How to Find Clients for Cabinet and Millwork Shops: Builders and GCs With Work Now
Cabinet and millwork shops find clients by reaching the builders and general contractors that award cabinetry, while their projects are still open. Those projects show up first on building permits, months before any bid board; on October 9, 2026, 38,305 of them were inside the cabinetry award window across 25 markets. Builtie does that work for a trade: it finds these projects on permits, names the company behind each one and runs the LinkedIn and email outreach, saving about 2 hours a day, around 60 hours a month of prospecting.
The same four steps, whether the buyer is a builder, a designer, an owner or a company you want to acquire.
Who your clients are
For cabinet and millwork shops on new construction and larger renovations, the client is rarely the end owner. The builder or developer awards cabinetry, often with an interior designer or kitchen designer specifying it; on custom homes the owner decides. The client is the company that awards the cabinetry package, so finding clients means finding those companies while their projects are still open.
Where they show up first
| Source | When you see the client | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Building permits | Months before the trades are hired | Every project, public or private, with the applicant named |
| Bid boards | When a package is posted for bids | Mostly public and large commercial work |
| Referrals and repeat builders | Whenever they call | Your best clients, but only as many as you already know |
| Directories and ads | When someone is already shopping | Homeowners more than builders |
A building permit names the project months before the cabinetry package is awarded. That is the earliest public sign that a client has work for you, and the one most competitors are not reading.
How to win a new client
- Pick the markets you can serve and pull the permits issued there.
- Keep the projects whose build is from about 50% of the way through the build to about 70%, with the last realistic approach at about 80%.
- Find the builder or general contractor on each permit, then the person who buys cabinetry.
- Lead with shop drawings, your production lead time and a proposed delivery date that fits the finishing schedule.
- Follow up when the build moves, and keep the builder warm for its next permit: repeat clients are the cheapest ones.
How many clients have work right now
| Market | State or province | Projects in the award window |
|---|---|---|
| New York City | New York | 16,570 |
| Austin | Texas | 7,295 |
| Miami-Dade | Florida | 3,549 |
| Calgary | Alberta | 2,126 |
| Los Angeles | California | 1,938 |
| Toronto | Ontario | 1,694 |
| Nashville | Tennessee | 1,100 |
| Chicago | Illinois | 939 |
Every project counted has a builder or general contractor behind it: 38,305 cabinetry projects across 25 markets on October 9, 2026. Builtie automates the steps above and attaches the decision maker to each one.
More for cabinet and millwork shops: sales automation, finding projects, getting more jobs, new construction projects.
Plans
Builtie's Starter plan is $79 per seat per month (CAD) for 20 projects; Growth is $99 for 50 projects and adds the LinkedIn and email outreach you run yourself. Opening a project spends one credit, and the decision makers, emails, phones and AI call script inside it are included. Your monthly credits reset at each renewal, and extra credit packs are valid for 30 days. The free trial runs 7 days with 10 projects. Custom, where Builtie's team runs the outreach for you, starts from CAD $1,500 a month on top of a Growth seat.
Frequently asked questions
How do cabinet and millwork shops find new clients?
Work from building permits: they name the project and the builder months before the cabinetry package is awarded. Keep the projects in the award window, reach the builder's decision maker and follow up as the build moves.
Who hires cabinet and millwork shops?
The builder or developer awards cabinetry, often with an interior designer or kitchen designer specifying it; on custom homes the owner decides.
How do I find more clients without more ads?
Repeat builders and new builders found on permits. A builder that awarded you one job will have another permit soon; Builtie flags it.
Is Builtie a CRM?
No. A CRM stores the contacts and deals you already have. Builtie is sales automation: it finds the projects from building permits, times each one to your trade's award window, finds the decision maker and runs the LinkedIn and email outreach. Most customers keep their CRM or job-management tool for the work they win.
What does Builtie cost?
Starter is $79 per seat per month for 20 projects; Growth is $99 for 50 projects and adds LinkedIn and email outreach. There is a 7-day free trial with 10 projects.