Your Interior Designers and K&Bs are some of your first customers. They helped build your business.
And now you’re thinking about going Direct-to-Homeowner and… Stealing their customers?!
I KNOW. It feels shady.
But going Retail is absolutely justifiable—and you can do it ethically without destroying the relationships that helped build your business. Let me explain.
First, Let’s Look at What’s Actually Happening
We’ve found Fabricators only close about 25% of the quotes they give K&Bs. Meaning 75% DON’T become an order. Why?
Usually one of two things happened:
A) The K&B didn’t get the kitchen.
B) They got the kitchen—but sold countertops from another Fabricator.
That second one is important. Your K&B isn’t exclusively selling you.
They’re showing customers options. Sometimes that’s your material. Sometimes it’s your competitor’s.
And that’s okay.
You also can’t expect your K&Bs to capture every kitchen being remodeled in your market.
Because there’s another GIANT competitor sucking up those customers…
The Big Boxes
Walk into Lowe’s and you’re practically greeted at the front door with countertops.
Go to Home Depot? Countertops.
Hell, the guy checking your cart at Costco is standing 10 feet away from a countertop advertisement. 🤣
THAT’S the business we want.
Not your K&B’s loyal customer. We want the homeowner who’s about to buy countertops from the same place they buy screws, toilet seats, and stick-on-tile. Because think about this…
YOU’RE THE EXPERT. Not Costco. Not Lowe’s. Not Home Depot.
You have more selection. You have actual product experts. You understand fabrication. You understand installation. And you can provide a dramatically better customer experience.
Why shouldn’t that homeowner buy from you?
But Will You Occasionally Step on a K&B’s Toes?
Yep. If you start advertising directly to homeowners, eventually someone who’s already working with one of your K&Bs is going to walk through your door. So you need some insurance policies.
Insurance Policy #1: ALWAYS Ask
When a new Retail customer walks through the door, ALWAYS ask:
“Are you currently working with a Contractor, Interior Designer or Kitchen & Bath company?”
Every. Single. Time. If they name one of your existing Trade Partners? Great. You know exactly where the line is.
If they name a contractor you’ve never heard of? Even better.
Maybe you just found your next Trade Partner.
Instead of Retail hurting your Wholesale business, it might actually help you grow it.
Insurance Policy #2: If You Screw Up, Make It Right
Eventually something might slip through. Maybe the homeowner doesn’t mention the K&B.
Maybe your Sales Rep misses it.Maybe nobody realizes what’s happened until the job is already sold.
Don’t argue about it. Don’t hide behind a technicality.
Make it right.
Figure out what the K&B would have made on the countertops and PAY THEM.
No questions asked. Treat their relationship as more valuable than the margin on one kitchen—because it is.
And here’s the crazy part:Across roughly 20 shops over four years, I’ve only heard of this happening twice.
TWICE.
And neither Fabricator lost the K&B relationship.
Retail Doesn’t Have to Mean Betraying Wholesale
You don’t have to choose between protecting your Trade Partners and building a Retail business.
Set some rules.
Protect the relationships that helped build you.
Make things right when mistakes happen.
Then go after the customers who are currently buying countertops from Costco, Lowe’s, Home Depot and everyone else.
You’re not trying to steal your K&B’s customer.
You’re trying to win the customer they probably weren’t getting anyway.
Not-So-Subtle Plug Incoming
If you’ve been considering Direct-to-Homeowner but have no idea how to build the Retail Sales process without pissing off your existing Trade Partners…
We’ve helped a lot of Fabricators navigate exactly this.
We’re happy to help.
