On Ask Us Anything, BOH editor in chief Kaitlin Petersen taps former Trade Tales guests to answer real, confidential designer questions, offering a safe space to discuss business challenges. Have a question of your own to ask? Send an email to start the conversation.

This week, interior designer Blair Moore of Moore House Design answers a question from a designer whose firm is facing a sudden rush of shipping problems. From delays and surprise bills to communication issues, this designer is encountering roadblocks every step of the way. Now, she’s wondering how to position her firm to better weather the disruption.

Moore, whose firm is based in New York, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, jumps in with advice on reckoning with a decline in shipping quality, how thorough channels of communication can help catch issues before they arise, and—when all else fails—establishing your own in-house receiving operation.

Crucial insight: One of Moore’s best lines of defense against items that come in damaged is to establish a thorough inspection process with her receiver, ensuring that any errors are identified before install day. “You’ve got to find out what their communication base is,” she says. “If they have an online [portal] where images are stored, that’s a great way to do it—and make sure that they’re numbering every single box that they’re opening. So if you have 10 light fixtures or chandeliers, they are opening up and labeling in that online-based software [out of 10], and inspecting the images for every single one. That level of communication and visual [documentation] is needed.”

Key quote: “Having very high-level clients not receiving what they’re expecting doesn’t [reflect] poorly on the receiver—it [reflects] poorly on us. Install is the most important part of the entire process. I want [clients] to walk through and not to look at the imperfections or something that’s not there, that’s broken. I want them to be like, ‘Wow, everything’s here. It looks better than I could have even imagined.’ So I was like, ‘I’m going to create my own receiving warehouse,’ which I did, and it’s been incredibly good and incredibly profitable.”

This episode was sponsored by Four Hands. Listen to the show below. If you like what you hear, subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.