BiKBBI News

REMAIN CAUTIOUS!

BiKBBI´s message to its members regarding restriction relaxation.

The BiKBBI CEO, calls for the industry to approach the relaxation of Coronavirus restriction “with extreme caution” as England prepared for change.

Speaking to the BBC, Damian Walters urged tradespeople in particular, not to fall foul of the changes and to fully support the Prime Minister’s statement that “this pandemic is not over” by saying, “We’re all keen to banish COVID to the history books, but we’ll only be able to achieve this if we’re sensible about how we go about our lives and businesses in the weeks and months ahead”.

England is being followed by other home nations by entering a new phase of relaxation measures, with updated government advice to tradespeople to be published on an ongoing basis. In preparation for change, The British Institute of Kitchen, Bedroom & Bathroom Installation published updated advice to tradespeople on its website, to include support for the continued wearing of face masks when working with others in confined space.

The BiKBBI will continue to monitor changes in all UK countries and will provide updated advice to the industry, as it has throughout the Coronavirus pandemic.

www.bikbbi.org.uk/news

´PINGDEMIC´ DISRUPTS INSTALLER BUSINESSES

New evidence shows that thousands of home improvement jobs have been cancelled because of ‘pingdemic’ and needless cancellations have already cost kitchen, bedroom and bathroom installers millions of pounds and sown the seed for months of disruption for consumers and industry.

A survey of over 5000 kitchen, bedroom and bathroom installers revealed that 47% have had to cancel jobs due to customers or installers being ‘pinged’ by the NHS Covid app. Based on the average cost of installations this means that millions of pounds of lost income to installers who are mostly self-employed sole traders and SME workers.

The call comes in response to the results of the institutes own survey of its members which discovered that almost half of all kitchen, bedroom and bathroom (KBB) installers have had to cancel jobs because of ‘pinging’. This is costing millions of pounds to installers and paving the way for months of disruption for customers, with lead times for jobs already extended due to a shortage of skilled installers able to meet demand.

Damian Walters, BIKBBI CEO, said, “Installers are taking a hit on their incomes that’s as unnecessary as it is unfair. They’ve spent the last year working to incredibly safe procedures, meaning that they could continue serving customers throughout the pandemic. For at least half of them to now have to stop working, and earning, as the rest of the country recovers, just seems utterly ridiculous!”

He added, “The disruption for customers is also a real kick in the teeth for people who want to invest in their homes after such a tough time and could create a crisis for the industry. Jobs won’t be able to be rescheduled for many months, creating the risk of a wave of cancellations. Having invested to meet the currently high demand, KBB retailers and manufacturers could find themselves at a breaking point in the coming months.”

“We of course, acknowledge that public safety and keeping the virus under control needs to remain the highest priority, which is why KBB installers introduced robust safe working procedures over the last year. Recognising this, by adding them to the list of workers exempt from automatic isolation would be an incredibly sensible thing for the Government to do.” “Installers are taking a hit on their incomes that’s as unnecessary as it is unfair. They’ve spent the last year working to incredibly safe procedures, meaning that they could continue serving customers throughout the pandemic. For at least half of them to now have to stop working, and earning, as the rest of the country recovers, just seems utterly ridiculous!”

KBB Retailers…

TIME TO CHANGE

HELP US TO HELP YOU

Sustainability and the environment are high up the political agenda, with the Government likely to soon bring in new laws and regulations that could have an impact on our industry. It is important that the interests of our members are taken into account, so we'll be speaking to the Government and working with the media on your behalf.

Please take the time to complete this short survey to help us understand your views on environmental issues and the needs of your business.

All responses will be completely anonymous but we'll use the data that the survey generates to provide evidence of what the KBB industry is doing to protect the environment and where the Government needs to provide support for installers.

TAKE THE SURVEY HERE

SUCCESS AT EVERY STAGE

How to create & manage a multistage retail customer journey. No matter the size of your business or the service you provide, when engaging with your company, potential customers embark on a journey.

The more stages of this journey there are, the more complex it becomes.

For KBB retailers, more often than not, there are a multitude of contributors, steps and milestones with installation being but one part of a larger puzzle.

Couple this with the fact that the average purchase now encompasses ten business communication channels and an intricate pathway begins to emerge.

Success at every stage is, therefore, a must to stay ahead.

Each stage, each interaction and each touchpoint can have a dramatic impact upon a prospective customer’s experience. Either pushing them away or drawing them closer to converting.

Planning your customer journey is, therefore, a vital exercise in helping your business step into the shoes of the customer.

By mapping out the experience you provide, you can gain insights into common pain points, identify regular roadblocks and learn how to improve those stages requiring attention.

At the heart of this entire process is the most significant question of all, do your goals match those of your customers?

By understanding this, and evaluating how your processes match customer desires, you can structure your workflow to provide the most effective and enjoyable experience for your customers.

Recent studies have proven a significant shift in consumer behaviour, with 80% of people now considering their experience with a company to be as important as their products.

That is why, at Anthill, we’ve created a guide to help you hit the mark at every stage.

In this guide, we aim to explore the various stages of the customer journey and explain how you can ensure success every step of the way.

Diving in to the pre and post-sale as well as the main sales cycle itself, we’ll cover: • Creating an optimal customer journey. • Transforming a journey to a relationship. • The benefits of mapping your experience.

By listening to those who have gone before and mapping out your ideal path, consistently achieving your desired outcome becomes much more straightforward.

To download your copy of “Success At Every Stage – How To Create & Manage A Multi-Stage Retail Customer Journey” click here.