Branding Your Showroom for Best Impact

The Nike "Swoosh" is one of the most recognizable brand symbols in the world. The instant recognition that the company's logo receives is the result of more than a billion-dollar effort to create brand awareness.

It's safe to say that even the largest of plumbing/decorative hardware showrooms does not have the resources or inclination to mirror Nike's branding efforts. However, to view branding as simply name or logo recognition is to misunderstand the meaning of branding and its applicability to decorative plumbing and hardware showrooms.

When you think of the Nike Swoosh, what comes to mind? It's not only about sneakers and sporting goods.

Too often, showrooms believe that branding involves having the most products, the newest products or a particular product line. But, as the Nike example illustrates, showroom branding is not only about faucets and fixtures. Showroom branding requires creating an emotional attachment with customers. It encompasses all facets of a showroom's operation including products, services, staff knowledge and attitude, technologies, appearances and processes.
Recognize that you can't expect to wake up tomorrow and say, "Today, I'm going to brand my showroom."

Branding is a long-term, cumulative process. Marketing, advertising and public relations activities will help attract customers to showrooms. The interaction that customers experience once they arrive determines whether they'll return. That's one reason why national companies with financial and human resources many times greater than those of independent showroom operators have not captured a lion's share of our market. For the same reason, Internet retailing has not as yet lived up to expectations.

Exceeding needs
Customers are not na've. Despite what advertisements or marketing campaigns may proclaim, today's fickle customers recognize when their needs are not met and when the problems they face are not addressed. Create showroom brand awareness by understanding, meeting and then exceeding customer needs.

At Bath and Beyond, we promise an experience that's different or better than the competition's. We brand by delivering on that promise consistently and promoting that message effectively to the right target markets. We capitalize on co-op marketing and advertising dollars, and ask our manufacturers for co-op support. We aggressively cater to the media responding to radio, newspaper and industry trade publication requests and look for media opportunities. Our visibility in the media is not a happenstance. It's the result of a strategic effort to effectively brand our name.

Similarly, you can't brand a showroom without a well-trained staff. The salespeople on the front lines are the driving force of an overall, effective branding effort.

Showroom operators need to teach sales staff to ask the right questions to determine the nature of a customer's project (remodeling, replacement, new construction, etc.); if they're using an architect, designer or contractor; the budget available; the customer's lifestyle; what's most important and why they're undertaking the project, and who will perform the installation.

Train your sales professionals to greet and question all customers in a manner that enables them to build relationships and set the stage for trust-building. Sales staffs need to understand why a customer likes a particular product (as opposed to another) in order to confirm a selection or provide alternatives that may be better suited to meet goals, budget and individual preferences. Asking the right questions enables sales professionals to understand those preferences. With this knowledge, they're in a prime position to up-sell and make recommendations that enable them to move beyond being a simple order taker and become a trusted advisor.