Firm Services and Library Management

A: Our open hours are listed on the schedule page of our website. You are welcome to stop in during those times and no appointment or notice is needed. Please do not arrive at the office during the last 5-10 mins of our time as we will not have time to meet or for you to update your samples.

A: Product can be added to the library during our open office hours, however not all product brought in will be accommodated due to limited space and what the firm prefers to keep in house.

A: Generally, we do not keep furniture brochures or binders in our client libraries unless the firm requests us to. Some of our firms do keep furniture finish sample boxes for wood, plastic and metal so please reach out to us to coordinate bringing those in.

A: To maximize designers time, we schedule group lunch and learn presentations with three non-competing vendors. In this format each rep will have 20 mins to present their product to the team (please do not go over your time). Please be respectful of the other representatives by arriving on time, staying for their presentations and paying attention during their allotted time (think movie theatre rules).

A: A tabletop is a display with a combination of product samples and literature from a manufacturer that informs designers/architects about new or existing products. Most tabletops are just that (a top of a table or flat surface) but some firms do have a magnetic or trackable surface behind the flat surface.

A: Display areas vary based on each firm’s space. When in doubt reach out to any Source Firm Services team member and one of us can give you more specific dimensions/details.

A: This is at the representative’s discretion. You may add pricing to the newsletter, or have it written on the samples displayed but please note this will be seen by all (possibly competitors). Giving designers/architects a range as well is helpful because it gives the designers a better idea of what can be specified.

A: Every tabletop at each firm will stay up for one week from the date of setup.

Please come to take your tabletop down at the same time one week from the date you set up, so we can make sure there is space for the next weeks rep to setup.

If you do not come to pick up your tabletop we must take it down and try to find space to house it until you arrive and at some firm’s space is extremely limited so please try to find someone who can collect your setup in your absence.

A: Tabletop newsletters are due to Source by the end of business on the day you set up so that we can distribute to the firm and encourage them to visit your display. If we receive the newsletter after that time, it will be archived in the firm’s folder but not distributed. If you are having trouble editing the slide please reach out to Maggie.

A: Out-of-town manufacturers’ reps are eligible for the same tabletop and lunch presentations as local reps, but please note that we do book out months in advance. Make sure to plan ahead, as we will not be able to accommodate last-minute requests for tabletops or presentations. For tabletop set-up or take-down, an Source Firm Services team member can set-up and take-down for you however, we will need you to provide us with both a box and return shipping label to send back to you.

A: Please allow at least two weeks before you follow up on a scheduling request. We work with hundreds of reps daily so accommodating everyone does take some time and coordination with the firms. You will be added to a scheduling list as soon as your request is received, which holds your place in line. Once we confirm with the appropriate firm that you would like to be scheduled, we will then send you an invitation.

A: Please DO NOT add any of our firms to a sample mailing lists, as they tend to be more of an inconvenience than a benefit. We welcome updates and new products to the libraries, but we ask that you the representative bring them by. Mail updates show up, and without knowing where they go or what old samples they replace, end up stacked around the display boxes and become unsightly. We are here to help you cater products specifically for each firm, so samples sent in from mailing lists will be returned or disposed of.

A: If you received a sample or pricing request for a Source team member about a specific project for a designer, please communicate only with the Source team member who sent the request, NOT the designer unless directed to. This is not a control issue; this is a time management issue. The designers utilize Source Firm Services to help with sample ordering and specification questions to save time and allow them to stay focused on the deadline at hand. If there are 10 finishes to order for a project and each finish is 3-5 emails to various reps just think of how much time a designer would need to spend responding to those emails instead of focusing on the client or project!

A: Source will provide you with any information allowed by the designer or architect in our initial request. Please understand that a lot of our firms work on projects that have NDAs, or they are competitive situations where Source is not allowed to disclose any information up front. Please respect this and know that we will provide information when it is available.