Articles by Hank Darlington

I am a huge proponent of employee training. Many of you might believe you do a great job in this area.

I hope you would agree that your suppliers and vendors play a key role in your showroom success.

For the past 25 years I have traveled our wonderful country doing basic business management consulting for owners of showrooms.

I have two very strong opinions on what you must do to operate a successful DPH showroom.

I’ve had the unique honor and pleasure of writing this column for more than 22 years. That’s more than 260 articles! I’ve worked with six different editors. All great bosses that have allowed me to choose the topics and who have been tolerant of my rather casual writing style.

I’m sure many of you larger distributors have business plans for the overall company — but do you have one specific to your showroom business? 

Do you do an annual showroom budget? How about a detailed written marketing plan and budget? Too many folks don’t do many of these aforementioned business basics. In my opinion, this could be the demise of their businesses.

From time to time, I like to profile a cutting-edge showroom that incorporates all the world-class components needed to succeed in our industry.

The client will form a first impression of you within the first three seconds.

Listening is one of the simplest secrets of great customer service.