The Kitchen Sales Coach Issue #20 - "My Market is Different"
By Robert Foltz, CKD
As a business consultant, I travel all over the country. In each community I visit, I hear business owners declare that their business problems are due to the idiosyncrasies of their particular market. Does this type of thinking keep you from looking at your business critically and not addressing the real issues?
What I see is very different. Sure, the market varies from state to state and region to region, but the market won't make you successful and the market won't make you fail. There are common elements to every successful business and to every business failure. As a consultant, my job is to help you stop doing the things that will take you down the road to failure and to help you add those strategies that will help you to be successful in any market condition.
A recent prospective client and I were discussing his problems-low margins, lower than expected closing percentages for sales staff, and too much reliance on the builder market. Does anyone else have these problems? As I've traveled the country, I've seen that the problems facing dealers are largely universal. Low margins in California have the same effect on business as they do in New York or Georgia, in that there's not enough cash to service your clients properly, therefore affecting your referral rate. The key to solving any problem is to first recognize that you have one. The market is a convenient scapegoat since you have no control over what the market does and doesn't do. Here in Florida, we can simply say "Oh, the housing bubble has hurt us badly. Florida real estate is in the toilet." These are just excuses-successful firms are using this opportunity to put their competitors out of business.
The fact is that you have total control over your business success! Take a piece of paper and write down the areas where you'd like to see improvement. Then think of three solutions to each area. For example:
Issue: The Florida real estate market has shrunk and reduced the number of remodeling customers.
1. Contact previous clients with new products or services, such as closets.
2. Make sure my showroom and sales technique are sharp so I capture the interest of my prospects and improve my closing rate.
3. Change the way I present my services to better inform potential clients of the problems I can solve for them. By doing more than my competition, I'll earn more of the clients' money and outshine my competitors.
If you sit down and do this in a moment of quiet, you'll be surprised by how many solutions will pop into your head. No matter how silly the thought is, write it down. Many great solutions start out as a funny thought that stays with you. The market is just an excuse for giving up and staying in the past.
I'm constantly fine tuning my Kitchen Sales Coach business, as I believe dealers think their problems are unique and different from anyone else's. It's difficult to admit that you, and not the market, may be the cause of your own problems, but know that I'm not here to judge anyone; I'm here to help, to apply the tools that work in California, in Georgia, and in Massachusetts. I don't make excuses, I'm just improving the value to my customers: you, the kitchen and bath dealer and designer.
About Robert Foltz, CKD
Robert Foltz, CKD is experienced in all areas of the retail kitchen and bath business. As a manufacturers' representative, his experience and expertise can help improve your business. He also works as a sales trainer, consultant, and personal coach.
With 23 years of experience in every area of the kitchen business, he has personally experienced the most common mistakes all business owners and sales people make. He has used that experience to develop a formula that will help you avoid those common mistakes and to dramatically accelerate your success.
Robert can be reached at and his work can be seen on www.KitchenSalesCoach.com.