custom cabinet shop. seven years in. four guys in the shop plus me handling sales and design.
leads doubled this year. instagram, referrals, the local design firms sending people my way. on
paper my pipeline looks great.
closing rate is down maybe 40%. people are coming in for consults. taking the renderings.
asking smart questions. then disappearing or coming back saying they decided to "wait" or got a
"more reasonable" quote elsewhere.
the more reasonable quote part is the thing eating me. my prices haven't moved that much in 18
months. I can't tell if I'm getting outbid by guys cutting corners or if buyers are sitting on the
fence longer because of the economy or if my pitch has gotten stale and I'm not adjusting to
who's walking in the door now.
for anyone in a custom or high-ticket trade. when you saw your conversion rate slip even though
leads were solid, what was actually going on. was it pricing, presentation, follow up, or
something about the buyer that you couldn't see without looking harder.