Focus Group Findings, Take 2!

With the help of another one of my clients, Teeny Parks, we hosted our second focus group last week and had a great time meeting some new like-minded women who love home decor!  They were excited and full of ideas and we feel so energized with all of the feedback and suggestions we have gotten so far from both groups!

Meghan, Melissa, and me after Focus Group #2!!

After our first focus group, we updated our color stories and fabrics for a more sophisticated assortment and got a great reaction to the new additions.  Thank you, Focus Group 1!!  Here is a sneak peek at one of our favorite new color stories, Gold and Gray, behind me on the floor in the picture below.

Is it the 10 foot ceilings or my long shirttail that makes me look extremely short here??

Here are our major findings so far:
1) The majority of our focus group attendees are currently looking to update a room in their home. Yay!

2) Each individual item we sell needs to be special on its own. We want our customers to find that one special item that they love for their home! The added bonus we will sell is the ability to put a together a coordinated collection of these individually special items. A collection of "special" items, versus just  collection of "coordinated" items, will make the whole room even more amazing!

3) Our product assortment needs to be age appropriate and slightly ahead of the latest trends. Our goal is to introduce the newest trends to our customers before they see it advertised and sold by mass merchants.

4) Most everyone loves a monogram and it's a classic Southern statement! It's great accent for a room or a gift for a friend.

5) We need to offer an assortment of washable items for those who have children or pets in the home.

6) It's important for our sales reps to have some sort of experience and degree/certification to qualify them as an experienced decorator.

Oh, and here is the beautiful dining room where we hosted our meeting. It's been so wonderful of my clients to help me out - one of the added bonuses is that we have been able to host our focus groups in rooms that I have decorated!

We have one more focus group to go and look forward to sharing our ideas with another group of women and getting theirs in return!  Each group we host we get more ideas and suggestions to refine our concept to be in line with what our target customers are looking for. Can't wait to see what Saturday brings!!

-Melissa