Kitchen Secret #1
Why
are there so many 'limited time kitchen offers'?
Have
you ever heard the saying, "That's too good to be true"? Many people
associate it with adverts that they see in newspapers.
You can
just picture it now...
Unfortunately that
can generally be translated as meaning "This kitchen offer might
finish at the weekend – but on the other hand, it probably won’t!”
In the kitchen industry
limited offers come and limited kitchen offers come again. So what purpose
do these offers actually serve?
Firstly,
it encourages you to ring up and enquire about the offer. A company
would generally call this ‘lead generation’. This process
can take effect in various guises. You might have seen a website with
this ‘limited offer’. A ‘demonstrator’ may have
approached you whilst standing with a display in a supermarket. You
might have seen the ‘special offer’ in a newspaper advert.
Either way, because you have either phoned up to enquire or simply left
your contact details on a form, you’re now a very valuable commodity.
The second part
of this pre-determined process involves somebody giving you a phone
call back. The sole purpose of this conversation is to persuade you
to book an appointment with a designer in your own home - offering
you a free visit and a free set of kitchen plans.
Whether
you only enquired to consider kitchen layout ideas for the future, or
you want one fitted over the next few weeks, you’re treated the
same way – getting you to book that meeting with the ‘designer’
for your kitchen planning is the only thing that matters.
However, once you
agree to a designer visiting you for your 'free kitchen plan', a whole
new script ‘kicks into action’. This is likely to happen
as soon as you agree to the appointment. The company generally refers
to this script as ‘appointment confirmation’.
The purpose
of appointment confirmation is to ensure that the designer has a chance
to both plan and sell you the design at the same time.
During
appointment conformation you will be asked the following scripted
questions:
1. Are you the owner of the property?
2. Do you have any future building work plans?
3. Is Mr XXXX going to be there as well?
4. Are you both available for 2 > 2½ hours?
So why do
companies concerned want to know this information?
Only
the property owner can make a decision ‘on the night’. Building
work can also be an issue as if a proposed room amendment isn’t
confirmed, then that also of course means that any kitchen layout can’t
be finalised. The one question that tends to cause more fury than any
other is number three.
Quite
often, Mrs would like to consider the kitchen renovation without Mr
being present. However, if the company insists upon only sending a designer
out when there is a reasonable opportunity of a sale, then they won’t
go there is only one decision maker.
Most
of the time, even if a they visit what is called a ‘single leg’
in the business, they will make an excuse and leave, probably going
to another appointment with a better chance of a sale on the same night.
Finally, a designer will only visit an appointment that is willing to
spare a minimum of two hours to let them to go through the whole ‘selling
cycle’. This enhances the sale opportunity. The selling cycle
is explained in Secret
3.
Apart from encouraging
you to ring up and enquire and to book the appointment, the ‘limited
kitchen offer’ has one more reason behind it - it encourages you
to make the decision to buy. Just imagine… you’ve had a
kitchen planned that you’re very happy with - you want the cabinets
and appliances - you like the designer, but you’d like a few days
just to think about it. What would you do if the designer tells you
that there are only five ovens left in the ‘limited offer’
and he can’t guarantee you one of the appliances if you want to
wait? Is the offer fiction in order for you to make a decision there
and then? You decide.
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