How to Choose a Showroom

Once you decide that your product line needs market representation you need to set aside time to choose which showroom, carefully. If your products have strong marketability they will want you as much as you want them to represent you. The larger your product line, the more space you will garner in their showroom.

Many showrooms are multi-line showrooms where your products will be presented along with numerous others. Start out by contacting stores in your region. Ask them which showrooms they like the best and why. You should end up with several showroom names. With these names in hand, contact the owners/managers of those showrooms and ask if they are accepting new lines at this time. If not, move on. If they are, then you should plan a visit to the showroom. Do not just drop in, schedule the visit if possible.

You need to do some reconnaissance work. Find out what type of mix of product lines they represent and generally what type of stores purchase from them. Then, get three customer references from them. Ideally find companies who are similar in size to you. You will want to reach out to them to understand the Showrooms strengths and weaknesses. We all have them. You need to marry theirs to yours.

You want to know:
- Sales force - Are they great order takers or full service sales reps? Do they go "on the road"? What do they need to sell? Be specific to each sales rep/region. Do they make appointments or usually get drop-ins? How do they handle new product lines the best?
- Shows - Which shows will you be shown at? What type of space will you get? Can you do a spiff to the sales reps? Can you have a little time to educate and enthuse them? Should you do an Opening Special? Will they want you there? Are their days that are typically better than others?
- Press - What does the showroom do to get people to their showroom? Social Media? Emails? Postcards? Can you be featured on any of it? Will it be an additional cost?

You may find that many showrooms are not terribly communication savvy. The actual market will  have access to lists of previous attendees. Consider hiring your own market staff that can create BUZZ before you get there. It would be beneficial to your new showroom and definitely to you. Businesses like to go with winners. Go in like a Winner.

But note that some showroom managers have egos, large egos. Anything you want to possibly do, you need to lay on the table before you ever agree to sign with that showroom.

See how organized they are. Upfront you should get a checklist of when things are needed, including your payment. Being in a showroom is about selling product. Just having a showroom take on your product means nothing if you don't sell things.

We don't need a showroom.

One of our manufacturers recently told me this. All I could do was shake my head in a disappointment. After all of the work we do promoting product lines to hear this is truly disheartening. All sales order are not written "at market."  Customers attend various markets and some just wait for sales reps to visit them. A good sales team works year-round educating potential customers.

Company A joined our showroom last summer. When the reps arrived at market we knew nothing about the product line since we had not been sent literature/samples before we got there. Before (or at the start of) market would have been a great time to educate the sales representatives. We would have wanted to know the key selling features of the product line. Where do the products sell the best? Are there any skeletons in the closet? Are we going to hear negative or odd things from former customers? Do we have a former and current customer list for each territory? We would have wanted to learn about product displays and what type of delivery we would be working with. That market was not good for Company A. By the time sales reps arrived home they were armed with flyers and a few products but no explanation regarding them except to say that it was best to visit their website for the most current information.

After market, all road representatives resumed communications with their customers letting them know about the new lines, one being Company A. Reps sent potential customers to the Company website. Then in January, the Company did not participate in the Showroom.

About a month after market, Company A sent new sales literature and product. Still the company did not come up with any type of promotion but, rather, suggested their website.

Not participating at market is not an option in this sales rep's mind. A Company needs a couple of years to determine if a showroom is good for them. I still don't know which of my customer's have purchased this line. Not every customer will contact me, especially if I am sending them to an internet site.  But they do learn about the product from me and repeatedly hear how I feel about it.

So, if you think your business is truly above having a showroom I can only think that you have an inside sales team or distributors in place.