Need Suggestions Please...

[Rock Tops]

I have a customer that would like something that is not shiny and so I suggested a satin finish, honed finished or leather finished granite. She is open for engineered stone as well, but would like something with character and not black. AZT carries primarily darker stones in satin and I thought maybe ya'll would have suggestions at other stones she could think about? She has a "budget" but hasn't mentioned to me what that is but I am thinking any exotic would be out of the question. We do not have the capabilities to hand finish slabs here so that is out of the question as well.

THANKS!

[Kowboy]

I have a customer... She has a "budget" but hasn't mentioned to me what that is ...
THANKS!

Rock Tops:

You have a prospect, not a customer. You wouldn't start polishing an edge until you were done profiling. Why would you start picking stones before you are done qualifying? To hunt for slabs without knowing the customer's budget is an excellent way to waste time.

Joe

[kevinp]

We have done well with brushed Venetian Gold.
Also it is very easy to hone the material using the same hand tools you probably do edges with, wich opens up a lot of possibilities.

[fernandosalume]

How about a Leather Finsh Giallo Ornamental 3cm from Brazil? I think this color goes well for every customer - see picture below.

Just so you have an idea of price, I have this bundle in stock here in Brazil, with 6 slabs, for US$ x.xxsft FOB price in Brazil (landed at your door would cost around US$x.xxsft).

[azstoneconsulting]

Rock Tops:

Re-read Joe's post...... it is DEAD NUTS - ON THE MONEY!!!

Walk before you run......

Qualify before you sign.....

IMHO - TOTALLY Excellent Advice Joe!!!

kevin

[Joe Little]

I have to dis-agree, we do this every day and during the process, the prospect becomes a customer. If your not willing to help the customer during the selection process, they will not become your customer, IMO

[Ken Lago]

To close a deal you have to be flexible and be able to make suggestions, sometimes before the customer feel at ease with you they are not willing to reveal their budget, become their friend and advisor. You need to understand and learn how to be a sales person, and also what type of sales person you want to be.
I agree with Joe Little.

[Anna Almonte]

IMO, every person who walks through my door is a potential customer. They still deserve my time and effort with color choices, education. In the end if they don't use you they still may refer you due to the great expireance they had at your showroom. The better that they are educated the better the choice they can make. Again, this is just IMO and it has happend for us.

[azstoneconsulting]

Anna's got a good point.... You never know who is going to go from "Prospect" to "Customer"...

However - what Joe is saying has a lot of validity too - unless you can qualify your prospect correctly -
you may wind up with a money AND time looser of a project.......

Everyone - Rock Tops wrote:

" I have a customer... She has a "budget" but hasn't mentioned to me what that is ...
THANKS!"

The "she has a budget but hasn't mentioned yet" part is a red flag in my book..... I am NOT
in business to keep all of the "other guys in town" honest - I don't play "Guess what
the customer is thinking"... let someone else work their butt off for a sale that will go to
their competitor because he failed to qualify the budget.....

You can do all of the educating of your prospects you want to - but at the end of the day - if you
have'nt qualified them to become YOUR customers - they'll no doubt turn into someone ELSE'S......
Still want to spend tons of time educating your competitor's customer? If you do - well.... "God Bless Ya"

I say - Qualify them first - then turn them into YOUR customer - Not someone else's.....

I'm not saying "be rude" or just "slam" these folks through your system, but rather - use this prose:

As you go down the path of a Fabricator
Let this always be your goal =
Keep Your EYE upon The DOUGHNUT....
And NOT upon the HOLE!!!

All I am saying - is keep things in perspective - be willing to do backflips for a prospect -
follow through on DOING those backflips when the prospect becomes your Customer - with Cha-Ching $$$$
and a signed contract............

hth

kevin

[Ken Lago]

Kevin thats what I do, backflipping , but I also know where to draw the line. Gaining the trust of a prospect takes some effort, skill and a little time, after that its easy. I usually know within 15 minutes of talking if I should go on or get busy doing something else.

[Brian_Stone]

How about soapstone?

[Matt Lansing]

I edited Fernando's post to remove the material price since this is the open forum.

[Rick George]

I have an antiqued Red Dragon that is beautiful and not an awefully high price otherwise I have also done some of the Giallo Ornamental antiqued that looked really nice.

[Stone Dude]

I saw Adam from Defusco hand brush some Red Dragon in Seattle, it looked really nice. If they like red, that would be the way to go.

anything honed or brushed would be very nice.

[pwukusick]

I have to dis-agree, we do this every day and during the process, the prospect becomes a customer. If your not willing to help the customer during the selection process, they will not become your customer, IMO

I couldn't agree more, we've gotten good customers because we helped them find what they wanted rather than just saying "tell me what stone you want and I'll give you a price".

[Stonecuttter]

Being nice, and helping and educating interested people whether "prospects", or "potential customers", is all part of it, in my humble opinion. The more of THIS aspect of "service" you can give, the more your name, and your company's name, will be well-spoken of. This ALWAYS comes back around to you in good ways. If not from the original prospect, then from a verbal referral about how knowledgeable and helpful you (or your people) were TO the original.

[Rock Tops]

I personally have gotten report after report back about how customers have come into the showroom knowing they wanted stone, knowing "kinda" what they wanted it to look like, but not having a clue how much or what kind this was going to be and that my staff (and I) really made the whole process easier and more enjoyable. THIS alone is worth its weight in gold to me. If I have to spend some time to suggest things to a customer to open their eyes to a world that they have not even visited, then so be it. Brothers and friends of those customers always come in with positive reviews!

[Chris Mills]

I'm with Joe also. I will do my best to educate the potential and do my best to get a sale. Everyone that walks through my door get my time.

[topshop]

Many times its the people who "have a budget" that end up buying the expensive stuff. Its surprising how their budget grows if they fall in love with a stone - especially lately. It just means that they may be a pita later to deal with. Like others said - educate them - but tax(pita) them early in the estimating and if they truly have a buget they will go away because they cannot afford to have it done by the right fabricator.

[Nick]

I have a customer... She has a "budget" but hasn't mentioned to me what that is ...
THANKS!

Rock Tops:

You have a prospect, not a customer. You wouldn't start polishing an edge until you were done profiling. Why would you start picking stones before you are done qualifying? To hunt for slabs without knowing the customer's budget is an excellent way to waste time.

Joe

Rock Tops, This is bad advice. I actually met someone today and spent a little time qualifying her slab on the way home that has to match what I saw in her kitchen. I do this routinely and get jobs because my price is dependant on a specified lot, and the customer has put in time with me and knows I am going to do the job right, in what they want. When all of the Kowboys of the world show up and bid it with that attitude, and you put in an hour of work, phone calls, or emailed pics to establish ideas, pricing and get the ball rolling, guess who she wants to do the job???


Oh, by the way, the main reason that he has bad advice for you and something you are completely missing is that you need to show her all brushed options from cheap to exotic. I promise you that she will not pick a cheap stone, I would bet on it. She has a budget in her head that she won't tell you to keep you honest and you are taking that more seriously by not even showing her exotic colors. Here's a tip, EVERYONE opens uip with budget this and cheap that. Now, she has a desire for a specific kind of stone. People get what they want when they want something, price is secondary to someone that has an idea in their head of what they want. She would probably spend twice as much as what you have in mind as her "budget" on something she likes. This is why I give customers my price on material, it doesn't matter to me if they get Costas Esmeralda or Giallo Ornamental, they see what the wholesale cost is and they almost always get the upgrade.

We put in a kitchen on Thursday in Typhoon B.. They were quoted $2400 for it in uba tuba by a crappy company. They were on a "serious budget". They saw a lot of typhoon Bordeax they really liked alot. Long story short and a little effort on my end, They have a $4865 kitchen that looks awesome in their house right now, more than twice their "budget" when they came to me.

Of course customers feel like they are going to be fleeced by a contractor, I would too. The fabricator that is a quality and service guy will have to earn the clients trust that they are getting a value. You do that by things like qualifing material before a deposit, and educating them on options. Some options may get ruled out quickly due to price, maybe something expensive is loved by them, you don't know, but it is up to good companies to have to earn trust from their clients in order to deliver them their dream kitchens. When they know something is more money for a reason, and they like the reasons, they will gladly pay for it and be thrilled they did when it is done, just like you and I will when we buy stuff.

Just show her all her options, have her pick 3 and price them al out. This is what I do, generally, it is 1 for sure, and when it is 2 or 3, if there is a significant price difference and they are happy either way they go cheaper, but if I had a dollar for everytime someone on a budget that didn't want to spend money got the more expensive stone because they knew it would end up being better.................................

[Dan Dauchess]

Of course customers feel like they are going to be fleeced by a contractor, I would too. The fabricator that is a quality and service guy will have to earn the clients trust that they are getting a value.

EXACTLY!!!

Develop a reputation for giving the customers what they expect while at the same time educating them about what to reasonably expect are two key components to a successful contract. Develop both and you can charge more than the next shop because you add value to the proposition.

[CustomMarbleGranite]

I agree with Joe Little, Anna and Nick!