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That Special Gift

by Howard Shingle
Photography by Yamada-Lapides Photography

Parviz Sadrian loves his job. Some days he's at it from 7:30 in the morning until 10 o'clock at night. "This man loves what he does," says Pamela, his wife and partner in SunDance Interiors, Roseville, CA. "He lives it and breathes it," she says. "He talks about it at night and talks about it in the morning. He's not happy unless he's doing it." In a word, what Parviz does is everything. SunDance Interiors is a full-service window coverings retail showroom and workroom that offers custom draperies, upholstery, blinds, carpet, wallpaper and interior design under one umbrella. But SunDance Interiors would be nothing without Parviz, or without Pamela's constant support. "She's the connection between the showroom, the workroom and me out in the field," Parviz says, "She's peace of mind." "Part of our selling technique is that customers work with us from beginning to end," Pamela says. "Parviz comes out to the house, measures and gives the estimate. We do the work here in our own workroom, so if there's a question about anything we can give an immediate response. Then when it comes time to install the drapery or hard window treatment, Parviz is the one who shows up at the door with his crew. If there is something wrong, he can take care of it immediately," she adds. "It's a personal touch from the beginning to the ending. I have that edge over the competition," Parviz says. Top Priority Clearly, SunDance Interiors' customers come out winners as a result of the Sadrians' dedication to their business and their emphasis on customer service. The 3,900-square-foot showroom is open six days a week until 5 p.m., and is organized to help customers. "Many times customers are shy. When they come into the showroom they want to be independent and do what they want to do, so we have made it so they can find their way," Parviz says. "We don't want to be pushy. If they need us, we are there to help them," he adds. Located in a stand-alone building along a freeway, SunDance Interiors' showroom is U-shaped. Along one side are the catalogs followed by supplies, sample books, wallpaper, hard window treatments and "many, many drapery rods," Parviz explains. "We have one section that's nothing but upholstery-weight fabrics," Pamela continues. "Sample books are broken out by categories so it's real easy for the customers to find the sheers, laces, traditional styles, contemporaries, checks, stripes, small prints, tone-on-tones and moires," she adds. In addition, customers can check-out sample books without charge. Throughout the showroom there are six to eight display vignettes and full-size samples to show and demonstrate products. To one side is the workroom. "We always keep the door to the workroom open during work hours because the inside is carpeted, air-conditioned and very clean. Customers in the showroom can see how the product is made," Parviz says. But the Sadrians' customer service goes beyond the showroom. "We assist our customers in their homes with furniture placement, artwork and putting in accessories," Pamela says. "We do that quite a bit with new home owners. Many times we don't charge for that service." The Sadrians offer other extras as well. "If we make any kind of drapery for a customer, when the job is finished we always make extra pillows or table runners free of charge," Parviz says. "I always keep this kind of service free. We want to show them our appreciation for choosing us," he adds. Thank-you notes and flowers to customers following installations are not unusual. "Occasionally we recover lamp shades," Pamela adds. Even with all these extras, it's still the way the Sadrians treat customers that stands out. "Every customer has top priority and they are the best customer I have. I will take care of them to the best of my ability, regardless of cost, regardless of the size of the job," Parviz says. "When I go to a customer's home, I look around, and I give them some ideas. I say, 'Look, I do not live in your home, and I have no intention whatsoever of living here. I want to make your home the way you're comfortable. It will not hurt my feelings if I make a suggestion and you don't like it. Talk to me. Let's be frank. You have to be happy with it,'" Parviz says. "He builds such a rapport with his clients and they have such confidence in him that if he told them to do pink polka-dots with purple stripes and yellow stars, they probably would say, 'OK,'" Pamela laughs. "He has that special gift," she says, "it comes from within. He makes a house a home." The showroom's log book is another good example of how Parviz and Pamela treat customers. "Whatever happens during the day -- a telephone call, an appointment made, a client comes in, whatever goes on -- we write it down in the log book," Pamela explains. The log book keeps everybody in the store up to date. In between appointments, Parviz can check up on what's going on, but more to the point, whenever a client comes in, any assistant in the store can reference the log book and know where that customer's job stands. The Sadrians' enthusiasm for their business affects all of their employees. "When employees know the owner, or somebody who cares for the business, is constantly on top of things, they usually do a far better job and work as a team," Parviz says. It should come as no surprise that Parviz estimates 98 percent of business is from referral or repeat customers. Many clients are residents SunDance Interiors originally served up to 10 years before and are coming back to update their homes with new treatments. Color, Finesse, Movement In the 14 years SunDance Interiors has been in business, the Sadrians have seen the Roseville area grow from about 22,700 residents to 67,000. The turnaround in the California economy has spurred this growth, helped by high-tech industries such as Hewlett Packard, NEC, Packard Bell and Oracle. Likewise, SunDance Interiors has grown over the years from a small shop owned by Parviz's brother making pillows and small ottomans and doing light upholstery. Today, SunDance Interiors employs 12 people: three part-time assistants in the showroom, four sewers in the workroom, one full-time upholster and four installer assistants. The company has six installation vans, with Parviz heading the crews. The Roseville area also is seeing a lot of new home construction and the development of retirement communities. SunDance Interiors has worked with more than 250 residents of the Del Webb Sun City, which features 18 model homes ranging from 968 square feet to 2,619 square feet. "We treat windows most of the time for heat. If you have a western exposure, you have to protect against the sun," Pamela explains. But many residents, especially those in the retirement communities, don't want heavy treatments around the windows. "We do lots of valances with stationary panels," Parviz says. "Or it could be swags over the rod. It could be a cornice box, or just fabric turned two or three times over the rod and brought halfway down on the other side," he says. "We add a little bit of color, finesse, movement. But not a lot of maintenance," he adds. Personal Satisfaction SunDance Interiors faces tough competition, especially when it comes to hard window treatments. "It's 'Consumer World' out there," Pamela says. "There's a war out there for getting the best price. But at some point we'll say, 'If you can get a better price, fine. Just remember what kind of service you're going to get.' We remind customers, 'If you have a problem, what are you going to do, where are you going with that product when you need some help with it? Remember, we're always here,'" she says. "We've had people tell us, 'You were a little bit higher in price, but you took care of everything and we like that.' You can't argue with that!" she says. The Sadrians advertise SunDance Interiors in the area's yellow pages directory under several categories: interior design, draperies, mini-blinds and upholstery. They also make it a policy to hand-deliver brochures to five houses on either side of a client's home following an installation. One of their best marketing devices, however, is a portfolio of before and after photographs showing work they've done -- often with Parviz still on the ladder finishing up the installation. "I have 17 volumes of photos, each with about 200 photos," he says. "It inspires you that you can create the image customers are happy with," Parviz says, "You make the environment, you make the balance, you bring the color, you coordinate it. That's what I do, and I'm very happy about it!" Parviz receives a great deal of personal satisfaction from his work. "I always deal with customers with honesty," Parviz says. "I like to help people. I'm glad, at least, that I'm in a business in which I can provide this service. It makes you feel good, you feel proud of yourself. That is the best feeling you can have -- no money can buy that."

Pamela and Parviz Sadrian give top priority to customer service.