The Kitchen Sales Coach Issue #17 - Gathering a Prospect List
By Robert Foltz, CKD
The first step to cold calling is to gather a prospect list. If you're a designer or a kitchen and bath business owner, you should have your target demographic and psychographics already done. Get your AIA, ASID, and other lists together as a starting point. Take down the numbers of contractors or design firms that are building or remodeling in your market area.
Compile your list, then the next important step is to write down the type of project you want (i.e. remodeling with a cabinet investment parameter of $15,000 to $45,000 or whatever your firm's objective is. List your firm's strengths in the marketplace, such as, "My firm excels in designing projects with…" or "My firm is a wonderful complete design firm that really helps the design community.
Then call your list and introduce yourself by saying something like, "Hi my name is Robert Foltz, and I see that your firm remodels houses. May I ask you a couple questions?" If they ask you directly why you're calling, never try to deceive. When I owned my kitchen business, any rep that would call me and act like a consumer then launch into a sales pitch were gone! They got nowhere and I told them I don't appreciate them wasting my time with this dishonest approach.
If the prospect you call goes into 'premature presentation,' that's fine. Write down the information and tell them you'll call back. What you're doing is gathering the information and writing on your list. Now you have a better understanding of who or what company to cold call based on solid research, not just guessing.
Next, get the gatekeeper and principle's names. Gather your collateral information and set your route. When you walk in, smile and begin by saying the following three things:
1. "Hi, my name is… and I'm from… I've heard that your firm specializes in… Is that correct?"
2. "Are you 100 percent happy with your current supplier of those services?"
3. "I'm just here to drop off this material and make an appointment with… Is he the right person to talk to?"
Only drop off a card if you get a cold or non response, and then ask for the card of the decision maker. If they don't give you one, then drop the card off and say, "I'm grateful for your time. Thank you." If you do get a card, e-mail that person with a link to your website.
Be sure to have your five-minute presentation ready in cases where you have to give a brief introduction of your firm, then set the appointment. For example, "Our firm specializes in kitchen and bath design and build for interior design professionals who want that aspect of the project taken off of their hands." Remember, once you get the appointment, fact finding rather than fact telling will get you further into the sales process. As a manufacturer's representative, I find this useful, because there's nothing worse than thinking you have an account only to find out later that they don't sell your product. I have to make sure that the product is a useful fit into the dealer's business model. You can push a bit by suggesting expansion of the current business model. An example of a conversation with an Interior Designer is "I just tell my client to go get their own kitchen professional. I don't want to fool with it!" You might say, "Our firm we specialize in coordinating with you, the interior design specialist, to make sure your clients' kitchens and baths are fully coordinated in your signature style."
You could just go out and start throwing business cards and collateral literature at businesses to see what sticks. The problem is that you can't measure your results. The shotgun approach is not as quantifiable or effective as a targeted rifle shot. Know who and what kind of prospect you're targeting and then go get them.
What Kind of Sales Dog are You: The Chihuahua
In the last issue, we covered the poodle, as discussed in Blair Singer's book, $ales Dogs. In this issue, we'll cover the Chihuahua. In the age of high-tech sales and marketing, the Chihuahua is rapidly becoming the star of the kennel! Customers are savvier, so product knowledge is the key to success in today's business climate. The Chihuahua is exceptionally gifted at putting together the facts and specifics to show the prospect how and why their products works best for them. This is the type of salesperson/designer who reads the spec books from cover to cover before talking to any prospects. Chihuahuas really understand the intricacies of the products and therefore are more passionate about the benefits they offer clients.
Chihuahuas are constantly expanding databases with more trivial information than anyone else and sometimes that's enough to tip the balance of a sale! Sales managers who are Chihuahua drive pit bulls and poodles crazy, but do improve those breeds by making them learn the product more than they typically would on their own. Even though they drive the other dogs in the kennel crazy with details and facts, that's exactly what the other dogs need. The challenge is for them to bark so that the other dogs listen and don't turn away.
The current president of my local NKBA chapter is a bit of a Chihuahua, and yes, she drives everyone crazy with facts and her attention to detail; however, the chapter is better for it. Our chapter has improved and I'm quite sure her business is thriving in this economy.
Next issue: The poor basset hound
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.