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No Shower Wall Panel Dealer Left Behind – 6 Hot Remodeling Trends You Need to Use to Grow Your Business
October 21, 2019
Have you ever had a moment in your life (or in your business) where you’ve felt behind the times? I can remember when I was a 25-year-old guy trying to sell my blue pearl Slingerland drum set (which I still assumed was hot). I remember a younger guy on the other end of the phone asked me what color it was. I said, “blue pearl.” He said, “Dude, you’ve got be kidding me, right?” Reality slapped me in the face. The times, styles and popular manufacturers of drum sets had changed. I was old school. Left behind like a relic. I was beat down like an old drum head. Conversely, if you’re a shower and tub wall panel dealer today pushing ‘Bath-in-a-day’ acrylic wall panels, swirly cultured marble systems which were were hot in the 80’s and 90’s, maybe there’s a reason your sales are sucking wind. Maybe these products today are as hot as old obscure glass framed shower doors and drop in tubs, like this image below.
Ask yourself, “Am I promoting the wall panel version of the ‘blue sparkle’ drum set? Have homeowner’s tastes shifted and left me behind? Do my products take advantage of today’s hot trends? In this article I’m going to dish out 6 key trends in remodeling you need to know. When you look at these trends grade yourself from 1 to 10. Give yourself a ‘10’ if you’re rockin’ the trend. Give yourself a ‘1’ if what you’re offering is a relic (it’s the ‘blue sparkle drum set’ version of a fashion-forward remodeling product). If your total score puts you in the ‘N.I.’ category (that’s Needs Improvement who those haven’t had the pleasure of seeing young kids report cards) let’s talk.
Remodeling Trend #1
Matte is magnificent, gloss is going south
What do matte black, oil rubbed bronze and brushed nickel have in common?
- They’re all hot hardware finishes.
- None of them are glossy.
If you sell acrylic shower and tub wall panels, what’s the ONE finish you offer? It would be gloss.
If you sell cultured stone walls and shower pans which finish is lower cost today? That would be gloss. It’s priced less (in many significantly) than matte. Don’t get me wrong. Gloss finishes can look ‘ultra-cool’ in contemporary bathrooms (see below). However, your Millennial and 55+ buyers are overwhelming choosing matte finishes over gloss. If you don’t believe me, read . To ramp up your sales, you need . These give you the relaxed matte look and come in multiple interior design styles.
Do you need matte finished panels to be a larger part of your offerings?
Remodeling Trend #2
It’s all about size…when it comes to creating the ‘tile look’
You’ve just visited with a new prospective customer. They HATE their ‘1960’s special’ 5’ x 8’ pink and gray bathroom. The mosaic tiles on the shower floor are dark, dingy and moldy. The 4” x 4” wall tiles are dated to say the least. Your customer moans their teeny-tiny tiles are not only a pain to clean and make the bathroom look outdated, but also causes their small bathroom to feel even smaller. That’s why they called you for a free estimate. Their bathroom is ugly, high maintenance and dated.
Given this situation, what’s the last thing they want to see? It’s your 4” x 4” simulated tile acrylic wall panels. Talk about behind the times. I’m sure the only reason the manufacturer offers this ‘gem’ (sarcasm intended) is because they invested in the mold…years ago. So, you decide to bring out your 12” x 12” cultured marble (or granite) stone tile pattern. However, your prospect stops you dead in your tracts. They say, “That thing looks fake!” Ouch (you think). They go on to say. “The fake joint is the same color as the supposed tile. Yuck. It doesn’t look real at all.” You listen to them and think (to yourself), they’ve got a point.
You need a which looks and feels like – well – real tile! You need a tile surround shower panel which comes in popular large-format sizes (24” x 12”, 24” x 18” and 24” x 24”) and makes small bathrooms feel bigger.
You need to stop showing 4” x 4” simulated tile acrylic panels. You need to stop showing fake-looking cultured stone panels. Pull out of your sales kit these which have a life-like grout joint (of a different color). Your customer will appreciate the realism. They’ll like that they’re available in large ‘faux-tile’ sizes (24” x 12”, 24” x 18” and 24” x 24” sizes).
Remodeling Trend #3
The Modern Farmhouse bathroom look is HOT!
Your customer wants to de-stress after a long day. They want (no – they’re going to demand) their bathroom has the comfortable, lived-in, Joanna-Gaines-type look they’ve seen on TV. But there’s a catch. They want this lived-in-relaxed-look, but they also want it to be low maintenance. They love, love, love the Modern Farmhouse vibe. Now there’s a challenge for you. What wall panels are you going to show them for a relaxed, low maintenance look? You stare blankly into your sales kits and make these ‘genius-bar-like’ deductions:
- Your glossy acrylic wall panels certainly don’t create the ‘weathered’ look.
- Your cultured stone matte finished panels look OK. However, when you present the price, it’s not exciting enough for them to want to give you a deposit check.
- Your decorative PVC panels are smooth and distinctive, but they don’t exactly conjure up the ‘rustic-feel’ your prospects want.
Is there a wall panel alternative to get the Modern Farmhouse look? Not until now. These textured look (and feel) like wood and are waterproofed. You can not only use them in the shower but can extend them into the bathroom as wainscoting or run them to the ceiling if your gutting the space.
Remodeling Trend #4
The rich are getting richer. There’s higher growth in the upper income segment of the remodeling market.
When you sell a wall panel job in a middle-income town do you find getting a deposit check can be an uphill battle? There’s a good reason for this. Although (according to the Economic Policy Institute) there has been job stability (a good economic indicator for in-home remodeling sales) in the United States, there hasn’t been real wage-growth (uninflated) in middle-income households. And when you see your own payroll deductions for health care costs, this tightening noose around wage growth hits home. Sure, health care costs were going to be ‘reigned-in’ through Obama-Care, but how exactly has that worked out?
‘Back-in-the-day’ my Italian immigrant father-in-law (without a good command of English – he spoke broken English until the day he died- and an 8th grade equivalent education) was able to eek out a middle-income life by working 2 jobs. However, if Poppy (as my kids used to call him) was alive and working today, I’d bet money, he’d have a hard time with his lack of education earning even middle-income wages. While I’ll say I absolutely love selling to the middle-income market. These people are real. They’re down to earth. Howeve