The new year is well under way, so now is the time to ask: What’s new in your marketing plan this year? Adaptability is the key to your firm’s survival in the kitchen and bath industry, and your marketing strategies should reflect that fact.

With the recent market slowdown, it may be time to start rethinking your tried-and-true marketing methods. When business is thriving, firms tend to accept their good fortune and don’t have to take the time to think about marketing. When business is slow, firms have the time to think about marketing, but money may be too tight to implement a change.

With a mix of established concepts and new programs, many kitchen and bath professionals have created a niche for themselves in their communities with creative, simple, cost-effective programs that transcend fluctuating economic conditions.

Winning Ideas

In Niagara Falls, NY, Christopher Connelly, owner of Kinetic Kitchen and Bath, LLC wanted to put his showroom ‘on the map’ and attract new customers.

“We sponsored the ‘Ugliest Bathroom in Western New York’ contest in conjunction with a local remodeler and with co-op support from our vendors,” says Connelly. “We asked entrants to come by the showroom with photographs of their bathrooms. After a month, a winner was chosen. Our remodeler agreed to do the job in a weekend, so we treated the winner to a free hotel stay. Upon their return, the local TV networks covered the homecoming on the news – which ran multiple times on multiple stations for two days. It was incredible coverage!”

With over 250 entries and only one winner, Kinetic Kitchen and Bath was able to augment its database of potential clients.

According to Connelly: “We now know over 250 people who are dying for a new bathroom. We immediately sent them ‘runner-up special offers’ and closed on three new projects within the quarter.”

Print Promises

Raffael Brugnoni, CKD, owner of St. Clair Shores, MI-based Woodmaster Kitchens, looked at what the slumping Michigan economy was doing to his competition and used it as his competitive advantage. Two of Brugnoni’s competitors had filed for bankruptcy, leaving clients in the lurch and, in some cases, with lost deposits and unfinished projects.

“We began an ad campaign in the local newspaper that positioned Woodmaster as a solid business. Our headline ‘Reduce your remodeling risk,’ accompanied by a photo of my dad to show longevity in the community, seemed to hit home with our community,” says Brugnoni. The campaign ran four weeks and reached about 18,000 people.

Woodmaster offered a call to action in its ads. It asked consumers to stop by the showroom for a free booklet explaining what to look for in a remodeling company. About 25 booklets were picked up. More importantly, according to Brugnoni, “Our business during that time frame was up 20% over the previous year. I am not sure if I can attribute it all to this campaign, but I received the most direct comments by customers regarding this ad and this situation.”

“We want to reach people with disposable income, so where better than while they are out disposing of their income,” says Kevin Telaak of Artisan Kitchens and Baths in Buffalo, NY. “We have purchased full-page ads in every playbill in almost every theater in the Buffalo area, including those events for alternative lifestyles.”

Telaak believes that playbills are read and kept. “Watch people in a theater before the curtain goes up. They are often thumbing through their playbill. And at the end of the show, you don’t see too many in the trash or on the floor – people take them home.”

Supporting the arts, including alternate lifestyle performances, makes an immediate connection according to Telaak. “Helping to make a performance possible by financially supporting the playbill connects Artisan Kitchens and Baths with the audience, especially with the smaller, more community-oriented theaters. Many times customers mention our ads in the playbills as the reason they came by.”

Amir Ilin, president of Northern New Jersey-based Küche+Cucina, swears by the ultimate in public relations – getting published in regional and national magazines.

“I have been getting published for years now, and getting better at it each time – learning which jobs should be professionally photographed and how to style them. Editors seem to love our designs, and we find ourselves on the pages and covers of national magazines quite often.”

Whether your designs are published locally or nationally, chosen by the editors or a paid submission, to the consumer you are receiving an impeccable third-party endorsement. These displays can be more effective than paid advertisements, but the process is not free. There are photography costs and sometimes payment for submission, so be sure to include these costs in any marketing plan. Still, the payoff can be huge.

Ilin says, “The first time I realized this was an effective way to market Küche+Cucina was a couple of years ago. After being seen in a national magazine, a gentleman called from North Carolina – we are located in New Jersey. He had never seen our showroom, but from this one published kitchen, he hired us for a $200,000 project.

“More recently, a published job was directly responsible for three sales – two were over an hour away, and the third, 30 minutes. The magazine has been on the stands for two months and we have already sold over $190,000 from it,” Ilin adds.

Sightseeing

Peggy Mackowski, CGR, CAPS of Quality Design and Construction in Raleigh, NC, takes the approach that clients should be able see, touch and examine her firm’s craftsmanship first hand. To that end, Mackowski schedules an annual “Tour of Remodeled Homes.”

“We believe that if people can see for themselves what we are capable of doing in a way that photography doesn’t do justice, it’s worth the time, cost and effort,” she says. “Dozens, if not hundreds, of potential clients take the tour annually. We have an on-site drawing for free design/consultation time. The entries are then added to our database of potential clients. It has become our best source of quality leads.”

Offering numerous “before” images and having the homeowners available, in many cases, to answer questions and provide testimonials adds to the effectiveness of the tour.

“Our Web site features before-and-after photos for all of our projects, but seeing really is believing. And, being able to ask the homeowners for their personal assessment of the project scope and how we did is the best salesmanship there is,” adds Mackowski.

The Home Improvement Group of Woodland, CA developed a similar idea, but included a key aspect that the firm agrees solidified its brand in local consumers’ consciousness.