“Simplicity is the key to brilliance,” a simple phrase spoken by Bruce Lee that says so much. In part 1 of this article, we discussed how kitchen cabinet dealers can update and simplify their marketing and declutter their business websites to facilitate more effective lead generation. In this section, we’ll go over more things you can do to make life easier as a cabinet dealer or remodeler.
Simplify your product offerings
It may seem beneficial to offer every line of cabinetry a prospect could ever want; after all, you don’t want to let them down, right? In reality, offering too many product options can just overcomplicate things for your team and your customers. More lines means more training, more potential for mistakes, and possibly more inventory. Not only does your sales team need to be knowledgeable on each product line, but your installers need to become familiar with the products as well.
Although it may seem like the customer would like more options, and they may initially think so as well, the truth is that too many options makes it more difficult for the customer to make a decision. You and your team should be able to choose 3 or 4 reliable brands which allow you to offer good/better/best options for your customer. The manufacturer brands aren’t what sells, your personal brand, your team, and your sales process are what sells, so cut the extra fat.
Sell kitchens in 4 simple steps
Do you have a defined sales process, or are your salespeople running the show, each with their own ways of doing things? If you don’t have a simple defined sales process, you’re again over-complicating things. How on earth are you going to track exactly which stage of the process prospects are in when there is no set process to begin with?
Having an industry specific sales process allows you to forecast sales volumes for each month. Without that sales process, there’s really no way to measure how successful your team is, or even areas of struggle. While sales may be a skill, it most certainly can be learned. Take time to educate your team now with industry specific solutions such as the 4M Sales Process so everyone can be on the same effective page.
Eliminate unnecessary paperwork
Is your team still using Excel or *gasp* pencil and paper to quote? Are you still faxing, mailing and filing by hand? If you answered yes to any (even just one) of the above, you’re making things more complicated than they need to be. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could accurately quote and order easily in a fraction of the time?
Affordable industry specific web-based solutions such as Equilibrium are available today to allow faster more accurate quoting while keeping track of your team’s schedules and sales prospects, and helping to manage your business from anywhere with an internet connection. It’s that easy.
Why make things more complicated than they need to be when simplification can be so much more beneficial. It may seem like a big change to clean up your current processes, but after the initial setup, it’ll be smooth sailing and you’ll be living a simple, more efficient business life.