Who hasn’t heard the phrase, “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket?” Recently, there has been some back and forth about having all your eggs in one basket as a cabinet dealer and only selling cabinets.
It’s a great idea to offer as much as possible to your customers so they feel like you are providing them with the easiest plan for remodel. Their idea is to get it all in one place and get out (can you blame them?). However, it’s no secret that bogging your process down with too many products can hinder your salesperson’s ability to work well. Whether you’re a large successful cabinet dealer who wants to dabble in some other products, or you are a smaller dealer who wants to provide more for their customers, growing to meet these needs is something that should be planned out first.
Don’t think about the numbers.
It isn’t always all about the money when you’re expanding your product offering. Sometimes it’s about the people that are going to be selling it. They are the ones going through the training, aren’t they? Talk with your staff and see if this will be a fit for current needs. If your salespeople or designers are saying they would like to offer countertops to bring home more sales, don’t bring in a line of flooring. They need to feel comfortable that they can provide a customer with what they need instead of being forced to sell something just because they’ve got it.
Also remember the flip side to this coin. They may not be able to handle another product line, and it may become overwhelming to them. It is a delicate balance when adding different products to an already expansive list of cabinetry.
Do you want it or do they need it?
So if you’ve passed the initial conversation with your sales team about adding on a product line, and they feel confident that they can make it a profitable choice, you have one more step before you can go forward. You need to see if the customer would even buy it. Back to the flooring example, say Mr. Smith comes in and wants to buy a new kitchen with everything coming from you. Great, right? But you don’t sell countertops or the myriad of other things a customer may want. This is when you see the value of adding another product in your store.
If this countertop incident has never happened, or maybe only happened once, you should check to see if there is another product that may better suit your market. Flooring is a great option, and closet organizers are also a natural transition. If you can’t have one, try something else. That is, don’t get stuck on adding countertops if flooring or lighting and hardware would better suit your needs.
