No force has had a bigger, faster growing influence over home designing than the television. Over the years, television has become more and more of an influence when it comes to your customers’ kitchen cabinet design choices.
Due to the popularity of networks like HGTV, and shows such as “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition; and By Design; television is now one of the largest, fastest growing influences on the changing trends in your customers’ kitchen designs.
Style Influences
Television influences the tastes, wants and needs of its viewers. It gives your customers a do-it-yourself perception of designing and redesigning. This also shapes the way they choose a cabinet dealer. Customers now begin projects already knowing what they want, how it should be done and ways to make it more affordable. Because of this, your company must keep up with the trends caused by television home decorating shows.
As with any popular television arena, home design shows use glamour to catch and keep their viewers. Loyal viewers become fans of not only the shows, but of the styles, name-brands, stores and actual items showcased on these programs. They begin to idealize what they see, especially when it is in the kitchen of one of their favorite stars.
Budget & Deadline Influences
Other shows such as, “Design on a Dime”, have influenced the budget your customers now set when seeking a cabinet dealer or remodeling professional. Programs like this focus on redesigning with a very limited budget, for instance $1,000 in an incredibly limited time frame. These shows help your customers feel more confident about their sometimes unreasonable requests and demands.
They are also confident about the misperceived timeframe it should take for you to do the job right. They feel as if they are educated enough to make knowledgeable decisions in this area. With television programs convincing their viewers that they’re the expert, it’s now your job to shift that perception.
Your business operates a certain way, and on a specific schedule, because you are the expert. You are the one who can guide your prospect on what’s important. Early in your sales process is the best time to correct misconceptions about remodeling.
Sponsor Influences
Although television design shows are considered reality shows, the reality is that there are still people in charge of creating the subject matter which, in turn, shapes public perception. These situations are created to introduce new methods, designs, designers, tools, companies and products to the television market.
On top of that, each sponsored advertisement during a commercial break is directed towards a target market directly related to the show they are sponsoring. In the case of home design shows, these commercials are usually related to kitchen cabinet design and other home designing services and goods. Make sure you are tracking what products these shows are pushing onto their viewers, so you can effectively work with these prospects when they enter your showroom.
Your Influence
The impact of television on kitchen and bath professionals should directly affect the way your business handles prospects. When they come to you, they probably already know what they want, combined with many misconceptions.
Have you ever watched golf? TV does a wonderful job of showing you all the excitement and highlights. Of course when you are there, it’s long walks in the hot sun and plenty of boredom at times.
So it’s up to you and your sales team to show your prospects the reality of buying a kitchen – and that means correcting any distorted facts upfront in your sales process. Remember, price may be important, but missed customer expectations are even worse. For more on marketing mistakes in the industry, download our Top Kitchen Marketing Mistakes eBook below.
