Making Better Decisions Faster

In his annual letter to shareholders, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos noted that most businesses make high-quality decisions, but they make them too slowly.  In order to succeed and stay ahead of the completion, Bezos claims that you need to somehow make "high quality, high velocity decisions."  This is easier for new organizations but more difficult for larger and more established companies.  Speed does matter.  But how do you decide quickly and avoid results that don't get to the root of a problem or circumstance?  According to Jesse Sostrin in an HBR blog, high velocity decisions require reflective urgency or the ability to align your best thinking with swift action.

 

Sostrin offers three strategies to practice reflective urgency.  One is to identify the distractions that take away from quality thinking time.  These may include trying to multitask when an important decision requires your undivided attention, agreeing to projects that will gobble up oodles of time with little reward and rushing from one meeting to another with unfinished business left on the table.  Identifying the actions that prevent you from focusing exclusively and selectively on the most important decisions you need to make can help eliminate or mitigate distractions.  Ask yourself this question - when you are stressed or feel there's not enough time in the day to perform effectively, what is the biggest drain on your time?

 

Another impediment to making high velocity decisions is working on tasks and projects that are either easy or likeable.  We all have pet projects that bring us joy.  There's a reason the play is the opposite of work.  We all have responsibilities that are difficult and challenging.  To avoid putting off the difficult tasks, answer this question, "I would like to spend my day working on ____, but I know I should focus on ____."

 

If you are like most company leaders, you can't reduce the demands on your time or attention easily. The bottom line is that there is not one right way to make decisions.  Depending on the nature of the issue involved, you can determine how much thought needs to go into making the decision.  Bezos recommended never using a one-size-fits all decision-making approach. Some decisions are easily reversed.  He also claims that most decisions should be made with somewhere around 70% of the information you wish you had.  If you wait for 90%, in most cases, you won't be acting quickly enough.  Finally, you need to be able to recognize and react quickly when you make the wrong decision such as a bad hire.  If you know how to change course quickly, it most likely will be less costly than you think, and certainly less expensive then being slow.

How to Create Compelling Customer Experiences

Most retailers that attempt to create compelling customer experiences fail, claims Doug Stephens, owner of the Retail Prophet consultancy. The reason is that most retailers, including decorative plumbing and hardware showrooms, don't understand what the customer experience really is and how to make it more compelling. They mistakenly believe that the customer experience will be enhanced by rebranding, updating displays, bringing in new lines, re-configuring the showroom and transitioning from catalogs to tablets. Other misconceptions, says Stephens, are retraining sales professionals and improving customer service.

 

Most showrooms and other retailers who make these investments are likely to be disappointed with the results. Most of the time these improvements will not increase sales or generate additional positive reviews on Yelp or Houzz.com. Stephens claims that updating displays, retraining staff and enhancing service is comparable to putting "fresh icing on the same stale cake."

 

Creating a compelling customer experience at Nordstrom, Nieman Marcus or your showroom requires mapping the customer journey, breaking it down into its smallest component parts and then re-engineering each component to look, feel and operate differently from the competition. You need to dig below the surface within each moment to understand customer needs and design the combination of people, place, product and process that delivers delight in "that micro-moment." You need to weave your brand story into every customer interaction. You have to use different approaches, nomenclature, rituals, methods and processes from your competition. You have to offer an experience that can't be found anywhere else.

 

Stephens claims that the remarkable customer experience is comprised of the following five distinct elements:

 

• Engaging: Connect sight, sound, smell, touch and taste that strike an emotional chord with your customers.

• Unique: The method, language and customs used are unusual, surprising or proprietary thereby giving customers the impression that they not only have entered a different type of showroom but they are actually in a different world.

• Personalized: Customers believe that the experience they received was crafted exclusively for their needs. Showrooms can take advantage of customization opportunities to personalize the experience in unique and meaningful ways.

• Surprising: Customers are surprised and delighted by the interaction with the showroom.

• Repeatable: Experiences are consistent and so well practiced that they appear to be spontaneous while leaving nothing to chance, but offer the team enough leeway to let their personalities shine through.

Stephens points out that when Steve Jobs talked about design, he was not referring to how things looked and felt. Instead he was referring to how things really work. The opportunity for decorative plumbing and hardware showrooms is to deconstruct their customer journeys and then develop a strategy that completely differentiates the experiences you offer from the competition. It's about understanding all of the jobs your perform for your customers.

Stop Thinking You Sell Toilets, What You Really Sell Is Happiness

There have been voluminous works published on the changing luxury paradigm. Today's luxury consumers, (e.g. decorative plumbing and hardware showroom clients), are not renovating their bathrooms or building new homes to necessarily impress neighbors or to make a status statement. The primary emotional driver of the decision to redo a bath or kitchen or build a new one is to become happier. Happiness is not the byproduct of what someone buys. Instead it stems from experiences or what people do, and converting a master bath into a personal retreat or providing a facelift to a powder room is an attempt to live a happier and more rewarding lifestyle.

Cornell professor Brian Wansink has conducted numerous experiments that illustrate if you can change a consumer's perception of a product, you can change the consumer's behavior, e.g. they will purchase more expensive products and increase the happiness quotient from the purchase. In a recent experiment, Wansink invited two groups of diners to a eat meal. Group 1 was given a menu that listed the ingredients such as fish, green beans, scalloped potatoes, salad and chocolate cake and then were served the meal at institutional-type tables on paper plates. When asked to rate the quality of the meal on a scale of 1-10, the diners in Group 1 rated the experience on an average of 3.4 points.

Group 2 though ate at tables set with linens, candles and floral centerpieces. The lighting was dimmed and the menu provided detailed and fancy food descriptions. The meal was served on real plates with restaurant-styled table and stemware. Group 2 received the exact same meal as Group 1, however, the average rating from this group was 8.0 points on a 10-point scale.

The difference had everything to do with perception. And therein lies the lesson for decorative plumbing and hardware showrooms. If you believe and act like your role is to "sell toilets", you are most likely to receive the same rating that Group 1 gave their meal served on paper plates. However, if you tell compelling stories to clients - that your role is to make their lives easier, more enjoyable and happier by specifying the perfect products that will benefit their lifestyle daily - you are positioning your showroom to receive ratings similar to those provided by Group 2 or even higher.

Consumers with the means to purchase luxury products don't buy because they want to make a status and prestige statement.  That's the old world of luxury that no longer applies.  Consumers with resources to purchase new baths and kitchens from your showroom want compelling stories and experiences that will make them happier.

DPHA Rep Info, by Traci D'Antoni of D'Antoni Sales Group

Being an independent rep in the decorative plumbing and hardware business is both one of the greatest pleasures and frustrations of my life. I started as a rep working for an agency where there was no training program or a "how to" manual available. When I eventually started my own agency, I learned mostly by the trial-and-error method and subsequently, I was asked to share some of the insights I gained through this process.

In the DPH industry, there are great reps, and there are ineffective reps. That can also be said for each of our association's member segments. I have always tried to learn from others what makes a great rep and some of that information has come from the ineffective reps as well. A rep is in a unique position - being the liaison between the manufacturer and the showroom. A large part of a rep's job is to build relationships with the showroom staff and management and bring to them the correct product/product mix to make the showroom more profitable and successful. Building relationships requires a great deal of listening to the showroom staff and understanding what their needs and issues are. You need to be able to hear the words that are being spoken and then understand the underlying meaning behind them. A showroom sales consultant may be bashing a product that they have had an issue with when the real problem was actually the way the issue was handled by the manufacturer's customer service department or that the homeowner was difficult to deal with. I try to put consultants at ease by getting them to agree to the fact that this is the exception rather than the rule. And sometimes, you just have to let them vent. In our very "immediate gratification" world, the expectations and the realities of our business tend to move a little slower than others.

Training is another large part of a rep's job. Training can be as involved as setting up a lunch-and-learn CEU or simply taking 10 minutes with a sales consultant to show them new products. Training is not a one-size-fits-all program. Meeting each dealer and its staff has unique needs, and abilities are required for training success.  If a rep can tailor training to meet these needs, then he or she will have a customer that will trust them and work with them. Training is an ongoing process, yet is the one task that seems to get the least respect and attention of all of the rep's duties. A well-trained consultant can sell more product in a shorter amount of time and for a higher profit margin. The fact is that homeowners are looking for that knowledgeable person to help them through their project. Correct training can also make you the "go-to" rep when a dealer needs information about a product and knows that you will get them the correct answer.

Do you have rep "best practices" you'd like to share? Please email me at dantonisales@gmail.com and I'll add them to next month's article.

Leverage the Planning Fallacy Into a Showroom Asset

We've all heard horror stories from friends and neighbors of bath renovations gone awry. Their nightmares involved shoddy work, cost overruns, incomplete projects, time delays and unmet expectations. Why do projects fail? One reason may be a concept that Noble prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman calls "the planning fallacy". In his book, Thinking Fast and Slow, Kahneman explains that the planning fallacy occurs when there are unrealistic expectations that do not account for the unexpected.

Anyone who claims they will deliver a perfect project should be viewed with extreme caution. There are always surprises. This is why buying an entire bath online greatly increases the consumer's risk. The key for salespeople is to anticipate potential "what ifs" as part of the planning process. Unfortunately, your client may be unaware of some businesses that offer bath renovation services but thrive on the unexpected. They make their most profit on change orders or additions to the original plan. Kahneman claims that "the failures of forecasting in these cases reflects the customers' inability to imagine how much their wishes will escalate over time. They end up paying much more than they would if they had a realistic plan and stuck to it."

Kahneman's advice underscores the benefits a professional decorative plumbing and hardware showroom provides to help turn customer dreams into realities without having to incur undue stress, unrealistic cost overruns and less than desirable time frames. The bottom line is to explain to clients the benefits they receive from you walking them through every stage of a renovation. A detailed plan saves time, money and headaches.

Avoiding the planning fallacy begins by recognizing that bath renovations involve making decisions on everything from faucets and fixtures to flooring and wall coverings and cabinet hardware. The devil is truly in the details, and that's where you can differentiate your showroom from one that is limited to taking orders or an online etailer. Take the time to explain the benefit of ensuring that all of the i's have been dotted and the t's crossed before demolition begins. Changes are difficult, time-consuming and expensive when they occur in the middle of a project. When your clients spend the time upfront, they minimize the likelihood of changing course midstream.

You should also review the existing infrastructure of your client's homes to help determine if it will be able to support any new additions that you choose. The age of a home can affect costs. Older homes may need to be rewired, re-plumbed, re-ventilated and re-engineered to meet present-day codes. Because it's almost impossible to see behind walls, recommend a contingency plan to deal with the unexpected.

Ten Half-Truths About Sales

Anthony Iannarino had a great blog on April 3 identifying ten half-truths about sales. 

 

There are a lot of "truths" about sales bandied about on social media by people who have a something to gain if your believe their half-truths. Here are some to watch for:

1. Buyers are spending their time researching: I am sure there are some people in purchasing departments somewhere researching something they need to purchase for their company. My experience tells me that most decision-makers are not. If there is information parity between you and your prospective client, you are doing sales wrong.
2. Buyers are well-educated and well-informed: About many things, yes. About you and your industry and the choices that are available to them when it comes to producing better results, not so much. Buyers have experience when they re-purchase, and most of their education is gained through the experience of having bought and used a service.
3. Buyers are spending their time on social sites: There are surely some people in business with buying roles that are engaged on social sites. What you'll find to be true is that the higher up the organizational charts you climb, the fewer people you will find spending their time on social sites.
4. Buyers now control the process: If buyers knew how to get the results they needed, they'd already be getting those results. When a buyer has a process, it's called an RFP. What you sell is surely being commoditized, this process will never serve you, and it rarely serves the company well. You can still control the process if you initiate it.
5. Marketing is going to generate your leads: Marketing creates awareness. When things go well, they generate leads. The other half of this truth is that those leads will not be enough for you to grow your business. Sales is about opportunity creation as much as it is about opportunity capture.
6. Marketing automation can nurture your relationships: Marketing can automate messages. Nurturing is something different. You don't nurture a lead. You nurture a relationship. Your prospects don't have any relationships with anyone in your marketing department. When they have a need, they are not calling marketing. People nurture relationships with other people.
7. Inbound is better than outbound: Inbound can be enormously helpful. But it isn't better than targeting your dream clients, building relationships over time, developing a case for change, and winning your dream client. Outbound still rules the roost.
8. Salespeople are only necessary to close opportunities: Why, sir, so few opportunities then? If inbound isn't working, and marketing doesn't generate leads, where are the opportunities you need going to come from? Salespeople are necessary to create opportunities. That commitment comes way before the commitment to buy.
9. The best salespeople should not prospect: Closers. Sure. Whatever. The person with the greatest ability to create value for their dream client should prospect and they should be engaged early in the process, where deals are won and lost. Saving the best salesperson for the end of the process and allowing them not to prospect is a bad idea.
10. There will be fewer salespeople in the future: This is a half truth. If your model is transactional, this is almost certainly true. Where your model is high trust, high value, and high caring, this is not true. In fact, there is already a shortage of salespeople with the necessary skill sets to sell in businesses with these models.

Mitigating Stress in the Showroom

Everyone has too much to do, challenging deadlines to meet and performance metrics to satisfy.  Let's face it, work can be stressful.  However, we know that a stressful environment can zap productivity and make it more difficult for everyone on the team to be as effective as they really can be.

 

You can help reduce stress in your showroom by clearly stating what you want, your expectations and goals.  When team members receive vague messages, they are caught in no man's land.  What does a team member think if you send an email asking for a meeting without providing a hint of what the discussion will entail?  They may think, oh no, I have done something wrong or my performance is not satisfactory.  Be crystal clear in your communication so those you depend on, and who depend on you, won't have to spend time and energy fretting over what you may be thinking.

 

The average professional receives an estimated 122 emails a day.  If you are working on a project, it's easy to ignore emails so you can meet your deadline.  Most emails don't have to be responded to right away, but there are some that do.  When you ignore the time-sensitive and urgent messages, you send the message that you are not engaged or you don't care.  Regardless of how busy you are or how time sensitive an approaching deadline might be, spend at least 15 minutes a day culling emails to identify those that need an immediate response.

 

Avoid the temptation to micromanage.  Most of your team will thrive if given a little leeway.  If they feel someone is constantly looking over their shoulder though, it will compromise their performance and sap their confidence.  If you have a tendency to micromanage, work with your team members to establish performance metrics and timelines.  That way you can review performance at agreed-to intervals. Subsequently, your team won't feel as though you don't trust them.  This in turn sends a signal of confidence and trust, which are keys to high performance.

 

Being crystal clear in your communication, responding to urgent and pressing issues immediately and providing freedom for the team to perform will help reduce stress in your showroom and improve everyone's performance.

Do You Pass the "Back to the Past" Test?

New York University professor and principal of L2, a marketing and research firm, Scott Galloway brilliantly summed up the challenge facing successful brick-and-mortar retailers that have yet to change. He said,

 

"Another metric, in retail, is a "back to the past" test. Go to the middle of a store, close your eyes, clear your mind. Then open your eyes, slowly rotate 360 degrees, and absorb everything around you. How far, if at all, through the rotation would you realize you're not in 1985? I open my eyes in an Apple Store, and BOOM - before even starting to move, I know it's not the year Pat Morita was nominated (and robbed) for Best Supporting Actor in Karate Kid. At Sephora, you might get 90 degrees through your turn, and no doubt about it, you're not going to hear Tears for Fears playing. If you do the full rotation, and are not sure what decade you're in... then you are in the midst of fading greatness, ripe for disruption."

 

When you close your eyes and then look around your showroom, what do you see?

The Challenge in Marketing More Effectively

Bernadette Jiwa writes an excellent blog entitled, The Story of Telling. Her post on Sunday, April 2, hit the nail on the head, recognizing and defining the change necessary to market showrooms more effectively. Jiwa wrote,

"The easy part of marketing is working out what to say, when where and to whom, in order to sell what we make. We expend most of our energy on the easy part. The hard part is understanding why it's important to say what we're about to say and who will care enough to listen. We should start with the hard part."

 

That hard part entails understanding what the customer truly wants and that those wants are constantly changing, especially in the luxury sector. Luxury Marketing's Pam Danziger points out that making a luxury purchase used to center on aspirations. You bought a luxury item because acquiring that brand spoke to a special status or position. Aspirational purchasers though are now a dying breed. Danziger correctly notes that affluent customers who can afford to buy luxury items already have achieved plenty of status and position. They don't need to show off a Rolex watch or Hermes bag to prove it.

 

The future of luxury business requires moving from aspirations to inspirations. Showrooms that focus on demonstrating how their products and services, yes services, can add meaning to their customers' lives will win.   Features and benefits no longer have the impact they once did. When an affluent customer enters a showroom and is considering a new bath, they don't necessarily care about how many finishes faucets come in, thermostatic valve technology (which is now a quarter century old) or water flow rates. They want to know how their new bath will make their life better and what the showroom will do for them that an online etailer or order-taker cannot do. And showrooms can't depend on superior customer service to win the day, because superior customer service is now an expectation not an exception.

 

New fashion retailers such as Stitch Fix and Trunk Club are disrupting markets by providing better buying experiences. These companies provide customers with personal stylists to select complete outfits for consideration. There are other companies that allow women to design their own handbag or dresses. The key to their success is that they are personalizing the customer experience and more significantly, making it easier and more enjoyable to buy.

 

Even stodgy old Lincoln Motor Cars has changed its service paradigm to improve the customer experience. Need your Lincoln serviced? You no longer have to make a trip to the dealer.  The dealer will pick up your car, service it and then return it to you.  It makes you want to buy a Lincoln.

What can you do in your showroom to personalize customer experiences? What can you offer that makes it easier for your customers and trade representatives to buy from you? Why your showroom instead of Amazon?

What Is the Best Business Advice You Have Received?

Every time DPHA members get together and talk about the benefits of being an association member, the conversation inevitably turns to relationships they have made with fellow members.

 

There are a number of members who opine that DPHA has helped make their business successful and that joining was one of the best business moves they have taken in their career.

 

Recently, Inc. magazine asked successful entrepreneurs what was the best piece of advice they received to help their business. Here's a sampling:

• Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. When you start your own company, you have to get used to learning how to do things that you don't know how to do. You also need to learn how to take risks and be okay with not knowing what the next stage is going to bring.

• One CEO said that your opportunity is set up like a graph. On one axis, it's what you do and the other axis, who you tell. "If I think about some of the career mistakes I made at my last company, it was really not doing enough telling about my accomplishments."

• Look at your outbox and see who you are emailing. Usually your emailing is related to who is supporting you. If you're not emailing people, they probably are not supporting you.

• Someone once told me that when people are arguing, they usually argue about the what and the why. For example, if there is a team that wants to make a website blue and another team that wants to make it green, they may argue forever about which one is better, but they are never going to agree on the color if they don't agree on the goal.

• There was a period of time when I didn't have control over things and I felt badly about the things that were happening. I was talking to one of our investors and she said, "when you stop acting like a jerk, you'll stop feeling like a jerk." Basically, when you are ready to take full responsibility of all things that are going on, you're going to stop feeling like you are in a position to feel like a jerk all the time. It stuck with me, because it was basically saying control the things that you can control. 

What's the best business advice you have received?  Please share your thoughts with us on the DPHA Facebook page or with our LinkedIn group.

Who Needs Exercise When You Can Take A Bath Instead?

Here's another great selling tool to help tell compelling stories and create emotional connections with customers.  Dr. Steven Faulkner, a researcher at Loughborough University, found that taking a warm bath burns almost the same amount of calories as biking does and aides in preventing type 2 diabetes.

 

Dr. Faulkner explained that it was common knowledge that taking a warm bath is relaxing.  He researched the effectiveness of "passive heating" on health and then studied the health effects of 14 people sitting in an hour long soak at 104 degrees Fahrenheit compared to an hour-long bike ride.

 

The experiment found that biking burned more calories, but taking a hot bath burned the same number of calories as walking for 30 minutes. Faulkner explained, "The overall blood sugar response to both conditions (bathing and walking) after eating was about 10% lower when participants took a hot bath as compared with when they exercised."

 

He also opined that passive heating may contribute to reducing chronic inflammation which is often accompanied by type 2 diabetes.  Relaxation, no effort and eliminate calories?  Loks like it's time for a soak!

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Everyone has a favorite place. It may be the coffee shop, a restaurant, take-out stand or a wonderfully merchandised boutique that always has something that catches your eye. Think about the places you go to repeatedly. What is the draw? As with Cheers, you walk in and everybody knows your name. It makes you feel good about being there. You know if you forgot your wallet, the owners of your favorite establishment would trust you to pay them later. It is likely that you are treated better than most other customers at the places you repeatedly frequent. You may get a little extra here or there as a way to thank you for your ongoing patronage.

Consider your repeat customers. Does your team know the names of designers, architects, builders and installers who frequent your showroom repeatedly? Returning customers are not just looking for the latest and greatest products. They return because of the positive engagement and experiences they have with your showroom and your staff. Every time a repeat customer crosses your threshold, your relationship deepens. You know what they like, what they need and what they desire. Because of your intimate knowledge of how they operate and what makes them tick, you are more valuable and can therefore provide a better level of service than the showroom down the street that has no relationship with them whatsoever.  After all, it's hard to have a deep relationship with a web site.

The lessons for showrooms:

 

• Pay attention to the little extras and quality of service that you receive from the places where you are a repeat customer. What brings you back? What qualities can you take back to your showroom?

• Make sure that each engagement with a repeat customer deepens the relationship and makes you more important to them and them more important to you.

• What value-added services and extras can you provide to those who are your best customers?

• What do you do that promotes emotional attachments with your customers? How can you make those actions scale?

Is It Snap, Crackle or Pop?

Snapchat went public about two weeks ago and saw its stock price increase by nearly 50% even though the company has yet to generate a profit. What is the fascination with this media platform that allows content to be accessible for 24 hours only? Can Snapchat be a viable medium to promote a decorative plumbing and hardware showroom?

 

The answer is yes and the reason why is that if your target market knows that the videos of a new kitchen or a new product will only be available for 24 hours, the likelihood of your targets viewing them increases substantially. Here are several keys for using Snapchat to promote your showroom.

 

Tell a compelling story instead of trying to sell someone on the need for a new bath. Explain how a new bath will improve their lives (not just the value of their homes) and lead to a healthier lifestyle. You can use video guidance for storing things more effectively. You can highlight smart shower systems and technology advances that are currently available. You will never lack for content to tell a good story.

 

Other companies that are enjoying Snapchat successes use the medium to highlight the essence of their brand. For DPHA members this could be a commitment to the local economy and the importance of buying locally. Alternatively, you could tell stories of past projects and even feature customer testimonials. A distinguishing characteristic of Snapchat is that it's raw. Most of the videos that work are taken on cell phones and will never be considered a Hollywood production. The rawness speaks to honesty and integrity. The bottom line is that you don't have to produce a perfect video to capture attention. You can produce multiple videos that celebrate the ability to create an in-home spa.

 

Another effective Snapchat use is to show customers what happens behind the scenes at your showroom. The culture of your showroom will appeal to Millennials who want to patronize companies that give back to their communities and have a higher purpose beyond making a profit. Use Snapchat to show your clients who you are and the love you have for your industry.

The Art of Creating the Showroom Plan, by Darryl Jones (QuickDrain USA)

In this age of technology and a "right now" atmosphere, the creation of a planned method of attack for the showroom sales staff has become more important than ever. When working with a new designer or contractor, you and your staff should be able to give them a list of requirements of what's expected of both them and yourself. What follows is an example of what someone has used in the past.

 

Welcome! If you are a trade professional first time visitor, here is what to expect when partnering with us!

Partnering with the trade is our focus. This allows us to offer wholesale discounts to the trade and positions us to provide you and your client with information about our product lines and assist you in receiving the best overall value and service when selecting and purchasing materials for your project.

 

Our showroom displays products from around the globe. Most displays feature the latest industry technologies, values and quality available in our market. You are always welcome to browse our showroom and we will gladly assist you with as much information as time will allow.

 

It is appreciated when we can schedule a time to meet with you and/or your client to discuss and demonstrate the value and overall performance of our products. This also allows you to make the most informed decisions relating to your purchase.

 

What is the primary difference between "Wholesale" And "Retail" Sales?
Wholesale refers to the sale of products to a business or trade professional at a discount with the intention to resell it to the general public. The wholesaler establishes discounts based on the relationship with the business or trade professional, the amount of business that they produce and the size of the order.

 

Retail refers to the selling of products to the general public that has the intention to consume or use the product for their own benefit and use. Retail prices are based on the amount that the market will allow.

 

Please contact us to schedule an appointment a few weeks before you are ready to discuss your selection options so that we can set a date and time to meet. Also, please expect that we may need to spend at least a few hours with you in order to completely review product options initially. It is important to make sure products will fit and function properly.

 

What to bring:

Your budget allowance and a set of plans are helpful. If you can, please have "room counts" for your cabinet knobs, towel bars, rings, etc. We also welcome magazine pictures of what your client likes or new products with questions. Due to a lot of "breakables", we don't recommend bringing young children, but they are welcome and we have a play area set aside for their use.

 

What to expect to cover:

Unique features and new technologies for tubs, faucets, sinks, toilets and curbless showers, whole house water filtration systems, steam units, ironing centers, medicine cabinets, and make-up mirrors. Also, a possible flat-screen television behind your mirror, so you can catch the news while getting prepped in the morning. You can also try high-tech appliances, such as a self-cleaning toilet that can be controlled with a wireless remote. And of course, door, bath, cabinet and closet hardware.

 

Count on us:

We will record the product information during our meeting and provide you with a spread sheet that includes information about the products discussed. We can also prepare product specifications for you on request. Additionally, we have the ability to provide you with field service and support for your project.

 

Before placing your first order, we will discuss establishing your account, credit, payment options, special order and sign off procedure's, order fax confirmation, freight charges, return policy, and delivery policies.

 

Having a plan will help ensure that there is little to no wasted time and that the project will stay on schedule. Indeed, a schedule will add value to your efforts. Don't assume that designers or contractors know the inner workings of a showroom (this is not a course that they take when they get their license). Split large projects into manageable time allotments that can be done over multiple meetings. Most clients have a "fuel gauge" and will tire as the hour's progress. Separate what's important from what isn't at this time (i.e. rough-In valves before door hardware). Have a check list that you can measure against - checked boxes mean progress and a sign of completion.

The Perils of Being A Lemming

How many times have you found yourself wanting to emulate a competitor or a bench-marking business that has a good idea? Do you kick yourself for not thinking of something that should have been so obvious? Do you really have to have the same lines as the competitor down the street? Is imitation really the sincerest form of flattery? What we don't typically ask about a new line or a new product that you want to acquire is - how do you know if it will be successful?

We often imitate others without asking fundamental questions such as, was the new line someone else acquired as good as it was projected to be? How was the fulfillment by the manufacturer? What was the quality of the customer service? How flexible is the line? How are problems addressed and how quickly are they resolved? We tend to be enamored with bells and whistles while oftentimes forgetting to ask the difficult questions.

 

Next time you come across a great new idea, don't jump on the opportunity immediately. If it is a great idea today, it will be a great idea tomorrow. Ask "what if" questions. Seek out fellow DPHA members that may have experience with a line or other business colleagues who have no skin in the game and can therefore take a less emotional view of the opportunity. Ask them if they see the same upside potential that you do and ask them what they see as the downside.

 

Yes, there's something to be said about acting impulsively and taking action. However, when major investments of either time, expertise or resources are involved, a "shoot-ready-aim" approach may not be in your best interest. The key is knowing when immediate action is required and when you should take a step back to think things through.

 

Billionaire investment guru Warren Buffet may have said it best, "The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything."

Improve Your Productivity

Want to get more done in less time? Who doesn't. Start with eliminating distractions that eat into productive time.

1. Don't look at your email in the morning until you have completed one task on your to-do list.
2. Create a "to-don't" list. Things that you should not do during the day because they are either unproductive or a waste of your time.
3. Block your news feeds or other RRS feeds from interrupting your work day. Look at those at night or during non-showroom hours.
4. Give your phone a workday vacation or allocate a specific time of day that you will look at your phone and respond to emails and text messages. How many of your team members bring their phones to staff meetings and check messages when their attention should be focused on the meeting content? When you stop compulsively checking your phone for messages, you can focus your attention on serving your clients and improving your business.

Three Words to Improve Your Email Effectiveness

Most of the emails you send require the recipient to respond.  Chance are though that not all emails generate the responses you want and need.  Here's a proven way to improve email responses - end each request with the words, "thanks in advance."  According to a study of 350,000 emails, those whose closing salutation was some variation of a thank you received a response rate of 62%.  On the other hand, emails that were signed "sincerely," "regards," "best", etc., only received a response rate of 46%, reports Roger Dooley in his Brain Pickings newsletter.

 

The reason why expressing gratitude for an action yet to occur received the highest response rate is because it convinces the recipient to follow through.  Dooley's research is also confirmed by a Boomerang study that found a warm thank you boosted email replies. 

 

Dooley also advises that when you are the recipient of a request-to-respond email that thanks you in advance, the best way to respond is, "no problem, I know you'd do the same for me", which comes from Influence author Robert Cialdini.  Using this phrase will usually ensure that the recipient will one day return the favor because of the rule of reciprocity.  This rule creates a sense of obligation when someone does a favor or something nice for us.  Most people don't want to be indebted to another person, so they feel obligated to repay in kind for what another person provides.

 

Experiment by thanking your customers, clients prospects and others from whom you would like to receive a response in your email and let us know if your response rate increases.  We thank you in advance for sharing your results on the DPHA Facebook page or with our LinkedIn group.

What Signals Are You Sending?

DPHA members that remember Don Schmincke's keynote address at the first DPHA Annual Conference will recall he related that every showroom has symbols that have meaning to owners, staff and clients.  There are also symbols and signals that demonstrate general attitudes and feelings of your team members.  Imagine that you were interviewing for a job at your showroom. When you walk in, how would you be greeted?  Would it be warm and cordial, cool and aloof, or nothing at all?  Employees who chat casually with one another and the receptionist reflect a warm environment, according to Liane Davey, author of You First:  Inspire Your Team to Grow Up, Get Along and Get Stuff Done. 

 

What does your kitchen say about your showroom?  Is the sink clogged with dirty dishes?  If so, you may be sending the message that no one cares about cleanliness or the common area condition.  Are there passive aggressive notes attached to food containers in the fridge? Is there food still there from a team member who left the organization many months ago?  Do you have someone who is responsible for kitchen clean up?   

 

Do you allow your team to personalize their space with photos of family and friends, favorite sports team trinkets, flowers and plants?  Doing so better engages team members and encourages them to bring their whole selves to work, claims Davey. If you allow team members to personalize their areas and they don't, they may actually be sending a message that they really are not engaged in your organization.  

 

The restroom in a showroom typically doubles as another display or vignette. Is the ambience compromised by signage that may remind people to avoid flushing paper towels or disposing of other items that may cause clogs.  If you have a sign similar to that in your restroom, ask yourself if it is really necessary. 

 

What messages are you sending to your staff and customers if you outfit your restrooms with nice towels, superior hand soap, moisturizer and feminine hygiene products?  To many, the message is that you care about your team and visitors who come to your showroom.

Just Because I Like You Doesn't Mean I Like You

If you can't figure out your return on your social media investment, you are not alone. 87% of the chief marketing officers in Fortune 500 companies cannot quantify if their social media efforts create new customers.  The reason?  Most everyone who uses social media doesn't understand how to take advantage of the platform that not only can generate new customers but can quantify a return on investment, concludes Harvard University professor Leslie K. John, Tulane University professor Daniel Mochon, Freeman School of Business professor Janet Schwartz and Gutenberg University of Mainz professor Oliver Emrich writing in The Harvard Business Review.

 

Confusing cause with consequence is the biggest social media mistake most companies make, the professors write.  Customers who follow your brand on Facebook are likely to have had a positive feeling towards your showroom and some type of interaction with your business.  Why else would they want to follow you?  The professors conducted 23 experiments and found that liking a brand or following a brand on social media though does not impact purchasing behavior or the purchasing behavior of online friends.

 

Based on the experiments and findings of the studies the professors conducted, why should you spend resources on social media?  Becuase their research also found that pairing 21st century platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and others with 20th century advertising techniques does indeed drive consumer traffic.  Promoting endorsements you receive from fans also can help move the marketing needle.  If a customer provides an endorsement, consider tweeting it to your network or adding customer photos of their completed projects to your Instagram, Facebook and web pages. 

 

Word of mouth also continues to have a powerful impact on consumer behavior.  When customers recommend your showroom to friends or neighbors, there is a strong likelihood that those receiving the recommendation will act on it.  Asking customers their opinion of new products to bring into the showroom or a new service you are considering can generate engagement and excellent feedback.  It can also create evangelists for new offerings.  If your customers are pleased with the quality of service that you provided, ask them to write a recommendation or endorsement and then post it on their social media pages.  You can then take their comments and post them on your pages as well.

What Do Customers Truly Want?

Many national retailers such as Nordstrom, Lowes and others are turning to technology to improve the in-store experience. Lowes' Holoroom provides virtual reality tools that customers can use to design different spaces. Nordstrom developed a chatbot to provide shoppers with gift ideas during the holiday season and Rebecca Minkoff, the women's clothing retailer, offers smart mirrors and walls to promote interaction with customers. These technology enhancements are cool, but guess what? They don't work, according to a recent study by GPS Shopper and YouGov. The study found that only 18% of all shoppers believe smart mirrors will improve their shopping experience. An equally tepid 21% of consumers felt that Amazon's Echo and Google's Home are improving the online shopping experience from home. 

GPS Shopper's May Mikhailov explained that, "while retailers fawn over the latest glitzy gadget, hoping it'll catch on as the next big thing, people just want to buy stuff as quickly and easily as possible." Speed and ease - that's the key and that's where kitchen and bath showrooms should focus their attention. Leverage how your expertise and product knowledge can save customers time and effort. There's no way a bot, robot or technology tool can match your years of experience in specifying products for a kitchen or bath, or determining what customers really want.

How to Demonstrate Sales Confidence

High-performing decorative plumbing and hardware sales professionals appear confident. Posture, the way you walk, your body language and the spoken word all convey confidence or a lack thereof.  In a recent article in Inc. magazine, Maria Takaba identified several phrases that all sales people should avoid because they "scream lack of confidence and make you appear weak."

The first phrase is "I hate to bother you."  If you are returning a call or having to convey information that can't wait, the discomfort is not that you are bothering your customer or prospect.  Rather, the discomfort comes from the information you have to convey.  It may be that a product delivery has been delayed or an item arrived damaged.  When you say "I hate to bother you," you lose all control of the conversation.  A better option is  to say "When you have a minute, I would like to discuss something with you."

The second phrase is "I'm sorry."  You should certainly not avoid being accountable when a mistake is made or your information was not accurate, but how many people do you know that say "I'm sorry" repeatedly.  Are they really sorry?  If you have bad news to convey, a better alternative is to say, "I need to let you know of some bad news."

Successful sales people rarely tell others that they are worried.  Expressing an opinion of a potential negative outcome eliminates the ability to come up with a solution because you are focusing on the problem.  Instead of saying "I'm worried that the finish won't match," a better alternative would be "I have some concerns that the finish won't match.  An option to avoid this problem is..."

Never use the word "just".  It compromises what you might be thinking or the messages that you want to convey, such as -

• "I just need a minute of your time." 
• "I just thought about a great alternative." 
• "I just had an idea." 

If you preface a thought with the words, "I believe/think/feel that" you are couching your message with an unnecessary qualifier and subsequently diminishing the importance of the thought.  For instance, which statement is more powerful?

• I just feel that you should consider the steam unit for the master bath to create your own in-home spa.
• The steam unit for the master bath will create your own in-home spa.

Finally, avoid asking permission to make a request by prefacing a statement with the words, "If it's OK" or "would you mind."  When you do so, your customer may say or think, "no it's not OK" or "yes I do mind".  A more confident approach is to make a request by saying, "When you have a moment, let me show you this extraordinary shower system."

What We Can Learn From Macy's

Macy's is struggling. The giant retailer that owns Macy's and Bloomingdales plans to shutter 100 underperforming stores, its 2016 sales fell by 4.8% and revenue predictions for 2017 call for more of the same.  On the upside for Macy's is its online sales experienced double digit growth last year, but that's not where Macy's is focusing all of its attention.  In its fourth quarter earnings call, company CEO Terry Lundgren pointed out that 90% of Macy's sales still take place in a brick and mortar store.  The company's future, according to the CEO, is tied to improving in-store customer experience.  Here are several of the changes that Macy's outlined to improve customer experiences.

 

• Macy's will expand its private label and exclusive brand offerings from fashion houses that include Tommy Hilfiger, Rachel Roy, Hugo Boss and Kipling and which currently represent 20% of apparel sales.
• Macy's private label brands such as Bar III represent another 20% of sales.
• The company will separate sale items from full priced items.  Sale priced items will be displayed in a separate clearance section to avoid compromising the margins of regularly priced merchandise. 
• The company wants to move away from excessive discounting that has caused Coach and Michael Kors to pull their handbags out of Macy's.
• Macy's plans to reinvest in higher-quality, more expensive products and reduce its footprint in product categories that are underperforming.
• Macy's plans to reformat stores in high net-worth demographics and partner with top-tier shopping center owners that could result in a hybrid department store that includes entertainment, dining and shopping experiences all within the store.

 

What are the lessons for decorative plumbing and hardware showrooms?  Customers expect more.  They want to feel good about their in-store experience.  If you have sale merchandise, create a separate space in your showroom so it does not compromise full-price offerings.  Less could be more.  Evaluate the performance of each of your lines and product categories.  Determine which ones are most profitable and emphasize those while reducing your footprint with products and categories that are underperforming. 

 

Walk your showroom through your customer's lens.  What do you see?  What changes can you make to the physical environment that would improve the customer experience?

How To Make Your Weekends More Meaningful

Who wouldn't like to get more done in less time?  It seems today that there are not enough hours in the day to accomplish all that we would like to. You may be able to improve your personal productivity by following the examples of highly successful people who leverage their weekends to help them accomplish more in less time.   According to a recent article in Success.com, highly successful people don't sleep in on the weekends.  Instead, they wake up early because they realize that time is precious and it should not be wasted lounging in bed regardless of what day it is.

Reading is fundamental to success.  Reading helps anyone keep their fingers on the pulse of what's going on in their industry and to also discover new things that competitors may not discover.  Weekends are the perfect time to read because they help increase your knowledge and improve your approaches for tackling the challenges of the coming week.

Highly successful people use the weekends to plan for the coming week while also taking time to pursue their interests.  Weekends are the time to decompress, pursue your passions and do whatever it is that you prefer to do in your spare time.

Weekends also are the perfect time to give back to the community in which you work and live.  According to Thomas Corley's book, Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals, 70% of successful people are involved in charitable or community related activities at least 5 hours per month.

Giving your smart phone a rest on weekends is a habit that can be extraordinarily effective.  Take the time to get away from it all by putting away your smart phone for several hours and avoid the temptation to constantly check your emails.  This also helps highly successful people to connect with their families, exercise and build momentum.

How to Become a Superstar Sales Professional

Here's just a few thoughts and guidelines on what sales professionals tell us we can do to improve our sales performances:

• Take accountability for your success and performance.

• Raise the bar to exceed your customer's expectations.

• Eliminate approaches that waste customer's time.

• Read books, blogs and articles to improve your knowledge of the industry.

• Embrace change.  Don't believe that you can improve your performance by doing the same things that you always have done.

• Become the master of your destiny. Your success starts with you.

• The most successful sales professionals understand that their success hinges on not selling products or services, but providing solutions to their client's problems and transforming from sales professional to trusted advisor.

Please share your thoughts or your own suggestions on the DPHA Facebook page or with our LinkedIn group.