Setting Their Sales

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Editor’s Note: The research for this article is based on interviews with the principals of several major kitchen and bath “whotailers,” as well as on information gleaned from a recent series of “Whotailer Roundtable Conferences,” moderated and facilitated by Morton Block Associates. It is the second of several features, exclusive to Kitchen & Bath Design News, exploring the key business challenges facing today’s “whotailers.”

Whotailers, the kitchen and bath wholesale distributors who gave a new face to two-step distribution when they expanded into retailing, have mixed opinions about what is the most effective way to operate the sales/design and support staffs at their retail locations.

According to several of the industry’s leading whotailers, they use two distinctly different approaches to service and support their retailing segments: a one-person-does-it-all approach and a “team” approach. Some whotailers are adamant that the team approach is best because it gets more people involved in a project, resulting in greater coverage and backup. In contrast, others laud the results they get by having one person perform all aspects of a project, because it enables the delivery of personalized service.

In truth, however, no one seems to have a lock on the best method.

In fact, when you analyze each system, it’s clear that both have strengths and weaknesses – but neither offers clear-cut advantages. It all boils down to personal preference, what fits best into a company’s organizational structure, and the impact of the approach on the company’s bottom line, according to leading whotailers.

One Client, One Designer

The one-person-does-it-all approach is what’s practiced by most non-whotailer kitchen and bath retail firms, other than home centers. Under this setup, each sales/designer is responsible for a project from start to finish. This could include qualifying customers, measuring jobs, creating designs, pricing materials, closing sales, writing and placing orders, supervising deliveries and installation, and, in most cases obtaining the final payment.

With this approach, the designers know all there is to know about a project, making them fluent in all aspects of the project. They have interviewed the client, identifying their basic preferences and needs, and have established an all-important trust and rapport. They have also measured the project, seeing first-hand all the little intricacies and hidden pitfalls that plague many projects. The designer is in a position to create a customized design for the client.

One advantage of the one- person-does-it-all approach is that clients need to speak to only one individual about their project. Critics of this approach might argue, of course, that if the project designer is unavailable – is out on vacation or ill, for example – client questions may go unanswered, resulting in delays and perhaps an unhappy client. They probably have a point. While companies that employ this approach generally implement backup systems to avoid these situations, the fact is it’s difficult for someone else to pick up another person’s work and be able to step in and answer questions—particularly those regarding prior dialogue of the designer and client.

Another advantage of the one-person-does-it-all approach is that it lends itself to more effective communication between vendors and contractors. Vendors send order confirmations to their dealers. The confirmation is usually verified by the designer who wrote the order, and who better to check for potentially costly errors than the person who wrote the order?

The one-person approach also enhances interactions between installers and contractors. Once a project is underway, there’s nothing more vital than being able to promptly answer queries, especially those involving job-site conditions.