How Much Should a Kitchen Designer Sell each year?

The Magic Number

Anyone who's managing Sales Designers at a Kitchen & Bath firm has asked this question. What should each of my sales team be selling in a year?

If you are a sales designer, you may have asked yourself,

"How much should I expect to sell?" 

Obviously a designer selling in Aspen, Colorado in a boutique design firm with an average sale of $200k is going to do a lot more that someone in a small town.

While sales expectations may vary based on location, walk-in traffic, company reputation and many other factors, there is a magic number as to how much a sales designer should be selling in order to justify keeping them on.

You need to know that number.

Many industry experts agree it's about $750,000 a year in projects sold. That seems to be the minimum sales figure to justify the cost of a designer in a showroom working the leads generated by marketing.

So what if you are selling less than that amount?

Well, this should be your target. In Fact: as a sales coach, I would say you need to target a bit higher than that, say... $800,000 - $1 million in annual sales, for 2 reasons.

First, the arrow always falls a little short of its aim. The same goes with sales targets. If you aim for $800,000 and only do $750,000, you're still in good shape.

The second reason is this. If you hit the million dollar mark, you are the designer most anyone will want to hire. This puts you in high demand. Any showroom owner or manager would love to have 10 designers who can do a million a year.

Did you know that 95% of small businesses in America never get past $ 1 million in annual sales? That means you alone can carry a small company with your design skills. You are also valuable to a firm doing $5-10 million a year.

Truth is, 80% of a company's sales come from 20% of their people in almost every single case. You want to be in that 20% that matters. You are that employee everyone wants. It's easier to get raises and promotions. Easier to get hired. Everything's easier, even getting more sales. Here's why.

I learned years ago that when it comes to sales, "Everyone wants, what everyone wants, and Nobody wants, what nobody wants". When you are in high demand, closing lots of business, everyone wants to be part of your success.

Television Actor Larry Hagman from "I Dream of Jeannie & Dallas" says it this way, "The more you work, the more you work". In other words, when people feel others hire you with confidence, more people want to hire you as well. It's called "The Herd Effect". It's safer to go where others have gone before. Must be something left over from our ancestors. Those who played it safe survived.

Selling less than this Magic Number makes you vulnerable to being the first one to be let go when times are tough. So focus in on this Magic Number, boost both your Design Skills as well as your Sales Skills and become the best YOU can be.

You don't need to compare yourself with others, just be best darn designer you can be. But you do need to know the Magic Number that all designers should be selling at, even if it is to simply be your best.

Let me know if you have other sales questions about selling in the kitchen, bath or construction industries.

Kirk Heiner is an author, speaker and sales trainer with more than 25 years in sales. He has conducted sales & training seminars for numerous companies including Lowe’s, DuPont, Danze, AWFS, the NKBA, KBIS, Stock Building Supply, the SBA and more. He can be contacted at [email protected]