Home Show Marketing for NKBA Members
By R.M. “Skip” Shingledecker, CKD, CBD
Let me start by borrowing a JFK quote, with a slight variation: “Ask not what the NKBA can do for you, but what you can do for the NKBA.” For those of you who regularly attend chapter functions or K/BIS, or volunteer as a chapter officer, you know what I’m talking about. When you get your annual membership packet every year, the NKBA includes a little sign to place on the front of your business identifying you as a NKBA member. I take that signage to a whole new level.
I’m an independent designer who works out of my home. For me, marketing is very difficult. I get good leads from my NKBA listing under “Find a Professional,” and my referrals keep me going. To get more leads requires expanding my marketing plan, but the cost of TV or radio ads is out of my reach, and just a few print ads a year doesn’t produce quality leads for me. Because of that, here in my market, I turn to the three home shows held annually in my area; the Home & Garden Show in the spring, the Builders Association Show in the fall, and the House Beautiful Show in winter. I’ve found a very effective way to market myself as a CKD/CBD to the homeowners interested in kitchen or bath remodeling or new home building; I use my NKBA membership to my advantage and exhibit at local home shows.
I start by finding out the names of home show promoters and then contacting them with a plan. The first question I ask is, “Would you like to have the kitchen and bath industry represented at your show?” The answer is always yes. I identify myself as a NKBA member and, in my case, as an officer of our local chapter. I offer to conduct seminars on their stage about the kitchen and bath industry. I have PowerPoint presentations on “The Art and Science of Kitchen Design,” “Green Kitchen and Bath Remodeling,” and “Universal Design.” Most of these shows have stages where speakers talk about topics relating to the housing industry. The hot topics today are green design, along with kitchen and bath remodeling. The kitchen and bath side of the industry draws a lot of attention from consumers. The promoters will advertise your presentation in the hope of attracting more attendees to their event.
Now the cost of these booths isn’t cheap, starting at around $10 per square foot. By the time you get signage, carpeting, and furnishings for your booth, the cost can rise quickly. By using your NKBA membership connection or having your local NKBA chapter and other NKBA members come in to help, the cost can be split. If you present this properly to the show promoters, they will often give you the booth at greatly reduced cost. I’ve even gotten booth space free of charge.
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My approach is to set up an NKBA members’ booth, with emphasis placed on the importance of a homeowner working with a professional kitchen and bath designer for their project, for either new home construction or remodeling. The booth emphasizes that a homeowner should hire a certified kitchen or bath designer to guide them through the process of designing the kitchen or bath that fits their family’s needs, and then going to NKBA members to purchase products like cabinets, plumbing fixtures, countertops, and appliances. I have PowerPoint presentations continually running in my booth that show pictures of kitchen and bath projects undertaken by NKBA-certified designers.
A 20 x 10 booth is the size I use, and I try to locate it as close as possible to the seminar stage since there’s always a great deal of traffic there. At the end of my stage seminars, I have a Q&A session. Since this can easily run into the next presenter’s time, I invite those who are interested to come by our NKBA members’ booth to visit the “Ask the Designer” table to discuss their projects. That’s when we get to the real purpose of this exercise; getting leads. This is when you need several designers to answer questions and fill out the client lead slips. Make sure you’ve laid out how leads will be divided before the show starts. My method is for whoever takes the information to get the lead for their company. If you use your NKBA chapter to run the booth, you might have a competitor in the booth with you, so scheduling who and when is in the booth is important. Remember that the intent is to expand the consumer’s awareness of the importance of the National Kitchen & Bath Association, which helps all of us as NKBA members.
This can also work for larger kitchen and bath companies. By using your employees to present seminars and discuss the homeowner’s projects, you can pick up a lot of leads. Displaying the NKBA logo along with your company name will give more credibility to your business as a NKBA member. Promoting your company’s CKDs and CBDs will bring even more leads because of the level of professionalism your company offers.
The NKBA is expanding the marketing of its membership. Just look at the increasing number of hits that the NKBA website gets every month from consumers looking for information about kitchens and baths.
Another opportunity that is available to help your local chapter is to get the VP of Membership to visit with the other exhibitors and introduce them to the advantages of NKBA membership. Other exhibitors generally include cabinetmakers, tile suppliers, countertop fabricators, appliance dealers, and product suppliers. Invite them to a local chapter meeting or, better yet, host a meeting for the local chapter. Get them to join the NKBA. As more of these companies join, the NKBA will get more recognition among consumers, which will provide more and more recognition for your company as an NKBA member.
It would be great if every home show held had the NKBA represented to spread the word to all homeowners that there are proven industry professionals available to help them with their kitchen and bath questions and design needs.
About R.M. “Skip” Shingledecker, CKD, CBD
Robert M. "Skip" Shingledecker, CKD, CBD has been designing and remodeling houses in San Antonio, Texas and surrounding areas for over 40 years. He is a kitchen and bath design instructor at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and serves as the Vice President of Professional Development for the NKBA's Texas Hill Country chapter.