While death and taxes have long been recognized as two elements in life that can always be counted on, another less-mentioned sure thing is that life will always follow a path of peaks and valleys.

The economy, and therefore industry in general, will also experience that inevitable ebb and flow. For businesses, the key to not only surviving – but flourishing – during those lower periods is to prepare for them during better times, and venture outside the traditional lines to create new business opportunities.

Many kitchen and bath dealers claim that most clients are either referrals or repeat customers. However, in leaner economic times, this client base is not enough to sustain the majority of design firms. Implementing innovative tactics is a necessary part of drumming up new business and keeping companies in the black.

“When things get tight, there are more clients out there that everyone is going after harder and faster,” stresses Linda Whitcomb, president, Village Kitchen & Bath in Hyannis, MA.

Those clients are being wooed with free educational seminars and through innovative marketing tactics and heightened customer service, to name just a few. Several kitchen and bath dealers have shared their approaches with Kitchen & Bath Design News.

Seminar Savvy

Certainly, one of the ways that kitchen and bath dealers have maintained consumer interest in these more competitive economic times is through the hosting of educational seminars. Industry players agree that today’s consumers are much more educated and savvy than in decades past, and they look for ways to learn as much as possible before making major investments.

Village Kitchen & Bath began hosting free informational seminars about 18 months ago. The seminars were an alternative to the general ads that the company had been running in local newspapers and magazines.

And the strategy paid off, according to Whitcomb. “We have found that the majority of our never-heard-of-you clients found us through these seminars,” she reports.

The one-day seminars cover two topics – “How Much Should a Good Kitchen Cost?” and “How Much Should a Good Bathroom Cost?” They are held several times during March and April and again in October and November.

“People are definitely interested in learning about these subjects,” stresses Whitcomb, “and the seminars supply us with an audience of qualified potential clients.”