For any kitchen cabinet distributor needing to grow their business more efficiently, the solution is literally at your fingertips: It’s simply a matter of following the OKD blueprint.

These are the words of Dan Rago, inside sales for MPM Sales and Marketing in Mokena, IL, who overcame a lack of in-house design expertise to grow the firm by partnering with OKD. Specifically, OKD has helped the firm grow from a Midwest-oriented business established in 1974 to a company that has expanded with a national customer base in over 18 states.

“I didn’t have background in design coming into this and that’s why OKD has been such an important part of our business. It’s allowed us to create cabinet quotes quickly and effectively. At MPM Sales and Marketing, we’re the salesforce for various manufacturers and we are responsible for bringing their product to market through wholesale and retail channels. Each project is different. There’s different requirements and different layouts. I quickly found out that it’s very easy to work with OKD,” Dan explains.

This is a key aspect of OKD’s model which not only aids cabinet distributors in supporting salespeople with limited design experience but also defines how OKD establishes long-standing relationships as a trusted design resource. This blueprint begins with personalized online forms that ask the right design questions and reduce potential design revisions. Potential project referrals also receive an 8-point check before designing which reduces errors and design revisions as well. OKD also provides fast, practical first pass design quotes to qualify leads. And notably, OKD’s design team receives kitchen industry education and are NKBA-certified.

The result? This approach empowers resellers and improves sell-through while getting your cabinets in front of buyers. With OKD as your dealer network’s trusted design resource your cabinet distributorship will be armed with quality designs featuring accurate renderings, either by working directly with resellers or by supporting your in-house designers, if applicable.

Today, MPM Sales and Marketing has extensive relationships with wholesale distributors of building materials; co-ops; buying groups; pro lumber yards and specialty supply houses, providing products including windows, doors and siding; roofing and gutters; kitchen cabinets; and flooring, and decking, among additional products.

Let’s see how MPM Sales and Marketing has applied OKD’s methods and quickly grew its sales!

Getting Started

For MPM Sales and Marketing, what started as a Midwest-oriented agency over 50 years ago has now flourished into a national company with the help of OKD.

“We started as Borys & Associates in 1974 and have grown into our 51st year of providing excellent service for our customers and principals. In the 1990’s the agency with several agents onboard went through a name update and we became Midwest Pro Marketing as then we were representing 10 Midwestern states. From there the agency has flourished into what today provides professional services in 18 states employing 20 professionals and growing. With our new name change we are still providing the same professional services that started back in 1974 but provide them with more geography and with more representatives,” says company president Kim Lane.

An important distinction for MPM Sales and Marketing is that OKD has enabled them to expand their geographic reach and its extensive relationships to now include regions from Utah to western Pennsylvania.

Working With OKD

For Dan, having limited design experience as a salesperson had originally caused disruptions in his sales until he began working with OKD.

The key, yet again was simplicity and getting more quotes into more potential customers’ hands.

OKD was able to cater a unique design and sales approach for MPM including company specific online intake forms with well-thought out questions and drop-down answers to guide salespeople who possess limited design experience. It’s an online form contemplating your cabinet brands, appliances, room and design types, internal cabinet organizers and the particulars of how your company works. The form brings uniformity to the design process — assuring the important information is included.

This sets the tone for a proper design with more complete information. Many times having poor or incomplete information really slows down the sales and design process due to excessive revisions, so this solution solves that issue. It also helps identify where design resources are being used ineffectively. So with more time, there is more design and sales output for new potential customers! (An added benefit is this also reduces staff frustration for lack of sales and enables your sales team to earn more commissions.)

Just as MPM found OKD, other cabinet distributors also find OKD most often through referrals. OKD uses that opportunity to listen and adapt the unique approach to the cabinet distributor’s unique challenges — after all, just as every design is different so is every cabinet showroom and distributorship! For MPM, OKD reviewed how the firm’s current design and quote process operated and how long designs take to complete, as well as how many revisions occur per design, for example. OKD also reviewed how to reduce the steps needed by salespeople to request a design which resulted in a “Top Ten” list of design/quote flow suggestions meant to remove frictions from the design process and keep MPM’s salespeople motivated.

Another key distinction of the OKD blueprint, as Dan noted, is the three-day day turn-around for drafts. All of the work OKD does upfront (such as the intake forms, less revisions and customer clarity) enables the OKD design team to complete designs in three days.

This approach works well for any and all customer types, including commercial, residential, high-end, online, economical, etc. (Notably, commercial customers are bottom-line focused so OKD presents organized pricing by area using this criteria.)

It is in these ways that your firm will receive unlimited design support for your team and company culture without disrupting your existing sales team. This is the core of how OKD develops long-term relationships.

“Selling is the name of the game and OKD has helped me to sell more projects. What I would tell prospective OKD customers is that you’re working with a company that’s professional, that is efficient, and is willing to go above and beyond to work with you and your customers to ensure the job is correct every single time,” Dan concludes.

Let OKD unlock your showroom sales potential.

OKD provides the “ammo” needed to boost your showroom’s sales growth by transforming designers into high-volume sales coordinators.

Contact us to discuss your showroom goals and try our free trial designs.