Consultative Selling Tactics That Customers Actually Love with Merchandise Manager Abeer Saeed

About This Episode.

The best dealers in the building industry are not just stocking product. They are guiding people toward the home they actually want. In this conversation, I talk with Abeer Saeed, Merchandise Manager at Do it Best, about how consultative selling helps customers land on exactly what they want while believing it was their idea all along. Abeer came up through interior design and retail at JCPenney and Ashley Furniture before joining Do it Best, and she brings a rare blend of design instinct and merchandising strategy to the millwork and cabinets category.

We start with her core philosophy: sell the vibe, not the product. Buyers do not care about technical specs nearly as much as they care about how a space will make them feel. Abeer shares how to uncover a customer’s real pain point, ask the right follow-up questions, and naturally upsell into drawers, bar areas, and organization solutions without ever pushing. It is one of the clearest breakdowns of customer experience I have heard on the show.

From there, we get tactical on showroom design. Abeer walks through the small, affordable upgrades that make the biggest difference, from refreshing tired flooring and swapping in easy-to-change vignettes to fixing lighting and clearing clutter so samples look like the showpieces they are. We also dig into virtual reality kitchen design and how tools like Studio 695 and Roomvo let dealers render a full kitchen, walk a customer through it, and close more building materials retail sales without a massive showroom investment.

We close with a look at why creativity and emotion belong in this industry, how women drive most design decisions, and what it really takes to make a space feel special. Whether you run a lumberyard, a hardware store, or a design center, this episode will help you turn visibility and great customer experience into growth. Stay unmistakable.

Selling the vibe instead of specs turns how a space feels into the reason customers buy, which is the heart of great customer experience.

Virtual reality kitchen design lets you render and walk a customer through their space, closing more sales without a huge showroom investment.

Showroom design wins come from small, affordable upgrades like fresh flooring, easy-to-swap vignettes, smart lighting, and clutter-free samples.

Building materials retail grows when millwork and cabinets are merchandised as design experiences, not just boxes on a shelf.

What you'll take away today

• Consultative selling starts with the customer’s pain point, not the product, so you solve the real problem and upsell naturally.