When it comes to selling windows and doors to the homeowner, I like to think most of us know the USPs of our products and the best way to sell them. Design and aesthetics is one of the key selling points now. We want to give customers something to get excited about. Some of us on the other hand believe that a window and door is just a window and door. Nothing to get excited about. Not a glamorous product. It’s just there and every house needs them. That is a very negative way to go about selling the industry’s wares and what has contributed to a generally dowdy and negative view of our industry in this country.
Life changing products
A lot of you won’t believe me or give me credit when I say this, but some of the products we sell in this industry genuinely affect people’s lives. Hopefully for the better of course!
Lets think about doors. Lets say we have a young family moving into their first home and security is key. This house might have really shoddy doors installed. It’s an old fashioned door panel. Standard old handles. Minimal locking mechanism. Standard cylinder that could be snapped in seconds. You see the image I’m painting. A new set of high quality high security doors will be important to these people. These new doors will give this family peace of mind know the security of new doors will keep their family safe.
Another example would be a couple with an old fashioned conservatory. A polycarbonate roof that gets too hot, too cold, mega glare and is generally an unpleasant place to be. Of course when they had it built originally it was built to give them an extra space to expand into. A space to relax and unwind. A place they could enjoy as part of the structure of their home. It would have cost a fair amount of money at the time, and so would feel strongly about it.
Now imagine a company comes in, swaps the polycarbonate roof with a really nice glass roof with superb solar control glass panels. They change the window frames to update them with the best designs and energy efficiency measures. Lets say they put a couple of solid walls in either side to make it feel more like an extension. Suddenly their tired, disappointing conservatory is more like a proper extension and once again gives them a room they can use throughout their daily lives at home.
Problem solving
Do you see where I’m going with this? We’re not just selling products to people because they look good, but because these products solve a genuine problem. And that perhaps is a selling point that we may not be using as much as we should.
Once customers understand that new windows and doors, or a new conservatory etc will actually rectify an issue they’re not currently happy with, they establish an emotional connection with the product. And at that point, you have their full attention and can build up the aspiration and excitement from there.
Windows and doors are not just windows and doors. They form a necessary part of everyone’s lives in everyone’s home. Surely that is something we can all get passionate about?
