Your Hardware Tip – Sliding doors could increase your sales…

You go into a client’s home and they walk you into their bedroom to show you their closet… How many times have they opened the sliding door and it sounded like a garbage truck was driving by?

Now your client has newly organized closets behind these old noisy sliding doors… how long before they change them?  Will they call you?  Or another company that advertises sliding doors?

The majority of my customers will not install sliding doors and I’m not sure why… It’s easier to increase your sales with an existing client than get a new one, and yet most of my customers don’t offer doors.

In these times when everyone is fighting for jobs and there doesn’t seem to be a bottom, doesn’t it make sense to provide your client with a service – like getting rid of those old noisy doors?

There are many varieties of sliding door hardware on the market.  From bi-passing doors to room dividers your local distributor should have hardware suitable for your needs.  You will need to provide them with the material of your door, the door thickness and the application.

If you would like more information about sliding doors or any other hardware please contact me at richdemarco@optonline.net.

Your Hardware Tip – Locking stressing you out – Part II?

If you follow my blog than you know that I have already addressed drawer locks…  I hope the push locks are working out for you…

Today I wanted to write about locking doors, which is another hot button for many of my customers.  Sure locking a single door is simple, drill a ¾” hole for your lock and surface mount a catch on the vertical.  I know it’s not rocket science…

What happens when you have two 12” wide doors in a 24” section and your client wants a lock?  Do you use two locks?  Using two locks will work fine, however I suggest using one lock and an elbow catch…

After an elbow catch is mounted to the back of one of the doors, it can’t be opened unless the catch is released.   You than mount your lock on the opposite door and have it lock on the first door.  Think of the way French doors operate.

This should be an easier installation and the finished product will look better…

If you would like more information about locking doors or drawers please contact me at richdemarco@optonline.net.

Should I go to the show?

With the closet expo a month away the question that I keep getting asked is “Should I go to the show?”  My answer to that is always the same – Why wouldn’t you go?

I know that not everyone has the time, or the funds.  It’s funny because I have heard people say “I’m too slow to go to the show and cash flow stinks.”  I have also heard “I am too busy to be away from my company for 3 or 4 days.”   So the guy that is slow can’t attend and neither can the guy who is too busy.  Makes you wonder who can attend…

The bottom line is there will never be enough time or money.  You have to make the time and set aside the money.  I know in 2007 the money might have been a little easier to come by, but maybe if you attend the show you can learn how to manage your time a little better.  Maybe you could learn how to work on your business and not in your business.  Maybe you can find out why some customers are profitable in these times and others are still struggling…

Every year baseball players go thru spring training to get ready for their season.  Why not consider the closet-expo our spring training?

The expo is what you make of it, three years ago while at the bar I introduced a Yankee fan and a Redsox fan.  These two guys hit it off; at first they used each other as an industry resource.  This led to a few golf outings and now these guys are really good friends that speak a couple of times a week.

As an exhibitor I like to think that all of the time I am putting into my booth is the reason why you should attend.   The reality is the relationships you make are what make it worth attending…

The best part about these new relationships is that they won’t end when the conference is over…

Brass Making a Comeback?

Is brass making a come back?

Say it ain’t so… Has anyone else seen an uptick in the sale of brass hardware?  In the last two weeks I have sold more brass closet rods than I have sold in the past 3 months.  What is sparking this new found interest?  Do the Kardashians have brass in their closet?  Are people clearing out their inventory and giving away those brass baskets that they have had for years?  Does anybody have an answer?

About a year ago I was shopping for a new watch for my wife and I noticed that many of the watches were two toned – gold and silver.  I have also noticed women starting to wear gold jewelry again.  I think this is the first sign of the trends starting to change.

Is everyone tired of oil rubbed bronze already? What about brushed nickel?

What’s going on in your market?

The Soft Close Movement

This soft close movement has started; I have sold more soft close slides in the first quarter than I have sold all last year.  The end-user is demanding that their closets look and feel like their kitchens.  With the consumer being more informed and expecting more bang for their buck, don’t you think that you should offer these slides and hinges?  I have a handful of customers offering soft close under mounts as their only slide.  Of course they are catering to a high-end client, and yes they are more expensive, but price is not everything.  People buying our closets are the same people who need to have the latest and greatest from Apple.  They wait ridiculously long lines to buy it now, when they could wait 6 months for the price to drop.  These are the same customers that payed to cancel their current cell phone plans, and purchase the new IPhone on Verizon.  Why? Because they saw the value of having an IPhone on that network – the price never came up. 

You can continue to fight the soft close movement or you can pick up your surf board and ride the wave to the bank.  Wouldn’t it be nice to charge an extra $30 for every drawer that you install?  What does that do for your numbers at the end of the year? 

Please consider me a resource and reach out to me if I can help you or your organization… richdemarco@optonline.net