During Coverings 2001, I hosted a workshop on showroom management. This was a two-part series featuring a second session of roundtable workshops on various subjects, one of which was advertising. I, like the show's organizers, was perplexed by attendees' obvious avoidance of this subject, even as they flocked to the groups that discussed publicity, open houses and educational topics.
Of course it would be the hottest day of the week as I arrived in Chicago for the annual marathon tour of the Merchandise Mart known as NeoCon. But everything got off to a positive start, as I managed to find a parking spot just two short blocks from the Mart.
At some point in your experience as a retailer, it becomes obvious that small commercial jobs are relatively lucrative. YOU have the inside track on these jobs -- if you have your eyes and ears open.
Advertising is the most obvious way to bring the name of your floor covering business to the attention of the public. The key is repetition! And that can be very expensive, particularly because you need to make several impressions before people become aware of you.
"Super Naturals" is how Leonard Ludovico, Congoleum's vice president of Styling, describes the new resilient patterns out on the flooring market today. Taking their cue from Mother Nature, resilient manufacturers are seeking to "perfect" nature when they create the look of stone, ceramic and wood.
Once your flooring store or showroom is ready -- and I do mean ready -- you will want to host an "open house" event to invite the trades and the public to see your wares. I would suggest that you divide the invitees into four general groups: the design trade, the building trade, the installation trade, and the public.
Consumer designs, products and colors are following a trend that can best be described as a softening. Even contract products are taking on softened, rounded shapes. Yes indeed, we're in love with rounded shapes - from the return to "older" rounded designs of old car models, like the Volkswagen Beetle and the Jaguar, to the rounded egg chairs of the 1950s. We're also seeing softer, lighter wood tones, which harken back to the simplicity and spareness that the '50s represented.
Do you understand the difference between selling and marketing? Selling is used for a specific occasion when you want to convince customers that your business provides one-stop shopping, will do a great job at meeting their expectations and provide a quality product. Marketing is an ongoing process that may result in a sale when the same customers seek out your business because they’ve heard about you and want to know more. Once they have found you is when you have some selling to do!