Why are there so many 'limited time kitchen offers'?

Have you ever heard the saying, "That's too good to be true"? Many people associate it with adverts that they see in newspapers.

You can just picture it now...

Unfortunately that can generally be translated as meaning "This kitchen offer might finish at the weekend ¨C but on the other hand, it probably won¡¯t!¡±

In the kitchen industry limited offers come and limited kitchen offers come again. So what purpose do these offers actually serve?

Firstly, it encourages you to ring up and enquire about the offer. A company would generally call this ¡®lead generation¡¯. This process can take effect in various guises. You might have seen a website with this ¡®limited offer¡¯. A ¡®demonstrator¡¯ may have approached you whilst standing with a display in a supermarket. You might have seen the ¡®special offer¡¯ in a newspaper advert. Either way, because you have either phoned up to enquire or simply left your contact details on a form, you¡¯re now a very valuable commodity.

The second part of this pre-determined process involves somebody giving you a phone call back. The sole purpose of this conversation is to persuade you to book an appointment with a designer in your own home - offering you a free visit and a free set of kitchen plans.

Whether you only enquired to consider kitchen layout ideas for the future, or you want one fitted over the next few weeks, you¡¯re treated the same way ¨C getting you to book that meeting with the ¡®designer¡¯ for your kitchen planning is the only thing that matters.

However, once you agree to a designer visiting you for your 'free kitchen plan', a whole new script ¡®kicks into action¡¯. This is likely to happen as soon as you agree to the appointment. The company generally refers to this script as ¡®appointment confirmation¡¯.

The purpose of appointment confirmation is to ensure that the designer has a chance to both plan and sell you the design at the same time.

During appointment conformation you will be asked the following scripted questions:
1. Are you the owner of the property?
2. Do you have any future building work plans?
3. Is Mr XXXX going to be there as well?
4. Are you both available for 2 > 2½ hours?

So why do companies concerned want to know this information?

Only the property owner can make a decision ¡®on the night¡¯. Building work can also be an issue as if a proposed room amendment isn¡¯t confirmed, then that also of course means that any kitchen layout can¡¯t be finalised. The one question that tends to cause more fury than any other is number three.

Quite often, Mrs would like to consider the kitchen renovation without Mr being present. However, if the company insists upon only sending a designer out when there is a reasonable opportunity of a sale, then they won¡¯t go there is only one decision maker.

Most of the time, even if a they visit what is called a ¡®single leg¡¯ in the business, they will make an excuse and leave, probably going to another appointment with a better chance of a sale on the same night. Finally, a designer will only visit an appointment that is willing to spare a minimum of two hours to let them to go through the whole ¡®selling cycle¡¯. This enhances the sale opportunity. The selling cycle is explained in Secret 3.

Apart from encouraging you to ring up and enquire and to book the appointment, the ¡®limited kitchen offer¡¯ has one more reason behind it - it encourages you to make the decision to buy. Just imagine¡­ you¡¯ve had a kitchen planned that you¡¯re very happy with - you want the cabinets and appliances - you like the designer, but you¡¯d like a few days just to think about it. What would you do if the designer tells you that there are only five ovens left in the ¡®limited offer¡¯ and he can¡¯t guarantee you one of the appliances if you want to wait? Is the offer fiction in order for you to make a decision there and then? You decide.

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