In recent discussions with my fellow dealers about the future of the kitchen and bath design industry, I have discovered the news is pretty much the same across the country: Every business is slow, and getting traffic into showrooms is more difficult than it has ever been.

To survive, we’ve been forced to contemplate what we can do to generate business. We need to create ways to help our customers that might also provide us with new opportunities.

In truth, there are a number of things dealers have been doing during this economic downturn to keep their businesses in the black. Following are a few of them.

Embracing Partial Work

While many of us have said no to certain customer requests in the past, tougher economic times have forced us to reconsider. One repeated request we have all received has been for partial work – anything from adjusting cabinet drawers to creating all but a completely new kitchen.

In the past, our company was busy enough with complete projects that considering partial work wasn’t necessary. In addition, the profits for this type of work never appeared to be strong enough to support the effort. We have done an about-face, however. Today, we are happy to get any type of work to keep our staff busy and pay some bills.

Past customers are a great source of leads for this type of work. A connection – a sense of trust – already exists with previous clients. It’s time to dig through those old files and develop a mailing list.

Another source of leads is the Web site www.blockshopper.com. The site makes available the names, addresses and telephone numbers of people in a certain neighborhood, with the most current names of the homeowners. Armed with this information, dealers can create mailing labels.

One dealer I know has developed a letter that goes out to the neighbors of recent customers. It mentions the recently completed work and explains the company’s services. The letter also invites the recipient to visit the firm’s showroom or Web site.

At my company we have developed a marketing letter and are targeting clients whose projects we did in the 1980s. These kitchens are ready to be refurbished with new cabinets, countertops and appliances. We installed a lot of laminate cabinets and countertops back then, and people have been calling us for years to reface them or replace them with wood.

In our marketing letter, we mention we will consider any type of renovation or repair work that needs attention, and we will be happy to send someone out to take care of whatever is needed. When people call us with their requests, we ask about the type of work and, if we believe we can give them a cost for it, we will. If not, we will work on an hourly rate, plus materials.