For example – You need to know what you want from the completed project; discuss & agree these ideas with potential suppliers; get a designer to create a detailed plan of the agreed project but now you have got to take planning regulations into account; then find a contractor (or more likely, contractors) who will tender for the work; ensure all the contractors complete their work within the scheduled time allowed & within budget; you must inspect the finished project & compile a list of any work you’re not happy 
with (snagging); & finally, sign off the completed project.
Now, was I talking about Wembley Stadium in the above example or was it the purchase of a new kitchen?
Designing & installing a new kitchen needs planning; so after you have decided to buy a new kitchen, your mind goes into ‘information gathering mode’ on what companies supply the products that you think you want; at the same time you stumble across products & services that you did not know you needed! As you come across potential supplier companies, you’ll also experience many first impressions. Do not discount the impact these can have on helping you make the right decision about the supplier’s true attitude to customer care.
I provide sales coaching to people who sell direct to the public, such as kitchen sales people. Not only do I accompany sales people on their appointments with customers to provide one-to-one coaching, I also conduct ‘mystery shops’ for companies (who are brave enough to hear the outcome) & for my websites (details below). My wife joins me in these great adventures & we compare notes afterwards to gain a balanced & considered opinion of the experience.
Let me give you an example of how this manifested itself on our last mystery shop.
We had made an appointment with a kitchen supplier (name withdrawn) for 10.30am on a weekday morning at our house for a kitchen design & quotation. This was organised for a mystery shopping contract.
We always include a section in our report that covers promptness & how well prepared the sales person appeared to be for the appointment. At 10.30am the phone rang & the sales person introduced himself & stated that a local motorway had been closed and, being forced to make a detour, he would be approximately half-an-hour late. ‘Would this be ok?’
Whether it was ok or not does not matter right now but it did raise some issues that some potential customers may, or may not, pick up on. There were two issues that immediately came to mind from this ‘first impression’ of a sales person whom, so far, we have not even met?
Issue 1. If a phone call is made at 10.30 (the time of the appointment) by a person offering a traffic problem excuse for lateness, & his location was still 20 miles away, then surely he was going to be late anyway ? never mind being further delayed through traffic problems. There is more. To compound this issue, on two occasions prior to this appointment I was asked by some one calling from this kitchen supplier if my wife & I were prepared to spend two hours with the sales person; we agreed & the time allocated accordingly. Surely, the least a professional sales person could do is to make all effort & preparation to be at the appointment on time.
Issue 2. The sales person eventually arrived at 11.30am & had to make his first impression with us by apologising. By apologising as part of his introduction to us at the front door, this put him at a disadvantage from a sales point of view & he therefore had to work harder to negate this initial set-back. Every sales person knows that you can never make a second first impression. Also, my wife & I had blocked out our diaries from 10.30am to 1.00pm to allow plenty of time to complete the appointment. Having arrived an hour late, the sales person now only had a maximum of one-and-a-half hours of our undivided attention to complete his sales presentation.
Unfortunately, we had to bring the appointment to a close at 1.30pm which resulted in the price of the agreed design being hurriedly calculated & presented. This did not allow the sales person to properly qualify & explain the total project price. Indeed, my wife & I were very confused about the final offer after discounts were taken into account.
In summary, because the sales person did not prepare his day, he arrived late to his first customer appointment & failed to make a positive first impression; this led to a hurried conclusion & disruption to the ‘customer’s’ day. This lack of preparation may, or may not, be endemic in the attitude of the company he represents which will include surveyors, fitters, & after sales service.
For anyone purchasing a kitchen, the road to a successfully installed project is stressful enough; you should look out for the little things that kitchen suppliers do, or do not do, that can give you a clue about their true attitude to customer care being represented in their ‘first impression’ activity.
Ian Ludlow & co-author Jo Ludlow have worked in the home & lifestyle industry for many years. There is more. Their expert knowledge is now widely available as owners & creators of http://www.home-and-garden-ideas.com & http://www.design-ideas-for-kitchens.com for expert hints, tips & advice on modern home & lifestyle trends. In addition to these websites, Ian & Jo Ludlow are also creators of http://www.sales-and-management-training.com which is a training resource for sales people & sales managers working directly with the public. Use these expert resources to create world class customer service & business that builds into high quality, high profit results.
