In the world of product development, people are often faced with the challenge of deciding whether they need an Industrial Design Consultancy or an Industrial Design Agency. While both aim to create exceptional products, their approaches, goals, and roles differ significantly.
At FLYNN, we've spent over two decades helping startups, entrepreneurs, inventors, and established brands bring new products to market. One common challenge we see is a lack of clarity between the consultancy and agency approaches. Since the chosen approach can significantly impact the project's outcome, we make it a priority to help clients understand the differences. By offering both consultancy and agency product design services, we ensure each client gets the right approach for their needs.
Understanding the core differences between the two is crucial in selecting the right partner for your business. In this blog, we'll break down the distinctions, explore which option might be the best fit for your needs, and dive into the psychology of why selling agency design work is often easier than selling consultancy design work.
What’s the Difference Between an Industrial Design Consultancy and an Industrial Design Agency?
Let’s start with the basics.
Industrial Design Consultancy: The Strategic Advisors
An Industrial design consultancy is a high-level strategic partner that works with companies to shape the vision, direction, and overall experience of a product. The consultancy typically offers expert guidance, insight, and advice throughout the product development lifecycle.
Key Features:
- Strategic and advisory role: Consultancies help businesses figure out what to build, why to build it, and how to make sure it resonates with users and stands out in the market.
- Holistic approach: They focus on the bigger picture, analysing market opportunities, consumer behaviour, and business models. A consultancy often works on product-market fit, user research, brand image, and business strategy.
- Collaboration: Consultancies collaborate closely with internal teams, providing direction, helping businesses identify their core goals, and ensuring that the product aligns with overall business strategies.
Industrial Design Agency: The Hands-on Creators
On the other hand, an industrial design agency is a hands-on execution partner that specialises in bringing a design vision to life. The agency’s core focus is on crafting and executing the product’s design based on the brief provided by the client.
Key Features:
Execution-focused: Agencies are responsible for transforming a client’s idea into a physical product, working on form, materials, functionality, and ergonomics, often bringing the product from concept to prototype or final production.
Responsive to client needs: Agencies take a more tactical role, working with a predefined vision and ensuring the final product meets the client’s requirements and expectations in terms of aesthetics, usability, and manufacturability.
Quick results: Unlike consultancies, agency work typically follows a faster timeline. Since agencies work with a predefined vision, they can immediately focus on delivering exactly what the client has requested.
Which One is Right for You?
The decision between hiring an Industrial design consultancy or an Industrial design agency ultimately depends on your business needs.
- If you’re a startup or a business at a critical juncture, an industrial design consultancy might be the right choice. Consultancies are perfect for businesses that need a fresh perspective, strategic input, and guidance on how to align their product with the market. They help businesses define their product vision, user personas, and long-term goals. A consultancy is ideal when you don’t know exactly what your product should look like yet but want to set a solid foundation for success.
- If you have a clear product vision and need to bring it to life with specific designs and solutions, an industrial design agency is a better choice. Agencies excel at execution. They take your ideas, your market research, and your business goals and translate them into detailed, polished designs. An agency is the go-to choice if you have a concrete product concept and need experts to handle the nuts and bolts of visual and interaction design.
Why is It Easier to Sell Agency Design Than Consultancy Design?
Now, let’s talk about why selling agency product design is often perceived as easier than selling consultancy product design services. This is a fascinating topic because it taps into both human psychology and business dynamics. By understanding the psychology behind the choice, you may be able to make a more informed decision about which service is right for you.
1. Clear Deliverables = Easier Buy-in
With an agency, the scope is usually more defined and measurable. When a company hires an agency, they often know exactly what they’re getting: a range of product concepts, a prototype, marketing material, etc. These are tangible deliverables that a client can see, touch, and evaluate.
- The psychology of clarity: People are naturally inclined to trust what they can visualise. With agencies, you can almost always point to clear deliverables—making it easier to sell. The client can immediately understand what the outcome will be and what they’re paying for.
On the other hand, consultancy work is often more intangible. The output of strategic work can be more abstract—market research, product recommendations, user personas, etc. The benefit of consultancy work to the customer is often not clear until the work is completed. This lack of clear, tangible deliverables can make selling consultancies more challenging.
2. Perceived Immediate Value
Clients typically see an agency as providing immediate value: "We need this new design now, and the agency can do that." There’s a clear link between the money spent and the work done. The client feels they can see the return on investment (ROI) in terms of completed designs.
In contrast, the value of a consultancy’s work is often harder to quantify upfront. Strategy takes time to pay off—you might not see a direct, immediate return from the strategic insights. Clients may question how the consultancy's work will translate into a final product, which makes it harder to sell.
3. Lack of Understanding of the Strategic Role
A common misconception is that designing a product is simply about making it look good. This makes it easier for clients to understand the value of an agency’s work. However, the strategic thinking that goes into creating a successful product is often overlooked or undervalued. Many clients don’t understand the long-term impact that strategic decisions can have on the success of their product.
Consultants have to educate their clients, which is an added layer of complexity when selling. They need to demonstrate how long-term thinking can lead to greater success, but this requires building trust and often takes more time.
4. Emotional Appeal
Finally, agencies often tap into clients’ emotions. Clients are excited about their idea and want to see it realised, they can picture the end result and know what to expect. This emotional excitement helps to sell the idea of agency work because it taps into a desire to visualise the future.
Consultancy, on the other hand, involves logical thinking and decision-making, which can be more difficult for clients to embrace in an emotional sense. It’s harder to rally excitement around ideas that at the stage of sale, only exist in the minds of the consultancy. It requires a greater amount of trust from the client that the consultancy will deliver.
Should You Go With Design Agency or Design Consultancy?
Choosing between an industrial design consultancy and an industrial design agency depends largely on where you are in your product development journey and the level of expertise you have in bringing products to market. Here’s a breakdown of which path might be the best fit for you:
When Agency is Right for You:
An industrial design agency is ideal for businesses that already have a clear vision and validated product concept. You might be ready to jump straight into the design and development phase but need experts to bring that vision to life. If you’ve already validated your product in the market, whether through testing, prototyping, or customer feedback, and you know it has good market fit, an agency can help you refine the design and move towards production.
- You have experience bringing products to market: If you’ve already launched products before and understand the design and manufacturing process, an agency is likely the right fit. You know what works and what doesn’t, and you're comfortable with the hands-on, tactical aspects of product design.
- Your product idea has been validated: You’ve already gathered the necessary data to ensure there is a demand for your product. You’re not just brainstorming ideas—you know your target market, your customers’ needs, and how your product fits in that landscape.
- You want fast execution: Agencies excel in tangible, quick results. If you have a clear vision and need an experienced team to execute your design rapidly, an agency can help you quickly move from concept to prototype and production-ready designs.
When Consultancy is Right for You:
If you're still in the early stages of product development or need strategic guidance to ensure your product will be a commercial success, an industrial design consultancy is the better choice. Consultancies are perfect for businesses that want help defining their product, understanding their target market, and creating a long-term strategy for success.
- You need help with the bigger picture: A consultancy will help you define market fit, understand consumer needs, and guide you through the strategic decisions that will lead to a commercially viable product. If you’re unsure about your product’s potential or need help validating the idea, a consultancy is essential for laying a solid foundation.
- You’re new to product development or the market: If you're a first-time founder or entering an unfamiliar market, you might not yet understand all the nuances of product design, user behaviour, or how to navigate the development process. A consultancy will provide the insights and frameworks you need to make smarter decisions.
- You want to ensure long-term success: Consultancies don’t just focus on the here and now—they help shape the vision for your product, ensuring it can scale and succeed in the market. They’ll help you avoid costly mistakes that could derail your product’s potential by guiding you through research, validation, and iteration.
Conclusion
Whether you need an industrial design consultancy, or an industrial design agency depends largely on your specific business needs and where you are in your product journey. If you’re looking for strategic insight and long-term direction, a consultancy is the right choice. But if all you need is a team to bring your idea to reality, an agency is the right partner.
Understanding the psychology behind selling these services can also help you, as the buyer, understand if you are making the correct choice in your decision between consultancy or agency. While agencies may seem more appealing due to clear deliverables and immediate value, consultancies offer the crucial guidance that can ensure long-term success and market relevance.
Ultimately, the best approach is to align your design partner's strengths with your needs, ensuring a seamless partnership that drives both creativity and business success.
If your looking to kick of a product development project but your not sure what kind of help you need, book a discovery call with our team. We’d love to hear about your product idea and help you understand what approach might work best for you.
