To train or not to train that is the question?

K and B News

To train or not to train a double edged sword.

There is a lot of debate at the moment between the KBB media, retailers and various organisations that offer KBB back up and training as to whether or not KBB planners and designers should have qualifications and or training to be able to offer advice to prospective customers in our industry.

Any current and past professional retailers, designers and planners should really be saying that yes without a doubt all people offering advice to potential customers that are thinking of having a kitchen, bedroom or bathrooms installed in their homes should have some sort of standardised training and ongoing support to deal with the legal implications in designing such projects, after all the kitchen and bathroom are the most dangerous rooms in the house and failure on the part of the planner / designer to offer correct advice can have serious health and safety implications and can also mean customer not getting the correct ergonomic design for to suit their needs.

There is a but in all this; it’s the double edged sword scenario. I would imagine that most independent retailers that have studios situated close to a multiple or DIY KBB retailer will have mixed feelings about such a move to professional training for all in the industry.

I for one am situated only a stones throw away from a DIY shed, a multiple and a supermarket who sell kitchens and several other independent kitchen specialists who are also within walking distance from my studio.

The vast majority of my clients are from recommendations, they have chosen to come to me because of the professional advice, service and honesty that we gave their friends and family, we know this because we won Merseyside trader of the year in 2010 as voted by our customers.

Of course the design side of the project is completely different to the planning side because ‘Design’ is one person’s perception of how something should look but planning should be a firm fixed no room for manoeuvre stance that we all should be following.

But if all the retailers close to me had the same professional training then the only difference between me and them is the ‘Design’ and the service which I am sure at some point these companies will catch on that this is also a very important area that needs addressing. So with regards to potential sales ,where will this leave the multitude of independent KBB retailers who have the knowledge, advice, service and design skills that our near neighbours don’t have, possibly out of business because we pick up the pieces and then thrive on the mistakes of others.

For me every time somebody walks through my doors telling me they have also been to such and such across the road, I mentally rub my hands with glee because I know that the majority of the time I will be taking the sale from my so called competitors.

 I am sure that lots of independents will now if not already be thinking the same. So as much as I do not want ‘so and so’ kitchen company having all the training that they should really have I am also an advocate that people in this industry should know what they are doing before being able to offer advice to potential customers who want to purchase these important products for the homes. I think the only true way forward to combat the ‘fly by nights, charlatans and generally untrained’’ is to have government legislation which states that any person who undertakes to plan or design a KBB project should have some sort of professional training in basic safety and planning skills, you cannot open a café/ restaurant or prepare food for the general public without having a basic food hygiene certificate. There are lots of companies out there offering KBB planning / design courses but there is no stomach for such a move at government level because it will open a huge can of worms.

Russell