For awhile I didn't carry any faucets on the truck and I didn't sell any either. Now I carry 7-8 faucets on the truck at all times. BRING THEM IN THE CUSTOMER'S HOUSE! SHOW THEM! PEOPLE BUY WHAT THEY CAN SEE.
I am amazed how easy it is to sell a faucet when you bring it in and hand it to the customer to hold and look at...they look over at their old, leaky faucet as a comparison and they can't resist.:yes:
You are exactly right! I don't know how many times I have arrived at a job to find the ho already had a faucet only to ask if I could show them my faucet side by side and then have them want my faucet.
Why do I do this? Two reasons:
#1 is that the ho has invariably brought home some piece of junk from the box store. It looks pretty on the outside but is in reality a lousy piece of crap and I hate installing crappy things.
#2 is that my markup on the product goes away when they already have it. Now you can argue (no I never argue with customers) 'till you're blue in the face about how it really is in their best interest to have you provide everything but a lot of times they can never get past the false idea that they are saving $50 by providing it themselves.
When I show them my lovely new faucet and compare it side by side to their lovely looking new faucet but show them the differances in quality, I hardly ever lose. I will generally add 10% - 50% to the retail cost of their faucet as my markup, add that to my install price and give them a single price for the installation of my faucet. It simplifies the decision making process. They can still do the math in their own head and come to the right conclusion that I am selling them a better faucet for just a little more than what they paid for their junk and have a rough idea of what I am charging to install it.
There is actually a third reason which is really related to the first. Impulse sales. Don't underestimate the power of a person's impulses. If you have it here and now and it's beautiful why is any more thought about it required? It saves you time because you are not running all over town to get the product or paying a shop runner to ferry stuff around all day.
You can't carry everything but if you carry a couple different styles of each type and 2 or 3 finishes you will sell more product.