One of the most important parts of the sales process is the home measure or site survey.
Here are a few things I have learned over the years to hopefully help you with your own visit.
Preparation
OK, firstly, don’t forget the tools you need. There is nothing worse than asking the customer to borrow a tape measure, a pen, or some paper. Make sure you have supplies of all the stationery you need.
I always used to carry a second measuring tape too. I found that if I had an over enthusiastic child or “helper” on site, I could give them the second tape measure and ask them to go and measure something else in the house. I always found that including them on the measure also worked in my favour with the client.
Also, you may be visiting a site where the room still might not be complete, so don’t forget to carry a hi-vis vest, hard hat and steel toe cap shoes with you. Not having the correct PPE may bar you entry from the site. Shoe covers may also be needed unless you are willing to take your shoes off in the customer's house.
The day before I would always contact the customer to confirm the day and time of the visit. This was an opportunity for the customer to let me know if anything had come up rather than me finding out on the day. A short WhatsApp message is a great tool to say “Hi, looking forward to the visit tomorrow.” I would also follow that up with another message on the day of the measure to confirm.
Technology has also afforded some extra support. I would check the address on Google Street View to see where I was going to save driving up and down the street, trying to find the right house. Those of us who measured kitchens in the 1990’s know very well the difficulty of trying to find an unmarked house on a dark street, at night with just an A-Z at your disposal.
Finally, I would put the address into the Sat Nav nice and early so that if there were any delays then I could leave with plenty of time to spare. If you don’t know the area that well, there may be roadworks, closures, or the local half marathon running past their door. There may have also been an accident or something unforeseen that may make you late.
I would also make sure I was carrying extra brochures and business cards in the car. Often a home visit would take me down a road I didn’t normally go down and I would sometimes come across a site that I wasn’t aware of. Dropping in some material might prove to be a good lead for the future.
The Site Survey
Again, using technology, take as many pictures and videos as possible. There is no worse feeling than having to make a call to a customer to confirm something that you have missed on your visit.
Everybody now has the ability to document every part of the site. Things I would capture include the view from the kitchen window for use in the CAD picture, and also any artwork the customer may have on their walls. It’s always a nice touch to replicate that onto the images.
Also, get images of all electricity circuit boards and utility meters. Not only will this help the installer with some background information before they visit, but it will also act as a reminder to find out where they are to make sure they aren’t tucked away in a cupboard that you haven’t seen.
When measuring, always take the dimensions from the top, middle and bottom of the walls. In older (and some newer !) houses, the walls can run out so it’s always important to make sure you have as accurate measurements as possible.
Also, double check your measurements. Is the wall you are measuring the same length as the opposite wall? It’s a very quick and easy double check that you can do on site. It’s not great when you are sitting back in the showroom and discover you have mis-measured one of the walls.
And the big question !!! Should you accept a drink in the house? My personal view is that I would, even if it’s a glass of water. Unless the kitchen looks unhygienic, I would always have some sort of drink. I learned early on not to make assumptions. Some of the nicest coffees I have had have been in chipped builders mugs on a site, and some of the most disgusting coffees I have had have been in china cups in a mansion.
Get the customers permission, but open EVERY cupboard in the kitchen. You are looking for obstructions, meters and other planning considerations, but you are also looking to see how the customer uses their kitchen. If there are porridge oats, gravy granules, noodles etc, I will be talking to the customer about a boiling hot water tap. If there are a lot of air fryers, slow cookers, juicers etc, I would be talking to the customer about storage solutions for those.
Also, consider everything and anything within the space. Where does the door lead to? If one of the doors leads to the large back garden, and the customers are grandparents with lots of grandchildren, that door will be busy in the summer and you don’t want to put the fridge with the cold drinks in the other side of the hob so children rushing back and forth past people who are cooking. You need that fridge as close as possible to that door.
One last little hack that I used to do was to see if there was a cat or dog walking around. When it came time for the presentation, I would always have a view printed from the pets perspective. It was always a nice touch and it was a bit of fun, but again weighed in my favour come decision time.
Finally
ALWAYS tell the customer what the next steps are.
How long it will take to get the plan together, when they will hear from you next and put a date in the diary for them to visit the showroom to see what you have done. (If this hasn’t already been done at the point of booking the survey). If you have done the survey right, you need to strike while the iron is hot, so communicate, communicate, communicate.
Finally, always let the showroom know where you are and that you are safe. I’m shocked at the amount of times I am told a designer is out on a survey but the business owner or manager has no clue where they are or if they are safe. If you haven’t purchased a lone working device or similar, designers should always communicate their movements with the showroom. Especially in the evening. A short WhatsApp to another member of staff saying, I’ve just left, or I’m home now is the bare minimum we should be doing for the welfare of our staff.
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