Branding your showroom:
Be the #1 choice in your market — Part I
BY PETER SCHOR
Showroom specialist
The K/BIS 2011 post-show showroom column will appear in the June issue and will feature lots of new and innovative bath, plumbing and kitchen products. I will be walking the show at 7 a.m. each day to cover the 565 exhibitors at the show. So tune in to the June issue.
In the meantime, I have a “juicy” Part I article on how to make your showroom the “brand of choice.” Part II will be in the August column and will include the actions that are necessary to make your plumbing showroom the brand of choice. I would highly advise you to share this article with your showroom managers, the executive staff and all the managers in your company.
I’ve been quietly consulting with high-end luxury bath/plumbing manufacturers (50-plus), teaching them how to take their products to the marketplace. This includes putting everything in place, including price market matrix, sales reps, showrooms, marketing and public relations. This especially includes branding.
What is a BRAND?
A brand is the embodiment of a company’s values and the promises that it makes to its customers. A brand represents the sum of all experiences over time between an individual and a company, product or service. A brand represents an expectation, a level of quality and its measure of trust. It’s more than a “logo.” Products occupy a space on a shelf; brands occupy a space in your mind. Most of us are acutely aware of the concept of branding. Brands surround and influence our decisions every day. The difference between success and failure depends on how well recognized the brand is.
Branding has now become a common term used in marketing. Branding is, essentially, burning your company (showroom) or website name or slogan into the minds of potential customers. Basically, if consumers and tradespeople recognize your name, logo and slogan, they are predisposed to buy from you. There is a sense of comfort, familiarity and security when purchasing a brand name product. Customers have trust and confidence in your company and know what to expect from you when they recognize your brand.
I would also suggest that each of us is a brand. Not in the context of a Kohler product, but in an attitudinal frame of mind. How each one of us positions ourselves within our individual showrooms, as well as in the business community as a whole, dictates our future success. The same branding principles used in companies every day can be tailored to individuals who want to stand out from the crowd. If great brands are above relationships, then individuals have the greatest opportunity to brand themselves.
Benefits of becoming a brand name showroom
• Larger market share — Predisposition to buy (McDonald’s vs. Bubba’s Grill). During a recession, branded businesses increase market share by a larger percentage.
• High closing percentage.
• Higher profit margins — Customers for whom you have previously worked have a greater trust and faith in you and will not haggle as much about prices in your showroom. With new customers, there is unfamiliarity and uncertainty, leading them to obtain more estimates, with a greater focus on price alone.
Building the rapport and the brand promise
Over the past 25 years, I have often said in my showroom columns that building customer rapport is one of the most important aspects of the sales process when selling luxury bath and plumbing products. Customers buy from people first. Customers want to build a personal (one-on-one) relationship with an individual, not necessarily with the company brand. I know that we all represent our company’s brand, but genuine, long-lasting relationships are driven at the individual level. The reason for the customer to trust in their purchase is how well the sales, marketing and customer service professionals position themselves in the eyes of that customer.
Another factor is how well a company delivers on its personal brand promise. Please do not confuse this with selling a consumer a towel bar, versus working with a professional tradesperson or with a customer who has greater needs, such as one or more complete baths or a complete custom home. This is when they want and need your valuable time and expertise.
Are you the BRANDED showroom of choice in your market?
While generic colas or even Pepsi-Cola may win blind taste tests over Coca Cola, the fact is that more people buy Coke than any other cola. Most importantly, they enjoy “the experience” of buying and drinking Coca Cola. They prefer to relive fond memories of childhood and refreshments than have a little better cola taste.
It is the emotional relationship with brands that make them so powerful. Let’s face it, nobody asks for a Curaid; people ask for a Band-Aid. Products as simple as Jell-o, Q-Tip and Roller Blades are “brands.” When you hear slogans such as, “Come see the softer side of_______ (Sears); “We love to see you smile” (McDonald’s) and “Just Do It” (Nike), what do they evoke?
These are some well recognized brands. What is “the experience” of your showroom brand?
The fundamental commandments of branding
• Unique/differentiated. Do you stand out from the crowd? What can you do in 2011 to separate your showroom from the lower-end showrooms trying to bridge the gap toward luxury? Remember to think “out of the box.”
• Relevant. Are you standing out in a way that is meaningful to your customers? Is it what you think the Baby Boomers and Generation X-er’s need/want or what they really desire or expect?
• Credible/believable. Are you able to tell your showroom story in a convincing manner and to consistently deliver on your brand promise? Is the selection and ordering process easy, do your products ship on time and how is your after care process? Do you provide a personal thank you note at the end of the process or ask customers how their experience was and how you can improve it? Do you ask, “Would you refer our showroom to your good friends and neighbors?” If the answer is yes, “Would you write us a testimonial?”
• Esteemed. Are you running your business life in a way that builds respect and trust? I have always believed that people and their human behavior (esteem/skills) are the showroom’s greatest assets. This is why I am constantly working on improving my own skills to be a more effective showroom and trade industry educator.
• Knowledge. Are you knowledgeable about your company, your customers, your competition and your industry? Do the customers that you serve know what you do? Most new customers that walk into your showroom do not know what your showroom is and what it does. Are you wholesale and/or retail, and do you provide installation? This is some of the information that they need to know.
How does one properly position oneself?
It starts with the right attitude. Attitude determines altitude, how high you can soar. Visit the Archives on www.thewholesaler.com to view my September 2006 column you need a “check up from the neck up.” No personal brand can ever maximize its true potential without the right attitude.
Next, do some research. You need to differentiate yourself in three places:
• Within your company
• Within your industry
• Within your targeted audiences.
You do this by gaining insight into the desires and wants of your target audiences. You learn what is important to them. Positioning in branding is focusing on your skills collectively. You cannot be everything to everyone.
Please e-mail me some feedback about this article. In August, I would like to write an article about the action steps needed to become a brand in your market.
Peter Schor, president of Dynamic Results Inc, is a bath/plumbing industry speaker, educator, author, columnist and consultant in the many segments of our industry. For the past 20 years, he conducted seminars and speaks at numerous conventions. Schor has great expertise in the field of showrooms and hotel bathrooms and has won many industry awards. He also consults manufacturers in taking their products to market in the areas of sales, marketing and public relations. Schor can be reached at 1302 Longhorn Lane, Lincoln, CA. 95648, phone 916/408-5346, fax: 916/408-5899. e-mail pschor@dynamicresultsinc.com or visit his web site: www.dynamicresultsonline.com.