Why Showroom Support Is So Important

Yesterday I wrote about our new solid roof glazed extension conversion. If you click here you can read all about it. It was done at our outdoor showsite, where we have five glazed extensions on display for home owners to browse and look around.

Since we completed the revamp and started to demonstrate it, the number of leads we have made for solid roof extensions has risen markedly, and it already looks like we have two contracts set to go ahead in the next week or so.

This is the importance of showroom support in action. For us, its already paying dividends, and is proof that suppliers should be supporting installers when it comes to their showroom.

Vital for future growth

The installers out there with a showroom will know acutely how important it is to have the latest and greatest products on display to help keep sales moving and improving. A showroom is a constantly evolving place, and it has to reflect the diverse product portfolios that are now available in our industry.

Trouble is, products in showrooms cost money, and not all installers have the deep pockets to go on regular shopping sprees in order to keep their showroom fresh.

This is where I believe showroom support from suppliers is key. I am a firm believer that if an installer decides to show off, sell and install a supplier’s products, then it is only right that the fabricator supplies that installer with examples of their product to help them sell it. Over the past few years supporters of that argument have shifted as creeping raw material costs have pushed up the cost of manufacturing for suppliers. However, for long term growth for installer, I still think suppliers should be helping out when it comes to showroom support.

Strong relationship required

When I mean showroom support, I don’t just mean physical sample products, although they are very helpful. But also things like quality marketing materials, brochures, leaflets and so on. SME installers cannot always afford to invest in their own major marketing material from scratch. So help from further up the chain is required.

And it pays dividends for the supplier too. The more help they can give their installers, the better equipped they are to help sell their product. So any money spent supporting the installer should in theory be paid back many times over in the medium to long term.

Going back to product samples now. Installers need them in order to demonstrate the products they intend to sell. But they cannot buy every single product to put in that showroom. It would cost them a fortune, especially if it’s a large space to fill and they intend to tweak and change as they go on. Suppliers should be helping installers with showroom support when it comes to samples of doors, windows, roofs for glazed extensions etc. Together, this would cost an installer a fortune. With the help of the supplier, a few freebies will help greatly.

This though requires a strong relationship between installer and supplier. An installer is well within their right to ask for showroom help if they have been with their supplier a long time, sold their product in good numbers and don’t dual-source. A supplier is also well within their right to ask that installer to make sure they make a conscious effort to sell that product which they are providing, to only source that product from and remain loyal. If both sides do the aforementioned, that should lead to a healthy, strong and profitable relationship for both parties.

At our place, we use John Fredericks for our PVCu windows and engineered doors, Solidor for our composite doors, Morley Glass for our integral blinds, Prefix Systems for our glazed extension products and aluminium, and Evolution for our timber alternative products. We have been with them all for a long time, the longest being John Fredericks where our relationship is now well over three decades. We have always had their support, and in return, we don’t dual-source, we actively promote their products and their faith in us is repaid.

I know costs are rising, and pressure to keep sales growing is rising too. But, installers well armed with up to date showrooms, marketing materials and positive support and energy, that growth will continue, for both parties, and ultimately benefit the wider industry.