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Smart Buyer's Guide: Seven Criteria to Help You Assess Who to Buy From When Purchasing Window Coverings Online
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Your
overall satisfaction with your online buying
experience will result from your ability to
differentiate the many online window coverings
retailers. This guide will provide you with the
distinctions you need to make an intelligent
decision about who to buy from online to make your
project a true success.
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Download Our Smart Buyer's Guide (pdf)
Ordering window coverings over the Internet may
be an unsettling thought for you. After all, there
are many retailers to select from online and you are
making a significant investment. How do you know
who you should buy from? How can you tell one
company from another?
Summary: Criteria to Assess Who to Buy From Online
Comparison
of Online Companies Against These Criteria
1) Reputation - Do their past customers speak well of them?
Can you view these comments on an independent
website other than that of the retailer?
2)
What if Everything Does Not Go Well?
What help, if any, is the Company promising if you
have a problem with your order? Do they say?
3) Proactive Communication - Will they keep you informed as to the status of your purchase
throughout the process from purchase to receipt of
your blinds without you having to waste your time
following up? What is the Company communicating
about your value to them by how they act here?
4) Is the website a quality, up-to-date
site that runs well? The site is a reflection of the values the company holds. Do
they really value you?
5) Competence
– Custom window coverings are a complex product.
Only if the staff knows the ins and outs of window
coverings will you receive what you think you are
ordering.
6) Do They Include Detailed Product Pictures and Relevant Product
Specs so You Know Exactly What You are Ordering?
Do they display clear, close up, detailed product
pictures, including pictures of valances, bottom
rails and pull tassels so you know exactly what you
will receive before purchasing?
7)
Do They Include Explanations as to What the Various
Options Will Do For You?
Do they explain how all of the available product
options will help you improve your situation? Or do
they just give you a list and leave it to you to
figure it out? Do you really want to be competent
at window coverings? Do they understand that?
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What is not promised on
a Company's website is not part of that Company's
values, culture, thinking or actions.
How much of your time, energy and
effort will
you need to
spend in achieving peace of mind? |
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Reputation
Investigate the reputation of anyone you consider purchasing
from. It is one thing to post testimonials from satisfied
customers on a company’s own website. They can be carefully
controlled; positive comments included and negative
excluded. Epinions.com, Shopping.com and BizRate.com are a
few independent sites available to assist you in selecting a
reputable online retailer. These sites invite consumers to
post their opinion of their buying experience.
Does the company you are thinking of purchasing your window
coverings from, actively encourage you to consult an
independent opinions website? If not, why not? If
you do not find any independent testimonials endorsing the
company, perhaps you should consider buying elsewhere.
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What if
Everything Does Not Go Well?
Most online retailers do not fabricate window
coverings. Rather, they coordinate the fulfillment of your
order directly with the manufacturer. Many times, the
company you buy from is at the mercy of how responsive the
staff of the manufacturer is to them, when helping you.
The staff of the Company you buy from is a
powerful resource to leverage between you and the
manufacturer if you have a problem with your order.
That said, what does the Company promise if you
do not measure correctly? Or your blinds are fabricated
incorrectly? Or the manufacturer forgets to include the
mounting hardware? Or your new blind does not operate
correctly? Do they promise to be very responsive in helping
you? Or do they NOT make any commitments? If no promise is
made on their website, do not expect outstanding service if
you have a problem. What is not promised on a company’s
website is NOT part of that company’s values, culture,
thinking or actions.
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Proactive
Communication that Gives You Peace of Mind
Most websites send a courtesy order confirmation
after your submit your order online. Does the follow up end
there though?
Most times, you have invested significant money
into purchasing new window coverings. It can be very
upsetting to not know the status of your order at all
times. But how much time, energy and effort will you need
to expend in achieving peace of mind that your order is
coming?
Before you place your order, make sure you know what
information you will be receiving from the company
throughout the time between when
you place your order and when you receive your
new window coverings. Ensure that the company will
automatically send you 1) an order confirmation 2) the
estimated ship date of your order and 3) the tracking number
once your order has shipped. This should be your minimum
requirement. If they only provide 1 or 2 communications,
plan to spend your valuable time following up.
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Quality,
Up-to-Date Website that Runs Well and is Easy to Use
Companies that are knowledgeable in the area of
window coverings, KNOW how much information an average
person needs in order to make a good decision when
purchasing window coverings. It is easy to spot a website
whose owner’s do not understand your needs when purchasing a
complex product like blinds.
Some things to think about when assessing a
company include:
1) Balance of information presented:
. Is it easy to find the information that you care about
in making your decision?
. Does the company present too much information, confusing
you? If there is too much information presented, this can
be the result of owners being experts at data base
management, but not at window coverings.
. Do they present too little information, so you do not
feel at peace knowing you have all the facts to make a good
decision? This can be the result of not knowing what a
person shopping for window coverings needs to know, or of
not caring to make the investment of company resources to
present all that you need to know to make an informed
decision. Knowledgeable window covering people know the
proper balance of information to provide to you. Your
comfort is critical throughout the entire online buying
process.
2) Is the website aesthetically pleasing? Window coverings
are interior décor products that affect whether your home is
aesthetically pleasing to you, after all.
3) Does the site convey a sense of quality in how
the company operates?
. Is the site updated regularly?
. Or are there references to sales or products that have since come
and gone?
. Does the site communicate attention to detail?
4) Do each of the pages on the site come up quickly when you click
on a link? Or are you forced to wait a long time. Some of the
timing is your internet provider. However, if you find that a
particular site seems to take much longer to navigate than many
others you regularly visit, the company is not taking proper care to
ensure your experience is trouble-free.
A website reveals much about the values and
quality of the Company. Your experience with the site will, no
doubt, foreshadow your purchasing experience.
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[To Comparison]
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A website reveals much about the
values and quality of a Company. Your experience with the site will foreshadow your purchasing experience.
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Competence
You need to be satisfied that the staff of the
company you plan to order from is competent at window coverings.
How can you judge this from a website?
1)
Personal Opinion - Does the company’s customer service staff give
you their opinion of specific products to assist you in your
selection? Do they know the products well enough to say? Can they
say why they hold their opinion? Is it from their personal
experience with the product?
2)
Ability to Specify What You Want
– Custom window
coverings are a complex product. You need
to know that the staff of the company you buy from understands all
the complexities of window coverings so you receive what you intend.
To assess this, look for how the company presents
specific manufacturer information. Take as an example, how they
present information about how much the manufacturer will deduct from
the width and length of your blind during production (known as
factory deductions) in order for it to fit your window properly. Do
they disclose this information? If they do, is it a copy of a page
taken from a manufacturer’s reference manual full of jargon that you
do not understand? Or is it information that a knowledgeable person
within the company “digested” and then had their web folks present
in a format that is easy for you to understand?
If
it is a copy of a manufacturer’s reference manual, you can assess
one of two things 1) either management at the company did not think
about the fact that you have no desire to become competent at window
coverings or 2) they thought about it and decided that it was easier
for them to reuse what was already available than to expend effort
to make it easily understandable for you. Either way, they do not
demonstrate they know the minute details of window coverings. So,
how comfortable
can you feel that your project will turn out as
you envision? They need to know the details in order to help you
produce a successful project.
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Does the website convey that they
understand you do not want to be competent at window coverings?
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Detailed Product
Pictures so You Know Exactly What You are Ordering
The website you order from should provide close
up pictures of the product(s) you are purchasing. These pictures
should include room settings with the window covering you are
considering, displayed so you can picture what it will look like in
your home. The site should also include close-up pictures of the
specific product features including valances, bottom rails, pull
tassels and specific operating options, at a minimum. These details
are important to allow you to be at peace that you know what your
custom window covering(s) will look like in your home.
Some sites provide room scenes, but not close ups
of valances and the like. If these details matter to you, insist
that they send you a picture before you buy. You need to be assured
that you will be receiving what you think, with no surprises.
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Explanation of What
the Various Options Will Do For You
All variations in how window shades operate
originated in someone thinking, “If only my window covering could…”
All variations in operating functions came from the real world to
help people better take care of something important to them. These
concerns include improving the ability to raise and lower the shade,
keeping privacy while letting some light in, reducing glare on TV or
computer screens, remotely operating hard to reach window shades and
the like. This is what you care about.
Many websites provide a list of products and the
options that are available with. Does the site make the effort to
go beyond just a list of products and options to help you get a
thorough understanding of what the various possibilities will help
you take care of? The site you order from needs to demonstrate they
are competent to help you take care of what you care about. Do not
be satisfied buying from a site that throws a list of available
options at you leaving you to figure out how they might be useful to
you. Insist that the company help you create the situation that
will work best for you and what you care about.
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