Building a Partner Channel for Circular Furniture Services

The Finnish furniture restoration and maintenance company I worked with was developing its B2B offering in restoration, reupholstery and ongoing maintenance. Alongside direct customer acquisition, I explored partnerships that could bring these services into larger furnishing and refurbishment projects.

Through AI-assisted market research, I identified a B2B interiors company whose combination of new furniture sales and a circular reuse offering suggested a potential fit. Its customers were already making decisions about what to retain, renew and replace. Our restoration and maintenance capabilities could support those decisions and help the partner deliver a more complete solution.

I saw an opportunity to position the company as a specialist resource within the partner’s customer projects. By connecting our capabilities with its established customer relationships and sales team, I identified a potential route to repeat business across multiple accounts.

I positioned the company as a complementary specialist in restoring and maintaining quality furniture. The proposition centred on helping the partner reuse existing pieces alongside new furniture, with additional expertise and capacity when a project required it.

I initiated contact with a relevant account manager, who introduced the manager responsible for the local operation. I developed the conversation into a meeting, where we explored customer needs and how our services could support their projects.

Following the meeting, I worked with our CEO to prepare a company presentation that the partner could share internally with its sales team.

We would scope and price our specialist work for the partner, who could incorporate it into its wider customer proposal. This gave the partner a practical way to include restoration services while maintaining its customer relationship.

For De Andres Interior Care, the model offered access to opportunities across the partner’s accounts and sales team.

The partner shared our presentation with its sales team, leading to a concrete request for quotation for a customer project. I had taken the opportunity from initial research and outreach to an active commercial discussion.

This provided an early validation of the partnership approach and a foundation for further opportunities across the partner’s customer base. The first opportunity is now at the proposal stage.