Showroom Trends

Jeff Valles: Who does your showroom cater to?

jwvals@gmail.com (Jeff Valles) — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 00:00:00 -0400

Defining product market fit is not an easy task for a stand-alone decorative plumbing showroom. It's especially complicated for showrooms that are a part of a multi-product brand that may supply PVF targeting plumbers, HVAC targeting builders or any of the many building products with re-distribution models.

Jeff Valles: Proactive quoting

Mon, 28 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0500

Once again, Martin, the spokes-gecko for Geico insurance company, is rambling on about their amazing customer call center, immediate, on-the-job appraisals, replacement value and tremendous low rates. We hear the same tired story from Allstate, Progressive, State Farm and all the insurance companies. It’s at the point where they never say the word insurance. That is because they are not selling insurance, they are selling peace of mind. Should anything happen to you or a member of your family they will make it all better. You have nothing to worry about.

Jeff Valles: Time to bury the past

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 00:00:00 -0500

We’re almost through the second year of the pandemic and vendors and showrooms are boldly sharing what they think will be popular in 2022. A common thread in many of these predictions is that people are starting to work bold colors and patterns into rooms. This simple prediction tells me it is time for the decorative plumbing industry to move outside — way outside — the chrome and white box.

Jeff Valles: Expand your conference schedule

jwvals@gmail.com (Jeff Valles) — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 00:00:00 -0400

The DPHA conference actually shuts down its exhibit hall during the speaker and roundtable meetings, allowing every attendee the ability to participate and network. The vendors know the conference schedule offers ample time for their customers to see their new products. They also understand that face-time away from others outside the exhibit hall is important in building stronger vendor-distributor relationships.

Jeff Valles: Don't fear the internet

jwvals@gmail.com (Jeff Valles) — Fri, 08 Oct 2021 00:00:00 -0400

People do not care how things work. They just want them to work. If a problem arises, customers want it taken care of effectively and immediately. When was the last time you saw an automated chatbox on the internet answer the question: Why is my faucet leaking?

Jeff Valles: The missing marketing story

jwvals@gmail.com (Jeff Valles) — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 13:22:00 -0400

As the dotcom recession slipped into our rear-view mirror, who was to know that Amazon would mature into the place to buy almost anything.

Jeff Valles: Are you ready for the Holidays?

jwvals@gmail.com (Jeff Valles) — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 00:00:00 -0400

Ahh, the holidays. The time when families and friends gather to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah and the New Year. What a special time...unless you are in the building industry. You are swamped with projects, struggling to get any product you can as your job timelines start to slip into 2022.

Jeff Valles: Expand your reach

jwvals@gmail.com (Jeff Valles) — Tue, 06 Jul 2021 13:41:00 -0400

The internet is just as accessible to a builder with an office one block from your showroom as it is for a builder hundreds of miles away. Popular e-commerce sites do not think of regional boundaries when they create business plans. These digital companies focus on market segments that can be located anywhere — anywhere the internet reaches.

Jeff Valles: Foot traffic

jwvals@gmail.com (Jeff Valles) — Fri, 04 Jun 2021 00:00:00 -0400

The old adage that people need to see an elegant faucet in order to appreciate it and to specify it has evolved into a myth wrapped up into a ribbon of hope.

Jeff Valles: Share your knowledge and success

jwvals@gmail.com (Jeff Valles) — Thu, 06 May 2021 00:00:00 -0400

I was visiting Salem Plumbing Supply in Beverly, Massachusetts, for the first time and had not a clue where to go. As I approached a counter sales person, Ralph Sevinor, the owner and one fine gentleman, saw me and grabbed my arm and said, “I want to show you something.

Jeff Valles: The fast follower model

jwvals@gmail.com (Jeff Valles) — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 00:00:00 -0500

My takeaway from the barrage of stories analyzing the Reddit group that banded together to create noise in the stock industry is that this time, the group hit the market at the right time with the right story and, it seems, most of the people walked away with a profit.

Mike Miazga: Thinking outside the box

mmiazga@asa.net (Mike Miazga) — Tue, 29 Dec 2020 00:00:00 -0500

A few years ago, the WIT buying group held its fall owners meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah — a neat area of the country if you have never checked it out. Part of the event involved a tour of member Standard Plumbing Supply’s impressive headquarters operation in nearby Sandy.

Jeff Valles: Revamp your showroom strategy

jwvals@gmail.com (Jeff Valles) — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 00:00:00 -0500

Over the past five decades, showrooms have grown from necessary nuances to contributing profit centers. They have both helped and benefited from the story slowly leaking out that plumbing fixtures can be as elegant as Vladimir Kagan furniture creations.

Effective results through efficient technology

Wed, 18 Nov 2020 00:00:00 -0500

Brands encounter a major challenge when it comes to managing localized marketing through retail websites. While some are household names perpetuated through longevity and national advertising, their message isn’t always consistently communicated on a regional or local level.

Robyn Brookhart has employee-owned Liberty Pumps on a continued path of success

mmiazga@asa.net (Mike Miazga) — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 00:00:00 -0400

Robyn Brookhart’s earliest memories of Bergen, New York-based pumps manufacturer Liberty Pumps dates back to when she was three.

Mike Miazga: Far from goodbye

mmiazga@asa.net (Mike Miazga) — Fri, 13 Mar 2020 00:00:00 -0400

For the last 10 years, I have reported on the happenings throughout the PHCP supply chain involving contractors, distributors, master distributors, reps, engineers and service providers.

Jeff Valles: Vendors: May we please improve training?

jwvals@gmail.com (Jeff Valles) — Tue, 25 Feb 2020 00:00:00 -0500

The training quality in our decorative showroom business is all over the place.

Guest Editorial: The right data can help your sales team sell better

Tue, 25 Feb 2020 00:00:00 -0500

According to global management consulting firm McKinsey, fast-growing sales organizations use analytics more effectively, but most organizations still struggle to marry data with their sales efforts.

Bruce Merrifield: Selling model stress fractures?

Fri, 21 Feb 2020 00:00:00 -0500

Recent surveys find that next-gen B2B digital-first buyers want only-scheduled-as-needed rep calls.

Mike Miazga: Spam sandwich

mmiazga@asa.net (Mike Miazga) — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 00:00:00 -0500

Technology is a crazy thing. Think back to days gone by where the internet, smartphones and social media didn’t exist.

Dirk Beveridge: Transformative leaders drive innovation and change

dirk@unleashwd.com (Dirk Beveridge) — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 00:00:00 -0500

Roughly 72% of distribution leaders believe the pace of change is too slow in their business. Leaders in distribution must define their “next.”

Jeff Valles: What I learned at DPHA Seattle

jwvals@gmail.com (Jeff Valles) — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 00:00:00 -0500

What do you get when more than 350 decorative showroom-savvy people gather for a conference? Insight into how to do things better, exposure to new business tools and a first look at the new decorative products for 2020.

Tim Keyes: Increase customer loyalty through a vanity number

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 00:00:00 -0500

In today’s mobile-first age, our phone number has become a primary identifier of any individual and organization.

Mike Miazga: Are you changing with the times?

mmiazga@asa.net (Mike Miazga) — Mon, 12 Aug 2019 00:00:00 -0400

I must admit I’m but a mere dabbler in this Amazon thing. I’ll order things here and there, almost always using my wife’s Prime account, which I’m fairly sure Amazon is now losing money on due to its frequent, hard use.

Alex Goldfayn: Call friendlies

Wed, 17 Jul 2019 00:00:00 -0400

I was interviewing a salesperson for one of my clients, and he brought up a customer of his who he was having some trouble getting on the same page with.

Jim Ambrose: How to become a profitable branch manager

jim@jimambroseworkshops.com (Jim Ambrose) — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 00:00:00 -0400

There are five things every branch manager should do for profitable share gain.

Dirk Beveridge: An innovative distributor

dirk@unleashwd.com (Dirk Beveridge) — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 00:00:00 -0400

Every distributor that wins the future will be an innovative distributor.

Steve Cook: Is your firm really invested in the future?

Thu, 11 Jul 2019 00:00:00 -0400

If you are like me, you read the article titled “How committed is your organization to training” in our ASA News section in the May issue of Supply House Times with a degree of alarm and concern.

Mike Miazga: The things you learn covering PHCP distribution!

mmiazga@asa.net (Mike Miazga) — Thu, 13 Jun 2019 00:00:00 -0400

As I am writing this aboard a Southwest Airlines plane, I am concluding a 10^th week in a row where I have traveled to at least one industry event.

Bruce Merrifield: Sell win-win lower pricing

Wed, 15 May 2019 00:00:00 -0400

Pricing efficiency isn’t pricing effectiveness.