Page 19 - LPG August 2018 Newsletter

Luxury Products Group The Luxury Report August 2018
probably have a problem to address. If your showroom displays aren’t producing sales, you should be rotating them out. You can measure your return on displays not by sku, but by manufacturer, since many displays result in collateral sales of related products. My point is there are multiple factors when evaluating what needs to be tuned up in your showroom to optimize sales.
Once you see consistent sales/ pro t at the $60k monthly level, you should carefully invest in a second employee. Use indeed and/ or LinkedIn and ask your good customers
who they would like to see working in your showroom. Be patient and slow to hire. Find that rock star who understands retail and selling above their own income. Expect a six-month period to get that new employee
to that $30,000 to $40,000 level of sales, and
to reach $60k within the year. Once you start
to see the momentum that is created by the second employee, as well as the return on
your investment starting to kick up, I guarantee you will pay more attention to how the showroom can become an important part of your business. Using a benchmark in hiring is important, and I strongly recommend a DISC analysis be used, or an insight survey/ test to measure that candidate effectively. Your people are the key, so take the time and get the right person on the bench.
A single employee is only effective when one customer is allowed to enter a showroom at a time. Once that employee gets tied up working with a customer or handling another issue, the likelihood is that the second person who walks in will have a bad experience because of lack of attention. And there is a high probability that they won’t be back. Think about your own shopping experiences. When you enter a retail store, ready to make a purchase or at least
learn more about something you’re considering purchasing, what happens if you are ignored? Do you return to make your purchase? Or do you take your business elsewhere?
The message I’m trying to send to the ownership of wholesaling companies is
that you should pay attention to every leg
on your table. If you’re not committed to
your showroom business, then don’t have
a showroom. Leave that business to the companies that make the type of investment in their showrooms that creates a true retail environment. Or, I suggest you work with a consultant to make your showroom to your satisfaction. Showroom customers choose you based on two things. Number one is the shopping experience that you provide, and number two is the amount of friction involved — the less friction the better.
For those of you who don’t know what I mean by friction, here are examples:
• No weekend hours
• Deceptive pricing, or layers of pricing that
the consumer is made aware of
• Inconvenient delivery
• Complicated returns
• A dirty showroom
• An unfriendly showroom associate.
This list could include anything that makes the shopping experience miserable for a consumer and cheats them of time and money. The key to remember here is that less friction equals more sales. Time is the new currency, and showrooms must have a total understanding of what works, and what doesn’t, and invest in what will increase your chances of success.
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