Maricopa Home and Garden Show

Every year I go to a few of these home expo shows - some cater to the contractor, while other target the private consumer, and others still exhibit all of the bells and whistles that money can buy (those are my favorite). The show over this weekend (April 25-27) was a massive show held at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, and every imaginable item for your home was represented there. I go to there shows not to shop, but to try to drum up business for my company, Lone Wolf Drafting and Design. I offer AutoCAD services, design services, photo rendering, and consultation, and to be honest, it just seems to be getting harder and harder to interest people in what I do. Many companies have simply hired in house people to create there AutoCAD drawings, which isn't to shocking of a development. However, what did surprise me was the relatively low quality of drawings and presentation being displayed to the customer. Many companies seem to be taking speed over pride of product, and that mentality troubles someone like me because I produce high end images, projects that can take up to 50 hours to create. I know many other freelancers out there have difficulty finding and maintaining work, and recently it has been due to the recession and outsourcing to cheap labor overseas. However, if that wasnt enough, designers seem to be content with just cranking out cookie cutter images with almost no character, and even less attention to detail. My question to you the reader is this, how do we as freelancers, make the principals of these companies realize that the better your sales presentation, the better your product will sell? In other words, (and this is not to toot my own horn in any way) if I saw two companies, one using basic line drawings, and simple low render graphics, and the other using the type of photo rendering I do, I would be much more inclined to go to the company with the prettier picture - and here is why: If a company is willing to spend that much time on conceptual planning, then I have a pretty good feeling that they will spend as much, or more time, during the actual installation of that design. Furthermore, the better the sales materials (like photorendering) the greater the "wow" factor - you can use that eye popping image to attract future clients. My other concern is this - many of the vendors I spoke to use programs like 20/20 for cabinetry planning, and Chief Architect for plan layout - again, programs that offer tailored planning and drawings for specific industries, but sacrifice the imagary that I (and many of you) create. I fear that services like mine will no longer be needed, and companies at large will settle with half hearted imagary. What are your thoughts out there? Please feel free to comment - I look forward to your responses.......