A Different World View by Tom Cohn, DPHA Executive Vice President

My son is moving to his first apartment in a few weeks and in anticipation of having his own crib, he is shopping for furniture. During his 48-hour research extravaganza, he concluded that the way we have purchased furniture and most other things for our home is "all wrong." We have relied on brick-and-mortar retailers and selected products that are well made and styled to last the test of time. And we have paid a premium for this approach. We always could have spent less.

 

A limited budget has required my son to look at popular priced offerings that will outfit his new 500 square foot abode. He is attracted to online companies (he's 22) and has convinced himself that the quality of lesser priced offerings that require self-assembly are of comparable quality to the furnishings he has grown up with. I questioned this claim. But his point got me to thinking, "Have we really been purchasing incorrectly for years. Did we spend too much for everything?" When we renovated the kitchen, our refrigerator cost more than my first car. 

 

Here's the lesson for decorative plumbing and hardware showrooms. We tend to focus on what we want our customers to believe. We spend hours upon hours trying to explain and justify our value proposition as to why our customers should pay a premium for products whose functionality can be obtained for considerably less. We often ignore the customer's lens and what customers believe is right for them. Do your sales professionals consider what story customers tell themselves?