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22 | Kitchen & Bath Design News | June 2015 R emember when Lehman Broth- ers went down in September of 2008, and your sales volume dropped precipitously like a large rock falling of a high clif? Helpless feel- ing, wasn't it? Even the most senior designers in the kitchen/bath industry could not seemingly make a sale happen back then. Cabinet manufacturers who had just expanded their plant facilities to handle the booming demand of the 2003-2008 economic expansion were just as helpless – aghast at the rapidity of their incoming sales order decline. They were also aghast at being forced to write of accounts receivables in the many millions of dollars as several thousand kitchen/bath dealers soon shuttered their doors. Now that the economy has re- bounded nicely, no one wants to be reminded of those dark days. But we should, because there are a lot of im- portant lessons to be learned from the Great Recession. One such lesson is the indus- try-wide need to finally learn the fundamentals of selling in general, and how to motivate people to buy in particular. AN INDUSTRY OF ORDER-TAKERS At the risk of ofending some veteran professionals, ours has been – and continues to be – an industry of order- takers. There has been such a historical preoccupation with good design, de - sign professionalism and fashionable products in our industry, it's as though kitchen and bath projects that incor - porate these features should simply sell themselves. But the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers' very visible fall proved that premise to be a myth. To advance their own interests, design professionals should embrace professional salesmanship rather than shunning it as something beneath them. After all, the most successful doctors, lawyers, CEOs and U.S. presi- dents practice good salesmanship. Today, with a growing economy, many owners are looking to hire more sales designers, preferably experienced ones who are Certifed Kitchen Designers. But hiring a CKD is no guarantee of getting a proven sales producer – only a proven designer. Most kitchen/bath firm owners have not developed their operations sufficiently to furnish a nurturing environment where someone with an engaging sales personality, good time- management skills and a strong inner drive can be coached to blossom into a superior sales talent. My 1980s ex- perience in developing some 14 sales designers with experience from out- side the industry comports with this recipe for success, one that Professor Jim Collins validates in his iconic book, Good To Great . Rather, most industry owners pre - fer to take a shortcut by poaching a competitor's presumed top performer. Only later do they discover that these hires can perhaps only write sales if a preferred cabinet line from a previ- ous gig is taken on and gross margins drop to the 30-33% range. Furthermore, in my judgment, in- dustry executives – particularly those with cabinet manufacturers where about 70% of dealers' sales are di- rected – should add value beyond their core product mix by ofering profes- sional selling courses on a recurring basis to their dealer networks. That extra service would buttress dealers unable or unwilling to create their own training programs while gen- erating additional sales to get their plants closer to peak capacity. To do so would also push the entire kitchen/ bath industry to a much higher level of sales achievement. Contrary to popular belief, efec- tive salesmanship does not involve "hard sell" tactics. Rather, according to Dale Carnegie, "closing a sale" is nothing more than the natural con- clusion to delivering an effective presentation. Indeed, marketing experts would argue that it is vir- tually impossible to diferentiate a product or service; the only way dif- ferentiation can be accomplished is through the delivery of that product or service. And, to be successful, that delivery must be a meaningful expe- rience that generates genuine value for the client. THE POWER OF FANTASIES Part of the "delivery process" for a Sales Designer is the presentation of a prospect's foor plan, elevation and/or perspective – whether they are hand drawn or CAD-produced. And, the uniqueness of the design, and how well it satisfes the prospect's needs and desires within an agreed-upon budget range, should have a positive, rational impact upon the prospect's psyche to purchase the project – at least in good economic times. That industry professionals have experi- enced mostly good times is perhaps one plausible reason why we have cultivated an industry of order-takers. But good design alone wasn't enough during the dark days of the recession, and the several years of a weak recovery that followed, to moti- vate people to buy. Why not? Because people don't buy rationally, they buy out of sheer emotion. Ronald Reagan, the great commu- nicator, understood that. He knew that you persuade through logic, but you motivate through emotion. And hence he would describe the America we could become under his leadership as that "shining city on the hill." He won two terms as president by skillfully deploying emotion as a motivating force for people to vote for him. In his book, The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Greene writes: "To gain power, you must be the source of pleasure for those around you – and pleasure comes from playing to people's fanta- sies." He says the person who can spin a fantasy out of reality "has access to untold power." Greene suggests search- ing and digging for what really drives people. Because once you discover that, you have "the magical key that will put great power in your hands." How does this relate to the kitchen and bath industry? Well, during the home consultation visit, experienced designers usually do a pretty good job of fnding out what prospects want. However, skilled sales professionals will dig much deeper and fnd out why they want it. For example, they might wrap up such a meeting by asking: "Mr. Sheehan, if I can give you the top four kitchen needs you mentioned – the 25% more storage, a dining area for fve, a separate work center for yourself and a nice view of your backyard swimming pool, all within the budget range we came up with together – what will it mean to you?" Then they know to shut up and lis- ten carefully because the prospect will reveal his or her Dominant Buying Mo- tive (DBM). So when, for example, Mr. Sheehan replies, "It will be a real joy to cook with our family all present and involved," the skilled sales professional instantly recognizes that, of the four possible DBMs, Mr. Sheehan happens to be motivated out of love of family. Play To Your Prospect's Fantasies Learning to play to your prospect's fantasies enhances the value of the projects you sell and helps you increase your bottom line. Bettering Your Bottom Line { Ken Peterson, CKD, LPBC } "The only way diferentiation can be accomplished is through the delivery of that product or service, which must provide a meaningful experience that generates genuine value for the client."