A Note from
the President of Kitchen Options, Inc.:
In-home sales are a business that has two inbreed problems that
are extremely costly. For Kitchen Options to keep our prices below
any and all of the competition and to stay the largest independent
kitchen/bath refacing company in the Northeast, we must do what
is necessary to counter these problems. The following is our way
of keeping costs down and I hope that you understand why we have
these policies.
- Ray Lentine
Why is a Kitchen Option kitchen so much
less than the competition’s? First, we buy all of our building
materials in bulk. We don’t buy 2 pieces of crown molding
- We buy 100 pieces. We don’t buy 1 lazy Susan - We buy 25.
We don’t buy 1 sink – We buy 15 of each size. We are
the largest independent refacing company in the Northeast and buy
more from our suppliers than any other refacing company in New England.
That fact means we pay less. Where other companies buy all of the
framing materials pre-cut by the door manufacturer, we cut our own
from the large stock of lumber we have in our warehouse/workshop.
But more than anything that we do to cut
costs, nothing saves YOU and us as much money as having “1-Leg”
and “1st Visit Discount” policies.
1-Leg: When only one person is home when we arrive we (and the entire industry) label this visit a “1-Leg.” Examples of 1 Legs: A husband without his wife, a wife without her husband, a partner without his/her partner, a widow or widower that need one of their kids to help make decisions and the husband that refuses to climb off his lawnmower to see a presentation are all “1-Legs.” Here is how they cost us money:
1. The other person that is not home does not see the over 100 different door colors, designs and wood grain options. They are not there to choose a sink, faucet and over 250 countertop options. If additional cabinets are to be built, designs must be established. Backwalls have many many designs. The customer is looking for a price, but many of the decisions as to product are not established, making giving a quote impossible.
2. A 1-Leg does not make
a major money decision without the significant other.
3. The 1-Leg can never
do a demo like the sales rep. The other person never sees all of
#1 above and when they arrive home and ask, “How much?”
they have no idea what it is that that price would buy.
4. In our long history
and selling hundreds of kitchens every year – we have never
EVER sold a kitchen to a 1-Leg. They don’t call back, they
don’t e-mail – they fall off the face of the earth.
Seeing only one person is a waste of time for everyone. Even the
person who wasn’t there loses, because he/she never has a
Kitchen Options kitchen. .
Kitchen Options asks that when you make
an appointment, please make the appointment for you and your significant
other.
1st Visit Discount: This is a 15% discount given
to any customer that buys their kitchen during our first visit.
1- If we need to return
to a customer’s home for a second visit, we are not in some
other customer’s home showing them a kitchen. During that
time we are selling just one kitchen and not two.
2- If every customer needed
us to return a second or third time, we would need several more
sales reps, BUT even though we have more employees - we would sell
far less kitchens.
3- We are at all of the home shows, fairs and festivals in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. If you attended (for example) the Hyannis Home Show, you would likely live on Cape Cod. For the next week we would be seeing customers that lived on The Cape. The following week we could be seeing customers that came from the Mohegan Sun Home Show. If you call us to come back, all of the sales reps would be in Connecticut and Southern Rhode island. Geography makes it impossible to see everyone. We would come back to see you because you have decided to buy, but we would need to cancel an appointment from Mohegan Sun – again, selling one kitchen and not two.
4- If a customer buys during
the first visit, we can see many more customers. If we must return
a second or a third time to a customer’s home, which we would
be glad to do, we would see many less customers – and we would
sell far less kitchens. Therefore, we have a “1st Visit Discount.”
This 1st Visit Discount is offered as an addition to any other promotions/ads
that might be offered at home shows, newspaper ads, etc. You buying
during the first visit saves us money and allows us the freedom
to see many more customers. This savings is passed on to you if
you take advantage of the 1st Visit Discount.
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