Struggling to generate work for kitchen supply/fit business

[Liam-a]

Hi all,
I've posted on here before regarding how to generate new leads for work.

I have a kitchen & bedroom supply and fit business. I've worked in the industry for 15 years both selling and fitting, For the past few months ive decided to go it alone and secured around 8 jobs 4 of which ive supplied the others fit only.

For advertising i have a facebook page, an advert in a local magazine (zero calls from this) and ive just started sending letters to people who have just bought houses and people who have planning permisson.

Ideally i need one job a week which im struggling to get at the minute. One job a week is only 4 a month this should'nt be hard to get.

I've also been considering opening a showroom but this is a great expense would a showroom make a massive difference ?? Currently im selling kitchens from a sample unit and out of brochures.

Any help much appreciated,

Liam

 

[estwig]

Really need to focus on those letters to people who have planning permission, you know for sure they will be buying a kitchen from someone. Get a copywriter involved, use decent paper and a good logo, have a website to back it up, send a second follow-up letter after a couple of weeks.

This is your quietest time of year, summer always is, November it will pick up, get busier in December, go dead flat for two weeks over Christmas, then go bonkers in January through to April, with the peak in 2-3 week of February when all the home exhibition shows are on. Gear up your marketing for February.

 

[Liam-a]

Thanks for replying, I’ve seen your comments regarding these letters that’s why I’ve started doing them.
What would you put in the follow up letter ?

In the first letter I explain who I am and what I do etc.

Cheers

 

[estwig]

In the first letter I explain who I am and what I do etc.
Cheers

That's terrible, you need a copywriter to do this for you.

Ask a sensible question about marketing letters and tips on writing one in the marketing section on here, see if any of the copywriters answer, you might find someone good.

 

[Liam-a]

Will do

Thankyou

 

[fisicx]

For advertising i have a facebook page, an advert in a local magazine (zero calls from this) and ive just started sending letters to people who have just bought houses and people who have planning permisson.

Do people look on facebook if they need a new kitchen? Same with the local magazines.

Are you listed on Checkatrade? Does your website show on Google maps (for local searches)? Do you have your name painted on the side of the van? Does your website have lots of great images and testimonials? Are you offering referral fees? When you do the install do you leave business cards? Do you get involved in local support forums and websites? Are you known as the local goto guy for help?

We needed someone last year. We were out having a meal and after chatting did a quick Google, found a fitter with a decent reputation, made a call and he was round the next day to give us a quote. That where you need to be.

 

[ecommerce84]

Does your local area have a Facebook group? Our local one has 20k members and people asking for local kitchen fitters pops up 3 or 4 times a week - you need to make sure your getting mentioned if the same thing happened locally to you.

I would either find a kitchen installer by recommendations or googling, and I always do research - people with few or no reviews are less likely to receive my custom than those with plenty. Try and encourage your customers to leave reviews on your Google, Facebook, Trusted Traders or Checkatrade pages etc.

Building up a business from scratch takes time, so don’t get to disheartened yet. As mentioned above the new year is the most popular time for DIY and renovation projects so make sure you are ready to capitalise.

 

[justinaldridge]

We have a few clients in this industry and January is definitely their busiest month for traffic and leads. Looking at their analytics, October seems to be a busy month too. December the worst, for obvious reasons.

In terms of a showroom...I would say don't do it! One of our clients has recently opened a showroom but it's been a phenomenal expense and stress.

@fisicx gives some great tips in his post. Feature jobs you've done on your website, show off what you can do, it's really important. Get some reviews. Make sure you add your business to Google My Business for local searches too!

And make sure your website encourages users to get in touch with you. People tend to do a bit of research first so sometimes you have to be quite direct with the messaging to encourage people to contact you.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Adwords, Adwords, Adwords.

One of the best suited service types for Adwords is localised, higher-value work. Bid competition is considerably less compared to national campaigns, and with each job being worth so much, you can afford to pay more per lead.

Organic Google rankings are obviously the best of all, as you can get a similar amount of traffic without paying per click, but with Adwords, you can get at the top of the rankings for terms such as "kitchen supply and fit in [yourtown]" in a matter of days - not weeks or months.

It's not a magic solution, of course. Others will be doing the same thing, so you need a good website that persuades prospects to choose you instead of your competitors.

Just remember that instead of vaguely trying to reach out to people who might want a kitchen, you need to get in front of prospects that have already decided they want one and are now actively searching for a company to do it. More often than not, this involves two methods:

1). A Google search
2). Asking around for recommendations

Leverage the first method, do a good job, and you'll benefit from the second method over time as well.

 

[MBE2017]

If the magazine advert is not producing any leads drop it and transfer the money into other marketing, such as adwords or even leaflets.

I think a showroom is a brave idea at the moment, but you could consider a small set in a shopping centre, large shows etc to generate leads. You could also have a competition for winning a free kitchen to a certain value, which would allow you to work all the leads, winner to be announced after a year etc.

 

[Jack Elever]

Really need to focus on those letters to people who have planning permission, you know for sure they will be buying a kitchen from someone. Get a copywriter involved, use decent paper and a good logo, have a website to back it up, send a second follow-up letter after a couple of weeks.

This is your quietest time of year, summer always is, November it will pick up, get busier in December, go dead flat for two weeks over Christmas, then go bonkers in January through to April, with the peak in 2-3 week of February when all the home exhibition shows are on. Gear up your marketing for February.

This really is the most useful advice you could get.

 

[Blaby Loyal]

When we want something doing to the house that I can't do then we ask family, friends etc. first for recommendations, failing that then it's a look in the local "ad-mags".

Anyone we like the look of from the ad-mags is checked on for reviews etc.

 

[Socio South West]

Does your local area have a Facebook group? Our local one has 20k members and people asking for local kitchen fitters pops up 3 or 4 times a week - you need to make sure your getting mentioned if the same thing happened locally to you.

+1 for Local Facebook groups - I was getting silly quotes for a small extension from local building companies, and posted on our village FB group asking for recommendations for a small practical and reliable builder.... five people endorsed the same name, and the guy himself expressed interest on the post.... result - job done for about 65% of the other prices, and within eight weeks of my initial post and by all accounts well done too. Lots of other requests for recommendations on local groups as well.

+1 for Adwords as well.... A number of people will search 'Kitchen fitter <insert town or county>' Adwords were made for trades like yours: There are usually some freebies going to try it: Ask 50 people what they would search to work out what will bring best results.

And following on from that.... a good, clean simple website for people to go to and contact you from.... but please please please make sure the contact emails reach you and answer the b***** phone even if its an unfamiliar number!

 

[Rose Business Support]

What about contacting site managers and some of the big builders. They have whole sites with houses requiring kitchen fits.

 

[Socio South West]

What about contacting site managers and some of the big builders. They have whole sites with houses requiring kitchen fits.

They also demand Construction Industry standard extended payment terms, discounts, strict site conditions and deadlines which a small kitchen fitter working on his own or in a small team is going to struggle to comply with. Avoid would be my advice.

 

[Ashley_Price]

I have a kitchen & bedroom supply and fit business. I've worked in the industry for 15 years both selling and fitting,

Where you were working before, how were they getting new business? Study what they did and see if you can replicate it.

 

[Liam-a]

Thanks for all the reply’s it’s much appreciated.

My town doesn’t have a Facebook page but there’s a good dozen if not more of ‘for sale’ pages so I post regularly in them.

I’m on checkatrade, (have excellent reviews on there)

I’ve just started an AdWords campaign last week the only calls I’ve had so far are from people trying to sell me stuff.

I don’t have a website as of yet I’m just relying on the Facebook page, but I do need one making if people can recommend anyone that would be great.

I’m just in the process of getting my van sign written, we’re just getting the design right, regarding this is it a good way of advertising do people actually ring/take note of the van?

After every job I do I leave them with business cards and ask them to leave me reviews. I’ve also just started doing a job completion form where they can leave comments.

To be honest with you I’m new to all the advertising, websites etc So need all the help I can get.

Thankyou

 

[justinaldridge]

The quickest and easiest way to get a website up and running is to use the Google My Business Website feature. It's free apart from buying the domain name, which is really cheap anyway.

Do as I mentioned above and add your business to Google at https://business.google.com

Then you will see an option to create a new website (for free) and you can also buy a domain through Google at the same time (small cost). It's very simple and fast.

See more info here:

https://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/business/how-it-works/website/

This is just a basic site but it's a great way to get something up to complement your other marketing activities. You can then plan to build a more in-depth and more expensive website over the coming weeks.

 

[DMollart]

Hey,

Do you have a website? (Edit: Just saw you don't ) A very simple website with a live chat option could work for you. If you had live chat for people to get quotes you have a direct way of engaging with potential clients and are more likely to convert visitors into customers.

Visitors wouldn't just magically find the site though. You would need to setup Google Adwords to pull people in who are actively looking for your services in your area. You only need one or two jobs a week so you don't need a high spend on the ads.

A Facebook page isn't enough, you need to push ads. The organic reach on Facebook can be quite poor so you have to pay to get ahead. Don't waste your money with offline advertising. If I need a service I'm googling it, not looking in a magazine.

Hope this helps you, good luck!

 

[Designanddetail]

Can you get in a local Howdens or similar as a recommended fitter?

What part of the works are you in? In our area you have to wait around 8 weeks to get a good fitter

 

[MBE2017]

I’m just in the process of getting my van sign written, we’re just getting the design right, regarding this is it a good way of advertising do people actually ring/take note of the van?

After every job I do I leave them with business cards and ask them to leave me reviews. I’ve also just started doing a job completion form where they can leave comments.

Thankyou

I would recommend leafleting the houses surrounding the installations you do, never under estimate the desire to keep up with the Joneses effect. Always found van sign writing to be good advertising.

 

[The Byre]

Really need to focus on those letters to people who have planning permission, you know for sure they will be buying a kitchen from someone. Get a copywriter involved, use decent paper and a good logo, have a website to back it up, send a second follow-up letter after a couple of weeks.

This is your quietest time of year, summer always is, November it will pick up, get busier in December, go dead flat for two weeks over Christmas, then go bonkers in January through to April, with the peak in 2-3 week of February when all the home exhibition shows are on. Gear up your marketing for February.

This!

Also have a really sexy brochure enclosed with those letters!

 

[Socio South West]

Do you have a website? (Edit: Just saw you don't ) A very simple website with a live chat option could work for you. If you had live chat for people to get quotes you have a direct way of engaging with potential clients and are more likely to convert visitors into customers.

Live chat is great.... but its not fast, and needs someone to man it: There is nothing more frustrating than initiating a chat to either get a flat reply from a Bot or even worse, nothing at all.
A small kitchen fitter isn't likely to have the resources to have it manned for a prompt response, and isn't going to want to down tools to operate the chat, albeit with a potential customer.

IMHO Phone and email contact is the way to go.

 

[tony84]

Have you spoken to kitchen/bedroom shops? I know a bloke who has a kitchen shop and he has a lad who goes and fits the kitchens, he is booked up for months. He has a few other lads who do the odd bit here and there but they are not as reliable.

Have you asked for reviews from your customers on facebook or something? Share them on twitter.

Have you spoken to Mortgage brokers? We often speak to people looking for extra money to do extensions/fit kitchens/bathrooms etc. Personally, I do not recommend people I do not know, if it goes wrong I dont want people moaning at me, but I know a lot of people would recommend anything to anyone for a few quid kick back.

Gumtree
FreeIndex
Other sites where people posts jobs and you bid on them - no idea if they are any good but surely worth a try.

 

[DMollart]

Live chat is great.... but its not fast, and needs someone to man it: There is nothing more frustrating than initiating a chat to either get a flat reply from a Bot or even worse, nothing at all.
A small kitchen fitter isn't likely to have the resources to have it manned for a prompt response, and isn't going to want to down tools to operate the chat, albeit with a potential customer.

IMHO Phone and email contact is the way to go.

You can feed it into your phone with an app now. Manning it isn't a problem, look at crisp.chat (website) - it's great for small businesses. If you're not there it goes to email message, not a bot.

 

[estwig]

You can feed it into your phone with an app now. Manning it isn't a problem, look at crisp.chat (website) - it's great for small businesses. If you're not there it goes to email message, not a bot.

Your missing the point, a tradesman on site doing real work making stuff, can't stop what he is doing to deal with cold enquiries via a messaging service.

 

[Mark T Jones]

You can feed it into your phone with an app now. Manning it isn't a problem, look at crisp.chat (website) - it's great for small businesses. If you're not there it goes to email message, not a bot.

As a happy livechat user, I'd say in this case it really wouldn't work.

Even at my desk I'm often slow to respond due to other things taking over (especially being on the phone) - for a kitchen fitter it would be a disaster

 

[WelshSME]

Regular local leaflet drops work for many trades. It is cheap to get a few thousand leaflets printed (but pay someone to help with design and copy) and on days you are not working, pick a few streets and post leaflets through the door. Try to hit each street about every 2 months. People will mostly bin the leaflet if not looking for a kitchen but if you get onto a doormat at the correct time, you will get a call. Even if you are hitting the same house 6 times a year, you just need to be visible when they decided to update their kitchen. I know several trades that use this approach and it works well for them.

 

[foundlostdogs]

Don't go there with a showroom ! The last thing you need is a long term expensive committment of which you have no guarantee of a payback. Also stop wasting money on local newspapers. Spend your money on-line with increasing your Facebook likes in your local area as well as using Facebook Boost Post and get yourself signed up with checkatrade[dot]com

 

[estwig]

Regular local leaflet drops work for many trades. It is cheap to get a few thousand leaflets printed (but pay someone to help with design and copy) and on days you are not working, pick a few streets and post leaflets through the door. Try to hit each street about every 2 months. People will mostly bin the leaflet if not looking for a kitchen but if you get onto a doormat at the correct time, you will get a call. Even if you are hitting the same house 6 times a year, you just need to be visible when they decided to update their kitchen. I know several trades that use this approach and it works well for them.

A waste of time, there is lowering hanging fruit than this to be grabbed. Scattergun marketing is poo!

 

[The Byre]

A waste of time, there is lowering hanging fruit than this to be grabbed. Scattergun marketing is poo!

This!

All these new-age on-line and local advertising - forget it! As @estwig stated before, get them when they are building. Send a couple of brochures and call them up. They're going to put a kitchen in that house - make sure they realise the YOU fit top quality kitchens!

 

[Awinner2]

The post @justinaldridge re setting up the Google My Business and building a Google website to have an online presence is one venue to take for sure. There are many videos on YT showing the ways to optimise this. One of my mates sons is a kitchen/bathroom fitter and since getting his GMB setup has so much work he cannot take on any more clients until Feb 19.

 

[Liam-a]

He’s booked up until February just with work he’s got from google? How do I make it so my company is the first one that comes up when someone types “kitchens near me” or kitchen fitters near me” etc

Thankyou

 

[Z. Peter Marozas]

Hi Liam,

If you haven't got a website yet, i would highly suggest in getting one done, it can show your work quality, passion, affordability and much more. People whom are looking for your type of services on search engines are simply not seeing you, so here goes your 1 client a week away, facebook ads do work if you build them right. Have you got your full brand done yet, logo, business cards, vehicle signage, etc.. perhaps it's something you can look in to.

 

[Socio South West]

He’s booked up until February just with work he’s got from google? How do I make it so my company is the first one that comes up when someone types “kitchens near me” or kitchen fitters near me” etc

Try not to be totally blinkered about internet advertising... there is still a good section of the population - and most of them with nice disposable income - who rely on old fashioned word of mouth and personal service to find tradesmen like you. I am not saying ignore internet advertising: The enquiries are variable, and you have to pick and choose but it will work for you 24/7.

Adwords will get you a good placing on Google searches, but only as long as you pay for it: A well crafted simple website that is thoughtfully built with respect to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) will do what you need - so your brother's mate from the pub is probably not the best one to have doing your site.
Find a web designer who pays attention to page headings, headings, meta tags etc and doesnt just blindly use a 'search content' for SEO - that will help your search engine rankings as much as anything.... and then you have to get traffic to the s

 

[estwig]

He’s booked up until February just with work he’s got from google? How do I make it so my company is the first one that comes up when someone types “kitchens near me” or kitchen fitters near me” etc

Thankyou

With this: https://www.google.co.uk/business/?...At_hEALw_wcB&dclid=COvq4IO_st0CFVcUGwodRGAFuA

Don't rush into it, do your research, fill it all in correctly, it will take time but do it right and it works shockingly well.

 

[Gingerbreadmen]

Stay away from the showroom idea, rent (maybe tied into a long lease) biz rates, heating etc. all money you could be spending on advertising.

Have you considered diversifying slightly. Lots of people don't have money for a new kitchen. But they may have money to change doors and worktops. These small bits of work may keep you ticking over. I see lots of ads for "give your kitchen a new lease of life / new look". Have you considered offering 3rd party finance? People go to B&Q and get new kitchens on the pay monthly which takes away a major barrier to a new kitchen - having the money for one.

The kitchens you have done, it maybe worth getting professional photos taken to showcase your work to put together a portfolio to show potential clients. You could also use the photos on website / social media / leaflets. Ask previous clients for testimonials and maybe review you on Trustpilot or your FB Page.

Most landlords are always looking for new (cheap) kitchens. Howdens do a landlord pack add the price of fitting and market the fixed price kitchen supplied and fitted for X amount. Most local authorities do selective licensing for landlords. Contact them and ask about accessing the details of those holding a licence.

Good luck!

 

[P19Johnson]

Hi all,
I've posted on here before regarding how to generate new leads for work.

I have a kitchen & bedroom supply and fit business. I've worked in the industry for 15 years both selling and fitting, For the past few months ive decided to go it alone and secured around 8 jobs 4 of which ive supplied the others fit only.

For advertising i have a facebook page, an advert in a local magazine (zero calls from this) and ive just started sending letters to people who have just bought houses and people who have planning permisson.

Ideally i need one job a week which im struggling to get at the minute. One job a week is only 4 a month this should'nt be hard to get.

I've also been considering opening a showroom but this is a great expense would a showroom make a massive difference ?? Currently im selling kitchens from a sample unit and out of brochures.

Any help much appreciated,

Liam

As well as approaching new home owners why not send letters to builders and tradesmen who may choose to convert to you for all their kitchen supply needs.