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Editorial
Making the Effort
They say, “Opportunity
knocks,” but sometimes it walks right into your showroom and
doesn’t make a sound. You might not even notice it unless you
made an effort to find it.
Selling motorized window treatments is a good example of what we’re
talking about. A survey among our readers—admittedly unscientific—shows
chances are better than even that customers are interested in motorized
options for their window treatments (see page 48). Exactly half
of our respondents say the consumer interest level in motorization
is “Average,” with the other half evenly split between
“High” and “Low.” Those actually are pretty
good odds. You could take those odds to Vegas and have yourself
a good time!
Your target, then, becomes those customers with an average interest
in motorized treatments. They might be interested in motors—maybe
not. If not, why not? Is it a lack of product knowledge? Do they
think the treatments they are interested in can’t be motorized?
Do they not see the benefits of adding motors—and not just
to hard-to-reach-windows, but to any window in any room of the house?
Do they balk at the idea of needing an electrician to rewire their
homes or add more outlets? Is it price? As the retailer or interior
decorator you need to know what is keeping a consumer with an average
interest in motorized options from going all the way. To learn that
you need to make the effort to ask. You need to make the sale, because
there is a catch.
The catch is the majority of respondents indicated that only about
one in four customers will actually express an interest in motorized
options. In other words, most customers are not going to walk right
up to you and ask about motorizing their treatments. You have to
broach the subject and follow through. You might be pleasantly surprised
with the result. The odds are in your favor.
For every motorized option you do sell there are one or two other
customers walking out of your business, perfectly happy with their
new window treatments, but leaving an opportunity on the table.
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