How to move from choice to sales
Choice, argues Hurst’s sales director Mark Atkinson, is a valuable sales tool, especially when it comes to doors.
There is nothing quite so rewarding as presenting a customer with the perfect door for their home, says Hurst’s sales director Mark Atkinson.
But with so many to choose from, are entrance doors an easy sell?
According to Mark, too much choice at the point of sale can potentially complicate the process for the homeowner.
“Presenting a wide choice to customers is straightforward in theory, but more complicated in practice,” Mark says. “The key is to offer enough options and then present the tools to help your customers make an informed choice.”
Mark’s comments come as the door company announced that it has added two more styles to its composite Stable Door collection.
“Stable doors are by their very nature the epitome of choice,” he said. “For example, they provide a barrier to pets and toddlers while allowing light and air to flow through – homeowners are afforded a significant amount of flexibility which is unavailable with other door designs.
“And by offering new door Stable Door designs, we can give homeowners that freedom while blending the door into the character of the home.”
The two new styles are Rustic Stable SquareLite and SquareLite Georgian. The new Rustic Stable SquareLite features a larger glazed area to maximise natural light, while the SquareLite Georgian style has a classic touch thanks to a Georgian bar that divides the glazed area into four sections.
“These new styles bring our stable door range up to six, which also includes the Rustic Stable Diamond, Small Rectangle, and Large Rectangle designs,” Mark says.
As a door solutions company, Hurst has created a one-stop-shop for a wide choice of products, while providing the extra support to help them sell to homeowners.
“We are continually broadening our product ranges,” Mark says. “And our new Stable Door designs join our broader composite door range and sit alongside our panel doors and our comprehensive fire door range.
“And within each of those, we offer an extensive choice of glazing, hardware and colour options.”
Hurst regularly introduces new ranges of glass designs to keep the entrance door range refreshed and up to date and will also add new designs to existing ranges if customer feedback demands it.
The manufacturer also invested in a new paint shop at its site in Hull earlier this year, which will give it greater control over the colour process, while minimising error and reducing lead times in the process. It also taps into the demand for bespoke colours
“We know that colour has become really important for our customers,” Mark says. “They use colour to differentiate their offering, and we can supply them with over 1600 RAL colours now.”
These choices are supported by a marketing support package that helps homeowners quickly and confidently select their perfect entrance door.
Hurst’s Augmented Reality tool allows homeowners to view Hurst’s most popular composite door styles on their property using their mobile phone or tablet. They can see products in 3D, in real time, and can walk up to the door and appreciate the finer details of textures and finishes, something which sets it apart from other visualiser tools.
Meanwhile, ‘You’re Home With Hurst’ is a 65-page lifestyle brochure, which sits at the centre of its fully integrated retail sales campaign. It explains door performance in simple and easy-to-understand terms, with additional explanation of performance delivered in short professionally created videos, accessed via a QR code. These demonstrate the features and benefits of choosing a new Hurst composite door before the homeowner uses the AR tool to see how different door styles look on their home.
“As a door solutions company, we are absolutely all about choice,” Mark says. “But we are also about providing exactly what homeowners want, and the combination of a wide selection of door styles, hardware, glass and colour, together with the sales tools, will help our customers achieve that.”
