Many people don't know: when business owners hire a design firm for packaging design, it's not about how good the packaging mockups look — it's about "whether this deal will close"

Author: Sanyao Packaging Design | 5 min read

After all these years in packaging, I’ve learned one very practical truth: the boss doesn’t care at all what the packaging looks like. What he cares about is whether the customer, the moment they get it in their hands, feels it’s worth it.

We took on a case for a crispy hand-torn chicken shop. The craft was impeccable, and customers lined up to buy. But his takeout packaging had always used the cheapest kind of clear plastic bag, so by the time customers got it, the presentation was completely gone. When he came to me, his first sentence wasn’t “design me a nice-looking bag” — it was “help me figure out how to make customers feel this chicken is worth the price.”

What he was buying was a solution, not packaging design.

01

First, get inside his business

The first step in selling a solution is to understand what’s actually happening on the client’s end. In that hand-torn chicken owner’s business, what was happening was this: dine-in was great. But once it went into a clear plastic bag, it felt like a ¥9.9 item.

What we later made for him was a gift-box-style packaging with gold foil stamping on a black background, with the whole chicken packed inside — lift the lid and it’s like unwrapping a gift. When customers posted it to their social feeds, the captions became “this chicken looks appetizing just by looking at it.”

— Tuzhaozi Hand-Torn Chicken — black-background gold-foil gift box

02

Translate features into results

A lot of people in packaging tell clients, “We used specialty paper, did embossing, designed illustrations” — and the client feels nothing. Because what he wants isn’t these terms, it’s results.

This box’s features are the means; the result is what he actually wants. Selling packaging is essentially selling three results: sells better, saves hassle, and gives more face.

I used to only talk about process specs too, until a client woke me up with one sentence: he said, don’t tell me how good this paper is, just tell me — if I use this box, will customers feel it’s worth a little more? From then on, the first page of my proposals always states the results, and the process specs go on the last page.

— Tuzhaozi Hand-Torn Chicken — stacked display of red chicken graphics

03

A solution is a three-piece set, not a single image

A real solution has at least three things: product, service, and guarantee.

The product is the packaging itself — good-looking and easy to use; the service is the supporting work — helping you calculate dimensions, run to the factory, control costs; the guarantee is that someone’s accountable when problems arise — if this batch of boxes prints with off colors, the next batch gets reprinted right away, so your opening date doesn’t get held up.

Just handing over a single design mockup isn’t a solution. A good supplier paves the whole road for you, from “buying boxes” to “boxes arriving at the store.”

04

Don’t just ask “how much” — first ask “how far do you go”

If you’re currently looking for packaging for your own restaurant product, don’t start by asking for a quote. First ask the other party three questions: Have you done this before? Do you offer follow-up service? Can you produce a mockup first so I can see the effect and try it out?

If they can answer those, then talk price. In the packaging business, cheap is everywhere; people who treat your business like their own are rare.

— Tuzhaozi Hand-Torn Chicken — product display details

(Content generated by AI, for reference only)