BUSINESS ADVICE | Paul Da Silva
SELLING The art of
Your showroom displays help sell your design skills and products to customers, but how do you get those customers into your store in the first place? Business consultant Paul Da Silva talks marketing
S
o, your showroom is all set up. Displays are in and looking great. Staff are poised and ready to start selling.
Processes are set and in place. Now, you just need customers.
There are many different ways to increase your brand, both online, and also in the ‘real world’. Online platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, Houzz, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc are excellent places for showcasing your work. You can provide images, showing the customer’s journey, from the initial home measure to the finished project. And show every step in between. You decide what does and doesn’t get shown, and you can post as much or as little as you’d like. And even more important than showcasing your work on social media, is letting people get to know you and the team. Now, I have a confession to make, I hate promoting myself via video or audio online. You’d be lucky to see a photo of me that isn’t my stock image that gets attached to everything.
But people not only want to see the amazing results you can give them, they want to see the team behind them. Posts that show the people behind the business usually get a lot better engagement than photos of completed projects.
20
Alongside the fantastic jobs you have completed, make sure you have plenty of fun posts to show the customer why they should be shopping with you. It could just be the difference between you and a competitor.
Mind you, learning the algorithms for each and
every social media platform is like a science. Marketing consultant Hayley Simmons is an expert in this field and whenever I speak to her, it just makes me realise how much is involved.
When, where, how and who to post to? Marginal gains are very important in social media, and experts like Hayley know that it’s better to post at one time than another. Also, there are other things to consider such as commenting on other people’s posts, what to share and what not to share, and the importance of links to and from your own website. If this isn’t an area you know well, employing somebody to manage your social media pages could see a massive upturn for little outlay. Paid advertising online seems to bring mixed results, but I hear more people complaining than praising the campaigns. Customers like to see authenticity, and they are acutely aware when they are being sold to.
Post a good mix of content, and post often, and it will increase your brand awareness.
Other channels
Posts that show the people behind the business usually get a lot better engagement than photos of completed projects
As well as social media, there are many other options for promoting your showroom or business. I run a training course that goes through 50 Low Cost Marketing Ideas to promote your KBB business. I could run another course with the 5,000 I tried that didn’t work!
When I worked for large national retailers, I usually wasn’t given a local marketing budget and much of what I did had to stay below the radar. But I had massive results from very cost-effective methods.
yourself V My top tips
THANK YOU GIFT If you are giving the customer a ‘thank you’ gift at the end of their project, try not to opt for the usual flowers, wine or chocolate. Give the customer something that will be a permanent fixture in their new kitchen and a constant reminder. An engraved chopping board, an
embroidered apron or similar will make sure there is a permanent reminder of their experience. It will also provide a talking point when friends of your customer visit.
CHILDRENS COLOURING COMPETITION
Have a pile of wireframe or hidden line kitchen drawings ready with some crayons for any children that walk in with their parents. You can then turn this into a colouring competition, where entries can be completed along with names and details. So that when the entry wins, you have the parents’ contact details to send a prize.
LABEL EVERYTHING It may seem simple, but label everything.
My office is full of brochures I’ve picked up when I am visiting retail outlets, but most of these have no details of where I got them. Customers will pick up a lot of information when they are visiting your showroom, but they will also visit other showrooms. Make sure your details are all over everything that will leave your premises. Everything they look at needs to have your company name looking back at them. A lot of coverage for the price of a label.
· December 2022
•
B
U
E
S
I
N
E
S
S
•
A
D
I
C
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80
