FRANCHISEE SECURES £4,500 SALE HOURS AFTER DOWNLOADING
It's been in development stage since the beginning of the year. It cost over £30,000 to design and build. And now Dream Doors' iPad App is available to download, free of charge, through iTunes.
The App features a standard L-shaped kitchen template. Customers can then use an iPad to choose from an array of door styles and colours, as well as handles and worktops to help visualise their kitchen makeover. It's all done in seconds. The kitchen design feature even allows users to change the colour of the window and the walls, and select a number of different floor styles.
The App includes a search facility so that customers can find their local showroom. It also has a section with the latest company news, and a before-and-after gallery showcasing existing customer's kitchen makeovers.
Dream Doors' managing director, Troy Tappenden, who founded the company almost 15 years ago, is excited about the latest sales tool for franchisees: “We've invested hundreds of thousands into bespoke software over the last couple of years,” he says. “All of which is designed to help franchisees sell more, and of course, make more money. The App builds on all of that investment, and will bring millions of pounds into the company.”
Dream Doors had its best year in 2012, growing by 38 percent. It is up 30 percent on that already this year, and on target for £18million of sales. The App, which will soon work as a design aid on Dream Doors' website, led to one sale just hours after it was made available to franchisees. Colin Lynch, who owns Dream Doors Lanarkshire, downloaded the App earlier this week. He then took his iPad to his next appointment, showed the customer what could be achieved in their home and secured the sale there and then.
“This App is fabulous,” he says. “I used it with a customer on Tuesday and got a £4,500 sale.”
Dream Doors provides a cost-saving door replacement service though which customers can choose from over 1,000 combinations of door styles and colours. The doors are made-to-measure and can be fitted in as little as one day. Most customers choose a kitchen facelift, which includes worktops and a new sink and taps, but still end up saving 50 percent when compared to a complete kitchen refurbishment. Dream Doors sells full kitchens as well, including appliances, storage solutions and all manner of ancillary services such as tiling, flooring and lighting.
The franchise costs £23,825 + vat, with a further £50,000 needed for working capital and the showroom fit out. The average turnover from 45 Dream Doors showrooms is well over £400,000, and some franchisees, who don't have any previous kitchen industry experience, net a six-figure income. Dream Doors is recruiting franchisees from all over the country, and will be on stand M160 at the National Franchise Exhibition in Birmingham on 4th and 5th October.