With the first day of spring having just passed, I am starting to get excited for the gardening ahead. One of my favorite plants is this Xerographica. It is a type of tillandisias (air plant). It is not only stunningly beautiful, but also miraculously doesn’t require soil or water to grow. It only needs a light misting every few weeks. They absorb their nutrients from tree debris, and dust and dirt from the air. A plant that requires no water? Genius. That makes water-conserving xeriscaping plant choices very easy, and look great.

It makes a wonderful green gift (for others or for yourself) and is available from Flora Grubb (a talented and thoughtful woman and her Flora Grubb Gardens). You can either order online, or if you are in San Francisco, I highly recommend stopping by her gardens. I can easily spend an entire afternoon there.—Michelle Kaufmann

www.floragrubb.com
Water Conservation

As I sit here at LaGuardia airport with what seems like all of humanity at the gate as well as inside the airport I think about sharing my purpose for this trip. I am attending a training seminar for Jenn-Air appliances in Atlanta.

I’ve attended other training seminars this year and attend various industry events, both locally and long distance. I also attend KBIS every year and interior design shows in my area. I pay attention to the High Point and Las Vegas interior design markets trends, read design blogs and generally try to keep continually updated on what the pulse is in the design world and in society at large. I also watch CNBC on occasion, which is often very revealing in regard to what is happening with our domestic and global economies.

I have never understood those who say they do not need or wish to go to KBIS, as one “show” example. I’ve been in this industry for 22 years and I know that—with as much experience as I have—I will, without a doubt, learn something of value. In fact, I learn quite a few things of value at every visit to every show and seminar.

Having the latest information and knowledge of current appliance technology, brushing up on venting via a seminar and just walking the aisles in search of connecting dots to spot trends keep me up to date and ever learning. “In this economy,” a phrase we often hear, it is more important than ever to prove our relevance as knowledgeable designers in today’s kitchen and bath marketplace.

Continually learning about our industry’s ever-changing marketplace developments positions a designer head and shoulders above the competition, and spreading the word to our clients about attendance and participation in industry events is the thing to do. When it is time for the client to compare one designer to another, I, for one, believe that a client’s perception of a designer’s up-to-date knowledge on what’s happening in our industry is an important piece to the decision process.

—Susan Serra

Making a connection with your prospect or customer is one of the best ways to make the selling process run a whole lot smoother. At the same time it also shows you care about what’s important to “THEM.”

Let me give you an example. The other day I was traveling with a seasoned rep on sales calls and was sitting in on a follow-up call with one of his prospects. We were discussing some of the products and financials of the proposal they were reviewing, when I noticed one of many pictures hanging on his wall. There were at least 30 pictures hanging on all four walls, but this one stood out. It was a picture of two people sky diving taken from the plane above their bodies as they were soaring through the air. A breath-taking view of the ground below.

I turned to the owner of the company and asked, “Who’s the sky diver?” At that moment, you could see his eyes widen with excitement and his face light up with enthusiasm. He said, “That’s me the first and last time I jump out of a plane!” I asked him what it felt like the moment he jumped and became airborne… He then went into a whole story about how he and his buddy were so fired up for two hours after they landed and were driving back from the jump. I’ve never seen someone so excited about explaining the euphoria they experienced from the jump.

The transition to the sales call was easy. “Well, that’s how excited you’ll be when we install these six machines,” I said jokingly. They laughed and we continued, but the atmosphere was quite different from when we started.

Sometimes we forget how important the basics are—the little things we do that can make a big difference in the way we sell and the relationships we build. It reminded me of how important it is to look around and be aware of your environment: what’s on the walls of your customers’ office, pictures on the desk, the people you introduce yourself to on the way into your call, coworkers, assistants, receptionists and anyone you come into contact with at an account. Breaking the ice just doesn’t come with asking about a sky diving picture, it happens when you become the mayor of the account and remember names and something unique about each individual you come into contact with…because you never know who they know or maybe when they will become the new decision maker you end up with.

The next call we went on had a glass box hanging right outside the entrance of the customer’s office with a picture of Al Pacino from the movie Scarface with a gun and three bullets underneath and this saying in quotes:

“You need someone like me.”

We had a lot of fun with that one.

—Barry Farber

KBIS 2010 is just days away. Twenty-four to be exact! And while it’s been relatively quiet on the new product front, we have a few sneak peaks in store to whet your appetite and get you geared up for the show. Here’s but one of the thousands of products you’ll see in Chicago. Watch this space in the coming weeks to see more.—Sallie Moffat

Cosentino’s Integrity Sink

Made from one piece of Silestone—with no joints and, thus, no weak areas—Cosentino‘s Integrity sink integrates directly into a countertop and has all the benefits of Silestone, including hygienic properties and a high resistance to scratches, stains and heat. Available in a single-bowl configuration measuring approximately 16 in. x 20 in. x 6 in., it is offered in 21 colors including stellar night (shown below), coffee brown, silver nube, Capri limestone, magenta energy and white Zeus extreme (shown above).