Page 46 - LPG July 2018 Newsletter

46
The Luxury Report July 2018 Luxury Products Group
MEMBER OF THE
MONTH —
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she shared. “It turned out to be a great t!”
She went on to describe one of the best learning experiences that has really in uenced her success.
“When I rst started selling kitchens I found that I had a lot of questions about installation, so I asked a good contractor of ours if I could go out on the job with him and watch him install a kitchen,” she said. “It was an extremely valuable experience for me, and the contractor really respected that I wanted to see what kinds of problems arise during installation. These
are the kinds of things that set wholesalers
in general apart from the big boxes. Not just Hulbert Supply, but all wholesalers. We strive
to be as knowledgeable about our products as possible so we can provide the best service to our customers.”
It is those contractor customers who really drive traf c through Hulbert’s showrooms. In addition to Allison, the Plattsburgh showroom bene ts from the expertise of Beth Barnes and Tonya Whiteman, while Jeff LeFebvre is the showroom manager in Saranac Lake.
“It’s those key relationships and the trust that we’ve built with them,” noted Allison. “They feel comfortable telling their customers to come here because they know we will take care of them. One of the most common things I hear from my customers at the end of a meeting is a huge sigh of relief — and often a great big hug, which I love! Building a home or remodeling
a major space in your home like your kitchen
or bathroom can be a very daunting task for some people. Our showroom personnel know how to break things down for our customers and keep them on task, so an experience that they were feeling apprehensive about becomes very pleasant for them. Our showroom people, myself included, have commented that we sometimes hate to see certain projects come
to an end because we have formed such strong relationships with our clients. And sometimes those relationships continue on into lifelong friendships. This is a small community, after all.”
Beyond the service they offer and relationships they build, Hulbert engages a local marketing rm to assist in their branding efforts.
“We have been working with a local marketing rm for about two years and they have helped us create a cohesive marketing message that we were missing before,” Allison shared. “Our business is a dif cult one to market because we sell such a broad array of products that our customer is virtually everyone. The rm we hired has helped us to understand that the focus should be not so much on the products we sell, but on our greatest asset: our people. It is our employees and their knowledge that make Hulbert Supply special. Through videos and Facebook posts, we have really been
able to convey this message. Our next step is another revamp of our website.”
MUCH TO LOOK FORWARD TO
There are some exciting changes happening at Hulbert’s Plattsburgh showroom that are designed to make for an even better customer experience.