Remote design consultations must see kbb designers charge a fee, says director of Designer Kitchen by Morgan Darren Morgan.

Speaking as part of Kitchens & Bathrooms News video interview series, #KBNOne2One, he said not having a showroom and offering remote design in the kbb sector and would have been “completely outlandish” 18 months ago, but consumers like the convenience.

The multi-award winning designer said even when he started out, people were prepared to pay for his design service.

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Explaining why he has been successful charging for design, he explained consumers “didn’t necessarily feel it was time spent trying to sell them something, it was about them gaining something from the experience.”

Darren Morgan added: “If every designer in the industry approaches a client where you are the navigator of a project and there to guide them and not necessarily going to sell them something, I think that will always end up in a more fruitful result for the studio.”

He said visualisation software now has the capabilities to deliver “really good” presentations and charging a fee signals commitment or involvement from the client.

“If you’re offering remote design services, you definitely have to charge, otherwise the kbb industry will never gain the respect that it deserves as a bone fide design influencer.

“It’s having almost a collaborative voice that people need to accept and not be afraid to charge for design because if people believe they are getting value, even within the design process they will pay.”

Despite owning his own showroom in Country Armagh, Northern Ireland, Morgan stated: “You could even argue that there is the potential in the future (not necessarily now) that advancements in technology, training in our industry, power of design may reduce the necessity of a showroom.”

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