Establish trust and close quickly: a conventional sales strategy that Nick Taylor, CFSP, mastered during his 15-year run in retail sales for a chain mattress store and continues to apply today as director of strategic accounts for KaTom Restaurant Supply Inc., a foodservice equipment and supplies dealer based in Kodak, Tenn. Indeed, he credits the latter part of that strategy —
the close — as a dominant factor to his success at KaTom during the past seven years.
Photos by Carroll Foster, Hot Eye PhotographyTaylor found an opportunity in what he deems a prolonged sales process within foodservice equipment and supplies sales, possibly attributed to the industry’s widely accepted, often complicated approval processes, complex transactions that frequently come with larger projects and multiple project stakeholders. “The equipment and supplies segment, by and large, accepts a long sales cycle,” he says, “which sometimes leads to a shortfall in knowing when to move to closing. Honestly, I realized fairly quickly there was a lack of closing happening. With a short sales cycle, you build and close.”
The transactional nature of his first career in sales taught Taylor how to excel with a short sales cycle, and repetition helped perfect his technique. His customers knew he was there to sell them something from the beginning. That was the basis for the relationship. He takes that same straightforward approach with KaTom accounts. He has no qualms letting people know he is there to sell them something — everything, in fact. From heavy equipment pieces to tabletop items to design-build services to install, Taylor wants to sell clients every puzzle piece of their project.
“Is it so bad that I want to sell you everything — with honesty and integrity? I don’t hide from that,” Taylor admits. “I am an above-board salesman. I think even the customer may not realize the opportunity cost of saying yes or no with the timing involved and all that goes into making the decision. The cheapest price does not always equate to the lowest cost.”
Despite entering the foodservice industry with almost no knowledge of the equipment, very little experience in its operations (outside of an eight-month stint in a restaurant position as a teen) and without a culinary background, his deep sales experience, competitive drive for himself and his team and eagerness to outwork everyone have propelled him to a meteoric rise at KaTom.
Taylor arrived at KaTom with main character energy and wasted no time making an impact. During his tenure, KaTom has risen to the sixth-largest equipment distributor in the U.S. with $458.64 million in annual equipment and supplies sales, according to the FE&S 2024 Distribution Giants study. KaTom ranked No. 19 prior to Taylor, reporting $100.44 million in sales in the FE&S 2017 study. Notably, a huge percentage of KaTom’s growth during that period reflects the company’s growing dominance in the e-commerce space, a division that does not fall under Taylor’s domain. His initial foray into the company involved a three-year run as an outside sales rep. He now manages two KaTom divisions: strategic accounts (those that tap all KaTom services, including design/build and resupply/replacement via KaTom.com) and priority accounts (house accounts, such as a ghost kitchen company,
one-off projects and redistribution).
Harrison Genseal, regional account manager with KaTom and project manager for Kern′s Food Hall, with developer Alex Dominguez, Four Stones Real Estate, and Nick Taylor, director of strategic accounts for KaTom.
Amping up Design Services
What Taylor has done, and continues to do, is develop an emerging segment for KaTom that focuses on larger projects that frequently highlight the dealer’s project management and design-build services — the latter of which has historically had a smaller presence.
All KaTom design services have been handled through strategic accounts since July 2023, and the four in-house designers handle more design work than ever before, Taylor says. “We have slowly ramped this up, and design-build is a major focus for our company.”
Ambitious corporate goals for the division align perfectly with Taylor’s appetite for success. He set a target of $100 million in sales for strategic accounts in 2025, which would follow where he estimates KaTom will land, at $80 million, for 2024. This would equate to three consecutive years of $20 million-plus sales increases for strategic accounts, according to Taylor.
KaTom has beefed up its strategic accounts team threefold to accomplish this task. Taylor now oversees 24 team members and spends ample time developing and mentoring younger outside sales reps. He works closely with the three services that connect into the priority accounts with a straight line: design, install and e-commerce. “The outside sales team that forms strategic accounts has a heavy influence on design and installation because those services are directly related to the projects that we bring in,” Taylor explains. “Remaining closely connected to the projects and guiding the task work is part of the secret sauce.”
Patricia Bible, founder and CEO of KaTom, has a clear vision for both the company’s strategic accounts division and Taylor’s ability to deliver. “We do believe that Nick’s department will rival e-commerce in the next five years,” she says. No small statement.
Matching or surpassing KaTom’s commanding presence in the e-commerce segment seems an improbable victory for Taylor and the strategic accounts division but, in truth, KaTom comes out ahead regardless of which division claims bragging rights. It is more the tale of an internal competitive spirit strengthening a family business. Players on the family roster include Charley Bible, Patricia’s son, who oversees strategic accounts as vice president of business development; and Paula Chesworth, Patricia’s daughter, who serves as vice president of e-commerce.
Bible’s confidence in Taylor began as soon as she met him; they came together by happenstance when she was in the market for a new mattress. She went in to purchase one mattress and left with two. (Taylor offered her a deal.) “He was a consummate salesman,” she says, and before leaving the store she inquired if he had ever considered stretching his wings and flying a little higher. That’s not the kind of thing she does very often, but it’s not unheard of, either. (Maybe a dozen KaTom employees will find this story familiar.) “The person has to be really impressive for me to do that,” she says, adding that someone must really stand out to her. Roughly a week after their initial meeting, Taylor joined KaTom.
Bible concedes that Taylor negotiated the terms of his employment well. He has since risen beyond even her expectations. “Very few people surprise me because my expectations are very high,” she says. “Over the years, Nick has proven himself to be not only a very good salesperson but also a very good manager of people. He just keeps climbing.”
Taylor handles the delicate balancing act of doing right by his customer, doing right by his sales team and doing right for the company, says Charley Bible. Taylor’s success is KaTom’s success, and KaTom’s success is Taylor’s success. “Nick will always take the time to understand what the customer truly needs,” he says. “I know he will provide the correct solution and that he will work harder than anyone else to get the job done.”
Both Patricia and Charley agree that collaboration is one of Taylor’s biggest strengths. That translates to working with inside sales, e-commerce and any other component within the company. “He’s going to make sure he does what is best for the end user,” Patricia says. “His vision is: What does my customer need? That’s what really drives him and makes him special.”
Open to the public, KaTom’s Chef Supplies store stocks a range of kitchen items and also serves as a showpiece for commercial equipment. Pictured here: KaTom executives Charley Bible, Nick Taylor, Patricia Bible and Paula Chesworth.
Selling Everything
Initial meetings often start with Taylor disclosing his “I’m here to sell you everything” statement and then winning them over from there. He constantly calculates the probability of success as the conversations move along. “I want to understand from the early conversations if they would choose me if all other elements were equal. Meaning, if the price were the same as my competitors, would you pick KaTom? There is a lot of insight in that answer, which then guides me to the next step,” he says. “I ask a lot of questions. If they say ‘No, I would not choose you if all prices are equal,’ I know at that point the probability of us working together is low. I generally understand my probability of success very clearly early in the conversation.”
Why not choose KaTom? Sometimes the answer is as simple as fulfilling a requirement for multiple bids on a project knowing that a current, long-time dealer partner will most likely earn the project. Relationships do matter in an industry known for its long sales cycle, Taylor contends.
When Taylor fails to win a project, he scrutinizes the details like a crime scene investigator sorting through evidence. He does not take defeat well. “People who hate to lose find a way to win,” he says.
Post-mortem conversations with his team typically involve dissecting each component of the bid process. “When something doesn’t go well, I ask the person how they felt about it. You can pull a lot of value out that way,” he says.
That hate-to-lose mentality fed into Taylor’s ambition to learn about foodservice equipment and supplies as fast and furiously as possible to overcome what he felt was a disadvantage in not having an extensive background in these products. He has become a true student of the industry, earning the Certified Foodservice Professional (CFSP) designation from the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM). He studies the fine print of every contract and translates the numbers of every sale — big or small — to the running spreadsheet in his head.
Taylor’s upfront, ultra-focused sales approach comes with the risk of belying his authentically honest, want-to-do-right-by-everyone intent. He unquestionably wants to steer clear of the perception of a pushy salesman. “I’m not just interested in the sale,” he says. “I am building trust and relationships. I know almost every customer that we help, and I care about them deeply.” He has certainly earned the respect of his customers.
Jeff Liedy, vice president of engineering and construction development at TC Restaurant Group, credits Taylor with remaining hands-on throughout the different phases of his projects. The two worked together on several high-profile restaurant projects for the Marion, Ohio-based restaurant and hospitality company, including two of Nashville’s crown jewels: Morgan Wallen’s This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen and Miranda Lambert’s Casa Rosa.
“Our projects are driven by ‘product to the market’ with an extremely compressed construction schedule,” Liedy says. “Commercial kitchen equipment lead times, price point, procurement, delivery and installation play an integral role in meeting project deadlines. Repeatedly, Nick has led the charge to ensure that the projects would meet specific deadlines.”
Likewise, Alex Dominguez, managing partner with Four Stones Real Estate, relied on Taylor’s ability to follow through during a large-scale adaptive reuse project. He describes Taylor as genuine from the beginning. “Nick’s not elusive,” he says. “He is convincing but not necessarily in a salesy way, more in a ‘this is the truth that I’m telling you’ way. He has a sincere passion about what he believes, which makes you want to come on board with him.”
With a grand vision and a complicated project ahead of him, Dominguez accepted all the help offered, and Taylor and KaTom stepped up at every turn, he says.
Firing Up a Colossal Project
Transforming the decades-vacant Kern’s Bakery building in Knoxville, Tenn., into a mixed-use facility and food hall became a passion project for Dominguez. “I fell in love with the stories of the place and the history fast,” he says. With a background rooted in restaurant real estate that includes KFC and 20-plus years with Chick-fil-A, he took on the daunting task of reviving the historic building and paying tribute to the past while revitalizing an entire neighborhood.
Dominguez values Taylor and KaTom’s commitment from the earliest stages of the project. “They were like a good neighbor willing to walk through a bad neighborhood with me,” he says.
The mural behind Nick Taylor introduces customers to Hemingway’s Cuban Kitchen. The Kern’s Food Hall site adds a third location for the concept, which originated in Tampa, Fla.The portal into the project was an email from KaTom to the project stakeholders in 2019. Given KaTom’s proximity to Knoxville (a 20-minute drive), the company’s leaders held a connection and interest in supporting a project that would influence a designated Opportunity Zone in the South Knoxville area. “A lot of pride comes with doing right by the community,” says Taylor. “This was a local project, for local people.”
The timing was just right for Taylor, roughly two years after he joined KaTom and started making headway into higher-value, larger projects. The formation of Kern’s Food Hall also afforded him an opportunity to showcase the company’s burgeoning expertise in kitchen design.
KaTom even extended an offer to provide financing for tenants, many of them small businesses evolving from food truck origins. “A lot of them needed assistance and support,” Dominguez says. Taylor or a colleague was at every initial tenant meeting, he adds, many of which were hosted at KaTom’s headquarters. “That added credibility to the project,” Dominguez explains, since the space was so far from completion.
The Kern’s project took five years to complete, with COVID-19 stalling its progress. The official grand opening was Aug. 9, 2024. A craft beer and
cocktail lounge, Monday Night Proofing Co., anchors the 70,000-square-foot facility. On the second floor, a patio overlooks an expansive outdoor area with a large screen for movie nights. Food vendors include a curated collection of unique concepts that include both international cuisine — a Cuban concept, Indian cuisine, and Ghanaian cuisine — and more familiar menu items, such as barbecue tacos, Texas-style barbecue and pizza.
Equipment pieces shared by all food stalls were sourced through KaTom, but food vendors could opt to engage with any distributor for their individual concepts. Interestingly, Dominguez says even the more established brands that came on board eventually wound up using KaTom. Most of the equipment resides in individual food stalls and varies by concept. Shared back-of-the-house equipment includes the bare minimum: a dish room and a bank of walk-in coolers.
The ongoing Kern’s-KaTom relationship was solidified during the midst of the COVID-19-induced supply chain debacle. “Everything was backed up and taking forever. One of the things KaTom promised — and they did it — was to order the equipment and store it until the Kern’s vendor was ready to receive it. The lead times were crazy then, and having that trusted partner who’s got your back was very comforting,” Dominguez says.
Some areas of Kern’s Food Hall remain in development, including a fitness center nearly ready to open, a speakeasy still in the conceptual phase, and a handful of open food stalls. With the grand opening complete, the day-to-day oversight of the Kern’s account is now handled by Harrison Genseal, CFSP, regional account manager at KaTom.
The transition supports Taylor’s own goal of coaching up his team and watching them soar. He seeks to inspire, motivate and lead in all areas, but it is his willingness to openly share his wisdom and tactics that his colleagues appreciate most.
For Genseal, KaTom marks his first professional job since graduating college, and he welcomes any guidance from Taylor. “These products are tough,” he says. “A wall could be an inch off and all the custom stainless could be wrong. Nick is great at navigating that.”
Genseal describes himself as extremely affable but less of a natural salesperson, which is precisely where he leans into Taylor’s master-class-level sales tutelage. He has found success infusing Taylor’s style into his own. “His sales rhetoric is amazing, and it’s very effective. And he still comes in with compassion and empathy. It’s a total art form,” he says. “Nick ingrained in me how to present, and how to walk [a potential customer] through the next steps.”
Openly sharing and over-communicating are pillars of Taylor’s leadership style. He applies the same thoughtful, strategic approach to his team and KaTom customers alike, seeking to add value at every turn. And whether it’s devising internal processes that enhance efficiencies, recruiting at nearby colleges, or personally touring visitors through KaTom headquarters and its 350,000-square-foot fulfilment center, he’s eager in every capacity.
Above all, Taylor wholeheartedly believes KaTom has a solution that no one else can offer. The bar he sets is high, and one he’s certain to continue to transcend.
Members of KaTom’s strategic accounts and priority accounts teams outside the company’s corporate headquarters in Kodak, Tenn.
Taylor Close Up
Age: 39
What grounds him: “Being a good husband and father is a very deep agenda for me.” The center of his family universe includes his wife, Brandi, and their six kids, who range in age from 13 to 7 months: Molly, Maci, Magnolia, Maximus, Maverick and Maple.
Formative years: “I had a laid-back, California lifestyle growing up. I was a bit of a beach bum for a few years after high school. That can surprise people.”
Interests outside of work and family: “I am very passionate about art and music.”
Love language: Yes, he is comfortable expressing himself in these terms, as in “My love language is gratitude sometimes and money sometimes.”
Best career advice: Something his dad told him: “Timing is the greatest fear in all life — capitalize on it.”
Ambition: “Confidently and respectfully, I will outwork and out-hustle anyone, without question.”
