Checking out this blog means that you must have an interest in the bath-and-kitchen field. It also means that you’ve found our new Web site, www.BathandKitchenPro.com. The site is a companion to our new publication Bath & Kitchen Pro, which is a supplement to Stone World, TILE, Plumbing & Mechanical, Supply House Times, and Environmental Design + Construction magazines.

With all the words written and spoken about bathrooms and kitchens these days, the staff of B&K Pro finds that we have more to write about. We’ll do that in our Bath & Kitchen Prose blog. We look forward to giving you our opinions and insights on trends, ideas and problems that you may be facing in your bath-and-kitchen jobs. We’ll also be reporting to you from major shows in our industry and passing along the thoughts of manufacturers of bath-and-kitchen products.

While we’re certain that consumers will find their way to this Web site and blog, the bath-and-kitchen professional is our primary audience. Much of what we write here will come from B&K Pro staff members who recently have hired contractors and designers like you to create the bathrooms and kitchens of their dreams.

These blog entries will reflect the thoughts, emotions, challenges, actions and trends of typical bath-and-kitchen buyers. You may think you know your customers, and maybe you do. You may just learn something here, however, that will help you in your business.   

We want to get inside your customers’ heads, follow them during the buying process, learn their frustrations, discover their triumphs and share all this with you.  

For most people, installing a new bathroom or kitchen represents much more than a side job. It likely will be one of the largest remodeling projects they ever undertake. As you know, redoing a bathroom or kitchen can represent a journey filled with roadblocks, surprises and sticker shock.

We have much to learn too. We want to learn what buyers like about the process, and what they hate. We want to find out what they tell their neighbors after the project is done. What part of the project gets glowing reviews?  What gets banished to the “never again” category?

Did they love their designer and tolerate their contractor, or vice versa?  Did they shop at a big box for products, use your supply house or let someone pick everything out for them?

Did they try to act as the general contractor or designer and sub everything out?  Or did they stay “hands off” and let the pros do their thing?

The bottom line is that the more you can please your customer with your work, the better every part of your business will function. A happy customer equals a stronger company reputation, which equals referrals, which equals more jobs.  Ideally, this creates a continuous circle of success, both financially and in terms of your career fulfillment.

But not every project is a home run.  So let’s work together to share our views from a lot of vantage points – our own personal B&K projects, those of family, friends, neighbors, and, yes, even the reactions of industry pros like you.

We’ll be updating this blog at least weekly, more as you post your comments and questions.

Thanks for reading our “B&K Prose” and come back again very soon.

The B&K Pro Staff,

Bob, Kelly, Tim, and Pat