Our current age of speed, got to have it yesterday, and it’s got to be cheap has made it difficult to sort through everything on offer and find a modern reception desk that best represents the quality of your business.
Make no mistake: a quality modern reception desk is the most important furniture investment you will ever make for your company. Why? Because it’s up-front, visible, and sets a precedent for what’s next. A package that has been beautifully giftwrapped, for example, sets the expectation pretty high as to what’s inside. Likewise, if your opening statement is done well and reflects quality, you have set the bar for the level of expectation you want your visitors to have in place.
So, there exists a common desire to have everything fast and cheap (or even free)—and now you want to throw quality into the mix? How will you ever be able to weed through all the offers out there? The marketplace has been so focused upon honoring the fast and cheap areas of demand that for many Americans, quality has become an afterthought.
The trend for selling reception desks has been to get as many pieces as possible into the smallest possible box, so as to leverage freight cost by weight and cubic feet. It’s no secret: most office furniture these days is no longer being made in the States, so to keep up with market demand and offer reception desks cheaply, freight cost must be a primary consideration.
All those pieces!
With that being said, the responsibility of assembling all those pieces together (in that small box) is completely on your shoulders. The quality of your reception desk is only going to be as good as the quality of the pieces assembled—and how well the installer puts it together. The more pieces in play, the greater the risk of something not fitting together well. It’s just math and averages!
What are those pieces made of?
Have you heard the saying, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link”? Well, the same is true of your reception desk. For example, if the type of wood that a fastener is attached to is subject to breaking away with a little stress, then it stands to reason that your reception desk quality is dependent upon how well those fasteners hold. Construction materials are at the foundation of your furniture’s quality.
Construction details
Sure, shipping your reception desk furniture in small pieces may save you a few dollars in freight. However, that small sum will be of little consequence when compared to furniture longevity and reception area presentation.
Modern reception desks that are bonded and screwed together as one piece will be stronger, live longer, and visually reflect a quality environment. To accomplish this, your furniture will need to ship in bigger boxes.
Protective elements
Let’s face it: your reception desk, like any office furniture, is going to endure a certain amount of abuse. For this reason, commercial-grade furniture like your reception desk needs to be better-made (and made differently) than residential furniture.
Certain areas of your reception desk are more susceptible to damage than others. These areas include: toe kicks, work surface edges, and panel ends. If your reception desk is made from high-pressure laminate, let’s say, you’ll need to make sure that key areas of your furniture are more protected than others. Here’s why…
Laminate, or HPL, is very hard and brittle, and when kicked by visitors (or users), or run into with chair arms or bases, there is a good chance that those areas will crack, chip, or split if not protected well. We at 90 Degree Office Concepts build reception desks with metal toe kicks, thick 3mm edge banding on the work surface detail, and hardwood in other areas. The modern reception desk you buy needs to look good the day you take delivery at your office—but also after it has been in use for quite some time.
Reading comments from other users
Nothing speaks better to quality than the comments of other users. Read what other buyers have said about the furniture, and learn about the experiences they’ve had with the builder or reseller. Need more information about how you can avoid these risks—and make sure your reception desk quality is just right for your business? Call us for free support and design ideas!
