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I HAVE BEEN in the industry for nearly 50 years. So, yes, I am a fossil. But so, too, is the traditional sales approach most people use to- day to try and win business. It virtually follows the same steps on which I was trained in the late 1960s! The steps: First perform a needs analysis. Second, develop a detailed plan and an exact price. Third, make a presentation. Fourth, overcome objections if the job isn't closed in Step 3. And ffth, chase the prospect who rarely answers your calls until you give up. The vast majority of people at seminars I conduct today admit that they follow some close variation of this same sales approach. Usually it averages them 8-9 hours of appointments and planning work before earning a commitment. And, by their own admission, this time- worn sales process produces only middling to above-average sales production results. Why? Largely because it's an adversarial ap- proach. Someone always wins and someone always loses. Either you are triumphant as a closer and the client has bent to your will… perhaps with some immediate feelings of remorse. Or, you lost because the client has succeeded in buying what they perceive as the same quality design and set of products from a competitor for a lot less money – a competitor, mind you, that no doubt fol- lowed pretty much the same process, mak- ing the higher-priced proposal even more of a poke in the client's eye. But the biggest reason why this tradition- al sales process doesn't work today is that it simply communicates value, namely a price. The approach does nothing to create value. Therein lies the deep faw in this long-prac- ticed approach. It doesn't truly educate people – why the plan was developed the way it was and, most importantly, how the price was determined. Because experienc- ing those two discoveries would generate serious engagement and real value for pros- pects. Plus, research shows that kitchen/ bath buyers want to be informed, not sold, so they can make the best decision for their family's needs. COLLABORATION CREATES VALUE About eight years into the kitchen/bath design profession, I developed a diferent way of doing business that completely transformed my oper- ation, producing results far beyond all expecta- tions. This new sales process was predicated on four core marketing principles: 1. If you put your clients' interests (design solution and price) ahead of your interests, you will get what you want (a commitment). 2. Collaboration, not competition, is the appropriate mindset for efective client development because it invites involve- ment and thereby engenders trust. 3. The only way to diferentiate products or services is through the way they are delivered. 4. Speed kills the competition. Now it's true that you can't convince anybody of anything because it creates an adversarial situation. But when you collaborate with prospects in developing a budget inter- actively, after you have quickly together come up with one possible design concept, they end up convincing themselves that the fnal total is the right price. The net result is that there is a lot less price resistance because the prospects basically "own" the end number. With this new sales process, prospects got what they wanted – a design concept and a price delivered in a meaningful way and faster than my competition, sometimes within a few hours or days of the initial showroom meeting, not weeks later, as from competing frms. And I got what I wanted – a retainer in 1/3 to 1/2 of the time that it was taking me to earn a commitment using the traditional sales approach. A classic win-win. But that's only one of the several improved metrics for me and my company. PRICE TRANSPARENCY I was absolutely stunned that people could make a signifcant buying decision without a scaled foor plan, fancy perspective and precise estimate. Based upon only a sketched layout by eye (no measurements taken) and an interac- tive, hand-written budget, where I was literally pulling realistic fgures from my head for cabinetry, countertops, appliances, installation, etc., I was receiving signed retainer agreements and sizable checks in the thousands of dollars (equal to 8 percent of the low end of the budget range) from one prospect after another. How could this be? I have since learned some basic truths be- hind the power and success of this collaborative selling system. First, that I performed directly in front of my prospects, in the comfort of their home (after a preliminary meeting in my showroom), was evidently a very diferent and meaningful delivery. Essentially, it was an im- mediate free mini-sampling of my intellectual capital and professional services. Whereas all of my competitors would take measurements and then develop their plan and price back at their respective ofces, promising a presentation in 1-2 weeks (frequently calling later to admit unexpected delays, making their follow-up presentation more like in 2-3 weeks). The prospects never experienced how the plan came together or how the price added up to the total. That comports with what one Harvard marketing professor advocates: When you are selling an intangible such as a kitchen, you must "tangibilize the experience" as proof of its value. And that was what I was evidently accomplishing by working with them in their home, developing one possible design concept and a realistic budget range. Secondly, this new sales approach played to my prospects' self-interests. According to Robert Greene in The 48 Laws of Power, "the key to persuasion is softening up people and gently breaking them down. The quickest way to secure people's minds is by demonstrat- ing, as simply as possible, how an action will beneft them." So, because "self-interest is the strongest motivation of all," and I was being totally transparent about the pricing of their projects, my prospects grew to understand why their projects cost what they did. They felt like they were in control of the pricing process, a bona fde self-interest. As a result, they also felt comfortable making a buying decision…in many cases well before they received compet- ing proposals. USING TECHNOLOGY As I mentioned earlier, adopting this selling system was transformative for me and my com- pany. Here is some additional empirical proof: • My closing percentage increased from 35 to 75 percent on all leads (defned as face-to-face appointments); • Within 10 weeks, my sales doubled over my total of the previous 4.5 months; " Research shows that kitchen/bath buyers want to be informed, not sold, so they can make the best decision for their family's needs." The Art and Power Of Collaboration KEN PETERSON, CKD 24 Kitchen & Bath Design News • March 2016 BETTERING YOUR BOTTOM LINE