Sinks as a Sales Tool
He agrees with White that having the sinks in-shop is a tremendous convenience, because it eliminates a wait that may stretch into weeks if a customer doesn’t immediately buy a sink from someone else, or chooses something that’s a special order.
“The builder doesn’t want to hear that it’s five or six weeks before the job can be finished because we’re waiting on a sink,” Spicher says. “If I never profited a dime from the sale of sinks, that (the convenience) alone more than makes up for their cost.
It’s a matter of customer goodwill, plus I don’t have a job sitting around the shop.”
While having the sink and its template immediately at hand are the biggest advantages, there are some others that fabricators have found by carrying sinks. White, for instance, notes that it ensures the right sink is available.
“No matter how many times we tell people they have to get an undermount sink, we still get people that bring in a top-mount sink,” he says. “Then, we’re back to the same headache.”
Loyd Pickart of Keystone Marble and Granite in Milwaukee says the undermount/drop-in issue is only one of several he’s faced with his clients. He says that, left to their own devices, some would come in with sinks as large as bathtubs.
“They’d pick out something way too large for a 20” cabinet,” he says. “Most people just assume every sink fits every cabinet and every countertop, and that’s just not the case.”
Selling the sinks also allows Keystone’s installers to put them in. While that might not sound important, Pickart says he’s run into plumbers who haven’t worked with natural stone and will over-tighten the granite, cracking it in the process.
“Even if the plumber is willing to pay for the damage he’s done, we had to replace one whole kitchen because we couldn’t get it to match closely enough,” says Pickart. “In these cases, it saves a lot of face for us with the customer and saves a lot of problems.”
ON THE MARGIN?
What about the profit possibilities? Fabricators say they’re rather down on the list, and many will even throw in the kitchen sink when it seems expedient.
One who has is Chris Stewart of International Granite and Stone LLC in Odessa, Fla., who used sinks as a promotional item in the months immediately after opening his business.
“We threw them in for free,” he says. “I don’t recall how many months we did that exactly, but it was like six months where we gave a customer a free sink with any kitchen purchase.”
Pickart is another one who’s been known to give away a sink. In his case, he says the giveaways have expanded to using vanity and bar sinks for promotional items.
Solid Surface’s Spicher gives away a free sink with any purchase of more than 50 ft². However, he’s also willing to upgrade his customers – for a price.