I have never known such a shortage of kitchen designers in the industry at the moment.
The sheds alone have nearly one thousand vacancies between them, and the independents have many more.
That is without Showroom Manager, Lead Taker, Admin, Warehouse, Factory, Driving and many other roles.
What is a solution ?
Pay all kitchen designers £100k basic salary !!
Over my years in kitchens and bathrooms, I have had the same battles with senior management in the sheds and independent showroom clients.
I hear things like …
“I am offering £25k basic but will go up to £30k for a real superstar.”
But wait, let’s say your net margin is 25%, just to make the maths easy.
Then all your “real superstar” has to bring in to pay for himself is an extra £20k worth of sales per year?
For a £100k basic salary per year, I’m pretty confident I would attract some of the best kitchen salespeople in the industry.
And what would they need to bring in to cover their additional £75k basic, an extra £300k of sales.
So if your average order value is £50k, that’s an extra six sales.
Average order value £25k, an extra twelve sales.
Am I confident the best talent in the KBB world could deliver that, yes I am.
Now, I am a realist, so I totally understand that many independent showrooms can’t sustain paying all of their sales staff £100k per year, but my point is that you get what you pay for.
I’m shocked how many companies pay their sales staff poorly but will drop £150k on a new display for the showroom. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
I hate to use the old saying, but people buy from people, and as great as your new showroom looks, it’s the salesperson who more often than not gets the deal over the line.
Previous research shows that only 11% of customers don’t buy from you because of the product.
68% don’t buy from you because of the salesperson.
There has always been a massive debate around basic and commission payments, and how they should be split.
When I started selling in the nineties, I was on £3.01 per hour, but the commission available was fantastic.
Some companies go with a high basic and low commission, but that again comes with its own problems.
Great basic and good commission will reap so many rewards, but as an industry, we seem to be afraid of making that leap.
I was speaking to a friend of mine who used to work for me at one of the sheds. He has MANY years experience.
“They change the commission scheme every two years, and it’s never benefitted me once, only the company.”
And then we wonder why people are leaving the industry and roles outside of KBB.
We need to invest in our best people and make sure there are designers queueing up at your door for an opportunity to work with you.
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