Woodworking Sales: Naming a Business
No Investment Means No Wood Sales
We've been talking about growing sales by differentiating your woodworking shop from others. The first place to start is with your company name. That's the first impression a wood project prospect sees.

If you are just starting in the industry, please don’t name the business after yourself. Tommy’s Displays might sound nice to Tommy, but it makes no impression on the customer. We bought our cabinets three years ago from “T and P Woodworks.” He was the shop our builder wanted to use and so we went with T & P. Nice guy and he did a good job.

I met Ted of T & P again a few weeks ago and he talked about how he had seen a recent upswing in business after he changed the name. He found that he had a lot more calls from higher end clientele when he changed his name to “Artisan Woodworks”.


Here's some more  potential ways to highlight the difference between your woodworking business and the rest of the lot. 

  • Green: going Green is the current fad. Can you capitalize on it better than your competitor, or at least promote it as your specialty?
  • Guarantee: Hyundai got a big foothold in the car market with their low price and warranty. Could you offer a better guarantee than anyone else? Long guarantees oftenmake people think you have higher quality than the others in the market.
  • Experience: Have you been at this longer than the competition? Are you a long-standing family operation that can tout your history? How about a picture of a 1960’s retro kitchen with a slogan like; “My Father made your Mother’s dream come true. Can we do the same for you?”
  • Design: talk up your design abilities or team. Look at other fashion industries like hairstylists. Ever notice how they boast about the recent schools the stylists have attended?You could do the same.
  • Styles: Promote styles of cabinetry you or your team members specialize in. Don’t have a specialty? Then create it with discussions about types of work that were recently completed.
  • Most offerings: Do you have the largest amount of door styles or hardware on display? How about cabinet vignettes in your showroom?
Going to IWF: Let's meet up at WoodworkingNetwork.com's Booth No. 2224

Editor's note:
Rick Hill is a consultant specializing in woodworking companies that need to find new markets and more sales. He is also an independent sales rep and founder of WoodReps.Com, a national association of independent reps in the woodworking industry. He can be reached through his website OnPointSales.com.


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