Interior designers, furniture stores, and receiving accounts can give moving companies steadier revenue, especially during slower seasons. This playbook shows moving company owners how to find the right accounts, price the work, protect margins, and build systems that designers trust.

How Moving Companies Can Win Interior Designer and Furniture Store Accounts

Most moving company owners want steadier revenue. Local moves can be profitable, but demand often drops in slower months. Interior designers, furniture stores, and receiving accounts can help fill that gap.

Wally Pelett built a warehouse delivery and receiving business serving furniture stores, interior designers, home stagers, and 3PLs before selling the company. His big lesson for movers: delivery work can be profitable, but only if you choose the right accounts, price correctly, and create systems.

Which Delivery Accounts Should a Moving Company Avoid First?

Not all delivery work is worth taking. Many moving companies get burned by national delivery accounts that pay low rates per delivery. These jobs can tie up a truck, use labor, burn fuel, and still produce less revenue than a normal move.

Low-Margin Account Warning Signs

• The account pays very low flat rates per delivery.
• They expect same-day or emergency work without paying more.
• They send you far outside your normal service area.
• They do not give enough volume to build efficient routes.
• Their customers expect free haul-away or extra services.

The better starting point is usually local furniture stores, not national accounts. Wally explained that local stores often paid much better than national accounts and gave his company a stronger base before adding lower-rate work into existing routes.

How Do You Find Furniture Stores Worth Pursuing?

Do not judge a furniture store only by its size. A small showroom can still sell a lot of high-value custom furniture. One small sofa store Wally mentioned produced strong monthly volume because it sold custom upholstery and needed receiving, storage, inspection, and delivery.

Furniture Store Account Checklist

• Look at the price of sofas, dining sets, and larger pieces.
• Ask whether they sell custom furniture that ships later.
• Find out if they need receiving or storage, not just delivery.
• Ask what happens when their truck is full or broken down.
• Ask if their current third-party provider creates customer complaints.
• Look for stores where salespeople can refer customers directly.

A store selling higher-priced furniture may have customers who are more willing to pay for better delivery. But lower-end stores can still work if you offer price options based on delivery days and route efficiency.

How Should Movers Price Furniture Delivery Routes?

Pricing by mileage can create problems because not every mile is equal. Traffic, distance, and large zip codes can change the real cost. Wally’s company eventually used zip-code-based pricing with a base rate that included a certain number of pieces.

Simple Delivery Pricing Framework

• Base delivery rate: Set by zip code, using the far end of the zip code when needed.
• Included pieces: Include a fixed number of pieces in the base rate.
• Extra piece charges: Charge more when the order has more items.
• Assembly charges: Add fees for beds, dining tables, desks, and similar items.
• Haul-away charges: Ask every customer if they need old furniture removed.
• Rush charges: Say yes to urgent work, but at a higher price.

Haul-away can be a strong profit add-on because the truck is already there. Wally found customers often paid more to remove old furniture than they paid to receive the new delivery because it was easier than calling a junk removal company separately.

How Do You Get Your First Interior Designer Accounts?

Many designers call moving companies because they cannot find a reliable receiver, or their current receiver failed them. Designers need receiving, inspection, storage, delivery, and installation handled with care.

Designer Account Growth Plan

• Start by helping designers with deliveries from their current receiver.
• Tell existing designer clients you accept referrals.
• Create a referral rate structure designers can share with other designers.
• Join local interior design associations.
• Offer to educate designers on what to look for in a receiver.
• Follow designers on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
• Engage with their posts and help when they mention a problem.

Designers know each other. If you solve problems and communicate well, referrals can become one of your best moving company marketing channels.

What Service Level Do Interior Designers Expect?

Interior designer work is different from normal furniture delivery. Fast movers who rush through a route may frustrate designers. Designer installs often require patience, flexibility, and a higher level of care.

Designer Crew Standards

• Use your best, most careful crew members.
• Expect extra tasks that were not clearly explained upfront.
• Be ready to move existing furniture before placing new pieces.
• Slow down during placement and setup.
• Protect the client’s home and the designer’s reputation.
• Communicate clearly if something is damaged or missing.

The crew you send to a designer install may need to be different from the crew you send on a regular furniture route. Both need training, but designer work requires more patience and polish.

How Should Movers Handle Receiving, Inspection, and Storage?

Receiving work can get messy if you do not build a system. At first, Wally’s company pulled office staff into the warehouse when shipments arrived. But he warned that if you stay in that messy stage too long, you may give up on the service.

Receiving and Inspection Pricing Model

• Receiving fee: Charge for accepting, checking in, labeling, and documenting the item.
• Inspection fee: Charge separately for opening, photographing, inspecting, and rewrapping.
• Storage fee: Charge by item type and by day.
• Delivery fee: Charge for the final install or delivery.
• Debris or haul-away fee: Charge for packaging removal or old furniture removal.

For designers, Wally recommended including inspection because designers may only have a short window to report damage to the manufacturer or shipper. If the item is not inspected and damage is found later, the designer may try to blame your company.

What Mistakes Should Moving Company Owners Avoid?

• Taking low-rate delivery work before building profitable local routes.
• Letting stores promise free services your company does not include.
• Failing to ask about haul-away during scheduling.
• Using normal delivery crews for high-touch designer installs.
• Charging hourly for receiving when designers need predictable rates.
• Offering designer receiving without inspection and clear terms.
• Relying on spreadsheets and manual processes too long.

Quick Win: Contact 5 Designers Today

In the next 30 minutes, find five local interior designers on Instagram or Facebook. Follow them from your business account, like one recent post, and send a helpful message that says your moving company offers receiving, storage, delivery, or install support for designer projects.

How to Apply This This Week

• 1. Build a target list: Write down 10 local furniture stores and 10 interior designers in your market.
• 2. Create a basic rate sheet: Include receiving, inspection, storage, delivery, assembly, rush delivery, and haul-away.
• 3. Visit three stores: Ask what happens when their truck is full, broken down, or unable to meet a customer’s requested date.
• 4. Set crew rules: Decide which movers are qualified for designer installs and what service standards they must follow.
• 5. Review your systems: If you are using spreadsheets, decide how you will track photos, storage dates, delivery requests, and billing.

Interior designer and furniture store accounts are not just “extra work.” Done right, they can create stable revenue, storage income, referral relationships, and a more valuable moving business.

To hear the full conversation, watch “How Interior Designers Can Boost Your Moving Business” and visit the 2 College Brothers Moving & Storage YouTube channel.