13 reasons you need a professional bath remodeling sales presentation

It’s NOT getting any easier to sell bath remodeling projects.

You can say that again.

Ok, it’s NOT getting any easier to sell bath remodeling projects.

During COVID you were a rock star. Phones were ringing off the hook. Who needs advertising, you thought. You were turning down jobs left and right. The only barrier was finding people to do the work.

Today – things ARE different.

Lead volume is down. You’re hustling to dig up leads.

The big competitors are being gobbled up by private equity companies. They’re getting even bigger. They’re getting more professional and systematized in their sales process.

And even though leads are down, the ‘word on the street’ from industry associations is closing percentages are also down! Homeowners are doing more shopping. And to make matters worse, remodelers are closing a smaller percentage of the leads they do run.

THIS IS NOT A GOOD EQUATION.

The question becomes how can you be more successful closing leads you do get? And how can you increase the average bathroom order value – so sales don’t decline by having less leads?

One way to improve sales WITHOUT blowing major money into ‘more-expensive-than-ever Pay-Per-Click’ (PPC) ads, and social media ad campaigns, is to develop a more professional process selling the prospects you do see. And one fool-proof way smart bath remodeling companies are using to do that today is with in-home bathroom presentations.

And if you’re worried about how to use this technology and how much money you’ll have to throw into developing this bathroom presentation for your business – I’ve got great news for you.

First, you can get a professional bathroom presentation (just like the ‘big franchises’ or players like West Shore Home uses) without spending one thin dime. That’s crazy, but true.

And second, it’s as simple to use as flipping through web pages on an iPad.

And if you’re intrigued by this idea, but still aren’t sure why you NEED a professional bathroom presentation, here’s 13 reasons to chew on before the train (‘er the market) leaves the station and you get left behind with too few jobs you’re selling at too low a price.

And no matter what you do, DO NOT skip reading Reason #10. It can be the game-changer that allows you to get this sales presentation now – even if developing your own bathroom presentation is a hill too high for you to climb.

Reason #1 you need a professional bathroom sales presentation– The ‘big companies’ who use them sell at far higher prices than you do

Have you every said to yourself,“I can’t believe how much Bath Fitter, ReBath, West Shore Home (you name your ‘favorite’ – sarcasm intended – big-time bath competitor here) get for their jobs.”

And yes for a standard tub to shower conversion these companies are raking in $15,000 to $20,000, and they’re only selling a standard acrylic wall and base system for that price. The question is, how do they do it?

Well beyond their brand recognition (which does help), they use professional in-home sales presentations. They look organized. They look professional. They sell the same job you quoted for a FAR higher price because in the home they inspire confidence and wow prospects.

Reason #2 you need a professional bathroom sales presentation– You (or your reps) sell jobs and then ‘after the fact’ find out you can’t get the selections your customer chose from your distributor or manufacturer.

While your distribution partner or manufacturer may have sent you an email or letter about discontinued patterns, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to keep up with every supplier you’ve got.

And this gets you into trouble when you (or your sales rep) sells a job which has a discontinued pattern from an old brochure or outdated sales case you’re working from. Then you get the ‘tasty task’ of calling the customer, breaking the bad news, then hoping they don’t cancel the order.

If you’re wondering how you can keep yourself out of this hot water, it’s to use a bath presentation where the products are continuously updated by your distribution/manufacturing partner. This ensures you’re not selling discontinued stuff even if your brochures or sales case hasn’t been updated.

Reason #3 you need a professional bathroom sales presentation– It’s to be organized.

When your rep is bumbling looking for brochures, can’t find web sites to show a specific product, or can’t locate on Dropbox the pictures of a job which is similar to the one you’re looking to sell, this your lack of preparation and organization can kill closing the job (especially when your big competitors pull out their iPad and have everything they need at their fingertips in the bath presentation).

When you have a professional bathroom sales presentation – you well look ….. professional (and organized).

And when the bathroom presentation has all the wall panels offerings by collections – with pictures to show how they look like in the context of a bathroom– it gets customers excited to buy your solutions… TODAY!  

Reason #4 you need a professional bathroom sales presentation– Your presentation will be consistent. No made up stories, fibs, or half-truths.

One of the funniest 3 minutes in a movie IMHO (but I’ll warn you, it’s racy) is in The Candidate when the awkward Presidential candidate Marty Huggins asks his wife and kids to tell him the secrets, stories, and fibs about their indiscretions, so they won’t get uncovered during his campaign.

And, like Marty Huggins, a problem you can have if you don’t have a professional bathroom presentation is a rep who ‘improvises’ (‘er that’s a fancy code for making crap up) on the fly and tells ‘untrue stories, fibs, and half-truths.’ This hurts the credibility of your company (not that this has ever happened to any of us – sarcasm intended).

With a professional bathroom presentation – the content is truthful. You’ll keep reps on tract, and on script.

Reason #5 you need a professional bathroom sales presentation– Share the inspiration. Share your before and after pics.

Unless you can get someone to ‘see’ how their bathroom can be transformed, it’s hard for them to commit money to get the project started.

This is where a ‘before/after’ slider in a bathroom sales presentation can do wonders.

How are you sharing your before/after pictures today? Is your salesperson fumbling trying to find the right before and after pics on their digital devices? Are images so hard to find they just blow off trying?

Reason #6 you need a professional bathroom sales presentation– Get your prospect involved with an interactive bathroom visualizer. Make sure they like (and can see in the context of a room) their selections BEFORE your team installs the job.

Have you seen a prospect get a ‘glazed-over’ look as you’re going ‘on and on’ about the benefits of your process, products, and company? And as you know from Sales 101, the more you ‘tell, the less you sell.’

So, how could you get your prospect more involved (and invested), increase their excitement, and eliminate selections they end up NOT liking (even when they INSIST this isn’t what they chose, but you know it IS their selection from the small samples your rep brought in the home)?

Well, the way to do that is to use a bathroom visualizer (along with physical samples) so the customer can make selections while you’re on the call! This will not only increase their excitement but helps them to ‘see’ in 3D room scenes if they like a specific pattern which your small samples cannot accomplish. This will eliminate the installer getting blindsided with a customer saying, “I never ordered THIS pattern!” Even if you know that’s EXACTLY what they ordered. However, now you’re in a no-win situation. Either give them what they will like – and eat the cost – or force them to take what they don’t like, they give your company a bad review, and kill your referral pipeline in the process.

Reason #7 you need a professional bathroom sales presentation on a platform like Ingage– You’re NOT limited to only selling bathroom jobs with this technology.

Getting your team to use technology can be tough. Then, on top of that, when you ask them to sell multiple products (like windows, doors, siding, roofing etc.), complexity goes up. And, in turn, so does their confusion and willingness to use in-home sales presentation platforms.

What’s nice about a pro bath remodel presentation on Ingage is there’s other popular manufacturers (like ProVia as one example) who use this same platform for their products. In this situation, since the rep is familiar with the platform, it’s simpler for them to switch between selling multiple products.

Reason #8 you need a professional bathroom sales presentation– You can present only what you NEED to present.

The quickest way to lose a prospect is cranking up your PowerPoint presentation and going through it slide by slide. Then the prospect asks, “So, how many more slides do you have left?”

With a ‘linear’ presentation platform (with sequential slides) like PowerPoint it’s easy for boredom to set in (the sales kiss of death) since it forces reps to go through slides which aren’t relevant to this customer’s situation.

With a bathroom presentation with ‘point and click’ interactive technology like Ingage, your rep can pick and choose what needs to be covered. They can omit what the customer doesn’t care about. This allows a custom presentation for every prospect!

Reason #9 you need a professional bathroom sales presentation– You can show videos WITHOUT worrying if you’ll successfully connect to your hotspot or their Wi-Fi.

There’s nothing worse than being excited to show a video about your installation process, or how your glass shower doors can’t break and hurt someone, or how your product is made, or your owner explaining what your company does to give back to the community – but having it go up in flames because you can’t get the doggone video to load!

Nobody likes technical problems which causes a demo to blow up in your face.

That’s why it’s smart to choose (or use free of charge from your distribution or manufacturing partner) a bathroom presentation which DOES NOT require a Wi-Fi connection. Then you can play videos to tell your story without worrying about a ‘wardrobe’ (or technology) malfunction!

Reason #10 you need a professional bathroom sales presentation– You can get one today WITHOUT developing your own presentation – OR SPENDING YOUR OWN MONEY.

Maybe your nodding your head and thinking – I like this bathroom presentation idea. However, you don’t have any idea of where to start developing one (after all maybe you’re not a ‘sales guy or gal’) OR whether you can even afford it.

And if this is the case I’ve got wonderful news for you.

If you work with the right company (and yes, there’s a shameless plug coming – because that can be our company) you get a pro bath presentation which is already been developed for you AND it won’t cost you one thin dime.

Your investment will be watching the training video (so you know how best to use the tool) and bringing out your iPad on the next sales call.

Reason #11 you need a professional bathroom sales presentation– Selling isn’t about telling, but seeing is believing.

Ask any communication expert and they’ll tell you, people who view videos retain 90% of what they see, but if they read it in text –retention plummets to 10% (except for MY ARTICLES, where retention is 100%…Ok, I’m lying!). And while you’d like to think your prospect is ‘hanging’ on your (or your reps) every word in the home – what they might be hearing is the Charlie Brown voice saying – waa-waa-waa-waa!.

So, the question becomes how can you get prospects to best understand (and retain) detailed info about your products, your process, or the pros, and cons of competitive systems?

Well – it’s to use imagery and videos to show them, not just tell them. Does your presentation today use videos or enough pictures to make your case? Would better visuals build more trust?

Reason #12 you need a professional bathroom sales presentation– To increase your average order size.

With less leads it’s more important than ever to sell the full gamut of products you offer while you’re on the call. And while strong lending relationships can be important to help you to accomplish this – you also need a way to show customers options for a safer, simpler, and more stylish bathroom.

With a professional bath presentation you can show your full compliment of grab bars, fold down seats, glass shower doors – you name it, and in conjunction with your financing program, increase average order size.

Are you missing sales because your team isn’t showing everything you offer?

Reason #13 you need a professional bathroom sales presentation– To communicate a consistent company story.

What’s special about working with your company? And how can this uniqueness provide a better finished project or experience your prospective client must have?

It’s not only hard to know what’s most important to share about your company – but it’s even harder to make sure it’s consistently represented though different reps, selling different products, on multiple calls.

With a professional in-home bathroom presentation – you can create a company story which communicates the same message, time and again (no matter who is pitching the project).

So, now that you’ve read 13 reasons you need a professional bathroom presentation, are you ‘sold’ this is a must for your business? And, if so, can I help you learn about distinctive products and programs you can use to win more sales?

So, do you see the need for a professional bathroom sales presentation? Share why – or why not – in the comments below.

And if you like the idea of a bathroom sales presentation but either don’t know how to create one – or are stuck with ‘look-alike’ products (‘er acrylic and cultured stone come to mind) which aren’t wowing customers and helping to close deals, I’d love to help.

My company – Innovate Building Solutions – has 31 unique, 3/8” thick laminate wall panel patterns (many of which are nothing like you’ll see with the over-promoted acrylic, PVC, or cultured stone lines). In addition, there’s sturdy – and stylish InnovaStone shower pans, and (in stock) shower replacement kits (including thick frameless glass shower doors) to go with them.

To learn about the Innovate dealership offering – including the Free bathroom presentation – call me at 888-467-7488 or click to learn more about our Bath Products Dealership program.

Thanks for reading –

Mike Foti

President, Innovate Building Solutions