Bob Bakes and Paul Kropp: 5 Things a Business Should Do to Create a Wow Customer Experience
An Interview With Orlando Zayas
Train well. Bob Bakes: “Don’t expect employees to know everything from the outset. Equip them with skills and training to set them up for success. It’s the responsibility of leaders to recognize deficiencies and address them.”
Be responsive. Paul Kropp: “Respond to clients instantly or as early as possible so they know they are your first priority. If you don’t have an answer right away, let them know that you are working on finding one.”
As part of our series about the five things a business should do to create a Wow! customer experience, I had the pleasure of interviewing Bob Bakes and Paul Kropp, co-founders of full-service luxury kitchen design and cabinetry company Bakes & Kropp.
Bob Bakes, in his role as Head of Design, calls on his years of experience as owner and operator of a kitchen design studio in central London and his well-known former brand, Bakes & Company, based in Sag Harbor, NY. Bob has developed an expansive knowledge of the interior design process and professional project management skills throughout his accomplished career.
Buying his first saw at age 12, Paul Kropp’s 30 years of experience in the artistry and proficiency in master woodworking has helped him become one of the leading millwork experts and cabinet builders in the US. For the last decade, Paul’s former brand, Kropp Woodworking, produced internationally sought-after fine luxury signature custom kitchen cabinets, furniture, and countertops, and was the avenue through which Bob and Paul formed the ideal partnership of Bakes & Kropp luxury kitchen and cabinet design.
Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
Bob Bakes: “I got my college degree in building construction at the University of Nottingham and spent the first 15 years of my career as a surveyor. Starting out in the building industry taught me the structure of how a kitchen comes together. From there, I worked for a few different kitchen companies. I started a kitchen design company in Chelsea, London, where I sold products from other brands. I spent some time as a surveyor at John Lewis of Hungerford in Central London, then after moving to the USA in 2003 designed kitchens for Christopher Peacock in Connecticut for three years. I founded Bakes & Company in 2006. Years later, I met Paul Kropp, who I frequently hired to build cabinetry for the kitchens I was designing. We discovered we had a positive working relationship and decided to form an official partnership in 2014. We have been Bakes & Kropp ever since.”
Paul Kropp: “My grandfather made toys, so my passion for woodworking started at a young age. I did a lot of custom work for Johnny Grey early in my career where I built about one kitchen a month. When we established Bakes & Kropp, I took those custom woodworking concepts I had always practiced and created an efficient custom production model marked by organization and planning. Early on in my career, I did a lot of carpentry work in people’s homes. Even in those days, I always tried to incorporate small, unexpected gestures that enhanced the level of customer service. That approach still translates today! We go above and beyond to do small things like adjusting a dishwasher, which build on each other to create an excellent experience for our clients.”
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?
Bob Bakes: “Because design is such an organic process, all designers can point to at least one time they have missed something in the mechanical complexity of a project. One time, while I was on vacation on a cruise in the Caribbean, our team delivered a kitchen to a job site on the 4th floor of a building in the west side of New York. We had created a stunning 88-inch custom hood to fit the space exactly. Unfortunately, when we tried to use the elevator, the hood was a quarter of an inch too long — amazing! We ultimately had to boom lift the hood through the window. We learned to double and triple-check that every piece of a kitchen will fit, not just in the space itself, but in elevators and through doorways. Designers — anticipate the challenges that might come up, brainstorm solutions, and be transparent with your clients from the beginning so they don’t expect a flawless process. When you do make a mistake, take responsibility for resolving it, cover the cost if necessary, and make sure the experience ends on a positive note.”
Paul Kropp: “I’ve made plenty of mistakes! At my first job at a professional cabinet shop at age 15, I was told to put the back on a cabinet and I put it on backward. I should’ve known because the plywood on one side was so ugly, but you don’t know what you don’t know when you’re starting out. When I was 20, someone hired me to trim his door, but I didn’t do it correctly because it was a bifold door. The customer got angry and told me I didn’t know what I was doing. You have to put yourself out there when you’re first starting out. You’re never going to know everything, so be willing to make little mistakes. Just be sure to correct them as quickly as possible and never make the same mistake twice.”
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Bob Bakes: “I’m obviously very grateful to Paul Kropp! Aside from him, someone I previously worked for helped me learn what to do and what not to do in business. I realized that in order to make progress in an important area, you have to make it a priority. For example, if you want your business to grow and you know there are specific marketing initiatives like public relations or online advertising that will help, you need to focus on those initiatives and follow through. We take a focused approach at Bakes & Kropp so it’s easy to take this truth for granted, but it’s essential to success. From a design perspective, my experience at John Lewis of Hungerford inspired me to become a designer, so I’m grateful for that.”
Paul Kropp: “I was inspired to go to business school after one experience working with a professional cabinet maker who was disorganized on the business side of things. I realized I would be much more effective in this industry if I understood principles of business in addition to being an excellent woodworker.”
Thank you for that. Let’s now pivot to the main focus of our interview. This might be intuitive, but I think it’s helpful to specifically articulate it. In your words, can you share a few reasons why great customer service and a great customer experience is essential for success in business?
Bob Bakes: “Customer referrals and customer retention are fundamentally important to the growth of a business. These can’t exist without great customer service — it’s that simple.”
We have all had times either in a store, or online, when we’ve had a very poor experience as a customer or user. If the importance of a good customer experience is so intuitive, and apparent, where is the disconnect? How is it that so many companies do not make this a priority?
Paul Kropp: “It’s one thing to have great customer service when you’re an individual with a small business. But once you have a company with multiple locations and employees, you have to deliver a consistent message and product. The way to do this is through excellent training of employees, which is an area often overlooked. Training is the process by which you teach employees even the smallest details, such as how to greet people and how to answer the phone. I compare it to making a grilled cheese sandwich — everyone knows how to make it, but everyone does it a little differently. If you’re on our team, you need to make our grilled cheese sandwich. For example, we respond to inquiries as quickly as possible and never leave people hanging for more than 24 hours. In addition to training, positive company culture and good treatment of employees contributes to good customer service. If those aren’t in place, customer experience will suffer.”
Do you think that more competition helps force companies to improve the customer experience they offer? Are there other external pressures that can force a company to improve the customer experience?
Bob Bakes: “The more options your clients have, the more essential it is to provide a great customer experience. External pressures certainly exist that push businesses to improve in this area, but ultimately you can’t survive without it. It all comes back to training and setting expectations for employees.
Paul Kropp: “Some companies care about customer experience, but they don’t know how to translate that to how they train their employees on the front lines. In response to external pressures, they can evolve to identify their shortcomings and improve in this area. Many hire consultants to assist with this. But ultimately, great service starts with leaders who make it a priority independent of what is happening among the competition.”
Can you share with us a story from your experience about a customer who was “Wowed” by the experience you provided?
Bob Bakes: “A developer we haven’t worked with in nine months came into our showroom yesterday. It was like meeting an old friend — so natural, comfortable, and positive. It was a reminder that we’ve achieved a reputation for excellence in his mind which has led to a great relationship.“
Paul Kropp: “All clients express their satisfaction differently. Some are vocal and others are more reserved, but you see their appreciation through repeat business. One client we served recently in the Upper East Side of Manhattan was really expressive in their gratitude for our work. All of the ways customers show their appreciation are rewarding and remind us why we are in this business.”
Did that Wow! experience have any long term ripple effects? Can you share the story?
Bob Bakes: “Because we work with designers and developers, as well as homeowners themselves, we receive positive feedback from both sides. We’ve had countless previous customers call us up years down the line to help them with new projects.”
Ok, here is the main question of our discussion. Based on your experience and success, what are the five most important things a business leader should know in order to create a Wow! Customer Experience.
- Illustrate what it means to have excellent customer service from the top.
Bob Bakes: “As leaders, it’s our job to set the standard for how we want our employees to present themselves. We have a duty to behave in a way that we want our people to mirror. As leaders gain client respect and confidence, the rest of the team can adjust their demeanor in accordance with the example that has been set.”
2. Create a positive company culture.
Paul Kropp: “When you foster a sense of belonging for employees, it’s easy for them to share your vision and create a great experience for clients.”
3. Train well.
Bob Bakes: “Don’t expect employees to know everything from the outset. Equip them with skills and training to set them up for success. It’s the responsibility of leaders to recognize deficiencies and address them.”
4. Set realistic expectations and communicate them to all parties.
Paul Kropp: “Set a high standard, but anticipate challenges that might arise during a project and create a plan for how to solve them. Communicate these expectations to everyone involved, from upper management to employees to the clients themselves.”
5. Be responsive.
Paul Kropp: “Respond to clients instantly or as early as possible so they know they are your first priority. If you don’t have an answer right away, let them know that you are working on finding one.”
Are there a few things that can be done so that when a customer or client has a Wow! experience, they inspire others to reach out to you as well?
Paul Kropp: “There are a lot of opportunities for cross-promotion in our industry. We regularly work first hand with interior designers and architects who like to engage with us on social media and share the projects we’ve worked on together. Social media allows the work to speak for itself through imagery, but it also provides a forum for industry professionals to share about their positive experiences in an organic way. This is much preferred over other methods — I don’t like to put our customers through the hassle of filling out online surveys.”
My particular expertise is in retail, so I’d like to ask a question about that. Amazon is going to exert pressure on all of retail for the foreseeable future. New Direct-To-Consumer companies based in China are emerging that offer prices that are much cheaper than US and European brands. What would you advise retail companies and eCommerce companies, for them to be successful in the face of such strong competition?
Paul Kropp: “Value comes in different forms. While there may be ‘value’ from a price perspective, there is often equal or much greater value that can be captured through quality and service. In order to be successful in the face of cheaper competition, emphasize differences in those two areas. In our specific business, a luxury kitchen cannot be mass produced at a cheap price; it must be custom made with great attention paid to customer service. For this reason, we don’t feel that we have to compete with companies that provide cheap, mass-produced cabinets.
If you are a retail company selling a similar product at a higher price point, create a unique experience that can’t be rivaled, so you are still delivering value that won’t be captured in an Amazon package.”
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Paul Kropp: “If I could start any movement, I would start one that leads to the discovery of a cure for cancer. A movement resulting in universal healthcare would also be nice!”
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Instagram: @BakesandKropp
Facebook: @BakesandKropp
Twitter: @BakesandKropp
Pinterest: Bakes and Kropp Fine Cabinetry
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
