to dig up the treasure. They also began to provide transportation to the treasure site. To gain an even greater market share, map sellers began to offer all the benefits of treasure hunting right from the living room couch for X dollars.
What the map owners didn’t realize was the fact that treasure hunting had been reduced to simply buying a piece of crap (the treasure) that they could have bought from any dollar store for half the price.
Modern reception desks are no different than any other products offered. Producers think they can make them less costly, offer more convenience, and therefore gain a bigger market share. To do this, however, they had to decide in advance what your company image should be (size, color, shape, and material). They have already figured out how to pay people willing to work for less than low wages, produce your modern reception desk, pack it into the smallest box imaginable, get as many pieces into a shipping container as possible to mitigate cost, and ship it to your local dealer.
The dealer ships a box to your front door with a bunch of little parts you now need to pay someone to assemble. As in the example of the treasure map, they have taken away the experience of creating the experience you want to have for your company. You are now settling for the box you were put into long before you ever thought about buying a modern reception desk.
In the process of shopping for the best deal, you trade away some of your personality. You give away some of your customer experience, and you tend to forget that quality is a reflection of company value.
Because they can set machines and people on autopilot, dealers are able to produce more products in a shorter period of time. More production within a shorter time frames equals lower costs. While this is a great goal in any industry, when it comes to selecting the perfect modern reception desk for your business, mass production is the enemy of creativity. It robs you of the ability to create the best ways to make your business more functional. Mass production precludes quality materials and fit.
Conversely, a quality custom reception desk allows you to plan all the details of how your business needs to look and function in your front office. A custom modern reception desk allows you to decide the presentation you want to give to your customers as opposed to having it decided for you. It allows you to weave the theme of your company from front to back.
Now, there is no doubt that customizing your reception desk will cost you more than one that has been mass-produced. This begs the question: what is excellent presentation worth? In my mind, excellent presentation, whether verbal, visual, or olfactory, captures your audience’s attention.
Some receptions desks are certainly less costly than others, but how much of who you are—and how you show up—do you want to sacrifice in the process?
