I've been operating Shades of Home, a window covering and interior design/decor business in Oakville with a client base including and extending 50km beyond Oakville for the past 20 years. Over these years our client base, from referrals to repeat clients including new clients have condensed down to the 48 - 78+ range. These are couples who are downsizing, whose adult children have finally left hom
e (for the last time) and those who are finally comfortable in their pre or early retirement years and are looking to replace their old and tattered interior window treatments. They come to us with questions about needs,function, warranties, ease of operation and they value the time we spend asking them questions, making suggestions and never, ever pushing a solution onto them. This group, I find, are shying away from the big-box stores. They have years of life experience and expect, as they should, to be dealt with honestly and knowledgeably. Our experience is that everyone of these clients are truly happy with our 'get to know the customer first' approach. They're looking for quality, service, knowledge, experience, value and a relationship with an owner and staff who understand their needs by asking relevant questions, presenting thoughtful solutions, educating them on what is an infrequent purchase. They want to be given enough information so they can make their own decision by balancing price, functionality and the look of the product thus allowing them to create their own sense of value based on all the information we've provided. It is our job to ensure that we meet and exceed their expectations in both product as well as after being there to service them in the future.
