SEN Design Group, a nationwide network of kitchen and bath professionals, has announced that its founder Ken Peterson CKD has operationally retired after 56 years in the industry. Kathy Tilley, a seasoned industry executive, was hired last month as the company’s new president to lead the group into its next chapter of development and growth. Peterson will serve on her board of directors.
In starting the industry’s first buying group 30 years ago, Peterson had a clear and simple vision — develop a community of kitchen and bath professionals where he could share his successes and failures as a dealer who grew a small family business into four highly profitable Connecticut showrooms, operating at 51.5% gross margins. And where like-minded members could assist each other with addressing common business problems. All to accelerate their top and bottom lines.
“The early pioneering years were rough,” said Peterson. “Despite buying groups being prevalent in the hardware, electronics and appliance industries, kitchen and bath firm owners were ambivalent about this new, collaborative business development concept.”
Indeed, it took four years before SEN gained enough revenue traction so Peterson could add his first employee, Jeanne Owen, as director of administration. Then, in 2001, Bob Hatfield – a former Whirlpool executive – came on board as vice president of sales, persuading major cabinet companies like Dura Supreme, Bertch and Holiday Kitchens to become vendor partners.
“That’s when the group really took off and grew substantially, both in membership and expanded programming,” Peterson said.
Along the way, Peterson established several firsts. He was the first to introduce interactive project budgeting as a selling system for SEN members to get quickly retained on projects during their very first prospect meeting. That best practice evolved into an automated good-better-best sales consultation tool called DesignAlign, developed by operateIT – an industry-specific, technology services company he co-founded in 2015.
Also, Peterson was the first to demonstrate how to effectively market a dealer’s greatest intangible asset – its professional team – to earn premium gross profit percentages. And the first to establish an industry-specific, four-day business school, which has transformed many member firms into engines for wealth.
He taught attendees a special method for developing an annual budget, so owners would know how to properly price their projects to consistently earn 8-10% pretax net profits after their market-rate salaries. Dealers could then successfully accumulate retained earnings for emergencies or expansion.
“I was delighted to learn last summer that John Hasty of the Kitchen Design Gallery in Jacksonville, Fla., was able to sell his business for nearly $2,000,000,” said Peterson. “John had been a valued member since his Dura Supreme cabinet rep referred him to us in 2016 and an alumnus of our SEN University business school on two separate occasions.”
