Kitchen & Bath Design News

MAR 2013

Kitchen & Bath Design News is the industry's leading business, design and product resource for the kitchen and bath trade.

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updating the prm���s Web site/ SEO, attending more home shows, investing in online ads or apps, participating in community or charitable functions, holding more showroom events/seminars/ cooking demonstrations or spending on radio or TV ads. Several dealers pointed out the importance of diversifying one���s marketing efforts, pointing to some potential dangers with investing exclusively in the online world. As one pointed out, ���The presence of a negative online presence can create a bad reputation for companies that otherwise should have a good reputation. There are always those customers who you can never make happy, and with online reviews, they can falsely lead consumers away from [a good business].��� Since statistics show dissatisfied customers are far more likely to write a review than those who are satisped, this can skew the company���s online image. By contrast, many dealers believe that personal referrals from clients or allied professionals can give a clearer, more honest picture of a prm���s capabilities. As one dealer stated, ���People do look at online reviews, but there is an anonymous quality to these. People are far more likely to trust the word of someone they know ��� a friend, a family member, a contractor. You should never forget that you���re going to be in someone���s home, and that makes this a very personal business.��� LOCATION, LOCATION When it comes to finding prospective clients, dealers surveyed agree that it���s all about location. In fact, more than 80% said their business location is either ���extremely important��� (40.9%) or ���somewhat important��� (39.6%) in pnding prospective clients. Interestingly, location was equally important regardless of whether the dealer is located in an urban area or a rural one, with 41.2% of those located in urban areas and 40.5% of those in rural areas 3. WHAT DEALERS SEE INCREASING 50% NUMBER OF LEADS 47.8% SHOWROOM TRAFFIC 46.6% CONSUMER CONFIDENCE 44.4% QUALITY OF LEADS 34.3% CONVERSION OF LEADS 0 10 20 30 40 50 4. WHERE DEALERS FIND PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS 89.3% REFERRALS FROM PREVIOUS CLIENTS 61.8% WALK-IN SHOWROOM TRAFFIC 60.7% REFERRALS FROM ALLIED PROFESSIONALS 34.3% PRINT ADS 33.7% SOCIAL MEDIA 20.8% HOME SHOWS 19.7% SPECIAL PROMOTIONS 19.1% ONLINE ADS/APPS 17.4% COMMUNITY/CHARITABLE FUNCTIONS 15.2% SHOWROOM EVENTS/SEMINARS/COOKING DEMOS 12.4% TV/RADIO ADS 10.1% OTHER 0 20 rating location as ���extremely important.��� As one Midwestern dealer concluded, ���Although a big project like a kitchen or bath isn���t generally an impulse purchase, stopping in to look at showroom displays can be an impulse decision, and that can lead to a sale. We were located somewhat off the beaten track, and recently moved our showroom to a new location that is closer to a restaurant and several upscale stores. Our traffic has improved and we are seeing more ���impulse brows- 40 60 80 100 5. PERCENT OF DEALERS PLANNING TO INCREASE ONLINE MARKETING IN 2013 ers.��� Sometimes they are just tire kickers, but other times they get intrigued by what we have to o���er and they come back with their husbands and, before you know it, they are doing a bathroom or kitchen renovation!��� For more details about what dealers are saying about how they pnd new prospects, visit our Design Talk blog at www.For ResidentialPros.com/ designtalk. 50.6% INCREASE 1.2% DECREASE 48.2% REMAIN THE SAME March 2013 ForResidentialPros.com | 33

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