Adopting a new process can be daunting for kitchen showrooms and home centers. But your current design and quote process isn’t ideal—not for your team or prospective clients.
Technology has changed buyer expectations and behaviors. A fast, digitally-enhanced process is needed to win over modern clients. It will also lighten your team’s workload and let them focus on your best leads—instead of tire kickers who want the cheapest price or rounds of free revisions.
OKD’s Concept Design process makes the entire sales journey easier, and, ultimately, smarter. With Concept Design, potential buyers get personalized designs and quotes faster, leading to more productive meetings with your team sooner—all without the hassle of initial in-home measurements, interviews, back-and-forth emails, or design delays. Plus, you know which leads are worth pursuing with far less effort.
Here’s how the Concept Design process works better, from the perspective of Joan, a potential client of West Kitchens.
Stage 1: Joan Explores Options Online and Wants to Learn More
Joan wants to remodel her kitchen. She starts by Googling “kitchen renovations” in her area. West Kitchens’ website comes up as a top search result, and she recalls having heard great things about them from others.
After studying their website, she sees why others would recommend them—their work is impressive. But she’s unclear about the scope of her kitchen remodel and its costs. She knows she needs to talk to someone in West’s showroom to get an initial design and quote.
She completes the ‘Contact Us’ form on West’s website to set up a showroom visit. When she receives her confirmation email, it suggests she shares her design preferences before her first meeting. This is called a Concept Design—a starting point for her renovation journey.
By requesting a Concept Design before an in-person meeting, Joan can narrow down her design requirements and give the West sales team enough details to create an initial budget for her project sooner. This way, she’ll have a preliminary design and budget ready for her first visit. She can complete the request herself or through a video call with a West team member.
Joan decides to try it out to see how much she can learn and accomplish before her appointment.
Stage 2: Joan Becomes a Warm Lead and Requests a Design Concept
Joan opens the link Concept Design questionnaire on her computer, where she answers questions about her ideal design. The questions help her figure out what’s important for her remodel. She simply clicks on images to choose her style vs. having to describe it, which makes things easy.
To make the initial design more accurate, Joan is asked to take photos of her kitchen on her phone. (A short video shows her how.) The photos will be used to calculate room measurements. She’s relieved that she doesn’t have to measure things herself or arrange for a salesperson to come and take them at this stage. (Taking time off work to let someone in feels like a big commitment.)
Joan clicks ‘Submit’ and waits for her appointment. She is now a sales lead that can be tracked in West’s internal client log.
Stage 3: Joan’s Concept Design and Quote are Quickly Generated for the West Team
Joan’s design questionnaire summary is quickly reviewed by West’s Concept Designer, OKD. OKD’s team of seasoned designers create a floor plan with measurements gleaned from Joan’s photos. Then, the team parses through her answers to make a full-color Concept Design that’s personalized to Joan’s taste.
Having these requests handled by an independent team is a relief to the busy West team. They know valuable leads like Joan will receive a personalized design and quote quickly—and that incoming requests won’t impact their existing workload or slow down other projects. (And the West team can access Joan’s information anytime they need online.)
The designs use Acme Cabinets, the cabinet brand West uses as its standard for online designs. The material lists and prices are available to the OKD team through Acme’s 2020 catalog, which makes it easy to provide accurate pricing for the project. (Pricing includes cabinet box and pull count, countertops, flooring square footage, and appliance information so the West can calculate a complete budget.)
The final design package for Joan—which is created within two business days—includes:
- Floor plans with measurements
- Questionnaire summary
- Photos
- Videos
- List price
- Color renderings
- 2020 KIT file
All of this gets done without anyone on the West team having to get out a measuring tape, call Joan, or spend hours designing. With this package, the salesperson assigned to Joan can talk seriously about her needs and budget at the very first meeting.
Stage 4: Joan Attends the First Sales Meeting —and is Impressed by the Initial Design and Quote
Joan comes to the West showroom for her first meeting. The salesperson shows her the Concept Design. West’s sales team explains to Join that this is a starting point based on her initial questionnaire, and that in-depth revisions and designs will come later.
Joan is delighted to see a design so early and says it captures what she’s after. She also feels the pricing is within her budget.
They discuss the full project scope and potential timelines. Joan says she’d like to move forward with a few small design revisions.
West is happy to make revisions once Joan pays a small design retainer fee. Then, they’ll come take final measurements to solidify her design and quote.
Joan feels that West’s team understands her goals—and they work quickly, too. She pays the design retainer and advances from a ‘sales lead’ to a ‘customer’ in the Concept Design tracking log.
Stage 5: Joan Revises and Finalizes Her Design Quickly
With Joan’s Design retainer paid, West confidently takes detailed kitchen measurements. They note clarifications and additional details on the Concept Design floor plan, which they email the OKD team to revise—right from Joan’s kitchen.
Within two days, Joan’s updated floor plan, with confirmed measurements, is ready for her second design meeting.
She discusses a few ideas she’s had since the Concept Design review: changing the door style, adding an island and pantry tower, and more internal accessories —which are emailed to OKD to update. The West salesperson instructs OKD to also make a comparable design using a second cabinet brand, Summit Cabinetry, which has more design options Joan may like.
OKD completes both designs in two days. Joan realizes she prefers Summit’s cabinets and molding details, even though they cost more. She asks for one more change, which West sends to OKD to quickly complete.
After seeing the final design and price, Joan requests a contract to sign. Then, she pays her deposit—and the project can officially kick off.
OKD Design Concepts Save Time for Buyers and Showrooms
Joan loved that she could easily start her kitchen journey online and get designs and pricing so quickly. The West team appreciated being armed with customized designs and quotes for each meeting with Joan—no lengthy home visits or interviews required (until they had a retainer in place).
The Concept Design process creates what some people call “bluebird” deals: a quality buyer that comes ready to make a purchase—seemingly out of nowhere—without much effort on your sales team’s part.
Concept Designs can be embedded into any sales process to speed up design, quoting, and revisions. This tech-enabled service not only creates a much better buying experience, but it also frees up your team to do what they should be focused on: engaging clients and closing deals.
We’re a team of professional kitchen designers providing fast, unlimited designs.
Adopting a new process can be daunting for kitchen showrooms and home centers. But your current design and quote process isn’t ideal—not for your team or prospective clients.
Technology has changed buyer expectations and behaviors. A fast, digitally-enhanced process is needed to win over modern clients. It will also lighten your team’s workload and let them focus on your best leads—instead of tire kickers who want the cheapest price or rounds of free revisions.
OKD’s Concept Design process makes the entire sales journey easier, and, ultimately, smarter. With Concept Design, potential buyers get personalized designs and quotes faster, leading to more productive meetings with your team sooner—all without the hassle of initial in-home measurements, interviews, back-and-forth emails, or design delays. Plus, you know which leads are worth pursuing with far less effort.
Here’s how the Concept Design process works better, from the perspective of Joan, a potential client of West Kitchens.
Stage 1: Joan Explores Options Online and Wants to Learn More
Joan wants to remodel her kitchen. She starts by Googling “kitchen renovations” in her area. West Kitchens’ website comes up as a top search result, and she recalls having heard great things about them from others.
After studying their website, she sees why others would recommend them—their work is impressive. But she’s unclear about the scope of her kitchen remodel and its costs. She knows she needs to talk to someone in West’s showroom to get an initial design and quote.
She completes the ‘Contact Us’ form on West’s website to set up a showroom visit. When she receives her confirmation email, it suggests she shares her design preferences before her first meeting. This is called a Concept Design—a starting point for her renovation journey.
By requesting a Concept Design before an in-person meeting, Joan can narrow down her design requirements and give the West sales team enough details to create an initial budget for her project sooner. This way, she’ll have a preliminary design and budget ready for her first visit. She can complete the request herself or through a video call with a West team member.
Joan decides to try it out to see how much she can learn and accomplish before her appointment.
Stage 2: Joan Becomes a Warm Lead and Requests a Design Concept
Joan opens the link Concept Design questionnaire on her computer, where she answers questions about her ideal design. The questions help her figure out what’s important for her remodel. She simply clicks on images to choose her style vs. having to describe it, which makes things easy.
To make the initial design more accurate, Joan is asked to take photos of her kitchen on her phone. (A short video shows her how.) The photos will be used to calculate room measurements. She’s relieved that she doesn’t have to measure things herself or arrange for a salesperson to come and take them at this stage. (Taking time off work to let someone in feels like a big commitment.)
Joan clicks ‘Submit’ and waits for her appointment. She is now a sales lead that can be tracked in West’s internal client log.
Stage 3: Joan’s Concept Design and Quote are Quickly Generated for the West Team
Joan’s design questionnaire summary is quickly reviewed by West’s Concept Designer, OKD. OKD’s team of seasoned designers create a floor plan with measurements gleaned from Joan’s photos. Then, the team parses through her answers to make a full-color Concept Design that’s personalized to Joan’s taste.
Having these requests handled by an independent team is a relief to the busy West team. They know valuable leads like Joan will receive a personalized design and quote quickly—and that incoming requests won’t impact their existing workload or slow down other projects. (And the West team can access Joan’s information anytime they need online.)
The designs use Acme Cabinets, the cabinet brand West uses as its standard for online designs. The material lists and prices are available to the OKD team through Acme’s 2020 catalog, which makes it easy to provide accurate pricing for the project. (Pricing includes cabinet box and pull count, countertops, flooring square footage, and appliance information so the West can calculate a complete budget.)
The final design package for Joan—which is created within two business days—includes:
- Floor plans with measurements
- Questionnaire summary
- Photos
- Videos
- List price
- Color renderings
- 2020 KIT file
All of this gets done without anyone on the West team having to get out a measuring tape, call Joan, or spend hours designing. With this package, the salesperson assigned to Joan can talk seriously about her needs and budget at the very first meeting.
Stage 4: Joan Attends the First Sales Meeting —and is Impressed by the Initial Design and Quote
Joan comes to the West showroom for her first meeting. The salesperson shows her the Concept Design. West’s sales team explains to Join that this is a starting point based on her initial questionnaire, and that in-depth revisions and designs will come later.
Joan is delighted to see a design so early and says it captures what she’s after. She also feels the pricing is within her budget.
They discuss the full project scope and potential timelines. Joan says she’d like to move forward with a few small design revisions.
West is happy to make revisions once Joan pays a small design retainer fee. Then, they’ll come take final measurements to solidify her design and quote.
Joan feels that West’s team understands her goals—and they work quickly, too. She pays the design retainer and advances from a ‘sales lead’ to a ‘customer’ in the Concept Design tracking log.
Stage 5: Joan Revises and Finalizes Her Design Quickly
With Joan’s Design retainer paid, West confidently takes detailed kitchen measurements. They note clarifications and additional details on the Concept Design floor plan, which they email the OKD team to revise—right from Joan’s kitchen.
Within two days, Joan’s updated floor plan, with confirmed measurements, is ready for her second design meeting.
She discusses a few ideas she’s had since the Concept Design review: changing the door style, adding an island and pantry tower, and more internal accessories —which are emailed to OKD to update. The West salesperson instructs OKD to also make a comparable design using a second cabinet brand, Summit Cabinetry, which has more design options Joan may like.
OKD completes both designs in two days. Joan realizes she prefers Summit’s cabinets and molding details, even though they cost more. She asks for one more change, which West sends to OKD to quickly complete.
After seeing the final design and price, Joan requests a contract to sign. Then, she pays her deposit—and the project can officially kick off.
OKD Design Concepts Save Time for Buyers and Showrooms
Joan loved that she could easily start her kitchen journey online and get designs and pricing so quickly. The West team appreciated being armed with customized designs and quotes for each meeting with Joan—no lengthy home visits or interviews required (until they had a retainer in place).
The Concept Design process creates what some people call “bluebird” deals: a quality buyer that comes ready to make a purchase—seemingly out of nowhere—without much effort on your sales team’s part.
Concept Designs can be embedded into any sales process to speed up design, quoting, and revisions. This tech-enabled service not only creates a much better buying experience, but it also frees up your team to do what they should be focused on: engaging clients and closing deals.
We’re a team of professional
kitchen designers providing
fast, unlimited designs.
