THE ROLE OF AN ARCHITECT

Architects are specially educated to help their clients define what they want to build and how best to build it.  This includes presenting the client with a range of options that they may not have previously considered.  In other words, the architect doesn't just design four walls and a roof, but creates an interior and exterior building environment.

Architects are also trained to creatively solve design challenges, which is often accomplished by sourcing, evaluating and specifying new products used to overcome a particular application obstacle.

Architects have total responsibility for the completion of a building project, which means they oversee the entire construction project from start to finish, working closely with local authorities, contractors and builders.

Finally, architects can assist their client in obtaining more from their construction budget by reducing building costs, improving energy efficiency and reducing the building's carbon footprint, which leads to increased future property values.

PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS

While architects may not directly purchase products themselves,  they do have tremendous influence over the products used in a construction project.   Most architects specify, or prescribe, over 1,500 individual products on the average building project.  Many of these products are of an OEM nature and the purchasing decisions are invariably left to the contractor.

However, products possessing particular design-led or problem-solving characteristics, often form the basis for the building's design and manufacturers of these products should seriously consider marketing their company to architects.

HOW DO ARCHITECTS SOURCE PRODUCTS?

Architects are extremely busy and therefore tend to use products that have performed well in the past.  Until the advent of the Internet, architects would be happy to receive product binders or catalogues from manufacturers and suppliers and these marketing materials would be indexed and housed in the architect's office library.

Today, products are typically specified on a project-needs basis, as most small to medium sized architectural practices have disbanded their in-house libraries for cost-cutting reasons.  This means that architects either specify previously used products, or source new products using directories like Tech-LS and Designer Products Online.

WHY DO ARCHITECTS PREFER ONLINE DIRECTORY SITES?

Architects earn their income from charging their clients in billable hours and do not earn money expending time spent on expending time researching products.   Architects therefore need to be able to find products quickly. 

Although Trade Directories are useful to architects, directory showcase sites like Tech-LS and Designer Products Online are often preferred, because they contain many more product choices and products are easily searched as they are categorised accurately.  

General Internet searching is becoming less popular as it's time consuming and yields poor results, because of the need to surf through dozens of inappropriate Google pages looking for the right product. 

WHY DO ARCHITECTS USE OUR SERVICES?

Tech-LS and Designer Products Online are popular online product sourcing choices for architects because our sites are entirely pictorial, easy to search and in the case of Designer Products Online - are unique!  No other online directory accurately categorises design-led and luxury products.

We also act as a third-party intermediary for the architect, by providing them with free product sourcing services and as we do not physically sell products, architects are comfortable talking to us about their product requirements, because they know they will not be plagued with sales calls.

Finally, our newsletters provide the architect with valuable information on a wide range of non-competitive products, specifically suited to the architect's current project workload.

REPEAT BUSINESS

Because architects typically use products that have performed well in the past, once a product is specified, the architect will continue to specify that same product on future projects.   This provides the manufacturer or supplier with a ready-made source of repeat business.

MAINTAINING PROFIT INTEGRITY

Architects are less concerned with product price than contractors.  Therefore manufacturers of products possessing strong design or problem solving characteristics can maintain their profit integrity, instead of being forced to discount pricing to accommodate third party sales.

BRAND AWARENESS AND REPUTATION

Nothing is more disheartening to a supplier than to have to continually obtain business by requesting a product substitution after a competitor's product has already been specified.

Architectural specifications allow you to build brand awareness and gain a solid reputation as a preferred industry product provider.  If your company's name is repeatedly mentioned in project specifications, contactors will start calling you for quotations.