QUALITY TIME With Master Kitchen + Bath Designer Sarah Reep

Despite the continuing growth of online shopping, the brick-and-mortar showroom isn’t going away. Far from it! Homeowners still want a shopping experience they simply can’t get online. They need to see, touch, feel, compare and combine products – in person, in your store – to help evaluate options and decide what to buy. That’s why creating color and style palettes is so critical to the product selection process.

Palettes help homeowners visualize their kitchen or bath design. 

Collaboration with your customer comes naturally when you can easily grab product samples from your displays and mix and match them in palettes. A color combination clicks. The concept comes together. The homeowner falls in love with the design – and you win a faster sale.

Keep these methods in mind when creating color and style palettes:

• Let the homeowner see what’s possible with your product samples on hand.

Don’t wait for new samples to arrive, no matter how exciting they may be. While waiting, you could lose your hard-won connection to the homeowner. They may get impatient and move on.

• Compare your palettes to samples from other categories of home furnishings.

Look especially to product samples from your non-competitive partners. This way you can present the best cabinetry options – and help the homeowner choose – from a total view of the home.

• Explore and select decorative hardware at the same time you create color and style palettes.

If you keep the hardware options waiting until the end, the homeowner may grow tired of making product decisions and you’ll risk losing the inclusion of these items in your sale.

Remember: Your customer is making a big investment in their home.

The homeowner must feel confident in their product selections and design decisions. This comes from creating and comparing color and style palettes. Design visualization is key. The homeowner needs to see and understand how multiple products, in varying combinations, can work within the overall design. That’s how color and style palettes help you streamline the product selection process – and help you guide the homeowner to their dream kitchen or bath.

To help guide your homeowner to their dream kitchen or bath, design visualization is key.

The homeowner must feel confident in their product selections and design decisions. This comes from creating and comparing color and style palettes. Design visualization is key. The homeowner needs to see and understand how multiple products, in varying combinations, can work within the overall design. That’s how color and style palettes help you streamline the product selection process – and help you guide the homeowner to their dream kitchen or bath.

For more information, contact your QualityCabinetsTM Account Manager.

QUALITY TIME With Master Kitchen + Bath Designer Sarah Reep

Your team may have state-of-the-art skills in kitchen and bath design and project management. You may also be able to offer your customers a full selection of “just what they need” products. And you may have superb sales processes and materials to provide support. Yes, right at your fingertips, you may have practically every tool you’ll need to serve your customers well. Yet the tools alone aren’t enough.

It’s even more important to believe. 

Believe in yourself. Believe in your company. Believe in your products. Believe too that your confidence will carry you through any difficulties that may arise on the project. You shouldn’t need to hard-sell or boast, because your personal conviction will plainly show. This will build your customer’s belief in YOU. Remember: Your customer needs you to succeed – and they want to be confident in choosing you.

How will you build your customer’s belief in you? By doing these things:

1. Look Your Best 

Customers begin to draw conclusions about you the minute they see you. Dress cleanly and neatly, to fit the occasion. Your attire can be casual, while still conveying your professionalism and success. 

2. Listen Closely
As the saying goes: “Never take your product out of your pocket too soon.” What’s key are your customer’s wants and needs, not your sales targets. Listen and understand so your solutions will fit. 

3. Share Freely
When it’s time to propose your solution, err on the side of giving more information, not less. Your buyer will like getting “insider info.” Communicating your knowledge adds to the customer’s confidence in you. 

4. Stay on
Track Allow no gap between what you say and what you do. Take notes, track progress, and adjust course, if needed. Stay focused on the project’s end goal: your customer’s delight with their new kitchen or bath.

Here’s another key to winning your customer’s confidence:  Be real.

You hear so much today about the importance of being authentic. People want no part of a product or personality that feels put on, phony, or plastic. So why mask your true professional self under a “salesy” veneer? Say what you believe, and believe what you say. Demonstrate your reliability and expertise, don’t just claim them. Your customers will recognize you as the capable, friendly, and helpful resource they can count on to deliver the kitchen or bath design of their dreams.

For more information, contact your QualityCabinetsTM Account Manager.