 A kitchen or bathroom remodel is a major renovation project for many home owners. Often times this is one of the biggest expenses they make when renovating their home. Home owners do not want their kitchen or bathroom to end up becoming a nightmare instead of a dream come true.
With that in mind, they take time to consider the company that will be breaking, restructuring, and redesigning their kitchen or bath. Many home owners conduct thorough research to find interior designers and kitchen and bath remodeling companies to interview for their project. Usually this research turns into three to five companies they would like to work with and some questions they would like answered to narrow their decision. We've done marketing in this industry for over a decade and below are five questions we hear prospects ask kitchen and bath remodeling companies over and over again. Top 5 Questions Prospects Ask Before Hiring a Kitchen and Bath Remodeler 1. Can you provide some samples, past projects you have completed, and provide client references? This is the best way to gauge someone’s work and capability. By looking at the remodeling projects that they have undertaken in the past, prospects develop a clear idea about the companies expertise and skills. As the interior designer or remodeling company you need to be prepared to have projects that best showcase your work and also relate to the type of project the prospect is looking to develop. 2. Do you have a license and required insurance? Most prospects are only satisfied with a remodeling company or interior designer if the answer to this question is yes. A true professional will always have a copy of these documents readily available for the prospect’s satisfaction. 3. What is your estimated bid and time frame for the completion of the project? It is a crucial question many prospects have and especially pertinent for their given project. Based on your requirements, design process, and overall project details, you should provide an estimated time frame for the completion of the project along with a price quotation for the job. The more clear and detailed you are here the more comfortable the prospect will feel about selecting your company. 4. What are the fixtures/materials you will use and where will you be purchasing them? Prospects want to know about your suppliers so they can have a clear idea about the quality of the materials that will be used on their project. Many prospects have heard horror stories about substandard materials being used on projects in order to meet the project budget at the cost of quality and durability. As the designer/kitchen and bath remodeler you must ensure that the prospects understand you will not sacrifice quality. 5. What type of contract will they be signing with your company? A remodeling deal cannot just be done through a simple handshake. You need to have a legally binding contract to ensure the quality and timely completion of the job. Regardless of the friendly nature and cordial relation with the prospect, you need to have a signed legal contract with every detail mentioned explicitly in the document. These are the five questions we hear over and over again, and as an interior designer and kitchen and bath remodeling company you need to be prepared to answer these questions to the best of your ability to put the prospects mind at ease. For more information get in touch with one of our professionals to help you prepare for a prospect meeting or schedule a strategy session to see how we can best be of assistance.
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 Do you offer top-quality kitchen countertops, cabinets, and renovation services but cannot seem to reach enough people who might be interested in your services? Don’t worry! We have a solution for you in this blog post.
If you are running a kitchen and bath business, at some point, it becomes essential to market your business. Competition is high and you have to fight for your place with the ever-changing needs of this industry. However, the challenge comes when you are operating on a small budget. We have some great tips for you that you can use to market your Kitchen and Bath remodel business on a small budget. Have a look at them: Ways to Market Your Kitchen and Bath Business on a Small Budget 1. Build Your Presence Online If you want to reach a wider audience using online marketing, the first important thing to do is to build your business presence online. Show up on different social media platforms and build your own website to increase the credibility of your business. You do not need to have a huge budget to create your own website. You can make use of free themes and content management platforms for your website. Besides that, it does not cost anything to sign up on social media platforms and build your business page. 2. Ask for Referrals Once your business can be found online, the next step is to make it look professional. Whenever you successfully complete a project for your clients, never forget to ask them for a referral. People are more inclined to retain your services if you come highly recommended by someone they know and trust. So, referrals are the best way to advertise your business among local people without spending a penny. You can also ask your clients to leave you a review on your website or social media profiles, because it will be visible to your entire community. 3. Stay in Touch with Your Customers Just because your kitchen and bath remodeling project is over, it does not mean that your job is over with the client. Always stay connected with your customers even after you have completed their projects. It’s easy to maintain an old customer than to get a new one. Some of the things you can do to stay in touch with your existing customers are sending them holiday cards or birthday cards on their special days. Send them emails and let them know about the new sales or discounts you are offering (make them a part of your monthly newsletter which you need to start if you don’t already have one). This little extra effort will surely make you stand out among your competitors. 4. Share Valuable Information with Your Audience By sharing your tips and knowledge with other people, you not only add value to their life but also to your business. When you come up with engaging content and useful ideas, your audience starts trusting your services and think of you as a credible source of information. This helps to build a great bond between you and your potential clients. These are great ways to market your business on a low to no budget. For some additional tips visit our next webinar which will focus on effective ways for designers to do their own public relations (PR). In this webinar you will learn why a back-to-basics approach is the most effective and affordable way for designers to do PR. You don't need to hire an expensive publicist or agency to do it either because no one can represent you better then you can. Some of the topics that will be discussed include; goal setting, how to find the right media, how to choose the right project for your pitch, media kits, building relationships and the PR mindset. You don't want to miss this impactful webinar to grow your brand.  2020 started as a promising year for the housing industry but later everything turned towards uncertainty. The COVID-19 outbreak badly affected the economic footings of every business including the kitchen and bath remodeling industry. Almost all the companies in this sector are in various states of turmoil as they are planning strategies to reopen their business once the quarantine period ends.
However, amidst all the turmoil and horrific outbreak, kitchen and bath businesses are fully prepared to emerge with the signs of adaptability, optimism, resilience, hope, and courage to continue their work in this “new normal” phase. They are adapting to new realities, redefining their business operations, and searching for ways to come out stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. Different contractors and designers are working towards staying in touch with their client base and utilizing this time productively to address all the business imperatives that they generally do not have the time to address. Nothing New for Kitchen and Bath Industry We should remember that the kitchen and bath industry has seen many calamities, challenges, natural disasters, and even World War II in its history. The industry has gone through rapid evolution in designs, lifestyles, family-composition, and needs of the people. It has also observed all the technological advancements that literally changed the way people live as well as the way companies sell their products and market their business. Through all of this, the kitchen and bath sector has not only survived but also flourished and made great progress. The experts of this industry have proven from time-to-time that it’s a field of resilient, tough-minded, adaptive, and forward-thinking people. So this time, once again, experts are coming forward with their ideas to continue their business after this outbreak. Let’s have a look at some of those ideas: Life from Home Before COVID-19, it was relatively easy to have an independent facility for our parents or older people so that they can enjoy life and maintain their well-being. Now, most of those facilities have become areas of infection. People are looking to create a safe and comfortable environment in their home where they can grow old and live with dignity knowing the environment, they live in is not only safe but also full of warmth and care. So, the kitchen and bath industry have a great opportunity to respond to these challenges by turning their space into a more functional, accessible, and comfortable one. Everyone is Looking Forward to Change People have spent enough time in their homes and now they are bored. They have realized that their space needs a change and refresher. As many have determined there is no vacationing, hoteling, and traveling this year, those funds are now available for remodeling purposes. So, interior designers and kitchen and bath remodeling businesses have a remarkable opportunity to utilize this time to help people make their kitchens and baths a more relaxing and enjoyable space. It is the perfect time to establish yourself as a kitchen and bath professional by putting your expertise out there to solve the problems of your prospects are facing.  With the uncertainty in the industry due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), it is vital that business owners get a handle on what is happening in their own kitchen and bath remodel business. Daily I get asked by clients and I listen to other owners in the industry ask what they should do to manage this crisis. The first thing I always say is don’t panic, in times of anxiety people look to others for leadership and assurance that everything will be okay. You as the business owner need to be that leader to reassure your clients, we will get through this and you have a plan to help do just that. Below we discuss several items every business owner in the kitchen and bath remodel space should be doing to manage this crisis and come out better on the other side.  Communicate First and foremost, if you have not already reached out to every client and prospect on your list you should do so, NOW! Check in with all your clients and prospects to ensure they are doing okay and let them know you have a plan in place going forward. Talk about how you will conduct your business going forward and share how your team is adhering to the latest guidelines in safety (social distancing, hand washing, staying home if sick, etc.). Especially the clients where ongoing projects are taking place, reassure them that your remodeling crew is taking the necessary precautions to wear gloves, mask, sanitize all areas where they are working, etc., in order to put their mind at ease. At this time, you must communicate with your client to let them know that you understand the time we are living in now and you have taken the necessary steps to address any issues that might arise. This will help give your clients a peace of mind to allow you to keep working on their project in their home. If you feel comfortable, I would suggest making a video of your plan of action and sending it out to your clients and prospects and then following up with a phone call to ensure they understand how you are going to implement your plan.  Be Social, Digitally Many business owners I speak with have not been engaging in social media at all over the last few years. If this is you, now is the time to get social, digitally. With people at home with their kids, this is where your prospects are. So, you need to be where they are and engage. In addition to the Facebook and Instagram of the world, join groups in your local area like NextDoor and Meetup so you can communicate with people in your immediate area that may be looking for services you offer. I have many clients that have gained work through these and other online groups just by being social and engaging with their local community members. Engaging with these social media channels is not as time consuming as you might think. Set aside 15 - 20 minutes a day to check out what people are saying, offering suggestions and advice where you can and move on to the next part of your day. Remember people will not look at or care what you have to offer until they know you care. Being social is easy, and it's a good way to grow your stature in the community you serve.  Click image above to download the Resource Guide. Learn New Tools Many business owners in the kitchen and bath remodel space are not used to working remotely let alone allowing their team to do the same. This is the perfect time to learn about the tools available for making remote working more efficient. With the technology today you can run a virtual meeting, share secure documents with your clients and manager your team all from your smart phone or mobile device. Access to these and many other tools are available to make your business more productive while working remotely, and many business owners just don’t know this technology is out there. Take some time to look at your internal systems to see what tools are available to make your processes run more seamless. We have put together a resource guide for business owners in the kitchen and bath remodel space to help you understand the critical tools you need to run your business remotely. Click here or on the image to download the resource guide. On page 4 and 5 of the resource guide, we go over these tools with links to sites that conduct an in-depth analysis of the most popular apps/platforms to accomplish these task with prices and pros/cons to each software package. This is a most read if you are not sure where to start when deciding on the tools you will use in your business.  Click image above to watch the Brave New Business webinar. Reassess Your Offerings If you have not had a chance to review and reassess your service offerings in a while now is the time to do so. Make sure your offerings are current with the needs of the clients you are serving, and the prices reflect your level of expertise in those areas. When doing this review, you may find some services you offer are out of date and can use a refinement or some services are not really utilized and can be combined with something else you offer or taken out completely. Also think about service offerings you may have always wanted to do but did not have the time to develop and implement. Have you thought about digital design services which can help you reach a larger audience outside of your immediate locale and pertinent in this day and time? If you have not seen the inaugural webinar the NKBA put on in their series called ”Brave New Business”, click here to watch the recording. The panel offered great advice for new digital services you can offer in your company along with best practices they are experiencing in the field.  Get Your House in Order Getting your house in order refers to managing your business finances, but with the situation today it also refers to structuring your home in a way to be conducive to working from home. As we discussed above reassessing your service offerings is a good thing to do now but looking at your company finances is essential. Go through each expenditure in your budget to make sure all expenses are necessary and critical to running your business. Do some research to see if you can accomplish the same goal with another tool in order to cut some cost. By reviewing all your expenditures, you may find you can save enough money to buy needed equipment/supplies, retain employees, pay off debt, and conduct your business more efficiently. For those business owners that are doing fine you may want to look at bringing on quality talent (if it is financially feasible at this time). You may have an open position that needs to be filled and with the amount of talented people looking for work you may be able to find your ideal candidate. As we know finding good people can be difficult but if you are in the position to bring in someone, now may be the time to find the person that can set your business a part from the competition once we are out of this crisis. In terms of space, make sure you have adequate space in your home to operate effectively. With your kids at home it is important to establish your own space so everyone in the house knows that the area you carve out is your workspace that is off limits between certain hours. While many parents are getting used to working from home as well as educating their kids, it is important to set schedules for when certain task will take place. Getting your kids on a set schedule is good for their psyche and allows them to function better with their class work knowing there are certain times when this will take place. This will also give you the necessary time to get your work done as well. A good article in the business insider on how one family accomplished this can be read here. The insight can help all parents get a better grasp on working from home while educating their kids at the same time. In addition to your financial well-being, look at the loans available through the federal and state government to help businesses through this crisis. There are a number of programs available to business owners to help them stay afloat during these rough times. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce prepared a PDF document (click here) with a checklist and guide for small businesses to help them understand the different loan programs available. There are a number of resources available to help businesses bridge the gap between this crisis and getting to the other side. Take advantage of the programs available and talk with your local banks to see what other resources they have to help you get through this.  Be Reassuring
As mentioned above in a time of crisis people look for reassurance and optimism. Make sure you are communicating this with your clientele. There is more then enough doom and gloom on the news, but you want to make sure you are a source people can rely on and trust. When your current clients and prospects know you are on top of this crisis with a plan of action, that helps build you as an authority in the field and a person to look to now and when this crisis ends. This crisis to shall pass and you want to make sure when it does that you have taken the necessary steps to not only survive but thrive once we get ready for the new normal. We are not sure what that new normal will look like, but by reassessing your current business model and preparing your business accordingly you will be ahead of the curve when this crisis does end. Kitchen & Bath Marketing Solutions sends well wishes to everyone during this time of crisis and if you have any questions or need guidance don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know. Our staff is ready to get your questions answered and guide you in a path of success now and into the future. |
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