A Very Important Question

 November 26, 2018
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      Duane

There is one very important question all kitchen and bath designers should be asking their clients during the first meeting.

“Do you have a goal for when you would like this project completed?”

This simple question which is frequently forgotten will give you a couple of needed answers and avoid a miscommunication or an incorrect assumption by your customer.

Your customer may need to have this project completed in 8 weeks. If the product they are ordering will take 6 weeks to arrive, replacements might be needed and then it may still have to be installed. Eight weeks then is not a realistic expectation. The customer needs to know that this is not a realistic expectation so that they can then change their plans in a few different ways:

  • Find a different product that will arrive faster.
  • Adjust their schedule to meet a more realistic time frame.
  • Schedule the project to begin at a later date so as not to interfere with already scheduled plans.

What this question will do is open up the discussion about the project with regard to how long it might be expected to take. Also, as with all remodel projects, there can be bumps in the road that will delay the overall project completion. This needs to be accounted for in the schedule.

If you do not ask this question, it is guaranteed that the client will make some assumptions about how long the project will take (usually a shorter time frame) and when it goes beyond this, they will be upset with you as the salesperson that you did not prepare them for this.

It is nearly impossible to prepare your customer for all contingencies but with this simple question asked as early as possible in the sales process, you will be able to keep your customer from getting angry over something that to you is a given or over something that is beyond your control.

Remember, you have probably been through this sort of situation dozens or hundreds of times but the customer probably never has. Do not make the assumption that they understand the scope of the job and how long it takes to accomplish this.