Know your product. Not just what it looks like and what it is made of, but actually what fitting a kitchen is like in reality.
And linked with that: once you’ve made the sale, remember that it is how you deal with the problems that dictate how you will be remembered and whether you’ll be recommended.
Our kitchen is being fitted now, by our builder. It is going to be fabulous but it isn’t going smoothly in terms of the units, which are being supplied by an independent designer/sales person. We would have been unreasonable to expect that nothing would go awry at any stage at all, but the expensive solid wood painted doors have been a nightmare. The quality has been so variable and because we won’t accept any that aren’t good, we’re currently waiting for our fourth delivery to try to get a complete set. There have also been problems with some of the units, in some cases. But in combination, it is causing a lot of extra work for the fitter, it is delaying the project and it is not being helped by the kitchen supplier’s lack of understanding of the practical impact of things not being right.
It isn’t the fault of the sales guy - he’s not producing the shoddy work himself, and he can only give us what is delivered to him. But he is very defensive in every conversation and it is just so wearing. He veers between “this has never happened before” and “this is just how they come” and he’s had to learn fast that I don’t care how many doors that company make each year, I’m only interested in one kitchen - mine.
I shouldn’t knock him, as despite the fact that he obviously thinks I’m a nightmare client, he is changing them again and again until we get what we want. But he’s not coming across well to the builder as he is struggling to understand the brief and despite advertising as offering bespoke options he’s not translating the brief into the actual order because he doesn’t really appreciate the details.
If you are designing and fitting yourself this shouldn’t be an issue for you. But I keep holding back from saying to our supplier: when your client tells you who they are, listen. We explained that this kitchen is our kitchen for life. It has been years in the planning and I knew what I wanted down to which size Tupperware had to fit in which drawer. So fobbing me off with inconsistently painted doors was never going to fly, and I was never going to say ‘oh never mind’ when two units with internal drawers that we’d discussed the positioning of and you’d taken measurements for came in all wrong. And that while my builder is being brilliant about making what alterations he can, that goodwill only goes so far.