Selling Kitchens – a buyers guide
Article by Tom McKernan
Selling Kitchens – sales secrets for buyers
Why would a customer bother to read an article on selling kitchens?
The answer is simple. Before you enter into the market place you need to be prepared for people whose job it is to do nothing but make sales. These people do not chase leads (a lead is your details as a prospective buyer). They do not take enquiries. They do not make kitchens. They do not install kitchens. The vast majority of them are them are not trained kitchen designers but many have training that is rudimentary at best. They are employed by kitchen companies because they have a good record of selling – and that could be anything from real estate, used cars or popcorn. They will be your best friend whilst negotiating the sale but their interest in you will cease as soon as you sign the contract.
Kitchen consultants are employed by the larger companies and franchise operators solely to make sales. With that done they move on to the next punter. You will then be dealing with the operations manager (or whatever title they have been given) whose job it is to make sense of the ‘design’ that has been agreed, and to produce your kitchen. This can be where trouble starts. You will have built up a good rapport with the salesperson (they tend to be good at that) and now find yourself cast adrift and often having to compromise on what has been agreed at the design stage.
Now there is nothing wrong, immoral or illegal with splitting up the process like this. It is a situation that suits many people, especially the sales consultants. It also suits those customers who are really not that bothered or fussy. But this relationship does not suit everybody, maybe not you. Not all sales consultants conform to the pushy, hardnosed cynical stereotype of course. Many sales consultants are no doubt people of integrity and a genuine commitment to you and your kitchen. Whatever, once your signature is on the line they will be busy with the next customer.
You do not have a problem with this, it’s just that you do not want the salesperson or kitchen maker to do too well out of you. Right?
Sales Tricks of the trade
The power behind the throne
1. Who owns the chequebook?
You will find, where a couple is involved, that the kitchen salesperson will be very keen to involve both parties; that is until they discover who has the ultimate power of decision. The salesperson will be less enthusiastic if only one party of a couple seems to be involved in the purchase.
A kitchen involves major expenditure and all salespeople know of the tensions that can be involved in the household. One party might want the kitchen; the other might prefer to see the cash spent on a new car or boat. The salesperson will want to ensure that they do not waste time on a lost cause. More to the point though they need to identify any tensions between them, which will either scupper the deal or can be exploited to advantage. Much as a child will play one parent against another, an astute salesperson will know how to identify who has the buying power of the two, how that power might be exercised and how to plan the best course of action.
As a general rule the following principles apply:
1: The purchase will not even be considered if the lady of the house does not want it, never mind go ahead. She will initiate the process or it will not start.
2: The man of the house will complain that the purchase is not necessary and if persuaded even to consider it will constantly crib about the price.
Usually the woman will take the lead in the enquiries with the man hanging back, uncomfortable about being in the showroom and maybe absent altogether. The woman on the other hand will be engaging actively with the salesperson and quite possibly looking for an ally to help convince her husband that buying a new kitchen is a great and exciting idea. All the ingredients of an emotionally charged sales opportunity are in place for the salesperson.
However, the salesperson has to be able to engage with both parties to work out the best strategy for success. They have to work out what buttons to press on each party to get the desired result. With any luck (and a good deal of sales technique) the purchasing decision will be made emotionally rather than rationally. Emotionally driven decisions are always more costly (and profitable to the seller) than rationally driven ones.
Equally profitable for the salesperson is the situation where the man, having somehow been persuaded that the new kitchen is necessary, takes charge of the process to the exclusion of the woman (who will often be in the background rolling her eyes). This is an ego driven process, which has equally good opportunities to exploit. The astute salesperson will work out whether the man only thinks he is in charge when in fact the real power is behind him. Ego driven decisions are as costly to the customer as emotionally driven ones.
If you have ever had to put on a united front for the sake of the children when they ran between the two of you to get what they wanted, remember how you did it. If there are tensions between you, work them out before you start dealing with the salespeople. If tensions arise during the process, take them home to deal with. At all times remember that the salesperson is just like one of your children in one very important respect: they want something from you and will work out how to play one off against the other.
Loading the price
2. Mark-up
No kitchen company makes everything that goes into your kitchen. Even kitchen makers who make their own cabinets have to buy in the fittings for them, such as hinges, drawers, doors, glass and bench tops. These are bought in at one price and sold to you at another. Many kitchen suppliers do not even make the cabinets; they buy everything in. The difference between the buying price and the selling price is the mark-up. It is perfectly normal and reasonable for any business to charge more than they pay for a product. Without this principal there would be no business.
Where you can gain an advantage is by identifying where the mark-up is too high. For instance, where one company might mark up by 10% on a bench top, another might mark up by 30%. 10 to 30% is the range you can expect for this part of the kitchen. Glass is another item that must always be bought in and the same principle applies.
Big savings can be made with stone tops. You can check the mark-up easily by getting your own quotation from the kitchen plans for the supply and installation of the stone tops. It is difficult to check this as the price you will be quoted by a bench top company will be the retail one whereas the kitchen company will only pay trade, typically 10% less. If you ask for the price of the bench top to be deducted from the quote, the kitchen supplier might be tempted to disguise the extent of their mark-up by loading elsewhere to compensate. The way around this is:
1. Get two quotes, one for a kitchen with laminate tops and one with the stone of your choice.
2. Approach a stone bench top company (or maybe more than one) and ask for a quote for supplying and installing the bench top from your plans.
3. Do the same with a laminate bench top company.
In each case you will be quoted retail as opposed to trade but you will get an idea of the difference between stone and laminate, which you can compare with what the kitchen company is quoting. In the author’s experience, a saving of up to ,000 is possible by buying the stone bench top yourself. It does depend on the size of the kitchen and also the stone of course as different stones vary greatly in price.
Do not worry about the installation of the bench top. The stone company always measures and installs a stone top as it is a specialist job. If you buy the stone yourself in all likelihood it will be installed by the same people who would have installed it for the kitchen supplier.
You could save money by buying your own laminate bench top but unless you are really determined to save every cent, this is probably not worth the effort involved.
You must be quick for this bargain.
3. The Kitchen Sale.
Unlike clothing, kitchens do not change with the seasons. Fashions might come and go: colours and door styles for instance, but not often. Most shops have seasonal sales to get rid of surplus stock. This year’s summer line will not do for next summer so anything left over has to go. Many shops and retail organisations have regular ‘sales’ to stimulate customers’ interest. Most of us recognise that this is done on a product rotation basis to keep interest in shopping high. It might be kitchen products this month, Manchester next month, bathroom products the following. We know that the only time to buy a particular product is when it is on sale.
Kitchens are essentially white boxes with coloured doors and drawers. This does not change much over the years, and certainly not from month-to-month. On the other a quiet market reduces a company’s cash flow so a well-advertised ‘sale’ might stir up a bit of interest, after all we all like the idea of a bargain. But with no seasonal stock to get rid of and a limited product range of… kitchens, more kitchens and well… Can there really be a genuine sale? Will the ‘special offer’ really only last until 5 p.m.?
Will you be pressured under the threat that this ‘great deal’ will not be offered again or will you sleep on it, confident that your valuable business will not be really turned away?
You decide.
They really are free – really – but hurry!
4. The free appliance offer
Yes that good old faithful standby, something for nothing. Does anybody actually believe that anything worth anything can really be had for free? The free lunch perhaps? This claim would seem to insult our intelligence but then it does seem to work for some companies, usually at the lower end of the market.
So where does this free stuff come from? Is there a secret cave somewhere, full of great appliances, which only the privileged few can access and help themselves from?
Actually, and you already knew this, the stuff has to be paid for by someone. So how does it work?
Appliances, like all consumer goods, are constantly being updated and every so often wholesalers find themselves with out-of date stock that will not sell. They mark it down as ‘stock run out’ offers at reduced prices (normally down to what it is really worth). And offer it to retailers and kitchen makers. This is the standard stuff of sales and special offers of course. Nothing wrong with it, new and guaranteed but hard to sell because it is old stock and out-of-date. If you are not a person who has to have the latest model and it is what you want then it is possibly a bargain at the reduced price. But can it really be free?
The fact is that whether it is old stock or the latest model, the kitchen supplier has to pay for it. The kitchen supplier then has to recover the money from someone. Guess whom?
Would you like to go large?
5. Selling up.
You’ve agreed on the design and the price. You are happy with the kitchen maker and have agreed to buy their kitchen: job done?
? How about appliances? We can get you a great deal?· What about better drawer systems?· Have you considered the new silent closers?· Aluminium toe kicks would look much nicer.· You should consider up-grading to granite.
After all the hard work of negotiating a good price for what you want you feel relieved and elated. This is just the time to tempt you with some special offers and features. You deserve the best after all; you’ve worked hard for your dream kitchen.
These things did not seem so important during the initial sales negotiation so what has changed? What has changed is that the sales person has achieved a good rapport with you; they have made a sale and now feel confident. You have made a major decision and feel good, now trusting of the sales person. Your chequebook will open again. Or will it?
Will you succumb to the pressure or prefer to sleep on the tempting offers and extras?You have no excuse not to sign up now
6. Pressure selling
Some sales consultants will put you under considerable pressure to make a decision NOW. They will give you a variety of reasons why you should not delay, such as the time limited offer, once only deal, etc.
A very effective strategy is to put it directly onto you. They will ask you what is stopping you from buying. They will have an answer for whatever reason you give and put it straight back on you: What is stopping you from buying now? The idea is to force you into a corner where you have no more reasons to refuse to sign up, NOW. A cleaver salesperson will always make you feel guilty for not acceding to their offer. They will make you feel rude and ungrateful for all the effort they have gone to.
The idea with these strategies is to keep you in the showroom with whatever psychological pressure they can apply and get you to sign the contract before you go. They know that if you leave you will probably not come back. They will have lost the sale.
If they are in your home during this process the pressure can be intense because you might be forced into a position where you have to ask them to leave. Nobody likes to be rude to a guest and it is easy to forget during the time you spend with him or her, chatting and laughing, that they are just doing a job and only want your signature on the contract.
Never make a major decision under pressure. Sleep on it and see how you feel the next day. The salesperson is not your friend; the kitchen they are trying to sell you will not disappear should you decide to sleep on your decision.
Tom McKernan,http://www.kitchenbuyersguide.co.nz/
About the Author
Tom McKernan owned a kitchen company for 3 years during which time he ammassed a considerable amount of experience about the business. He now shares this experience to benefit customers through a web site http://kitchenbuyersguide.co.nz.
