Use security & quality to sell door hardware

(Q ELL SECURITY and quality

tJ and you'll sell more door hardware to do-it-yourselfers.

A recent national survey showed that stocking top-of-the-line security products reaped top-of-the-line profits for home centers. A full 700/o of stores stocking a full range of quality products reported profitability higher than stores which did not, according to the Lebhar-Friedman Survey.

Customers, according to research, consider price the least important factor in purchasing a security product. They are purchasing protection against burglars, assurance that their door hardware will not allow a thief to enter their home. Peace of mind, confidence that their family and their possessions will be safer is what they are buying.

The do-it-yourself market has doubled in the last 10 years. The replacement lock market alone exceeds $350 million, according to industry figures. This year more than 40 million new locks will be sold. With one in four homes destined to be burglarized this year, approximately one every l5 seconds, there is no end in sight in the demand for door hardware.

The selling of quality begins with stocking quality. Top quality locks have dead-locking latches with an auxiliary plunger that locks the latch in place like a semi deadbolt, making it secure against the credit card shim which can open a spring latch. Quality door hardware has pin tumbler type locks. Police recommend that a lock have at least five tumblers to resist picking. Weight and the use of quality metal such as phosphor bronze in springs are additional hallmarks of quality.

Quality deadbolts have a rotating reinforced cylinder guard which can't be wrenched or jimmied off. A one inch throw on the bolt, an antisaw roller bar and a strike and door frame reinforcer are other indications ofquality.

Elegant styling with a quality look sells second to security. As front entrances become showplaces, customers want a quality appearance that will continue looking great for years to come.

Advertising quality, displaying quality and talking quality will build your image as the supplier of the best available door hardware. Affiliation or cooperation with local crime prevention groups such as the Neighborhood Watch will reinforce your image of handling only the highest quality, most secure door hardware.

A wide range of accessories well displayed will build your image as the complete door hardware supplier and increase your profits. Installation kits, pin tumbler key kits to rekey locks so that one key will open several doors, dummy trim and inside lever sets make one-stop shopping convenient for your customers.

Quality advice on self-installation provides another advantage for a retailer. An expert who can demonstrate the installation of locks, good, well illustrated instructions, a deftronstration of lock installation, or a VHS program on lock installation can give your customer self confidence in his ability to do-it-himself.

Your move to quality in locks will impress your contractor customers as well as your do-it-yourself trade. They, too, are feeling the pressure to equip their homes with top quality, security products. Home buyers as well as homeowners equate security with oualitv.

Story at a Glance

Ways to improve door hardware sales in the $350 million replacement lock market. why d-i-yers buy quality not price . . . howto become a door hardware specialist.

I F YOUR STORE isn't merchanI dising tools as impulse items. you may be getting only a fourth of your sales potential in a $1.57 billion annual market.

Almost three-quarters of all tools purchased are bought on impulse, not as planned expenditures. In analyzing customer shopping patterns to profile in-