The Kitchen Sales Coach Issue #16 - Recognizing if Prospects Align with Your Business
By Robert Foltz, CKD
Part three of my series on cold calling deals with determining if your prospects align with your business. The surest way to do that is to make certain that your marketing campaign is targeted toward your intended customer profile. Throughout all the forms of marketing you use, you'll have to weed out messages not geared toward your target audience.
How do you know if the prospect you're cold calling is in alignment with your business? Fact finding, rather than fact telling is the key. You know a potential prospect isn't a fit for your business model if:
1. Your prospect expects you to invest your time and resources into pursuing their business without any financial commitment on their part (free estimates and designs)
2. The prospect doesn't treat you in a professional or courteous manner.
3. The prospect demands products and services you're not prepared to give.
Now there are many more than these three, but in the interest of brevity, I've chosen three of the most common. Here's why you don't want to compromise on any of these three points:
1. "How can I not give a free estimate or design?" you ask. You should have your cost matrix down to a science and be able to do a takeoff of plans and be no more than 10 to 15 percent off the mark. If you take the time by asking questions to find out from your prospect who they have used in the past, what they liked about the service, and what they'd want to change, then it'll be easier to get the prospect into your showroom and demonstrate the value of using your design firm. You should not have to perform free design work. If you don't have your cost matrix down, then get it down before you start cold calling. Simply use three categories of cabinetry with two design categories each ( i.e. good, better, and best with basic and fully-loaded accessory packages). Then go cold calling.
2. If the prospect is rude to you over the phone or doesn't respond to your inquiries, then that's their problem, not yours. As you'll remember from one of my previous articles, the way you do anything is the way you do everything. Close-minded attitudes about sales calls are a sign of being close-minded about new products and services. Remember, too, that if you can't hear a promotion, then how can you give a promotion? Always welcome reps and others into your business environment even if you don't have the time, invite them to make an appointment if you don't have a few minutes when they walk in. You never know what information they could give you to help you and your business. Never turn down free information.
3. If the prospect demands that you do something that your firm is not comfortable doing (and pricing) then don't perform that work for that prospect. If the work seems like it might be something you can make money doing , then by all means after you've done your research on how and what systems you need to make it a profit center, do it. How many people go ahead with a project and then in the middle of it realized the cost was double what was anticipated. Been there, done that-have the t-shirt!
Next issue: Gathering a prospect list
What Kind of Sales Dog are You: The Poodle
In the last issue, we spoke about the Golden Retriever from Blair Singer's book, $ales Dogs. This issue, we're going to focus on the second most popular breed in our industry: the poodle. These dogs know better than anyone else that perception is more powerful than reality! Image and reputation are important to success in kitchen and bath sales, and no one knows this better than the poodle. They spend more time marketing their companies' products and services because they want the prospects to come to them, not the other way around.
These dogs are great marketers. They join every group that they can and love developing and implementing marketing strategies. They shine at seminars, trade shows, and other public relations events. Poodles are great at building referral bases, using testimonials, and networking. These are the dogs you send to business networking clubs and service clubs, like Rotary, because they'll promote your business like no other breed. Speaking in front of a group really makes their tails wag!
The salesperson/designer who's predominantly a poodle always has the best clothes and understands image. "To be successful, I have to look and act successful" is this breed's credo.
Poodles make some of the best sales managers because of their enthusiasm for marketing and promotion, in addition to their comfort level with speaking in front of groups. They also will keep the other dogs in the kennel groomed and looking their best because poodles understand the importance of appearance and attitude.
This breed is my predominant trait… yes, I'm a poodle.
Next issue: The Chihuahua
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.