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YOUR SHOWROOM IS more than just a place to buy and sell. It's more than just a store. Your showroom is a place to experience! It's the place for customers to experience you and your business – and it's the place for them to have a hands-on experience with your products. Why stress this point? Because, as much as our new online age has reshaped our shopping habits, what happens in the showroom contin- ues to drive the sale. When customers visit your showroom today, they typically come prepared with a healthy amount of product knowledge. They've likely browsed different styles online. They may have already explored product alternatives and narrowed their choices. You can also expect that they've taken in the online buzz. They're likely to have read the reviews – not only of the leading product lines that they're interested in, but of your kitchen and bath design business as well. Yes, we've come a long way from the purely brick-and-mortar focus of the past. But there's no need to shrink from the challenge. In fact, this is your chance to shine! SEE, TOUCH, FEEL, COMPARE Customers come to your showroom to follow through on what they've discovered through their preliminary research. They want to check out the colors, styles and sizes to determine whether the reality of their initial preferences will measure up to their expectations. And, they want to get a real sense, not just for how things will look ("Is that shade a creamy yellow or an off-white?"), but also for how the products will work in the home ("Will this truly function in the ways I want and need it to?"). Product samples are an important key to success in today's showroom, but there's more to the hands-on showroom experience than just having the opportunity to look at products. Customers are also there to meet you! They're sizing you up, face-to-face, to see if you're the resource they'll want to help bring their dream kitchen or bath to life. Are you professional? Are you patient? What is your design and installation process? Can you point to proven experience with other like-minded homeowners? Most importantly, potential clients will want to know: "If I commit to you, can I feel confident that you'll deliver successfully on the major investment I'm preparing to make in my home?" You can expect today's new customer to come to your showroom prepared to hold you to this tough test. There's another reason to embrace these well-prepared customers: They're making your job easier! They come to you with a good idea of what they want – and also what they don't want. So a lot of the groundwork is already done. Today's Web-savvy customers pre-qualify themselves much more than they did in the past. This can make the sales process go much more quickly – as long as you have the right samples and tools to engage the customers and keep them in your showroom. ART AND SCIENCE Okay, so now you have your new customers in your space, on your own playing field. They're ready and willing to be coached by you, beyond what can be found online. This is your chance to play "pitch and catch" in ways that work best for both you and your customer. The pressure is on! What can you do to stay in sync with them so that the signals you share lead to the win-win solution you both want from your give-and-take in the showroom? Here are some insights I've gathered. As I travel across North America, I meet with de- signers and their customers, and I observe how they work in the showroom. They tell me their likes and dislikes, their delights as well as their frustrations. What I've learned is that proper care and keeping of your showroom is as much of an art as it is a science. These tips can help guide your plans for an improved showroom experience: • Let customers "close themselves." Gone are the days when you could be pushy and sell hard, with high-pressure tac- tics. Give your customers the space to get the information they want from your interaction. Be responsive and reassur- ing. Collaboration is key. Embracing the consultative approach usually drives a faster sale. In the hands-on showroom, you may never need to "go for the close." • Know the generational distinctions. Our emerging Gen Y consumers – aka mil- lennials – tend to be so polite, they often simply move on from a dissatisfying showroom experience, rather than say they're feeling inadequately served. And, keep in mind that as our baby boomer customers continue to age, they'll increas- ingly look to younger family members for advice on purchases. So, understanding the dynamics of each generation will help you to understand not just the preferences of that mature customer in your show- room now, but also the mindsets of the younger people behind the scenes who may be influencing the buying decision. • Make it real – with samples. Your cus- tomer may have seen a particular product, or a similar one, on a website. But we all know that a digital photo is no substitute for seeing and feeling an actual sample. Samples help customers dream and fall in love with their product selections. Your need, in the showroom, is to provide their samples – and to provide plenty of comfortable space for the customers to collaborate with you in visualizing these products for their dream kitchen or bath. • Lessen your walls – to show more. Many showrooms are too "walled up" – they present a maze for customers to navigate. Lots of walls may have worked in the past to bring focus, however, today's well-in- formed customer has higher expecta- tions. The hands-on showroom calls for a more open floor plan with long-term flexibility, so staying up to date is easier. Ideally, your customer should be able to see much, most or even all of your space from key vantage points in the showroom. • Be flexible with your displays – and update them often. Some showrooms have too many displays, too large displays or only a few displays that are too narrow in what they present. Aim to keep your display options open and flexible. Find ways to refresh your displays with smaller and faster changes. The days when a single display could last for seven or more years, without a significant update, are long past. " As much as our new online age has reshaped our shopping habits, what happens in the showroom continues to drive the sale." Offer Clients a Hands-On Experience SARAH REEP, ASID, IIDA, CMKBD, CMG, CAPS 20 Kitchen & Bath Design News • September 2016 INSIDE TODAY'S SHOWROOM