Win Ben Stein’s Wisdom

Win Ben Stein’s Wisdom

Who’s the coolest person (other than a family member) you’ve ever sat near on an airplane?  Up until a couple weeks ago, Brent Jackson, President of BreakFront, would have likely had to rack his brain for a decent response; but a recent trip from Omaha, NE to...

Top 7 Mistakes New Kitchen Designers Make

Top 7 Mistakes New Kitchen Designers Make

When it comes to kitchen design, there is much to learn.  No two projects are exactly the same, so even the most skilled designers can come across situations they've never encountered before. Avoiding design errors As designers gain more experience, their trained eyes...

The Most Toxic Phrase in Customer Relations

The Most Toxic Phrase in Customer Relations

"That’s not my responsibility."  It’s the worst phrase you, or any of your employees, can ever say to a customer. No matter what department you work in within your company, and no matter if the statement is true or not, you should never tell a customer that, because...

Why You Need Balance Between Big Game and Small Rabbits

Why You Need Balance Between Big Game and Small Rabbits

Everyone dreams of bringing in that one HUGE deal that will set your company for a lifetime. It’s the kind of deal that can make you a name in the industry or bring financial security like you’ve never had before. For cabinet dealers in our industry, that could mean...

BreakFront Announces Goals to Support Clean Water

BreakFront Announces Goals to Support Clean Water

Clean water and plumbing are afterthoughts for many of us, but they are luxuries that many across the globe do not share.  Our team at BreakFront recently decided to get involved with the non-profit group charity: water to help raise money and awareness to the global...

Where the Big Box Stores Went Wrong

Where the Big Box Stores Went Wrong

A solid kitchen and bath sales process should begin with listening and properly qualifying a prospect’s needs; and then the goal should be getting in the home for a measure.  Your team should be properly trained and fluent in your sales process, they should be highly...

The Case of Too Many Cabinet (Lines)

The Case of Too Many Cabinet (Lines)

So the big box store is coming to town and now it’s time to compete with them.  Many cabinet dealers in this situation discount their ability to make a sale and think the only thing the buyers are attracted to is cheap kitchens. So, what do they do to compete?  They...

Avoid these Three Salesperson Time Sucks

Avoid these Three Salesperson Time Sucks

Selling remodeling jobs and kitchen and bath projects is not easy work. It demands all of a salespersons time since there are too many ways to make a mistake. Yet, many remodeling companies ask their salespeople or designers to wear multiple hats, dividing their time...

Is Cardell Bankrupt?

Is Cardell Bankrupt?

Rumors started spreading a few weeks ago as dealers began calling us that they had received a strange letter from Cardell. As it turns out, the letter wasn’t from Cardell, it was from a firm representing Wells Fargo who apparently owns the credit agreement with...

What’s in Your Sales Attic?

What’s in Your Sales Attic?

The other day I needed something from my father’s house, and I was told it was "in the attic."  I figured it would be a 5 minute trip – you know, grab what I need and get out. But when I climbed into the attic, I was stunned.  Amidst piles of boxes (some of them were...

Improve Profits by Picking Up the Phone

Improve Profits by Picking Up the Phone

As a business owner it can be extremely frustrating to lose a new sales opportunity, but I bet you’d agree that it’s even more frustrating to lose an existing customer. Customer turnover can be one of the biggest headaches of running a business, and many people fail...

See Our Hot Topics in the August Newsletter

See Our Hot Topics in the August Newsletter

At the end of each month, we take time to look through all of our articles and resources to see which reign supreme. This month we wrote about switching suppliers, sexy dealerships, the jury duty customer experience, pinpointing your buyer persona, and more. Hot...

Join the Cause: Clean Water for All

Join the Cause: Clean Water for All

Each day 4,100 children die from water-related diseases across the world - all of those deaths simply because they don’t have access to enough clean water. Dealers, remodelers and contractors all deal with water every single day. Our industry is one of the few that...

Bad Kitchen Design and the Curse of X-Ray Vision

Bad Kitchen Design and the Curse of X-Ray Vision

House hunting can subtly shift from bold, new adventure to the inevitable pain-in-the-ass move that you’re about to encounter. Since I’ve finally sold our Michigan home after nearly two years in order to move to Charlotte, I’m over the new adventure part. So, as...

Is Your Dealership Sexy? Be Physically Attractive

Is Your Dealership Sexy? Be Physically Attractive

If your business were able to look in a mirror, would it like what it saw? Would it be able to truthfully look at itself both physically and internally and say to itself, "Dang, I look good"?  Do others seem to be attracted to your business? And, how does it look when...

It’s About More than Just Clean Water

It’s About More than Just Clean Water

800 million people live without clean water every day. Thousands of children die due to waterborne diseases every day. Children are taken out of school to fetch water with their mothers every day. Providing clean water for villagesthat don’t have access to any can...

Is Your Dealership Sexy? Be Helpful – Part 1

Is Your Dealership Sexy? Be Helpful – Part 1

Would you consider your dealership or remodeling business to be sexy?  It probably isn’t on most business owner’s agendas to strive for this designation, but we’re here to argue that it should be. Now, we’re not talking about hiring attractive people or setting...

Have You Heard About the New Catalog Creator Tool?

Have You Heard About the New Catalog Creator Tool?

This past weekend, 20+ new features were unveiled in the Fall release of Equilibrium Operational Management software, including the highly requested catalog creation tool. Equilibrium’s new Catalog Creator allows users to create catalogs for any product or service...

Push vs. Pull: Marketing in a Digital Age

Push vs. Pull: Marketing in a Digital Age

It used to be that marketing your company or product consisted of buying a few newspaper ads, putting some radio ads in rotation, and making the occasional 30-second TV ad. Consumers would then see and/or hear these ads and bring their business through your doors....

The Top 7 Reasons You Need to Climb Through Your Sales Attic

The Top 7 Reasons You Need to Climb Through Your Sales Attic

When is the last time you took a stroll through the ol’ sales attic?  As we mentioned in a previous article, you should think of your sales attic as a culmination of how your team sells today. When prospects say no, they go on up to the sales attic – then it is your...

Be an Educational Resource for Your Customer

Be an Educational Resource for Your Customer

Salespeople and showrooms seem to be focusing an awful lot on products, and that just might be their biggest goof.  Do they do it because salespeople and designers have become lazy and only want to sell what makes them money? Or maybe because they truly believe that...