The Kirby Corporation is based in Cleveland, Ohio and is mainly in the business of manufacturing vacuum
cleaners and other home cleaning accessories.
Instead of spending huge sums of money on print or electronic advertising, the only way to get a Kirby
vacuum cleaner is by door to door sales.
And like any other brand they also come in all variations with numerous additional parts, accessories
and models with or without bags.
Kirby's price is significantly higher than any of its competitors but they have still been able to
penetrate a sizeable section of the mass. This has been mainly because of the quality of their
vacuum cleaners renowned for their power, versatility and durability.
They have also retained the look of the 1930s thus creating an easily recognizable image for
themselves. Their present models come with Micron Magic HEPA Filtration system, and a Circular-Dri Foam
shampoo attachment.
How To Buy A Kirby Vacuum?
The sales of Kirby vacuum cleaners are unique in that they are based on door-to-door sales
and this is not practiced by any of the major companies. A customer can ask for a demonstration on any of
the models which the salesperson would then bring to the prospective consumer's place.
This is when the deal is either made or not. The salesperson has got only one chance to convince his
consumer.
The general method is to ask the prospective buyer to bring his old vacuum cleaner with which a part of
the room is cleaned by the demonstrator.
Then the demonstrator takes out the Kirby vacuum cleaner and cleans the same area to prove that
the older vacuum cleaner is no match to the Kirby.
This is a very engaging demonstration and most consumers are very pleased with the results.
If the customer is satisfied and shows interest in buying the product an initial price is quoted which
is also negotiable.
If both parties settle on a figure then the customer is sold the cleaner with which the demonstration
has been given. The customer is also briefed in detail as to how to use their specific model of the Kirby
vacuum cleaners family.
However there have been complains regarding Kirby's selling techniques. It has been said they are too
aggressive and even try to push their cleaning units to people like senior citizens who wouldn't be
able to handle such machines.
And then there is the problem with negotiable price. Often customers who pay more, only to find out his
neighbor paid much less, feel cheated of their hard earned money.
Kirby is aware of the problem and is trying to tackle it. Any agent who is found to make wrong usage of
the Kirby selling scheme is immediately disqualified from the Kirby team.
The warranty offered by Kirby is also special. Though it varies from model to model, no model
comes with less than three years of warranty which is a lot when compared to other companies.
In fact the latest model that Kirby has introduced, the Ultimate G Diamond Edition, comes with a
lifetime warranty.
So we can conclude Kirby is a mixed bag.
They treat you personally to demos, offer you top quality Kirby vacuum cleaners but you will have to
pay a price for that and if you don't know how to bargain be prepared to pay a few bucks more than your
neighbor.
