Pile of misc items stored in an unorganized fashionWhy do humans just love to over-complicate things?  Perhaps it has something to do with our innate need to impress one another.  Sure, people who solve complex problems or make complex products are interesting, but aren’t you equally impressed when you find out simplistic ways of solving problems, or how a simple product can make life so much more enjoyable?

Who needs a Rube Goldberg machine to turn on a light when you can just flip a switch or clap?  Why make it so complicated?  In that same retrospect, why waste a bunch of time trying to teach people how the light works, when all they really want to know is whether it’s safe, where they can buy one, how much maintenance is required and how much it costs?

Simplicity sells.  Take computers for example.  Through the years they’ve become thinner, lighter, sleeker, even pocket-sized.  That being said, the same goes for your kitchen and bath dealership.  Here are some ways to simplify your cabinet operation:

Declutter Your Website

“Whether we like it or not, it’s time to change the way we do things to adapt to the way kitchen buyers shop.”

If you’re like most other kitchen and bath businesses, chances are your website has TMI (Too Much Information… See, we even simplify words with acronyms).  Your website should be clean, pleasing to the eye and easily navigable.  If using any background colors, they should be light, and non-distracting.  Take Google, Apple and Amazon as examples.  What do their websites have in common?  It’s no coincidence they all have clean looks due to use of whitespace.  They know what works, and you should take note.

You want to give online prospects some information about your company upfront, but not all.  Placing all of the information on your website may seem generous, but it actually may eliminate leads before you even know they exist.  Prospects will go to your website, see your story, find out exactly what you’re selling (along with promotions you post) and may decide it’s not what they want before ever contacting you.  Wouldn’t you rather have them call you to find out more, or fill out a form with their contact information?  If you don’t have exactly what they’re looking for, that would be a great chance to let them know what you can offer them.

Adopt New Marketing Techniques

If you’re still relying on traditional marketing techniques such as direct mailers, ads, TV commercials and referrals for all of your marketing, you’re missing out on a whole other keg full of untapped leads and spending a lot more time and money on difficult–to-measure mediums.  Greenhouse marketing is a more effective, organized solution for growing leads in the age of the tech-savvy consumers.  It’s 2012, and whether we like it or not, it’s time to change the way we do things to adapt to the way kitchen buyers shop.

While we mentioned above that you shouldn’t overwhelm the consumer with TMI on your website, that in no way means you should eliminate your blog.  Blogs allow you to kill a few birds with one stone.  Not only do they help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) through content creation, but they allow you to give your company personality (revealing your kitchen dealership’s brand), and also help to grow more educated leads in the Greenhouse Phase.

In addition to your blog, you should be active on social media sites posting regularly. Think of social media as free advertisement.  Your prospects are utilizing social media, so why not be right there with them?  Give them no reason to overlook you.

There are so many ways in which you can simplify your dealership, but your website and marketing are great starting points.  Stay tuned for more in part 2 where we’ll discuss simplifying your product offering, sales process and quoting.