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?