When I examine kitchen and bath design businesses, I am surprised to see how little effort goes into designing systems that can assure the success of a project. Having proper procedures and forms to fill out are basic tools for running a business, yet too few dealers have these in place for dealing with prospective clients.

Whether customers call you on the telephone or come in person to visit the showroom, having standard procedures in place will give your employees guidance on how to handle potential clients, and help you seal the deal with many who take the time to seek you out.

Calling In

How do you handle customers when they call in on the telephone, saying they are interested in a new kitchen or bath remodel? My experience tells me that most of you simply try to answer the questions of the caller. Some callers might ask you to come by their home to give them an estimate, while others might ask what they need to do to get a bid done. Still others may not even go that far, simply asking how the process works.

If you don’t have a system in place to deal with this type of call, the person who answers the phone may not be able to help the customer properly. The employee might simply set a time to go to the home to talk about the project, or ask for the caller to come into the showroom first.

Handling this situation properly is critical to your business, and a system should be in place for this type of call. In my opinion, too many hours are wasted with non-qualified buyers. So, you want to try to qualify your leads to the best of your ability.

Once it has been established that the caller is interested in a new kitchen or bath, the first thing the salesperson should do is ask if it is okay to get some information from the caller. Once this has been granted, a form should be filled out that includes a space for the person’s name, address, e-mail address, home, work and cell phone numbers and directions to the home, if offered.

The form should also have room to take down information about the project. Assuming the project is a kitchen, questions should be asked regarding cabinets, such as wood specie, door style, color and construction type. Whether the caller can provide this information or not, it offers an opportunity to discuss some of the products that you offer without giving out too much information.

Following the same pattern, questions should then be asked about the customer’s preferences when it comes to countertops, wet-water fixtures, appliances and flooring. Often, however, you won’t get that far into the conversation, because the customer will be surprised and confused by the options. This is when the salesperson should suggest that the caller make an appointment to visit the showroom to get an overview of the products available.

By using this system, you have established a relationship with the customer. They will respect the fact that you took this much interest in them over the phone.

This system also ensures that you do not go out to every customer’s home simply because they called and asked you to. The objective is to get the caller to come to you before you go to see them.