If your challenge is to increase your business with interior design professionals, here's your solution: teach them how to sell your stuff.
Been there, done that, you say. After all, your sales reps talk and text and tweet with designers all the time. And you put on those training events. And you show up at the right social events.
That's not good enough.
If you're serious — really serious — about sales, you have to survey your stars. Your stars are those design professionals who sell more of your furnishings and fabrics and formica than anyone else. They have the answers.
That's what Hunter Douglas discovered a while back when they hired me to survey the top 100 North American dealers of Luminette Privacy Sheers. I then shared their strategies in a series of best practices webinars.
Those dealers, we found, simply did the little things better. Like displaying Luminettes prominently in their showrooms, and presenting them with enthusiasm and confidence. And cross-selling them with furniture and carpeting.
And offering 24/7 customer service and extended showroom hours. And following up quickly and regularly with customers. And asking for referrals. And promoting Luminettes in brochures and home shows.
Why was it that one dealer sold so many more motorized Luminettes than anyone else? That's all he discussed and presented, that's why.
Little things. Big sales.
If you want to boost your sales to design professionals, help them differentiate themselves and increase their sales. Meanwhile, differentiate yourself and your company through the use of your million-dollar marketing word: "only." Tell your designer clients what only you and your company can do, and they'll buy only from you.
A key to building your business with interior designers is to help them help themselves. Educate them on how to use your products to get bigger projects from better clients. Why take the time to train them? Because, most designers are far more skilled in design than they are in the business of design.
Bottom line: the better they do, the better you do.
Understand that design professionals don't care about your products. They care how they benefit from those products. Explain how, exactly, your stuff will help them make money, save money, save stress, differentiate themselves, etc.
The personal sale is the most important sale you'll ever make to designers. Sell yourself as if your business, career and future depend on it. You know what? They do.
Showrooms can take lots of little steps to forge long-term relationships with their designer clients. Some examples:
- Conduct weekly "smile and dial" campaigns, checking in by phone with current, past and prospective clients
- Publish an e-zine and/or blog offering business-building tips for designers
- Conduct regular focus group sessions to solicit designer feedback on the showroom
- Provide an in-house or online resource library providing materials that teach how to increase sales and market themselves more effectively
- Sponsor business-building continuing education programs for designers
- Show an attitude of gratitude to top customers by sending handwritten thank-you notes, hosting customer appreciation events, distributing holiday gifts, etc.
Those companies that sell the most to interior design professionals "partner" the best.
