Opinion
opinion // Chris Leighton Not budging on budget?
Although us Brits are stereotypically coy when discussing money, this is especially true when talking project budgets. Chris Leighton of PHS Bathrooms shares his tips about how to get clients talking your language
F
or many retailers in this industry, establishing a client’s budget can be the trickiest point to manoeuver.
If you straight up ask, you’re typically met with: “we don’t have a budget”. This doesn’t necessarily mean the pot is endless but more simply that the client doesn’t know enough about costings to make a guess. Setting early budget indicators can be the best starting point as you can gauge the customer’s feedback and get some visual confirmation bias. Shower door examples are great: 6mm trade range starting from £300-£400, 8mm premium quality range probably £800-£1200, and 10mm are probably starting at £2000. If a customer promptly replies “I’m not paying £2k for a shower door!”, this may only be a basic indicator, but it certainly helps.
Upselling Even with 20 years’ experience retailing from a
showroom, I’m always met with the same puzzled looks or coy antics from consumers not wanting the salesperson to actually know a budget, for fear of not only hitting it but upselling. At this point in the conversation, we set out what kind of showroom we are, with the services offered. Product associations can certainly help in
this area. The prompted line is usually a quick reference to cars, as we all know brands we like, can afford, or aspire to have. I usually quote “We’re the BMW, Mercedes and
Reverse engineer the solution by asking the client: ‘How much do you NOT want this bathroom to cost?’
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a firm figure to work with. It’s possible we have built the biggest white elephant. At this stage, we can play a little game
of “guess what it costs”. Using a method like this might be a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it gets the clients to divulge the figures they are hoping for or expecting. It’s often comical to see the one family member
Audi of the bathroom world”, especially with our European sanitaryware suppliers. We all know there are basic entry level brands and super prime luxury brands but we feel this gives us an understandable and relatable quality and price point. If the figures are affordable or acceptable then flip the budget question back on its head. We typically indicate that projects range between £12-18k which gives clients a good range to work with, and this also helps the salesperson understand where to specify the product range. When presenting our quotations after going
around the showroom to create the perfect wish list or aspirational design we may still not have
have a rather conservative number – the family accountant – and the other has been paying attention and guesses higher than they would have first admitted, in order to raise the first’s low ball effort. Ultimately, after all is said and done we have
to put the clients first and get the design and specification right; I can’t make someone buy something they don’t like. It will still come down to the total package of
service, availability, solution and price, but the latter is something the industry is renowned for working with. So it’s time to have a little negotiation and see if we can get to that client’s budget in the end! kbbr
What do you think? We always want to hear your views and opinions, so email
editor@kbbreview.com to be featured in a future issue
May 2025
kbbreview
17
iStock.com/David Warn
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