Marketing Your Showroom

There’s an old joke that says: “The difference between ‘involvement’ and ‘commitment’ is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: The chicken was ‘involved’ – the pig was ‘committed.’ ”

Marketing your showroom is a lot like that. It’s not enough to be “involved,” but rather, you have to throw yourself into it “whole hog” and make the commitment.

And, to help ensure success, that commitment has to start from day one. That means dealers need to be prepared to do plenty of up front work, investing at the earliest planning stages, long before expecting to see results. The marketing process is analogous to designing a kitchen – the better the planning, the smoother the construction.

However, remember that just as designs must be uniquely geared for the client’s specific needs and tastes, the best marketing plans are specific to the firm that is using them. There is no such thing as “one size fits all” in showroom marketing.

For example, all of the designers who have been quoted in this article all believe that they have been successful in marketing their individual firms. Yet, although the designers’ ultimate goal was basically the same, the strategy and process employed by each varied considerably. Each one had a different story, and different needs, yet they all used the resources they had to create a personalized marketing plan that would be successful for their specific firm.

When it comes to creating that marketing plan, it all begins with a process of self-definition. That’s because your marketing strategy is largely fueled by how you define yourself and your target market.

Kelli Kassor of Builders Appliance Supply in Walpole, MA defines her firm as primarily an “appliance store with some cabinetry” and, because of this, she markets the firm to attract contractors and remodelers, plus new homeowners and consumers who are “do-it-yourselfers.”

On the other hand, Haskell (Hank) Matheny, ASID, IIDA, owner of Haskell Interiors Design Collection in Cleveland, TN, focuses on the “high-end consumer, as well as partnerships with regional interior designers and architects.”

A third definition is offered by Brian Long, owner/partner in Harbor View Custom Cabinets in Mooresville, NC, who is in the process of redefining his firm to meet his marketing goals. “We find the builder market satisfactory for generating repetitive cash flow, but we’re looking to attract higher-end remodeling clientele,” he says.

These three principals may all read KBDN, understand the art of kitchen design and be familiar with the intricacies of cabinetry, but their firms are defined differently, and their marketing strategies will differ accordingly.

However, that said, they do all have one more thing in common – their objective for marketing.

Kassor says that, in 2006, her firm wants to “increase sales, increase profits and increase repeat business.”
Matheny’s goal is even simpler: “We want to make people aware we are here.”

And in Long’s words, “We want to differentiate ourselves by creating a luxury image that upscale clients can relate to and average consumers will want to emulate, [even] if it costs them their last dime.”

While each firm’s objective is to increase business, each will employ a different strategy in order to attract members of their target markets. The differences manifest themselves in such factors as budgets, planning, messages and ad placement.

Budgets

Obviously, your budget will be a factor in defining how you market your showroom. But it’s not enough to just look at the dollar amount you are comfortable spending; rather, you need to examine the cost in relation to the market you hope to reach and your firm’s location.

For example, if you’re trying to advertise in New York, Los Angeles or Chicago, you will need deeper pockets than if your firm is in Raleigh, Buffalo or Bismarck.