I recently gave a talk to the EFI buying group, an audience of kitchen-and-bath dealers that all operate showrooms. The theme of my talk was what major changes will be taking place in the next several years. How a showroom looks and will be operated will change dramatically. Those of you that respond and stay ahead of the curve will prosper. Those who don’t — will not!
Some things will remain very important. First and foremost is good business management. That includes good financial, human-resource and marketing management. Having a three- to five-year business showroom plan will be more important than ever. Searching out and hiring great people and then having a formal written training program that starts day one and never ends will be paramount. How about teaching salespeople how to sell? After all, yours is a selling business — so teaching folks how to sell to the ever-changing needs/wants of your clients will be more important than ever.