What a Difference a Year Makes for Kansas City Deck Builders!
Well, the experts have pretty much declared the recession over. I’m not sure if many Kansas City deck builders have yet begun to notice improved consumer spending. However, all the deck builders and suppliers I’ve talked to are extremely optimistic about the outlook for 2010. Although the majority of researchers and forecasters predict a very slow recovery for the U.S. economy, most say home improvements will see a five to ten percent increase next year. Being a professional deck contractor, that’s very uplifting to hear. It’s also a complete turnaround from the attitude consuming the deck industry, and most of America, this time last year.
Most of 2009 was about cheap, cheaper, and cheapest. A plethora of customers were leveraging and bargaining deck builders for their absolute, bare bones, bottom dollar. More tire kicking than you’ll ever see at a downtown Detroit car dealership.
That type of consumer spending created a popular, however very negative result. One which I unfortunately predicted. More and more horror stories are surfacing about shady deck builders and faulty constructed decks in Kansas City, and I presume, throughout the country. The recession brought out many unqualified and opportunistic deck builders, contractors, and handymen. Frankly, I consider them to be con artists because that’s really what they are.
However, they’re not solely to blame. They couldn’t exist without a demand for their prices.
As the great British social thinker, John Ruskin, once said:
“There is a hardly anything in the world that some men cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper; and those who consider price only, are such men’s lawful prey.”
His quote is the pretense and basis for the more commonly used and modern adage: “You get what you pay for.”
This is so very true. Just think about it. Can you ever correlate cheapest with highest quality? When you go looking to buy a car, is the best car available the cheapest one on the lot?
How about dining out? Is the fanciest restaurant with the finest gourmet food cheaper than your neighborhood McDonalds?
Absolutely not! That’s because, quality products combined with professional service and made by exceptional skill always come at a high cost. Everyone should know that by now.
Sorry to digress. It’s just a selling point I can never get away from. I try and put it out there whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Near the end of 2008, all deck builders and retailers were focused on cutting inventory, trimming construction costs and streamlining production and labor costs. Every deck builder and contractor knew it was imperative to become extremely efficient while remaining highly productive to survive the worst recession in nearly seventy years. The deck builders who’ve made it this far should now concentrate on their company’s growth and progression for the upcoming deck season.
Positive marketing campaigns backed with quality decks, screened porches, pergolas, and outdoor living areas are going to be what sells next year. As a Kansas City deck builder, we’ve already started to see a different trend in consumer spending. Many people are now looking for a superior built deck, even if it costs a little more.
Bottom line, smarter consumer purchasing is up the upswing. Smarter doesn’t mean the cheapest. It also doesn’t necessarily have to be the most expensive either. It includes both not under buying and not overspending on a deck. It means finding the best value out there. The highest quality craftsmanship, best customer service, and most comprehensive warranty without the frivolous money wasting so prevalent in the 90’s.
I can’t wait!
Hope this helps,
Dan Milford (DW Elite Decks – Kansas City deck builder)
