Selling kitchens

[woodworx]

what do you all consider to be the main selling points with kitchens?

[gabepari]

Depends on the customer, obviously. I think you need to decide what is YOUR main selling point and then try to find customers that share your ideals. Otherwise, you just end up trying to beat the lowest bidder.

Gabe

[gene]

Talk to the woman of the house. 90% of the kitchens i sell , the decisions are made by the woman. After all she is going to be the one using it the most. Ask her what she wants and LISTEN!!!! Dont sell her things she dont want because she will go somewhere else. Suggest things to her but when she says no back off immediately.Naturally sell the quality of the job and how much she's going to love cooking in her new kitchen. Most all the seminars i have attended said to sell the sizzle not the steak, anyone can and will redo her kitchen unless you can LISTEN to what she wants and you supply it.

[thewoodcrafter]

Features, custom color, finish quality, construction method, custom made to fit the space.

Use everything you can think of to sell the differences of your product.

In the end the deal will be sealed based on the trust your customer puts in you.

[woodworx]

Thanks. I am pretty sure I have this one locked up. It will definitely be a show piece. I just read an article in "Sign Business" that quoted the owner of Nordstroms, and he said "The longest 3 feet of the sale is from one side of the counter to the other." Isn't that the truth.

[bcondon]

I think the biggest seller is your willing to listen and help.

I know most of you will want to take me out back, tie me to your shopbot and let it do terrible things to me but, here is my story:

I added 1000 sq ft to a 950 sq ft 3 bedroom ranch. Downsizing from large 3000sq ft 4 bedroom colonials to the house I grew up in.. and planned to retire there.

The kitchen was the last thing to be done and I had a budget (doing a lot of the work myself) was about 30K. The room was stripped to the studs, re-insulate (wished I used foam as I did with the rest of the house), new drywall , new hardwood engineered floor, new cherry cabinets, granite counters, new gas surface cooking, dou ble electric oven.

We went to a kitchen designer because we only wanted to do this ONCE. After talking with her, she came up with drawings and idea... overall a pretty nice job until the price came in at over 50K. There was pressure to sign.

SO it was time to do some research and I did that terrible thing but went to Home Depot and talk to one of their designer. This fellow was a retired science teacher. He sat with us for a couple of hours as he gave us examples of things we could do, tricks to save us money, and how to dress the kitchen up.

We went with KraftMade cabinets which were all wood, no composite and the price was around $22K and I bought all the appliances on sale. I did have a couple pieces that needed to be replaced because of the wood texturing/patterning was uneven, but within a few days had what I needed.

The installer was slow but who cares! It all came out fine and to this day, I have not found any "mistakes" in the decisions. The designer really understand what works and did not.. he led us away from things that he said "you will not be happy with that in the long run"

So what I found was:

1. I found a very rare designer that had very little stake in our sale but did a fabulous job. I think his educational background really helped,

2. He did not "sell" anything to us but helped us understand that some companies had more options than other... He offered us composite and I said we plan to do this once so a 30 year life is important.

3. He gave me discounts where he could..

4. He tried to sell me Corian and Granite but I went with an independent guy who was 30% cheaper and highly recommended by several people I worked with. The designer understood and that was the end of the coversation.

5. What turned me off was the pressure of CUSTOM from the original designer, when I knew I could buy stock components for almost anything I needed.

6. The price was just shocking because when I have her some ideas of pricing and what I was looking at, she did not indicate that she could not do what we wanted for the price. (or 2x the price). I think this was foolish on her part because she wasted probably 8 hours of work with no return.

[wberminio]

Justin

Is this Kitchen a "show "kitchen or a real working kitchen?
Do your clients want to impress or need a kitchen to work in and actually cook in?
The answer to these ?'s will determine what approuch to take.

I also found, that, asking what they are willing to INVEST in their home is more effective than asking what their BUGET is for the job.
It can get the client thinking on a different level.

Erminio

[weslambe]

In this economy I get people who are primarily concerned with price more and more often. I usually have to compete with trim guys who make cabinets on site for 2.50 per square foot for labor and the builder supplies the materials. It's a tough sell since their labor on a 2000 sq ft house is only 5000.00 and materials may cost 3k. And that's all of the cabinets including baths etc..

Often times they say they have a friend or relative who builds them cheaply and I have actually gotten to the point of asking them if they are more concerned with making their friend happy or themselves.

[benchmench]

Just being a licensed contractor in California with insurance should elevate you above 60% of your competitors.

[bcammack]

Dan, my brother is a handyman in Savannah, GA. Just returning phone calls, showing up when he says he will, and having the necessary tools to do the job seems to put him ahead of about 80% of the other people presenting themselves as handymen.

Apparently this responsibility thing is not as pervasive as one might think.

[benchmench]

Responsibility is how trust is earned and trust is everything when you are asking a client to spend thousands of dollars with you on cabinetry. If your competitors are responsible, etc., etc just like you but you are licensed (a legal requirement for jobs over $500 in CA) and they are not, the Sales-O-Meter should jump higher in your favor and you should be able to charge more since you offer something the unlicensed guy does not - a state certification that you know your job (well, it is a selling point) and...legal protection.

[jhicks]

Justin, after working with a high end cabinet shop the last few years its clear to me that 2 things are critical.
1)Design Meaning the style and the construction engineering for CNC efficiency and quick, tight, assembly
2) Finish. Just like trim in an expensive room. They are all the same wallboard but the one with 5" crown and 8" base expertly finished looks a lot richer and commands more money..
While the materials can change from MDF and laminates to exotic veneers and construction /joinery can be done in a variety of ways. In the end a quality assembled cabinet with a superior finish is what the customer, their family, and friends see. Yes the slides, maple dovetail drawer boxes, and a host of user conveniences are the sizzle, the fit and finish including trim and accents are what makes the customer happy.
Yep, the finishing is not only a key to the end product but a key element in the shop as far as skill, techniques, color matching, cost, and time to accomplish.
My studies showed it took as long to finish as it did to cut parts, assemble and prep. But the finishing was excellent.
The CNC part is really incidental if you have a good design and effective joinery but if that material isn't prepped well,(sanded to a baby smooth surface) and not assembled and finished with skill, all the rest is meaningless.
Or in other words, they are cheap looking and not likely to differentiate you from the store boxes or on site work mentioned earlier.
If they want quality they must pay for it or they get the melamine interiors and shelves with a solid face frame and doors that look nice but are not the same as maple finished interiors and shelves.
Either way, the design and finish are what stand out to the casual observer and create the best impressions of your work.

[claude12345]

hey justin how big of a shop are you i got lots of insites to give you

[woodworx]

About 1500 sq. ft. Call me tomorrow. 949-257-3453

[ken_rychlik]

You have to sell yourself. The troble is you can't do that by telling them how good you are. You have to do it by showing that you care. They know you make kitchens. Lots of folks do. You have to be the one that shows up on time, treats them with respect, and comes up with a plan that suits "their needs". As long as you can solve thier concerns, you normally get the job.

I tell my Clients that I will treat them as I would my own family. Kind of like taking them under my wing and helping even with all aspects of the job. Make sure they have a spreadsheet of ALL the cost. Make sure they have inclulded money in thier budget for plumbing, electrical, all the way down to flooring. This does two things. It shows you are concerned for them, and it ensures they will not run out of money to pay you in the end.

The only thing worse than loosing a bid is doing the work and not getting paid.

Kenneth

[dray]

Just show them your portfolio