Word of mouth- How important is it to you?

Over the next few months we will start to release some information which we have gathered from a sample of our existing customers. Our sample is based on 100 customers.

So, we first asked our sample about the process of finding a suitable fitted bedroom company. The result was interesting. Word of mouth proved to be a vital ingredient in choosing a fitted bedroom company. 60% of people asked at least one friend or family about their experience of bedroom furniture companies. The result meant that 39% of the people who sought advice ended up changed their mind about the company they would use for their bedroom furniture.
82% of the group said they knew of a brand company who advertised on TV. 63% of this group said that after getting a quote from the brand known company they were not impressed and looked elsewhere. The top locations for finding a fitted bedroom company were newspaper adverts, online Google searches and solely asking a friend. 18% of the sample made their decision solely based on what their friend or family member said.

Robert from Glasgow said, " I would never spent thousands of pounds on bedroom furniture without speaking to friends and family first. It makes good sense to ask around for recommendations. I was about to use a different bedroom company but my cousin told me about the other companies terrible customer service and constant problems with the wardrobe - so I went elsewhere. "

Sale, Sale, Sale… it must be a bargain!

Christmas has passed, New Year has begun and the TV adverts promoting the greatest sales of all time are everywhere to see.

However, behind these corporate communications masquerading as a wonderful bargain there is sceptical question I have: it all seems too good to be true.

You can’t help but ask, if you can take 75% off in a sale is the company making a loss? No, of course not. So, does this just highlight the mark up on products and how much we are actually being overcharged? For example, Sharps bedrooms now have their sale on which means a customer can get a loads of cash off their bedroom. But I ask you, is Sharps still making a profit – how can that be? Perhaps they are making poorer / cheaper quality furniture or are there prices huge to start with? One thing’s for sure, the marketing costs in promoting Sharps would be astronomical and who is that passed onto, that’s right, the customer. In the end, a sale is only as good as what else is in the market place. For instance, 50% off a holiday to Tenerife costing £1,000 is great, but if the company next door is doing it for £500 and throwing in first class tickets and that’s his usual price I know who I’ll be booking through.

Sales are a technique best used by the largest brands to make you feel like you get real value, not just bedroom companies. I’m not one to stop the upward trend in the consumer purchase market and there are genuine sales out there. However the route to improve long term customer satisfaction is through providing honest value for the customer. Instead, we religiously see the same TV adverts, at the same time of the year, promoting the same products.

Consumers are not stupid. They see through the sales. They want a bargain but understand value. Companies have to match this and meet customer’s demands.

You can give your feedback below, or email your thoughts to info@improve-your-house.co.uk

Research & Development

Research and development is important for most companies to ensure their products are fresh, innovative and ahead of their competitors. This essentially means the end customer gets a good deal and they feel they are actually getting value for money.

The same Research and Development should be created in the fitted bedroom and sliding mirror wardrobe industry. However, this doesn't seem to be happening.

The only real change in 20 years seems to be to the designs being created by other companies (which are eventually copied by everyone else if they are good enough). We have also seen a trend move away from wooden overhead wardrobes in bedrooms towards mirror sliding wardrobes.

We now have mobile phones which can access the internet, TV boxes which can record shows via a computer and the internet, we can communicate with people on the other side of the world and just this week we found 7 new planets in our solar system. Yet, bedroom furniture hasn’t really made a huge improvement.

What do we do?
We communicate with our customers constantly to hear their thoughts, opinions and continually strive to Improve our service. Our customers told us they want to design their own bedroom, soft closing wardrobes, smoother running mechanisms, lighter wardrobes, friendly and local staff and much more. This is what we have done to make our products better than out competitors and ensure customers get true value.

Why can’t we press and button and watch the wardrobe open for us? We could then see our clothes rack open, allowing us to choose our garment? People are all different heights so instead of having to stretch to reach something, couldn’t a machine operated system bring it to us? Would this system enable us to utilise more space within the wardrobe too?

The argument would be that this is making us lazy and we don’t need it. But some people could really benefit from this system and others would just be making their life easier.

Why do we suggest this openly and give away our tips for competitors to copy? Well, we want to really see innovation in bedrooms, not just in design, but in functionality.

What else would you like to see?

Update: Improve Your House latest news moves

Religious followers of the Improve Your House 'Latest News' will now be able to keep up to date with our new blog called Sliding Mirror Wardrobes

We will continue to provide you with the latest industry news, styles, ideas, materials, colour schemes and much more.

Instead of checking our old latest news section you can come to our blog. We hope you will enjoy and interact with our topical debates.

Happy 2010!

A New Year begins and Improve Your House wish you a happy and successful 2010.

In the next year you can check in on our blog "Sliding Mirror Wardrobes" to read more information about;

• The housing market
• Latest bedroom furniture styles
• Reviews by people who have a sliding wardrobe or fitted bedroom
• Latest news
•  And anything else we think you'll like...

Come and give us your honest feedback - the more you tell us the better service we can provide.

All the best for 2010!