NKBA/KBDN Distributor Salary Survey Results
By Edward S. Pell
Workers at kitchen and bath distributors earn an average of $76,000 per year. That’s according to the NKBA/KBDN Joint Distributor Salary Survey for 2008, which polled more than 450 owners, managers, and employees about their salary and benefits.
Some 86% of those polled worked at a company that distributes cabinets, while 72% distribute countertop material or blanks. 61% work at a firm distributing hardware, 53% plumbing products, 32% flooring, 31% lighting, and 29% appliances. Three out of four sell retail as well as wholesale, and 94% have a showroom.
Employee Salaries
One out of every three who responded to the poll is an inside salesperson. About the same percentage were business owners or CEOs, and one in six was an inside sales manager. The distributors had an average of 7.5 employees.
Owners and CEOs earned an average of $122,000 per year with perks, which worked out to about $47 an hour, roughly the same as an astronomer or a pharmacist, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Canadian distributorship owners reported the highest average annual salary of $142,000 (all figures for Canada are listed in Canadian dollars). Western owners pulled in an average of $138,000 per year; Northeastern owners, $132,000; Southern owners, $118,000; and Midwestern distributorship owners averaged $92,000 per year.
Distributor managers earned an average of $66,000 per year, or roughly $28 an hour, putting them in the same grade as elevator installers and microbiologists. Canadians again pull down the highest average salary, with Canadian distributor managers averaging $87,500. Northeastern and Southern managers each average $73,000; Western managers, $57,000; and Midwestern managers $54,000 per year.
Employees at distributorships reported an average annual salary of $52,000, which works out to almost $23 per hour, roughly what court reporters and electricians earn. Northeastern distributor employees averaged $68,000 per year, while Canadian employees averaged $63,000; Western employees, $54,000; Southern employees, $47,000; and Midwestern employees average $43,000 per year.
Employees with less than five years in the industry averaged an annual salary of $42,000, or almost $19 per hour.
Commissions
A third of all distributor respondents, regardless of position, were paid a combination of salary plus commission, and another third were paid straight salary. About 10% were paid an hourly rate, 8% were owners who took money from the business as they needed it; 7% were paid commission only, just under 7% were paid hourly plus commission, and the remaining 3% were paid commission plus draw.
A third of those paid commission were paid commission figured on gross profit, while another third were paid a commission based on selling price. A quarter were paid a commission based on net profit, and 7% were paid commission figured on some other basis, most often a sliding scale.
The average commission paid on net profit was 9.6%. The average commission paid on gross was 14%, while the average paid on price was 4.6%.
Sales Volume & Raises
Average sales volume in 2007 for the distributorships where respondents worked was $3.3 million, and the average respondent accounted for between a fifth and a quarter of the total sales there, or $724,000. Just 4% of respondents said they didn’t conduct any selling.
The average number of accounts that the distributors had was 256. Three out of four respondents said they call on accounts, and the average number called upon was 77.
More than a third of respondents got a raise during 2007, with the average raise just over $7,000. Nearly half of those who didn’t get a raise last year got one the year before, but more than a fifth haven’t gotten one since 2002 or before.
Health Insurance & Bonuses
Some 87% of those responding had a medical plan, and 59% had a dental plan. Almost 59% had a 401k, 49% had a prescription drug plan, 43% had life insurance, and 40% had a vision plan through their company. About 30% had short term disability insurance, 26% had long term disability, and 20% had profit-sharing.
Some 46% of respondents said they had the Preferred Provider Organization type of health insurance (PPO), and 40% had a health maintenance organization (HMO). About 7% said they had a Point of Service (POS) plan, and the remaining 8% had some other type of health insurance.
The employers pays three fifths of the cost of single coverage, on average, leaving two fifths to the employee. For family coverage, the employer pays a third of the costs, on average, while each employee pays the remaining two thirds.
Respondents reported that they were entitled to an average of 8.9 vacation days, although on in six said they didn’t receive paid vacation. One in three received no paid sick days; the average for those that did was 3.4 paid sick days. Respondents averaged 4.7 paid holidays, although one in six said they got none.
More than a third of owners, managers, and employees at distributorships got a year-end or holiday bonus last year, with the average amount $7,000. About 13% said they got a performance bonus during 2007, with the average amount just under $4,000.
Two out of three distributor owners have a company car, although only one in ten managers and just one in twenty of employees do. Nearly two thirds of all distributor respondents are reimbursed for gas mileage, while slightly less than that are reimbursed for mileage. One in five is reimbursed for gas only, 6% full cost, 1% a base payment plus mileage, and the remainder by some other method, including flat allowances. The average amount reimbursed was 42 cents per mile.
The average respondent has been in the kitchen and bath industry for 13 years; one in five has been in it less than five years. The average age of the distributorship at which respondents worked was 17 years.