Hung up on technical detail

I don't think people do get hung up too much on technical detail, otherwise they would not be buying lots and lots of kitchens from Hombase, Ikea, some B&Q, Howdens and possibly Moben among others. I think the only thing people get hung up on is ridgid or flat pack. We tell our customers that the only difference between flat pack and rigid built is where it is built unless you are buying a Smallbone or similar.

We always point out the higher spec of our cabs, range and size availability of the cabinets compared to our competitors, but to be honest the majority either did not realise there was so much involved or they are not bothered.

I totally agree with Majji (twitter) that the design is the important thing, only real experience and the true understanding of how a kitchen works will make a real difference whether or not somebody buys from you, even then it is difficult because you are just having your brains picked then they will go and buy the cheaper less tech spec version from one of the you know who's. The only way to combat this is to design something your competitors can't.

Thanks
Russell

A poem for our bereavment

When our friends and family pass away

The sun still shines, we look up and pray

When we stop and want them near

The rain still falls like a tear

We stare in the mirror and we see our pain

The grass still grows we wish in vain

We think of happy times that have passed

The wind still blows and the clouds move fast

People ask us are we fine

But there is no stopping of the time

When we awake, for one brief moment

we realise that your not there

It seems that the world does not care

But through all the grief we must move on

And believe one day we will be one.

Short memories

People have very short memories, maybe we are all related to goldfish and not primates.

It has only been a couple of weeks since Which? published a report  on the state of the kitchen industry with big problems reported at the major suppliers.

This week, goundhog day arrived when the usual suspects bombarded us on TV adverts with their massive sales discounts.

I am sure that there will be a steady queue of people at these stores over Easter waiting to receive poor service and sometimes poor quality goods at a price they thought was a bargain. Unfortunately people will never learn unless they shop around and make their choice on the advice received and have done their homework, taken references and seen through the salesperson talk.

Thanks
Russell

A funny one "Where am I"

Here's a funny story that just goes to show how some customers do not know which shop they are in when buying things.

I worked at B&Q Wallasey in the early nineties, I was sitting at my desk planning a kitchen when I noticed a very angry looking man and woman with a bundle of paperwork in his hands walking across the store heading towards me. He arrived with a bang and slammed down the paperwork on my desk and then he started a tirade of verbal abuse of how he would never buy anything from us again and he is going to tell everybody how rubbish we are, and demanding our head offices phone number. After he had stopped shouting at me I picked up his paperwork and opened the invoice and took a look at it, I then asked him if he knew where he was, he started shouting at me again then I stopped him in his tracks by totally agreeing with him that the service he received was abysmal and if I was him I would not buy anything from the company again and I would definitely be on to head office, he looked stunned as I continued that he should also go over to MFI across the road where he bought the kitchen from and shout the abuse at them that he had just shouted at me.

Thanks
Russell.

Another funny one.

I had just opened our studio in Bromborough in May 2007, spent a fortune looks stunning and it was quite obvious what we are about, on the third day of being open a little old lady came in and sat on one of our stools at a breakfast bar, I approached her and asked if she was ok, She then asked me for a coffee and two slices of toast.

Thanks
Russell

Orangutan Sancuturies.

Sorry this is not about kitchens but something close to my heart, Orangutans and the destruction of their natural habitat.

A customer that had recently purchased a kitchen from us, popped into our studio today just to say hello, as most of our previous customers do. To cut a long story short he told us he had just come back from Borneo where they stayed at hotel virtually attached to one of the sanctuaries, during our chat he told me that the locals and the sanctuary rangers had told him that other local residents had sold their land which was part of the rain forest area to a Chinese business man for what would be an absolute fortune to them, he subsequently flattened the land and planted a rubber plantation and a palm oil plantation on them which netted him a fortune, because he made these plantations it destroyed the natural habitat of some of the Orangutans, they were then pushed out, when the alpha male came back to what was once his and his families home they shot him. This then left the Orangutan family without their provider, it then meant his family had been rescued and put into one of the sanctuaries.

One of the main sanctuaries in the area is funded by guess who? The Chinese businessman that had caused the issue in the first place. You can ask why he would do this? Did he have a feeling of remorse and needed to redress the balance in some way? Of course not, he is now seen as a local hero for funding a sanctuary to help the homeless Orangutans that he made homeless. The reason he has funded the sanctuary is tourism, he has seen another pot of gold in the people who want to see these rescued creatures and he willingly plays on the heart strings of human beings. People now pay thousands of pounds to visit the area and stay in hotels that charge a small fortune, all the time lining the pockets of the unscrupulous businessmen. If the people who pay a fortune to go on holiday to these places really thought hard about the Orangutans plight then instead of spending thousands on a holiday they could donate the money to help fight the causes of the deforestation.

Big international businesses play a huge roll in buying palm oil from the companies that destroy the rain forests when in actual fact man made palm oil is available and is less expensive than the real stuff. Next time you purchase products from a supermarket or anywhere really look at the ingredients, most of them use palm oil, our thirst for wanting things never diminishes so we turn a blind eye and pretend it is not going on. So next time you eat a chocolate bar look at the ingredients you will be surprised at how many Orangutans you are making homeless.

Thanks
Russell. (I am not a Greenpeace activist or any other kind of activist)

Buying a new laptop a true customer experience

Just thought I would let you know about a recent shopping experience when I went to purchase a new laptop.

It was a mystery shopping experience with a difference where the only mystery was the poor service and training from the staff.

I wanted to buy a new laptop, did my homework before hand so I knew what to look for when I got to my shopping destination so as not to be baffled with salesman talk when I got there.

Firstly went to PC World at Rock Retail Park in Birkenhead, I looked around every laptop spec trying to find what I had researched, I was there at least twenty minutes, and had gone back to the same laptop several times to compare to other laptops, the one I found was a Dell at £399. I stood around and looked for a member of staff I even stood on tiptoes and stretched my neck but to no avail so I decided to leave, as i was leaving there were five members of staff at the till talking and laughing, when I walked through the checkout no one member acknowledged me or asked if they could help, result -0 out of 10.

So I went off to the Croft retail park In Bromborough firstly went to Tesco Home to see if they had what I was looking for but I will come back to them as this is a whole new experience, I quickly ran up to Comet and did not see anything I wanted although I was in there for five mins and nobody approached me, they are normally good in that store result slightly better no minus I gave them 0 out of 10. I then went up to Currys which is about to move up five units to a mega mega store so they did not have much on display but I did see the laptop I saw in PC world (part of the same group of companies) for a £100 pound more at £499, I double checked my info that I had written down and yes it was the same laptop only a £100 dearer (Dell N5010).  result another minus this time --0 out of 10 for trying to rip people off, I left Currys and went back to Tesco as I had seen one there and I could also get clubcard points.

The Tesco experience was well how can I put it very shabby. They had the wrong info card on the laptop I was looking at although the correct price, I then enquired about the Sony VAIO next one along, it was a £100 pound dearer than the Dell but I could get an extra 2000 clubcard points he confirmed when I asked him about it, so I bought the Sony, I did not get my extra point because I later found out that I had to buy it from Tesco Direct although their POS did not state this and the duty manager confirmed this also, I was not offered any extra warranty either, an important add on sale especially these days when any sale is hard to come by. I found the staff un-knowledgeable about their products and services result 2 out of 10 because I did get some clubcard points and they had it in stock.

Maybe I am a pick shopper because I expect a certain level of service when I do shop for larger items because I would give good service in my shop I don't think in the age of austerity shops could afford not to give good service.

Thanks

Russell

It's official kitchen independents are the best

I have just read this weeks KBB news update regarding the WHICH? report finding that kitchen independents are the best to buy from, thanks to Graham for publishing these findings.

None of the findings in the report come as any surprise to me and probably many many others.

The fact that some retailers declined to offer their assistance for the report is indicative of the major players attitude not only to their most important customers but to the industry as a whole, this is another reason why an individual kitchen industry body would not work.

My opinion on the retailers who did fail to assist is this: Firstly the company that tells us to "To ask your M***N designer", they claim to be a bespoke service, this is factually untrue you only have to look up the definition of the word 'Bespoke' and this will tell you what it really means, I think what they really meant to say was they did not want to reveal their prices knowing they would be published in the Which? magazine and then the "unsuspecting" public will find out their true worth. It is well known that you get one of their 'designers' round to your house and they sit for several hours trying to persuade you to buy their kitchen at the most ridiculous price they could come up with, then when you say no to that price they phone their boss and hey presto the price comes down a bit, you say no again and the price comes down again thus the 'designer'
only gets their expenses and call out fee paid, I know this is true because an ex colleague of mine worked for them, so no wonder they did not want to tell us their prices because they did not know which one to show us, the sky high one or the one they hope not to sell at.

One of the other companies who did not assist was the joinery company that only deals with the trade, again the price list they have is a magic price list that reveals only the true price once the tradesperson has negotiated a discount from them, they also say they only sell to the trade again I know this is not strictly true because I have had retail customers who have been their and purchased a kitchen from them. Also what happens when an unsuspecting member of the public has their tradesperson buy a kitchen for them the tradesperson gets after negotiation  the full 70% discount and a lot of the time tells the customer "I got you a massive 50% discount" thus keeping the difference and then also charging the customer to fit it as well. As with the first company I know this to be true because one of my ex colleagues was a manager at one of their stores and he told me what happens because he wanted me to open an account with them.

The third company that declined to assist was the company who says 'It has got our name on it'. Currently this company is probably the most transparent of the three but probably did not want to assist because they are out of sale period and their kitchens are selling at full price, although they did say they where having 'imminent range changes', this makes no difference to the prices that are available today but at least they do sell them at full price before they put them back on sale again, even then their sale prices can be quite pricey,
How do I know this well I worked for them for several years and they have had two large price increases on the before sale prices in the past 6 months.

So to summarise the general public are being led down a blind alley in the dark with no torch or guide and from what the report says they will continue to do so because potential customers still go to the major players first, this is because they either think they are getting a bargain or they think that because these companies are big that they will be safe with the bigger company, all's that I can say to that is MFI

Thanks

Russell