loyal opposition

this past weekend I attended the home show at the Shriners auditorium. It was a little smaller than the build Boston shows I have been to in the past. I was there primarily to get to meet the owners of General Contracting firms in the vicinity. There is simply no other way to meet the owners of these companies. I try to get know these companies as well as I can at the show, try to get a sense of weather or not I want to do business with them. I look for the companies that are well established or young and show promise. Most of the GC's at this show already have cabinet makers that they use and many of them have showrooms where they cabinet displays of the lines that they carry. I call that loyal opposition. They are loyal to there respective cabinet companies and there fore opposed to doing business with me. It is my job help them look at me as someone who can do a variety of mill work, like custom doors, paneling or shelving that is not available from a big cabinet line. Sure I want all there cabinet business but truth is that I can't compete with the national cabinet brands. Not yet that is.

There were two companies that I was really interested in. Foxhill out of New Hampshire and All construction out of Sagus Ma. Foxhill is the established leader and All is the young company with "mojo".

On the horizon we have the RDC show coming in Boston in April. This year I will be working in the seminar suites. Last year I focused on the exhibit floor this year I will be doing my note taking and prospecting in the seminars. Many GC's pride themselves on being unnoticed not in the lime light and they won't do an exhibit, but they want to attend the show to see the new products and attend seminars to learn about marketing and trends, which is very smart. That is who and where I will meet them.