For many retail furniture stores, moving inventory is key. The concept of forging lasting customer relationships, understanding the person’s daily lifestyle habits and educating the client about various options is virtually a lost art. These important sales elements can be witnessed at Designs of the Interior (DOTI ) in Austin, where owner Jared Story says he won’t hire a salesperson who isn’t interested in making new friends.

“Sales is truly about relationships,” says Story. “When you treat a customer respectfully and ask about his or her aesthetic taste, lifestyle, traffic patterns, room focal point, scaling and price, you gain the big picture. Our staff invests more time in the beginning, which ensures a much happier customer at the register.”

N ot only does the staff at DOTI Austin welcome each customer warmly, they also offer a second consultation for an in-depth home comfort analysis. During the visit, the consultant studies many issues related to the furniture’s usage, including how the person sits, the television’s angle, its spatial relationship to the room and its ultimate purpose. Some may consider these deep questions for an item usually noticed only for its color and fabric.

S tory is a believer in the comfort analysis because he once fell into the standard couch-buying trap. “About 15 years ago, my wife, Mary and I bought a new couch,” he says. “We chose it based purely on color, fabric and price. At home, it didn’t fit the room. The durable synthetic fiber was incredibly hot and I could only stand it for 30 minutes stretches. We were sitting in our beautiful new living room on a terribly uncomfortable couch.”

A fter joining DOTI Austin, Story took the comfort analysis. The night of the new sofa’s arrival, he tested it on movie night and quickly fell into a deep sleep. That happened for the next three nights. “That had never happened to me before. I was sold,” Story says.

Story coordinated with Michele Evanger, DOTI ’s founder, to create a more in-depth version of the questionnaire. “Instead of simply seating customers at various sofas, we focused more on lifestyles and education,” Story says. “Conducting the analysis in the client’s natural environment is a valuable tool that yields more authentic answers and results.”

Designs Of The Interior Austin (DOTI) is located at 2301 W Anderson Lane, Suite 100. Call their office at 512-374-1170 or visit them online at www.dotiaustin.com.