Kitchen Design How a Kitchen Designer Closes a Sale
By: Steve J Smith

It takes a long time to sell a kitchen
After 2 hours in your home the designer of your new kitchen by this stage will have finished the vast majority of his presentation. He?ll have made sure already that you?re more than happy with your chosen door, the quality?s what you?re looking for in a new kitchen and you wouldn?t change anything about the design. It?s now time for the price presentation. This will be an experienced kitchen designer?s favourite part of the visit. But before he tells you the price, he has a very important set of procedures to follow...

Calculating how much he can drop the price
First of all, after completing the design whilst sat away from the customer, the designer will calculate the ?sale? price. He?ll then calculate how far he can reduce the price in order to hit his ?lesser earning bands?. Then the designer will then decide upon a 'reason' for dropping the price.

Hitting your hot spot
During the visit you will have had many discussions with the designer about your ideal kitchen. You may have expressed a desire to have a double integrated oven or an integrated washer ?if I could afford it?. Unknowingly, you?ve just given the designer a great reason (a 'hot spot') to encourage you to go-ahead on the night. He?s just about to give you the reason-to-buy.

Presenting the price 'correctly'
It?s now time for the designer?s ?showpiece?. He makes sure that if you?re a couple, you?re both sitting down. This is conducive to the right ?atmosphere?. The designer will then begin to list everything he has included in the new kitchen design. He?ll say, ?This is the final price. I won?t do any rubbish like giving you the full retail price, then dropping the price in half. That?s sales rubbish. So the price here is the final price you?ll pay. Now this includes us taking out and getting rid of your old kitchen, your new furniture, your new oven, hob, extractor, integrated dishwasher, all the plumbing, electrical and joinery work as well as your 10-year comprehensive guarantee. Now obviously you?ve said this is your dream kitchen, so you know from what?s in there and the quality of everything that it?s not going to be the cheapest one in the world.?

Guess the price
You?re now feeling very nervous. You?re not sure now if you even want to hear the price. The designer has now just done as much as he possibly can to make sure you think that you won?t be able to afford the kitchen at all. It?s a classic sales technique to ?take something away? before it?s offered back to you again on a plate. The designer then says, ?Go on? guess! Just before I tell you the price I want to see how much you think it?s worth. I?ve got it written down on this bit of paper so obviously I?m not going to change it!?

There are many ways that an experienced kitchen designer can get you to guess the price. However it?s done he will get you to guess. From him that?s imperative.

Get a commitment to buy
If the kitchen designer?s done his job properly, then you?ll guess that the kitchen is worth more than the sale price. If you do guess more than this price then the designer will ask you one more simple question before he presents the actual figure to you?

?So if I could do it for that price would you buy it??

If you say ?maybe?, he knows that he?s got you. He then presents the price. It?s just more than what you wanted to pay. You go ?I do like it, but it?s slightly more than I wanted to pay.? The designer then says, ?I?m sorry that I couldn?t quite get it in your budget, but I?ve got everything you wanted in it.? After another few minutes of consideration, the designer then says, ?Well there?s one other option?I didn?t really want to tell you because you said that you wouldn?t consider making a decision today. We?ve actually been given some integrated dishwashers as a gift from a supplier after we gave them a big order? if I could manage to include the dishwasher for free would you consider going ahead today??

What do you do now? You have to decide. If it?s presented correctly though, most people believe it?s a genuine offer.