Top 5 ways to sell more window treatments:

Top 5 ways to sell more window treatments:

As many of you know I moderate an industry wide Face Book group with over 1700 window covering retailers. As you might expect I have a lot of interaction with the industry. This list is from

my own observations of the group and my personal contact with hundreds of retailers all over America and Canada.

Top 5 ways to sell more window treatments:

1) Answer your phone. I’m not kidding. I call on dealers all over America and the number of answering machines is stunning. Tip: Forward your phone to your cell. If you’re doing a bid then let it go to Voice mail, if not, answer the phone. Think about this, one extra job a week with an average profit of $500 is $25K a year.

2) Stop doing everything yourself. I recently called on a dealer and the gal answering the phone told me the 65 year old owner was out installing shutters herself. She wasn’t making any money and felt she had to do everything herself. The reason she wasn’t making money was she was doing everything herself.

3) Learn how to trust others. This is one of the biggest hurdles I see. If you’re doing everything yourself today and you don’t change your ways, in another year your still going to be doing everything yourself………. Commit to making one simple change today.

4) Identify your strengths and work from the point of your strengths. I’m a marketer. I understand off-line and on-line marketing. This is where I spend the bulk of my time.

5) Spend your time on revenue generating activities. I don’t make money installing shutters or doing my bookkeeping. I make money selling shutters. I make money getting my phone to ring with new clients. I make money perfecting my sales process. There are plenty of great installer and bookkeepers who can do their jobs much better than me.

One last observation: Far too many retailers think that if they could just pay $1 less than they are now then they will sell more. WRONG! A well run retailer could pay 15% more than the guy down the street and still crush them on price, service and selection. What you pay has little to do with how much you earn. Invest in better marketing, better sales processes and learn to attract better clients. Start offering a better VALUE than your competition.