• By moving their showrooms into the retail arena, wholesalers can aspire to margins as high as 52% vs. the average of 29% or less for wholesale.
• Don’t ask customers to make an appointment to talk with you. 
• Don’t have your wife, showroom manager or a manufacturer design your showroom. Find a professional designer. 
• Have someone at the entrance to greet customers. 
• Group products together for ease of sale. Put accessories next to the faucet department. 
• Create a luxury bathroom vignette featuring your most high-end products. 
• Include working displays. 
• Install a working kitchen. Invite local designers or architects to schedule a meeting in your showroom. Offer coffee or cold drinks to customers. Bring in a local chef to prepare a meal in your kitchen and entertain customers. 
• Scatter your salespeople throughout the store so there is always someone nearby to help customers. 
• Create a play area for children, but be careful about safety and liability. 
• Offer tile and stone. Margins can run from 46% to 52%. You don’t have to stock it or handle it. It is drop-shipped 90% of the time. This is art tile, not what is sold at big-box stores. Use tile and stone throughout the showroom. 
• The public bathroom in the showroom also functions as a selling room, inspiring customers. 
• Keep track of dollars per square foot. Don’t be afraid to discontinue something that is not selling. 
• Display wall-mounted lav faucets with vessels. 
• Post prices - you can use the manufacturer’s list price. 
• Do not post the manufacturer’s model numbers. 
• Instead of using modular display units from a manufacturer, create your own, featuring your name or logo. 
• Consider selling fireplace surrounds; steam units; soap dispensers; towel bars; linens, towels and other soft goods; decorative P traps; and have tankless water heaters hooked up in the showroom. 
• Provide training for your salespeople. Send them to plant tours and training events offered by suppliers. 
• Rather than depending on advertising created by a manufacturer that features your company along with others, hire a creative advertising and marketing person in the community to develop your own image. 
• Direct mail postcards sent to a targeted group of consumers are not expensive but can reap rewards. Target a specific zip code and income bracket. 
• If a customer found a lower price on the Internet, let them walk away. 
• Try to get publicity about your showroom in trade publications, consumer magazines and local media. 
• Arrange for manufacturers reps to visit the showroom by appointment only. Schedule a sales meeting and invite them to train your entire staff. 
• Pay the salespeople with a commission structure based on net margin. Help them achieve performance goals.
  

• Remove “Help Wanted,” “Positions Available,” and “Accepting Applications” messages from your recruiting promotions. Start fresh with value messages.
• Employee referral programs executed with enthusiasm will eliminate the need for most other recruiting efforts. The keys to success are cash, celebration and constant reminders.
• Five rules for employee referral programs: employees should be told to only recommend a person who will uphold the company’s mission and values; put the job description in writing; have a recruitment brochure available to employees; encourage the referring employee to be a mentor to the new staffer; offer cash incentives to employees.
• Money is a sustainer, not a retainer or motivator. Flexibility in scheduling tops the list of employee needs. The work environment wins over wages.
  

As Seen At ISH North America