See Me, Touch Me, Hear Me: The Increasing Importance of Sensory Marketing in Brick-and-Mortar Retail

“In a world in which products and services are ubiquitously available, we buy where we’re given the best experience. Physical retail is becoming the place to explore, to be romanced, to be entertained, to share moments.  It’s where smart brands are making authentic connections with their customers, simply because those compelling experiences cannot be found on a website,” writes David Kepron in his book Retail (r)Evolution. 

As all brick-and-mortar retailers, including kitchen and bath showrooms, look to engage with their customers in new and more meaningful ways, the role of sensory marketing has become increasingly important.  The reason why showrooms should take a first or second look at sensory marketing:

• 90 percent of shoppers say they are more likely to revisit a brick-and-mortar business if the music, visuals and scent create an enjoyable atmosphere. 
• 75 percent of shoppers report that they are likely to stay longer in a place of business if they enjoy the music, visuals and scent. 
• 56 percent of shoppers said the ability to touch and try different products and services are the biggest driver in making consumers more likely to buy in a brick-and-mortar store than online.   
• More than 80 percent of all consumers would recommend a showroom if they found the sight, sound and scent to be enjoyable. 
• 58 percent of consumers report that engaging video content has a positive impact on their shopping experience. 
• 85 percent of all shoppers state that music is the number one factor in lifting their mood in a brick-and-mortar store.   
• 81 percent of consumers are positively impacted by in-store scents. 

  
Decorative plumbing and hardware showrooms, especially those with working displays, can enhance sensory experiences to set a mood and the tone for a buying experience.  Do not ignore music or video content which is readily available from manufacturers or better yet, why not develop a video compilation of before and after pictures of your projects?

Amazon May Not Pose As Big of a Threat As Once Imagined

Amazon sells more than 550 private label and exclusive brands on its e-commerce platform. Many of the private label offerings have been introduced in the last two years, creating shock waves throughout brick-and-mortar retailers with claims of unfair competitive advantages from manufacturers of everything from apparel to consumer-packaged goods. Those initial fears that Amazon would devastate more established industries have now proven to be unfounded. A recent Marketplace Pulse study of 23,000 products sold on Amazon found that consumers are not more inclined to buy Amazon private and exclusive brands, even when Amazon elevates them in search results and even though Amazon owns more than 50 percent of all online spending in the U.S.

Categories where Amazon private label brands have been successful include batteries, because consumers may like a money-saving generic alternative to Eveready or Duracell. Amazon's children's wear brand "A is for Awesome" has not stood out, according to the study. In his book Re-Engineering Retail, Doug Stephens points out that Amazon is the quickest way from "wanting to getting." The company basically commoditizes everything, but home goods, apparel, and luxury products are emotional purchases. Consumers have long-standing brand loyalty to fashion and other categories. The struggle Amazon has with its unrecognizable private label brands is that there is no reason for consumers to buy them other than price. If consumers are only concerned with the lowest price, Amazon's private label may be their preferred option. But for everyone else, probably not, at least for now.

Want to Improve Your Business? Visit a Competitor

Many showroom owners are reticent to visit competitors, and that's a mistake according to the Retail Doctor Bob Phipps. Phibbs, who led a workshop at the 2018 DPHA Annual Conference, recommends that showroom owners visit other showrooms in non-competitive territories and ask themselves the following questions:

• Why is the merchandise arranged the way it is?
• Is the showroom neat, clean and well-lit?
• What is the energy level of the staff?
• Is the staff well trained to successfully engage a new customer?
• Does the staff want to be in the showroom or do they have to be there?

When you return to your showroom, compare your operations to those that you experienced at the competitor. Don't merely pat yourself on the back if you are superior to the showroom you visited, ask what lessons you can take from the competitor to make your operations better. 

Phibbs points out that too many retailers, showrooms included, believe in the adage that "if it's not broke, don't fix it." Why make changes in your showroom if it functions just fine? Because there are just too many other places that sell the same products that you do. You have to be different. You have to offer a better experience. The most successful brands today are relentlessly laser-focused on delivering a better customer experience. What are you going to do differently to make it easier and more enjoyable to interact with your showroom?

How to Be an Effective Disrupter

When you think about disrupters, your thoughts likely turn to Amazon, Uber and Airbnb. Airbnb continues to turn the hotel industry on its head, Uber has redefined taxi service and Amazon started out disrupting bookstores before taking on the entire retail galaxy. The lesson these disruptive giants teach is that you don't have to be a huge company to become an effective disrupter. Disruption is not about changing an industry. Instead it's about attacking the weaknesses of your competition by providing products and/or services that are so noticeable and different that it drives customers to your website and showroom. Here are five strategies to disrupt your competition.

1) Benchmark Against the Best

Don't compare yourself to your competitors. Instead, establish benchmarks with companies that provide the best customer service in the world. Think Ritz Carlton, Nordstrom, Starbucks or others. Brainstorm with your team and ask them to describe the best customer service experience they have ever had. What makes the experience remarkable? Can you emulate what they did? 

2) Be Remarkable on Social Media

It's called "social media" because posts on Instagram, Houzz, Facebook and other mediums are meant to be social. These are platforms that provide opportunities to connect with existing and prospective customers. That's one of the reasons why some companies develope call-to-action guides. The guides serve as an extension of their marketing. Showrooms should be posting images of every kitchen and bath that they design (with permission, of course) with a focus on the life-enhancing benefits their clients received as a result of their design.

3) Respond Immediately

Every time a customer engages with you, respond immediately. Your fast response sends the message that you care. Those who care more, win more often.

4) Make It Easy

Eliminate all processes and impediments that make it difficult for your customers to buy. Visit customers in their homes, and architects and builders in their offices, if that is easier than requiring them to come to your showroom. Make your showroom accessible by offering appointments that cater to your customers' schedules rather than your own. At the end of the day, if it is easier to buy from you, the more likely it becomes that you will win more projects.

5) Leverage Technology

There are lots of simple tools that you can use to enhance the customer experience ranging from customer relationship management systems to chat-bots on your website. Focus on technology solutions that make the buying process easier for your customers.

Email's Seven Deadly Sins

Email is the primary vehicle for business communication. Recent surveys estimate that the average worker spends more than four hours per day either reading or drafting emails. That's more than half an average workday. "Email is a to-do list you don't control," claims Aye Moah co-founder of the productivity software Boomerang. 

Because of its ease of use, email is often abused or taken advantage of when you send undeveloped messages and nonsensical and unnecessary replies. That's part of the reason that the average American has 199 unread messages in their inbox. How can you gain more control of email and help to assure that the messages you send are opened and read? Avoid these seven deadly sins of electronic communication:

1. Unclear subject lines. Want to get the recipient's attention? Use the subject line to let the reader know why you are writing. Avoid vague or cute phrases like, Hi. Hope You Are Well. Just Checking In. The subject line should make a crystal clear statement to recipients why they should open and read your correspondence.
2. Don't use all CAPS in the subject line because it connotes yelling, and no one likes to be yelled at. There's also a practical reason to avoid all caps. If you need to grab someone's immediate attention, let them know in the subject line.
3. Not taking advantage of CC and BCC. If you are copying coworkers, subcontractors or others merely to keep them in the loop, then do not include their email addresses in the "to" space. Instead, CC them which indicates I am sending you information, but you don't need to respond. Taking advantage of the CC and BCC tool will cut down on the number of unnecessary responses.
4. Be judicious sending emails on Mondays. The reason: A majority of people are cranky on Mondays according to recent studies and more likely to be error-prone. A Boomerang study found that Monday is the day of the week with the most negative email subject lines and negative subject lines are least likely to get a response.
5. Brevity and verbosity. The content you develop should correspond to the seriousness or complexity of the topic. If you want to grab a beer after work, you don't need to provide a dissertation on fermentation. However, if you are proposing a new concept or project, make sure that the reader has the content to evaluate what you are suggesting.
6. Missing opportunities to show appreciation. When appropriate use the closing to thank the reader for their attention, when you say thank you at the end of an email, your response rate is likely to increase by 36 percent versus other language used to close an email, according to Boomerang.
7. Expecting an immediate response. Don't confuse text messages with email messaging. If there is not a call to action in your email, consider that the reader has other things to do during the day and may not get around to responding to you immediately.

The Intelligent Bath

Technology is pervasive in our lives, providing added convenience and time savings not to mention a healthy dose of wow! This year's KBIS manufacturers unveiled a bevy of new technology for the bath to bring more functionality and pleasure to homeowners. 

At KBIS, lighting features were showcased by incorporating lighting into tubs, mirrors, vanities, sinks and water closets to provide the right levels of light to better match natural biological processes commonly referred to as circadian rhythms. Controlling lighting levels helps prevent the jolt to your system that bright lights can create when clients have touse the bathroom in the middle of the night or early morning before the sun comes up. Today’s lighting controls enable clients to navigate in the bath by providing a gentle glow, or program lighting levels to match client needs and lifestyles. 

Lighting can be controlled and activated through applications, motion control sensors, voice commands or home assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home. You can also use a home assistant to fill a bathtub, turn on a shower, adjust mirror lighting, start a steam shower, play music or activate other smart devices in your home. One manufacturer has embedded Alexa in a mirror so that homeowners can utilize all of Alexa’s functionality while preparing for the day or a night on the town. 

Customization is another benefit of technological advances in the bath. Homeowners now have the ability to set the water temperature, steam temperature and lighting preferences for every member of their family in the shower. Advances in showerheads enable homeowners to change spray patterns through remote controls thereby eliminating the need to change settings physically. It’s a great selling point, especially for customers may have a difficult time reaching the showerhead. 

If you thought you had to take a ride on a space ship to float in a gravity-free zone, think again. Toto featured new, more cost-effective models of its tub that create a zero gravity environment. Other high-tech tubs on display combined air technology with a waterfall that massages shoulders while customers soak and featured chromatherapy and its ability to wash away the stresses of the day. 

KBIS featured water closets that are self-cleaning and deodorizing and an expansion of bidet seats and functionality. Alexa has also been integrated into one toilet model which enables customers to check the weather, order a driver service and listen to music while on the John. 

How are you leveraging new technology into your sales presentations?  Pleas share your thoughts on the DPHA Facebook page or with our LinkedIn Group. 

Time Versus Money

Time and money are two of life's most scarce and valuable resources, writes professor Grant Donnelly of the Ohio State University in a recent HBR blogpost. Donnelly notes that the social events we get invited to, by friends and colleagues, usually require the investment of time, money or both, so these tend to be our "go-to" excuses when we can't make it to something. Donnelly studied how others perceive excuses related to lack of time versus lack of money. 

 

As part of his research, Donelley surveyed brides and grooms about guests that declined their wedding invitation because they didn't have enough money or enough time. The couples reported that they felt less important to those on the invite list who cited limited time compared to those who mentioned scarcity of money. 

 

Participants in the study found people who used a money excuse to be much more trustworthy than those who used a time excuse or no excuse at all. Most people believe that someone has more control over their time than the amount of money they have for discretionary spending. When you tell someone that you don't have time, you are saying that their offer or request is not a priority for you, and that response may generate ill will. 

 

The lesson for DPHA members: In the workplace, if you don't believe you have the time to take on a new project, you may be able to soften the impact by stating that you don't have the energy to put anything new on your plate.  According to Donnelly, people perceive energy to be less controllable than time.

Show and Tell

There may not be a more prophetic insight from Apple founder Steve Jobs than his statement, "Some people say, 'give the customers what they want.' But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do... People don't know what they want until you show it to them." 

 

Think about coffee before Starbucks. Did anyone know they wanted a triple shot, skinny vanilla latte with no foam? Did you know that before 1932, diamond jewelry was a rarity? Then DeBeers came along and convinced people that diamonds are romantic and you should put one into a ring as part of asking for a life-long commitment. By 2013, the diamond market generated more than $70 billion in sales. 

 

The U.S. has now become the largest wine producer in the world, generating $60 billion in annual sales last year, double that from the sale of wine in 2002. What do diamonds, smartphones, coffee and wine teach us? Similar to homeowners looking to build a dream bath or kitchen, the key to a consumer's heart and wallet is not to ask what they want, because most of the time, they don't really know. Instead, look to influence their decision making by focusing on educating them and making emotional connections. 

 

The dominant educators in the wine industry are wine critics who publish reviews based on point systems such as the Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate and Wine & Spirits, among others. These critics, similar to some restaurant and theater critics, can have tremendous influence not only on demand but also on the pricing. When Wine Advocate founder Robert Parker gave the 1982 Chateau Petrus a perfect 100 score, the price of the case went from $300 to $3,000 almost overnight. 

 

Expert reviews drive the wine industry, and this is not dissimilar to the impact that both positive and negative reviews can have on a showroom's operations. The lesson for decorative plumbing and hardware showrooms:

• Most consumers don't know what they really want until you show them what is possible.

• Use your showroom, website and social media to highlight expert reviews of products that you sell and service that you provide.

• As products become more complex, (e.g., smart refrigerator and Bluetooth enabled shower systems) and your customers are more pressed for time, your success will come from focusing on education and emotional connections instead of product features and benefits. 

• Use social influence, positive reviews, and education tools and approaches to gain competitive advantages.

Lessons From IKEA's Shift In Strategy

IKEA was the flat pack furniture innovator and category king long before there were Asian imports.  The Wall Street Journal recently ran an interview with IKEA’s CEO Jesper Brodin, who related the strategy behind the biggest restructuring in the retailer’s history. IKEA plans to cut thousands of jobs, open 30 city-center stores and offer home delivery services.  

This shift responds to challenges from online competitors.  The CEO reaffirmed the company’s commitment to affordable and cost-effective pricing, but with a different focus. The "city-centric" stores will function more as showrooms with a much smaller footprint than the massive suburban locations. After performing some financial evaluations, Brodin said, “We could prove that playing it safe would, from a growth and bottom-line perspective, be the most risky thing to do.”  

IKEA’s commitment to city-center showrooms responds to the changing dynamic in the way people shop. The city-center stores will make it easier to buy IKEA products. IKEA discovered that many prospective customers don’t have the time or willingness to travel to suburban locations to see and feel merchandise. To enhance the customer experience, IKEA purchased TaskRabbit to provide home delivery and installation services.  

Another change for IKEA is to convert storage spaces at its large suburban locations to fulfillment centers and install lockers in parking lots so that customers can pick up merchandise at their convenience instead of having to wait for a store to be open.  

IKEA is also testing different store concepts around the globe. In Stockholm, the company has opened a kitchen-only showroom where everything is purchased online and the merchandise is delivered directly to customers’ homes. In Madrid, the company has opened smaller stores dedicated to the living room and another that offers merchandise for the bedroom and bathroom.  

The lessons for decorative plumbing and hardware showrooms are:

• Playing it safe is the riskiest thing that you can do.
• Determine how you can make it easier for your customers and prospective customers to buy from your showroom.
• Determine how you can become a 24/7 solution.
• Determine how you can make your displays inspirational, because those consumers who are renovating their baths and kitchens still want to see and touch products before buying.
• Ask yourself why customers should buy from your showroom instead of IKEA or an online etailer.

Write More Effective Emails

Because email is the preferred medium to communicate with clients, prospects and just about everyone you interact with professionally, improving your ability to write more effective emails will contribute to more business, fewer problems and enhanced productivity.  How many times have you been at the receiving end of an email that left you scratching your head not sure what is required of you and the reason for the correspondence?  

Here are several keys to writing more effective emails.

• Determine "who is the email for"?  Who are you writing to?  What’s their style?  What information do they need to respond with?  How do they think?  To answer these questions, simply review emails you have received beforehand from the person you want to write to.

• What’s the goal? What’s the message you want to communicate and why should the recipient care?  What do you want the reader to do after the email has been read?

• Using the active voice makes your emails more powerful and shorter.  Here’s an example of don’t and do.
• Do - We just returned from the Kitchen & Industry Show and have identified, after a thorough tour of more than 800 exhibits, new products that we believe will help sell your house more quickly.  
• Don't - We just found great new products to improve and expedite your sales.  Want to see them?

• Pictures are worth thousands of words.  Use images, charts and graphics to make your points.

• Also, use examples because they show readers how to implement your suggestions.  If you want a builder to use a different product, explain why that product will deliver better returns than the product currently used and provide examples of the return on investment.

• If the message and/or recipient are important, write several drafts.  Eliminate unnecessary words.  Make sure the voice is active and that there is a call to action.