Hank Darlington: Showrooms

Hank Darlington: How committed is your company to training?

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 00:00:00 -0400

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

Hank Darlington: 30-plus vendor evaluation points

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 00:00:00 -0400

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

Hank Darlington: Good showroom business management

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Mon, 24 Jun 2019 00:00:00 -0400

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

Hank Darlington: The art of selling skills

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 00:00:00 -0400

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

Hank Darlington's industry predictions

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Fri, 15 Mar 2019 00:00:00 -0400

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.

Hank Darlington: Does your company have a business plan?

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 00:00:00 -0500

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?

Hank Darlington: Big changes for kitchen and bath showrooms

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 11:08:00 -0500

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.

Hank Darlington: The importance of first impressions

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Thu, 18 Oct 2018 00:00:00 -0400

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

Hank Darlington: 9 paths to great customer service

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 00:00:00 -0400

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

Hank Darlington: Empower your employees

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Wed, 25 Jul 2018 00:00:00 -0400

Recently an ex-employee of ours called crying, saying the showroom she worked for didn’t appreciate her.

Hank Darlington: How to empower your employees

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 00:00:00 -0400

Empower employees to make fast decisions that render great customer service.

Hank Darlington: People are your most valuable asset

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Wed, 23 May 2018 00:00:00 -0400

I grew into managerial roles with two large distributors and then when I owned my own showroom business.

Hank Darlington: Learing to sell high-end products

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 00:00:00 -0400

Your responsibility as the owner/manager of higher-end showrooms is to teach your sales consultants to sell up!

Hank Darlington: Do more with less time

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 00:00:00 -0400

Time management has been an ongoing challenge for many of us for a long time.

Hank Darlington: The changing role of the DHP rep

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 00:00:00 -0500

In talking with several of the manufacturers reps, I was surprised by how much their job descriptions have changed in the past 10 years.

Darlington: What’s really going on in retail?

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Fri, 26 Jan 2018 00:00:00 -0500

We are rapidly advancing in to a world where every aspect of a shopping journey will be instant.

Reinventing the DPH showroom

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Thu, 21 Dec 2017 00:00:00 -0500

In addition to the growth of wholesaler showrooms, a lot of independently-owned showrooms were opening up all across our fruited plains.

America's first DPH showroom

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Wed, 29 Nov 2017 00:00:00 -0500

I love this industry — both the wholesale and the showroom side.

How to make a bad day better

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Thu, 28 Sep 2017 00:00:00 -0400

Whatever the reasons might be, bad days are a part of life.

Your showroom needs a broad base

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Thu, 24 Aug 2017 00:00:00 -0400

How broad is your customer base?

Handling upset customers

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Thu, 20 Jul 2017 00:00:00 -0400

Twice in the past week I have witnessed a confrontation between a customer and a stores salesperson.

Time-management tips

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 00:00:00 -0400

I always have prided myself on being a pretty good time manager.

How's your showroom team?

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Thu, 18 May 2017 00:00:00 -0400

Every once in a while we all come upon an outstanding customer-service experience.

Keeping retail customers, Part 2

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 00:00:00 -0400

In my last article I covered five important points that RWS learned from its survey of almost 1,800 consumers of durable goods.

Keeping customers in the digital age

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 00:00:00 -0400

Being an independent retailer/wholesaler of durable goods today is not for the faint of heart.

Bringing your business into the future, Part 2

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 00:00:00 -0500

Omnichannel today is cross-channel being done well.

Bring your business into the future

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 00:00:00 -0500

Omnichannel is a multichannel approach to sales and marketing that seeks to provide the customer with a seamless shopping experience.

How can you run your business if you don't know how you're doing?

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 00:00:00 -0500

My single biggest concern and frustration in this industry has been and continues to be poor business-management habits.

Inside the ROHL acquisition

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 00:00:00 -0400

On Friday, Aug. 19, I received a call from my good friend, Ken Rohl, who shared that ROHL was being acquired by Fortune Brands.

How to deliver great customer service

darlingtonconsulting@gmail.com (Hank Darlington) — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 00:00:00 -0400

The secret to delivering exceptional customer service to the folks coming through your showroom doors.