How window and door showrooms can turn a contractor's client visit into an order

When a builder or remodeler sends a client to your window and door showroom, treat the visit as a step toward the contractor's order. Get the job scope and pricing rules from the contractor before the appointment, help the client reach written selections, then send the summary and updated quote back to the contractor with one clear next step. Finally, review which contractors bring clients and what those visits produce.

This guide is for window and door showrooms, and for dealers with a showroom, whose trade customers bring homeowners in to choose products. Millwork and interior door suppliers with selection showrooms can use the same approach. Homeowners who walk in on their own, and inquiries a manufacturer passes to you, need a different first conversation. The guide on following up on manufacturer-referred leads covers the second case.

Sell to the contractor, not just the client in the room

Many dealers invite trade customers to use their showrooms with clients. Dunn Lumber asks builders and contractors to bring clients to its window and door showrooms to compare products with a specialist. Builders Supply of Delmarva tells builders "our showroom is your showroom" and says these consultations "reduce quoting back-and-forth." In a 2014 roundup of dealer interviews, Loranger Door & Window described builders reserving its conference room to review plans with clients, and Your Building Centers described 24-hour showroom access for partnered builders and remodelers who meet certain purchasing criteria.

In these arrangements the homeowner usually chooses the look, while the contractor controls the order and the relationship. IKON Windows & Doors promises trade customers it will guide their clients "while being respectful of your relationships and doing everything we can not to interfere." That is the right frame for your consultants. The sale you are trying to win is the contractor's order for this job, and the contractor's decision to bring the next client back to you.

Before the appointment, get the scope and the rules

A showroom visit goes better when the consultant knows what the client is there to decide. Grayco asks homeowners to have their contractor provide the project scope before booking a window and door appointment. Whether or not you require that, ask the contractor these questions:

• Which job is it? Get the address and check whether your team already has a quote for that jobsite. A client visit may revise an existing quote rather than start a new one.
• What is already fixed? Ask for the plans, the opening count and any product line or budget the contractor has included. Some suppliers work from a written allowance. Lexco Tile & Stone, a tile distributor, asks builders for an allowance form showing what price of tile they included in the house cost. The same idea works for windows and doors.
• What is the client deciding? Style, finish, hardware, grilles or brand. Knowing this keeps the meeting on the decisions that block the order.
• How should pricing be shown? Practices differ. Lexco's showroom quotes the client the retail price of each item, while the installer or dealer quotes the total project. Ask the contractor whether to show prices, which prices, or none at all, and follow your own dealership's pricing policy.
• Where does the summary go, and by when? Confirm who receives the selections and revised quote, and the date the contractor needs them to keep the job moving.

Then look at the account. What has this contractor bought from you recently? Do they buy windows from you but doors elsewhere? Are other quotes open? Did earlier client visits end in orders? Give one consultant responsibility for the appointment and the follow-up, so the contractor knows who to call.

During the appointment, work toward written selections

Start from the scope the contractor gave you. Show options within the budget first, then upgrades the client asks about. Note which choices change the price or lead time, and confirm lead times with your source before anyone promises a date.

Write down what the client decides. Lexco puts it plainly: "Signing out a sample is not making a selection." Before the client leaves, sort each item into one of three groups:

• Decided. The client has chosen and the item can be quoted as selected.
• Narrowed. The client is down to two options and needs time or another look.
• Needs the contractor. The choice changes scope, budget or schedule, so the contractor has to approve it.

Raise related products only when they fit the job. If the client is choosing a patio door and interior doors are in the contractor's scope, it is reasonable to ask whether those have been selected. Keep pricing questions within what the contractor agreed. If the client asks what the job will cost overall, that answer belongs to the contractor.

After the appointment, send it to the contractor and set the next step

Send the selection summary and updated quote to the contractor by the agreed time. Mark what changed from the original scope, such as an upgraded finish, and list anything still open.

Then call the contractor and ask for one decision. That might be approving the revised quote, confirming the open items with the client, or agreeing a date to place the order. Record the answer with a date for the next contact. If the client wants a second visit, book it now rather than leaving "they'll come back" in the notes.

Keep revisions with the same opportunity. A second version of the quote is not a new project, and counting it twice makes the pipeline look bigger than it is. The guide to selling more windows with ERP and CRM explains how to follow a quote by the decision still pending rather than its age.

If the contractor goes quiet, follow up with the contractor. Contact the homeowner directly only if the contractor has agreed to it.

Review which contractors use the showroom and what it produces

Once a month, list client appointments by contractor. For each one, check whether the visit led to an approved quote, an order, or neither, and which selections are still waiting.

Look for patterns, then decide where to spend effort:

• Contractors whose client visits rarely become orders. Ask what is happening. The client may be buying elsewhere, the price may be a problem, or the contractor may prefer another brand for this type of job.
• Contractors who bring clients often and order reliably. These accounts may deserve priority appointments or the extra access that dealers such as Your Building Centers reserve for partnered customers. Which perks go to which accounts is a management decision based on purchase history.
• Good accounts that never use the showroom. A builder who buys from you regularly but chooses windows elsewhere may not know they can bring clients to you. Offer a visit for their next job.

An illustrative example

A remodeler sends a couple to choose six windows and a patio door for a kitchen addition. Before the visit, the consultant finds an open quote for that address from three weeks earlier. The remodeler confirms that quote sets the budget, asks that the clients not see prices and wants the summary by Thursday.

At the appointment, the clients choose the windows and an upgraded patio door finish but cannot decide on grilles. The consultant records the windows and finish as decided and the grilles as narrowed to two options.

That afternoon, the consultant sends the remodeler a summary and revised quote showing the cost of the upgraded finish. On the follow-up call, the remodeler agrees to settle the grilles with the clients by Monday and approve the order then. The consultant logs a Monday reminder. Interior doors are also in the job, and the remodeler usually buys them elsewhere, so the consultant asks whether he would like a door quote for this job too.

How SalesJack can help

SalesJack for window and door showrooms brings ERP and manufacturer quotes into the same pipeline. Teams can assign a consultant to take the next step with each builder or designer, log showroom conversations and set follow-up reminders while customers consider finishes and project timing. Quotes, orders and permits are matched to the right company and jobsite, and cross-sell flags help consultants spot where a window quote could become a door conversation. The CRM keeps logged conversations, assignments and reminders with each opportunity.

The data available depends on your connected systems, so confirm what your setup supports. Pricing rules and how you run appointments stay your dealership's decisions. If you want to see this with your own trade accounts, you can book a demo.

Sources

• Dunn Lumber, Windows and doors for contractors. Dealer page inviting contractors to bring clients to its showrooms. Undated.
• Builders Supply of Delmarva, Builders and contractors. Dealer page describing showroom and conference room use with builders' clients. Undated.
• Pro Remodeler, Dealer tips for creating outstanding showrooms, July 9, 2014. Dealer interviews shared by Therma-Tru; individual dealer practices, not industry rules.
• IKON Windows & Doors, FAQs for trade professionals. Dealer statement on working with contractors' clients. Undated.
• Grayco, Building Centers. Dealer page on showroom appointments after the contractor provides scope. Undated.
• Lexco Tile & Stone, How to prepare for your showroom visit, September 7, 2017. A tile distributor's allowance, pricing and selection process, used as an example from another category.