Writing More Effective Emails

You are prospecting a new high-end builder to make your showroom the "go-to" resource for all decorative plumbing and hardware. You realize that cold calling won't work, but crafting a compelling and creative e-mail may help get your foot in the door.  To grab their attention and persuade your prospect to open your email, you must begin with a strong subject line.   A couple of examples, "Interested in selling your homes faster?"  Another might be, "Are margins important?"  "Need to capture the attention of a fickle market?"  Determine what causes your existing builder clients the most pain associated with decorative plumbing and hardware, and offer a solution in your subject line.

 

Follow the subject line with a powerful opening sentence.  "Working with XYZ builders has enabled the company to reduce anticipated sell times by X number of weeks, days, months?  What would that do for your bottom line?"

 

The next step is your call to action.  If your goal is to arrange a meeting, an effective CTA (call to action) might be, "We work with several custom builders that are our best source of new business.  Let me prove that there is such a thing as a free lunch.  What's a good day to get together?"

 

Your closing salutation should be simple and to the point, such as thank you for your attention to this request.  We look forward to creating value to your future projects.

Returns and the Pit of Despair, by Darryl Jones (QuickDrain USA), an Education Committee Member

No one, and I mean no one, like's the process of returning product, be it the manufacturer, end user or decorative showroom. It happens occasionally, or more then we would like to admit, for any number of reasons. Below are the most common:

1. Ordering mistake - If you are just one digit off, the product can be ordered wrong. Make sure you triple check your model numbers or get a fresh set of eyes on the quote.
2. Customer changes their mind - This happens when customers are unclear on what they are actually receiving. Have the customer focus on one room at a time and then review the order with your customer at least three times. Mark in bold any areas of concern so that they are not forgotten. Be sure to point out finishes being ordered that won't match (Oil Rubbed Bronze) or other products of concern (your customer has a full body "car wash" and needs to up-size their water heater).
3. The manufacturer ships the wrong product - This is a difficult situation to be in. On large orders, I have the warehouse contact me, so I can help check in the order. Murphy's law states that mistakes are guaranteed to happen on your large orders or with your most challenging customer. Trust me - it's worth the extra time to check the order in before it ships to the job site.

Rules of processing a return

• Check and see if you're in the manufacturer's time frame to handle the return (most have a 90-day stipulation).
• Never credit the customer before the return has been processed. (Products can only be returned if they are in saleable condition). Remember, the customer bears the responsibility of getting the merchandise back to you in one piece.
• Inform the warehouse that products being shipped back have to be received in a shipping box. (Some manufacturers won't except a return with mailing labels attached to the product box, or they will charge you a re-boxing fee.)
• Go over the restocking fees with your customer and let them know that a credit will be issued once the manufacture excepts the return. (Think transparency).

Returns happen - it's a known fact, however, you can safeguard yourself by having a review process before the products are ordered. Consider a sign-off on large ticket items (hydrotherapy tubs, vanities, mirrors, steam generators and any special ordered products). After all, people take things seriously once they have to sign a piece of paper. Stick to your guns and hold the order until you have a signature. As a manufacturer and past showroom manager, I've handled a lot of returns. Process returns as quickly as possible and move on to your next project. Treat a return like a child - if your customers need an answer today on a return, then the answer should be "no", otherwise they can wait until you contact the manufacturer. Returns are part of the business - all you can do is minimize your chances of having to deal with one.

 

The Downside of Optimism

There have been numerous studies that show being an optimist is good for your physical and mental well-being. However, does the benefits of being an optimist translate to the showroom? Not necessarily. According to Liz Wiseman, author of Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter, there are generally two types of people: multipliers and diminishers. 

Multipliers, as the name implies, highlight the intelligence and skill sets of their co-workers. Conversely, diminishers do exactly the opposite. Even the best managers and leaders can have elements of a diminisher in them, because their personalities are so large they tend to inhibit or intimidate their fellow team members.

Optimism is one of the characteristics of a diminisher. The potential downside of an eternal optimist is that they are so positive that almost anything can be accomplished they tend to turn a blind eye to the difficulty in achieving the goal. The way to avoid optimistic diminishing is to acknowledge how difficult a task or project will be. Wiseman also suggests asking lots of questions that help identify potential challenges such as - "What obstacles are we going to have to overcome that we have not yet considered? Are there good reasons that we are heading down the wrong path? What questions have we not asked that we should have?"

Unbridled optimism can be a negative simply due to the fact that fellow team members, subcontractors and others involved with a kitchen and bath remodel need to have their experiences validated. Even if you see the glass half full all of the time, understand that many on your team are involved with difficult projects, taxing deadlines and outside service and product providers that sometimes disappoint. When you acknowledge the difficulty in achieving goals, deadlines and/or budgets, you validate feelings that most of your team are reticent to vocalize.

What To Do When the Market Shrinks

Guess what?  As a society, Americans are not going forth and multiplying.  The number of Americans, which translates to the number of potential future customers, is growing at less than one percent annually.  In fact, the U.S. is at the lowest population levels since 1937. There are several reasons for our population stagnation, among which are fewer births as a result of Millennials marrying later in life and having fewer children when they do marry, fewer immigrants as a result of national policy and fewer deaths.  

 

Concurrently, there are population shifts. Did you know that Utah is the fastest growing state in the U.S.? Whoda thunk it?  And major metropolitan areas are not increasing their population. Combine fewer potential customers with the increased use of online retail, and you can see why brick-and-mortar stores in traditional retail hotbeds will have to respond to this changing societal dynamic.  

 

One of the points may be, according to L2 Founder and New York University Stern School of Business Professor Scott Gallaway, that the reason many mid-market to premium retailers are suffering is the ongoing erosion of the middle class. That helps explain the challenges faced by J.C. Penny, Sears and Macys (among others).  Pew Research reveals that those considered "middle class" have plummeted 11 percentage points from 1971 to 2015 and Pam Danzinger of Unity Marketing notes that the middle class' share of the nation's aggregate income has declined from 62 percent in 1970 to 43 percent in 2014.

 

While the middle class is eroding, the upper tier of the revenue producers is increasing.  There are 35 million affluent American households, of which 5 million have an annual household income exceeding $250,000. Another demographic trend affecting decorative plumbing and hardware showrooms is multi-generational households. An estimated 40 percent of Millennials are still living at home or with other family members.  That's the largest percentage of child-parent households since 1940.  The number of households with elderly parents living with their children is also increasing, signifying market opportunities for showrooms that can help homeowners modify their houses for aging in place.  This market opportunity becomes even more illuminated by the fact that only 10 percent of Americans are expected to move in a year.  That is half the number that moved in the 1960s and the lowest percentage of household turnover since 1948.

 

Baby boomers are the second largest generation in history and currently the generation with the most money. As boomers want to stay in their homes longer, targeted marketing campaigns to this demographic should generate positive returns.  Meet with your staff and brainstorm ideas of how to better serve this critical market segment.  

 

Women still control or influence the purchase of 80% of everything.  However, the number of women in the workforce has actually declined since 2000.  The Labor Department estimates that women in the workforce in 2020 will be at a lower level than it was in 1990.  The fact that fewer women are earning paychecks is not a positive trend for premium and luxury brands or brick-and-mortar retail in general.  

 

Lessons for decorative plumbing and hardware showrooms:

• Because more baby boomers are aging in place and moving less often, there are opportunities for upgrades of existing homes to develop an expertise for aging in place.
• Millennials gravitate toward experiences rather than brands or conspicuous consumption. Craft messages that tout the health and experiential benefits of a new bath.
• Women, while declining in the workforce, still make the vast majority of purchasing decisions. Make sure that your market efforts and sales approaches are female orientated.  
• There are 30 million Americans who are considered wealthy, and 5 million who are considered ultra-wealthy, e.g. household incomes in excess of $250,000.  Develop marketing campaigns that appeal to this demographic.  

The State of American Luxury

Not so fast to ring the death bell for brick-and-mortar retail.  Yes, there are a rash of closings from Toys R Us to Sears and many others whose model, merchandising and go-to-market strategies are cemented in the 20th century.  They depended upon providing consumers with a panorama of products that could be purchased at one location.  The Internet changed the game, making it easier for consumers to purchase online than to make a trip to a brick-and-mortar retailer whose main claim to fame was their breadth of product selection.  

 

Then there is Bonobos, Warby Parker, Amazon Books and a host of other online etailers who are rapidly expanding into the brick-and-mortar arena.  Target and Walmart recently reported their best quarterly performance in a decade. Other brick-and-mortar retailers that are thriving include Nordstrom, Home Depot, TJ Maxx and Urban Outfitters.  

 

What about luxury brands? Tapestry, the parent company that owns Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman, reported increased top line sales of 31% in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year. Michael Kors had almost equally impressive results, up 26.3% in its latest quarterly report.  However, the top line sales don't paint the entire picture.  Michael Kors' same store sales were relatively flat.  Coach's same store sales, including ecommerce, increased by a paltry 2%. 

 

The definition and perception of luxury are also changing.  When you think of luxury handbags, is Coach the first name that pops into your head?  Probably not.   The first thoughts may be Hermes or Louis Vitton.  And that distinction is at the heart of "American Luxury."  There's a strong case to say that American Luxury no longer exists. Tapestry and Michael Kors produce premium products.  They can't be considered luxury simply by definition if luxury is defined as "an inessential, desirable item which is expensive or difficult to obtain or a pleasure obtained only rarely," per the Oxford English Dictionary.  Is anything that Michael Kors or Tapestry offer difficult to obtain or do they usually deliver a "pleasure"?

 

The same parallel holds true for decorative plumbing and hardware products.  There are certaiunly brands that can be defined as luxury, however many showroom products can be found heavily discounted either on the showroom floor or on the Internet.  The continued success of DPH premium brands and products requires combining newness with value.  Evidence of the combination in the DPH showroom is exemplified by technological advances in thermostatic valves, which today are almost priced the same as pressure balanced valves.  Another key to the continued success of the decorative plumbing and hardware showroom is to understand what your customers truly want and the motivation behind their desire to equip their home with premium products that not only deliver better experiences, but also make the customers feel good about their purchases.  What doesn't work is the "spaghetti against the wall" approaches exemplified by having multiple brands and products whose design and performance are not distinguishable and then hoping that something sticks.  And as sales guru Gerry Layo told DPHA members at a previous conference, "Hope is not a good strategy."