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How to Sell Tile
Tip
Set up a booth at commercial home shows to demonstrate tile you sell. Feature the products with price lists and room makeover prices. Work with a bank to extend credit to creditworthy clients. Offer different payment options for tile you sell, so that young homeowners can afford a tile project quite easily.
Warning
Create a marketing strategy by working with other professionals who design and install tile. Keep in mind that you are selling tile, but you are also selling an art form.
Most individuals find tile very appealing. They are happy to purchase tile, if they can afford the product and installation. Selling tile will require matching clients' needs with affordable options. By working out many details for customers, you can successfully operate a tile business. Become familiar with tile products and design work for interior and exterior space. It's much easier to convince someone to buy a product if your knowledge is extensive. Develop a marketing strategy that will entice potential customers to discuss remodeling ideas with you.
Develop ideas you can share. Obtain catalogs of tile products you will sell. Keep a sketch pad handy for designing ideas for clients. Use a camera to snap pictures of tile work that is impressive. Build a physical portfolio to show customers, but constantly develop ideas from everyday life. If you can help customers visualize tile in their homes or businesses, they will become more eager to purchase.
Interview local designers and interior decorators. Find out about projects they've managed for local clients. Inquire about tile materials their clients found appealing. Offer to work with designers with customers you engage. Discuss the designers' rates and professional credentials. Ask for their business cards. Take pictures of some of their projects, if possible, to show your potential clients.
Form a relationship with home builders. Offer to consult with potential buyers for unique tile work in baths, kitchens and patio areas, for example. Show them your portfolio and mention the fact you have designers willing to co-partner for projects. Explain to home builders that a well-designed tiled kitchen or bath may help sell homes much faster. Inquire about working for the builder to beautify present homes going up for sale.
Create a before and after picture gallery. Show a kitchen before the tile was installed. Stage a picture to demonstrate the outcome, so that you can engage work from builders and individuals based on these outcomes. Place this gallery on a your website. Create a website soon after completing a few projects. Provide total remodeliing costs on your website, as closely as possible, for total room makeovers.
Work with great installers. Be on the lookout for gifted contract workers. Hire installers who have unique artistic skills or unique knowledge about a certain style. Engage a worker, for example, who has worked on kitchens in high-quality homes in the two-million dollar range, for instance. Ask the worker for references and a portfolio of his or her work.
References
Resources
Writer
Judi Light Hopson is a national columnist for McClatchy Newspapers. She is founder of Hopson Global Education and Training and co-author of the college textbook, Burnout to Balance: EMS Stress. She holds a degree in psychology from East Tennessee State University, and has been a professional writer for 25 years.