October 31, 2023 • 37 mins
Brace yourself, as we're about to set off on an electrifying journey, illuminating the intricacies of boosting margins in the lighting industry. We'll unearth how market changes disrupted traditional pricing structures, causing a 'margin squeeze' for conventional showrooms, coupled with other industry-wide changes to the distribution landscape. But don't worry, our conversation extends to how to keep your business glowing, with many suggestions and thoughtful strategies that will help you stay competitive and profitable in your brick and mortar showroom business. Have a great tip to share? Email me!
Thank you to Fanimation for sponsoring this episode of Lighting with Lisa: the Lighting Industry's Podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello and welcome fellow lighting nerds and
friends to Lighting with Lisa,the podcast sponsored this week
by Fanimation.
Thank you so much, fanimation,for sponsoring the podcast.
I very much appreciate it andstay tuned for more from
Fanimation.
So this week's episode.
(00:23):
Oh, housekeeping note at thetop, don't forget if you have
ideas, suggestions, just followup, commentary on a podcast
episode.
Please email me at lisa atlightingwithlisacom.
I super appreciate anyone whotakes the time to send a message
(00:44):
, even if it's just a fewsentences.
I will combine that potentiallyinto an upcoming episode and of
course, I can keep you asanonymous or visible as you want
.
If you personally would like tobe featured on an upcoming
episode of the podcast, pleasealso reach out via email.
(01:05):
If your company is interestedin sponsoring a podcast, please
reach out to that email.
I would be delighted to hearfrom you.
And also, don't forget and theshow notes are two very useful
light fixture groups.
One is the fixture finder groupand the other is the
residential lighting industryJob board.
Please follow those links, jointhose groups and stay engaged
(01:28):
with a positive momentum in ourindustry.
Thank you so much and I'll beon the lookout for your emails.
So the topic this week ismargins, margins, margins.
I'm super excited for thisepisode.
I really am.
It's one of the biggest ongoingchallenges in any business.
(01:52):
Right to every business islooking to increase their
margins.
There's not one of us thatisn't.
It's necessary and it'simportant, and how we all aim to
grow and thrive is by boostingour margins.
So the challenge in lighting isthe margin squeeze.
(02:17):
This really started, in myopinion, with the thriving of
e-commerce businesses and all ofthe related IMAP, map Pick your
Right acronym there for each,various by manufacturer.
(02:38):
But so many of those MAP pricesended.
We went through a whole ups anddowns and ups and downs with
those, but they ended upsettling out around at a
standard number.
Because this podcast is public,I'm not going to stay what that
number is, although anyone inthe industry listening to this
(03:02):
is well aware but in the event,we have a consumer listening to
the podcast.
I don't want to give up thatinformation.
So we bounced around a bit, butwe settled on a retail price
structure in our industry andthat retail price structure
(03:24):
online did not necessarilycorrespond with what everyone's
brick and mortar pricing levelswere.
Not that I think at the end ofthe day things were so much
different, but because of howthe lighting showroom business
operates, because of who thegeneral clientele is, we just
(03:48):
had things programmed adifferent way and in doing so we
were able to maintain decentmargin levels in a way that
worked for our business, ourcustomer mix, our stores.
So pricing could the retailprice on the tag could vary
(04:10):
between different brick andmortar showrooms across the
country, depending on who theirtarget audience was.
Well, with e-com sales, thatoption went away.
Right, it just became too easyfor anyone to walk into any
brick and mortar store, find anitem, go to Google or pick your
(04:33):
favorite search engine, findthat product, find it at a
different price a lower pricepotentially and just buy now.
And this is really where Ibelieve us in the brick and
mortar showroom industry reallyface some challenges, because
this really upended thestructure of our businesses.
(04:57):
Like the business model that wehad been following, that people
had been making work fordecades by this time was almost
overnight, like removed from us.
So everyone had to scramble abit, some quicker than others,
to get on board with this wholenew system so that we could kind
(05:18):
of repair these marginsqueezing issues, and I think by
and large a lot of people have,but it's still an ongoing
concern, right?
Because so much else about theway our businesses are
structured and what ourcustomers expect of us as brick
and mortar retailers.
Like, none of that changed, butour ability to charge a maybe a
(05:42):
little bit more of a higherprice, that did go away.
So we've all had to learn to bea little bit savvier, a little
more economical, a little morethoughtful in order to keep the
margins where they need to be tosustain a healthy business.
And then the other kind ofnewest wrinkle with this is when
(06:08):
a brick and mortar showroom isin some version of competition
with their own suppliers who arealso selling products direct to
consumer or whatever.
It's just a challenging wrinkle, right.
So I've said before on thispodcast I will continue to say
it that what I really just thinkhappens is we take the pie of
(06:31):
customers who are interested inbuying a light fixture and all
we do is like subdivide thepieces of pie.
So if the showroom pie was, youknow, half the pie and the big
box store was a quarter of thepie and E-com was a quarter of
the pie, well, you insert themanufacturers, direct sales, and
(06:53):
that probably takes away alittle from all the slices of
pie.
It just it adds themanufacturer slice in, but it
shrinks everything else.
We're not like growing the pie,we're just subdividing it
differently.
And that is, you know, achallenge.
Now, most manufacturers who dothis, the pricing is very fair
(07:14):
in terms of like it's the sameprice on their sites as it would
be on my own store's website.
It's just, it's just a thingyou know, and I don't suspect
it's going away.
So I don't really see too muchpoint in harping on it.
Quite honestly, this podcast inthe Lighting with Lisa brand it
(07:38):
.
This is a space for solutionsand it's not for complaints.
It's not for name checking,it's not for any of those things
.
We just have to take what wehave, highlight the issues.
You know there is absolutely anecessity to shine a light on
these challenges and make sureeveryone is aware of the
(08:02):
implications of some of thesepolicies.
If you're not working frontlines in a showroom, dealing
with consumers every day face toface, it might not be as clear
to you how impactful some ofthese decisions are.
In the showroom world.
It might seem more complainingabout nothing when there are
(08:22):
complaints.
So I'm really just trying toshine a light on the issue.
But we're not here to go in onanybody doing this or that or
the other.
We just have to figure out somesolutions, some ways forward,
some ways to understand what ouroperating challenges are and
(08:45):
how to still find a way tothrive as a business given those
challenges, and hopefully thechallenges aren't so big that we
end up going out of businessright, like that is sort of the
unsaid thing.
That's very scary about some ofthis stuff is, you know, the
reason we all worry so muchabout margins and the margin
(09:07):
shrinkage we've experienced iswhen you look at that and you
look at your overhead operatingcosts that for the most part are
pretty fixed.
When those numbers get realclose together it's a little
scary.
So there is definitely alwayscause for concern.
On this topic, I just wanteveryone to identify what the
(09:31):
issues are, identify which partof the issue impacts your
showroom the most and then takeactive steps to find ways to
boost your margin andprofitability in your showroom.
So one thing I've done in myown store and I talk about often
(09:52):
is that knowing what themanufacturers are doing like for
the health of their ownbusinesses, that definitely
impacts my display decisions andyou know we'll continue to do
so and I'm y'all.
I'm love everything in thisindustry like so so much.
(10:12):
That's why I do this, but I dohave to make you know, smart
decisions based on what I seegoing on and what I know my own
business needs in order to keepmy staff employed and to be able
to grow and try new things andexpand the business and reach
(10:33):
new customers.
There's just, you know, acertain baseline of health that
we need to do all that.
So I want to.
I'm gonna pause at this momentto thank our sponsor of this
episode and then, after the,after the break, we're gonna
talk about different strategiesfor increasing margins and I'm
(10:56):
gonna go in depth on a few ofthese.
So definitely stay tuned forthat.
So this episode of lightingwith Lisa is sponsored by fan a
nation.
Thank you so much, fan a nationfor sponsoring the podcast this
week.
If you didn't already know,here are some fun and exciting
(11:17):
things about fan a nation thatyou should know and consider
when you're looking for aceiling fan line to stock and
display in your showroom.
So if you didn't know Iactually didn't know this in
January of next year, januarytwenty twenty four fan a nation
is celebrating forty years inbusiness.
I suspect, knowing the team atfan a nation, there will be some
(11:40):
fun parties coming up atJanuary light of a show.
I don't actually know this, butI say stay tuned for whatever
that is A fan a nation's focusis entirely on ceiling fans, not
chandeliers, not bathroomvanities, only fans.
And so I talk about this a loton the podcast in in terms of
like, when you're thinking aboutyour business, compared to like
(12:05):
a big box store or one of theseA king glomerate type stores
that sell plumbing, lighting,whatever else.
You know the beauty of workingwith the lighting showroom as
you get really specificknowledge and experience on
lighting and fans, and so fan anation has that same quality
(12:27):
where they are just focused onfans.
Fan a nation is, believe mosteveryone knows is a family owned
and operated business.
They have the widest variety ofresidential and how hospitality
fans for indoors and outdoors.
It's easily scalable line in somany sizes finishes.
(12:49):
You name it.
The every fan a nation DC motorincludes the fan sync Wi-Fi as
well as something that many ofus have been asking for Color
temperature tunable light kitsselectable on the handheld
remote, not on the fan itself.
On the remote that choices arethree thousand four thousand
(13:10):
five thousand Kelvin.
And that's on all fan a nationDC motor products, which is
pretty cool.
Fan a nation has a unilateralminimum retail price policy.
If you're a stocking dealerwith fan a nation and you buy
into their program, at whateverthe different levels are, your
sales rep can clue you in on allof that.
There's different incentives.
(13:34):
As your purchases with fan anation grow, so do the
incentives pricing, discounts,freight spiff or co-op, avoid
drop ship fees, minimum orderfees and they incentivize your
over your growth with the growthwith the volume rebate, which
is one of my favorite thingspersonally.
The return policy is norestocking fee for products
(13:55):
returned new in the box as longas the wires have not been cut
within 60 days of the receipt ofthe product.
And, of course, the showroompays the return freight back to
fan a nation.
But we all know on topic today,returns are costly and impact
margins.
And lastly, fan a nation wantseveryone to know that they pride
(14:19):
ourselves in giving the bestcustomer experience possible,
from sales through service totechnical support after the sale
.
So thank you, fan a nation.
Okay, so on to margins andpotential strategies.
So if you Google the internetwhich I may or may not have done
(14:41):
.
I had a list I wanted to add toit.
I think I've mentioned thisbefore, but it always kind of
makes me giggle that the veryfirst thing when you Google
sorry how to boost your marginsis raise prices.
Well, as we know, that's out.
That's not something on oure-com qualified products from
(15:05):
most of our lighting and fanmanufacturers.
Raising prices just isn't athing for the reasons mentioned
at the top of the episode.
Now I will say this is wherebringing in unique products
really really helps.
So every showroom might have adifferent take on what a unique
(15:26):
product is.
What I have been enjoying in myshowroom is to bring in some
decor and lifestyle productsthat correlate with the vibe of
living in coastal southeasternGeorgia.
In South Carolina it's verypopular.
(15:46):
We have a lot of people movingto this area and have had for
the past three years.
So the anything that kind ofsuits the lifestyle of the area
that we're able to bring inwhether it's tea towels with a
cute graphic and a city name andlocation printed on it, you
(16:12):
name it Anything thatcorresponds with the lifestyle
of our little corner of theworld, products we can bring in
that repeat that feeling thatpeople really enjoy, like that's
why they're moving here.
We're able to get a bit highermargin.
It's not.
(16:32):
We're not locked into.
You know, this is how much thechandelier costs and there's
really no way around it.
The retail price is the retailprice.
So with these other goods,especially ones that are like
customized, you can get moremargin.
Now, do you have to sell waymore of them to equal the ticket
(16:53):
price of, like, one greatceiling fan or one great
chandelier?
Sure, of course you do, butwe're talking about boosting
margins and finding productslike this that you can add on to
any sale and or have availableto a customer who's maybe in the
process of building a home,just shopping your store in
(17:16):
advance, because they want someideas.
They know their builder's goingto send them in anyway.
They were in the area, theyjust wanted to poke around, they
wanted to meet the salesperson.
Whatever the reason is, eventhat experience could end up in
a sale, and then they'll be backand then they'll realize that
also you have these kinds ofgifts or decor or pick whatever
(17:39):
suits your market area and theprofile of your business.
I can only speak to the one thatwe've selected in my store, but
there could be any number ofother things that you would
really key in on.
Maybe you become like huge inartwork or you pick like this is
kind of where your creativityas the showroom owner, working
(18:03):
with your sales team, you canreally kind of try to source
products and find interestingthings that you can make a
higher margin on.
I highly recommend doing thatsupporting those product sales
with great merchandising andgetting your sales team really
(18:23):
excited about those things,whether it's something even as
random as dog toys, somethingthat could be like really unique
, that really gets your teamexcited.
Like candles has been kind of atraditional thing and candles
are great, but there are evenmore little unique niches that
(18:47):
you can find that will reallyhelp in terms of keeping your
margins just a little bit higher, and I definitely recommend
exploring those.
And one of the other points I'mgoing to make well, let's just
move on to it is another way tokeep your margins strong is to
focus on customer retention andrepeat visits.
(19:09):
So a lot of stores do this vialike a loyalty program like how
many loyalty apps do you have onyour phone so that you can get
a benefit?
And I get it.
I have not actually triedimplementing a loyalty program
at my store.
If you have and have feedbackthat you'd like to share, please
(19:32):
email me, lisa, atlightingwithlisacom.
I would love to hear somedetails on that and maybe I'd do
some more research on it.
But that focusing on customerretention and repeat visits is
really critical when you have aresidential lighting and fan
showroom.
One of the other challenges interms of things that we talk
(19:53):
about often in our industry isit's not like everyone goes out
every year and buys a new diningroom chandelier right, it's
just not a thing.
Well, if it is a thing, youhave a lot of money, but it's
just not a common thing.
You know, I feel like we'relucky if people want to upgrade
(20:16):
their lighting every five years,let alone most people.
They move into a house, theymight go on a renovation spree
and then that's it.
We don't see them again for 20years.
So the idea here is to reallyfocus on your customer retention
, focus on a great customerexperience, so that they have
(20:41):
blinders on when it comes tolooking at lighting and fans,
and we want to repeat theirvisits to our showroom.
And this, again, is where thefirst recommendation about
bringing in an array of productsoutside of lighting can be
really helpful to continue todraw people into your showroom
(21:04):
on a regular basis.
So if you are primarily anamazing lighting and fan
distributor, keep at it.
But if you can also add ongreat local gifts, great hostess
gifts, great accent furniturelittle things that people do go
(21:27):
out and shop for and if they canremember that your store is
really a place to go like, oh Iwant to go here, I want to go
there and oh, I also want to gocheck out the lighting store
because they bring in such cuteproduct, they give people a
reason to come into your storemore frequently and for a
different, like a wider array ofpurchases.
(21:49):
That way they're not thinkingof your business once every 10
years.
Maybe they're thinking of yourbusiness multiple times a year
and visiting you and justbringing in that much more
income.
Maybe they're not spending$1,000 every time they come in,
but if they spend $200 everytime they come in and they do
(22:09):
that a couple times a year,there's a lot of great value in
keeping that customer andkeeping them engaged with you,
and the money you're going tomake over the lifetime of that
customer is really, reallyimportant to the health of your
business, so don't don't sellthat short for sure.
So that's a huge one for me.
(22:32):
Another really big one is tooptimize your vendor
partnerships.
You can do this a number ofways.
Whether you consolidatesuppliers, whether you do this
or that, my recommendation,quite honestly and this is no
big secret to anybody who's beenin the industry is to really
(22:55):
figure out your 10 or 15 bestvendor partnerships for your
business, and this is going tobe different for every lighting
show in across the country.
It's going to differ based onwho your primary customer is.
It's going to differ based on,like, what you're trying to do
(23:15):
with the business.
Are you trying to increase yourretail sales?
Are you trying to grow yourbuilder business?
Are you trying to grow yourdesigner business?
Whatever it is, we all havedifferent needs.
But really step back,especially as we approach the
end of the year, and think aboutwhat your growth targets are
for 2024 in terms of customerand optimize your supplier
(23:36):
relationships based on thosetargets.
Aggregate your dollars yourdollars are your friend in this
case.
So the more you can aggregateyour purchasing power with a
smaller number of supplierswhile also maintaining good
relationships with any number ofthe other suppliers out there.
(23:57):
This is not a zero sum game.
It's not one or the other.
It is a both and space.
But when you can really key inon those suppliers that are
really critical to your business, work with those sales agents,
work with those factories, getsigned up for their incentive
program, that might make senseto your business, even if it
(24:19):
costs a little upfront.
If there's a longer term payoffand benefits, do that.
Get whatever works for yourbusiness, whether like is it
more important to you to havefree freight every day of the
week?
Is it more important to you tohave inside discounts?
When you commit to a brand,they will, nine times out of 10,
(24:41):
commit back to you.
They just don't want.
They want us to be clear aboutour partnerships.
They want us to respect ourpartnerships and honor them.
And as long as you go into itwith all of that intentioned and
well lined out for them aboutwhere you're taking your
business, I promise you they'llmeet you at the table and you
(25:03):
can find a way forward and a waythat boosts your bottom line
and really helps your margin.
It's one of the best things I'vebeen able to do in my store and
my personal plan for 2024 is tokeep expanding and optimizing
these relationships to driveeven more sales and bottom line
(25:23):
success.
For me it takes some time right.
You can't just flip a switch onthis and it works perfectly
overnight.
You have to spend a year, acouple of years really investing
with a brand or two that alignswith what your product needs
are for your showroom.
But when you can do that, it istruly, truly helpful to the
(25:46):
overall success of your business.
So optimize suppliers for sure.
Okay.
So the other next one on margins.
I'm just going to skip througha couple of these that are
pretty easy.
Reduce costs, okay, yeah, Imean.
I think we're all aware thatthe best way to increase margin
is to reduce your overhead andfixed expenses.
(26:07):
It's probably the first thingeveryone goes to when they need
more profitability.
So that one's pretty easy.
Straightforward I guess easy isthe wrong word.
Reducing costs is not easy, butit's a pretty straightforward
one.
Inventory management is alwaysimportant.
Make sure you're only buyingwhat you need when you need it,
(26:30):
that you're not running short ofthings and overpaying, keeping
your warehouse appropriatelystocked and clear of dead stock.
I'm always such a big fan ofgetting rid of discontinued
product as quick as you can, soinventory management is always,
always important.
(26:54):
There's two that are kind ofhand in hand Markdowns.
So the general rule of thumb ifyou want to increase your
margins is to avoid markdowns,avoid excessive discounting.
But back to that topic aboutretail pricing.
(27:14):
There's IMAP holiday is goingon for almost everything you
sell, like almost all the timeanyway.
Some brands are like literallyalways on sale and again Not
here to name check anybody.
This is very easy to figure outlook at your own website and
(27:34):
you can see where the salesalways are.
So, yeah, I'd love to avoidmarkdowns, but to some degree I
my hands are also tied on this,because if it's manufacturers
but you know pricing holiday, Ihave to honor that.
I can't, I can't really argueand say you should pay more for
it.
So the the tip here is to besmart about discounts, right?
(28:01):
So we can't really avoid IMAPholidays as much as I would
really love to see somemoderation of IMAP holidays.
But we can try to be smartabout our discounts.
You know, if you know you wantto run a promotion on ceiling
fans or exterior lighting, seeabout doing some sort of bulk
(28:23):
buy at a discount so that youcan offer like a special promo
to your customers Without itactually shrinking your margins.
You know, to some degree we areretail businesses and and
discounting is always going tobe a part of what we do.
So the I think really the bestway to manage this is Well, you
(28:48):
know, wherever you can do greatbuys to provide that extra value
.
But I really think a lot ofthis just goes back to that
previous suggestion ofoptimizing your vendor
relationships.
If you have optimal vendorrelationships, even if their
product goes on sale, you shouldbe reasonably insulated from
(29:10):
those discounts.
It's just always going to be achallenge, but consumers are
always going to expect things togo on sale.
So this is really where youhave to be strategic About what
makes sense to display, whatmakes sense to stock, what makes
sense for your partners, foryour showroom.
And again, that's going to varyfor everybody.
There is no one-size-fits-allsolution here.
(29:32):
So the last few Tips well,here's one and then the other
two I'm going to combine intoone because, well, we're running
a bit long I love this topic.
The other kind of conventionalwisdom on margins is to do ups
up sales and add-on sales.
You know, in my own showroomYou're gonna get a question if
(29:57):
you don't sell light bulbs witha fixture if the light bulbs
aren't already included, I'mgonna ask, I'm gonna want to
know, why not You're?
So you know there's any numberof add-ons and upsells we can do
in our industry.
Making sure that your staff isappropriately trained and
knowledgeable about those upsale opportunities is a
challenge and it's something asa showroom owner or manager you
(30:21):
really need to spend time on.
Because when a when asalesperson is going to upsell,
it doesn't need to come off asan upsell pitch.
Consumers will shut that downso quick.
But if it's just a part of theconversation, the dialogue, well
, you're are you're doing this,wouldn't it if we?
(30:41):
If we do this thing, yeah, itincreases the price, but you get
these other benefits.
Like, as long as it is always apart of the the customer's best
interest, doing those add-onand up sale opportunities are
actually fairly easy, but you dojust have to be very strategic
and knowledgeable about how youpresent them.
(31:03):
If it's just kind of like stuffthrown at the wall and hoping
something sticks, consumers dotend to be pretty savvy and see
right through that and they'lljust say no, thank you, just
give me what I already asked forand we agreed upon.
So that is always and willalways be an opportunity to
boost margins via add-on andupsell.
And this is where also havingthat other product mix of maybe
(31:27):
a little bit higher margin goodsthat you're adding on to every
sale Is really important.
They came for a ceiling fan.
They left with a ceiling fanand a cute little gift basket
for their Hostess gift for aparty they're going to later
that day.
So Any way that you can likeadd on with those higher margin
goods is super, super useful.
(31:48):
So the last Margin tip that Ifelt that I really like and that
really resonated with me andwas like I need to work on this
more for my store is To increaseyour, your showroom brand's,
trustworthiness and perceivedvalue.
So that's kind of like to metwo sides of the same coin a bit
(32:12):
, but when you think about it,like Google reviews are like the
best and Having a bunch ofGoogle reviews all like in the
four and five star range Reallyjust gives your showroom such
perceived value for potentialshoppers and peace of mind
(32:36):
Knowing that if they go therethey're gonna get a good
experience, that chances arethat Everything's gonna go well
because their perception of yourstore, based on like online
reviews is tremendous, likeGoogle reviews is the easy thing
.
But in all of yourcommunications with the public
(32:56):
at large so via your socialmedia, via emails, google ads,
whatever you're focusing on Ithink it's really, really
important to build in an elementof perceived value via your
expert staff and trustworthiness.
We understand the challenges ofBuying a new fan.
(33:21):
We understand the challenges ofLED lighting technology in you
know, as it exists today.
We understand we are here foryou.
We will explain it to you, willanswer all of your questions.
Whatever you need, our businessis here for you.
We have got your back.
You can trust us.
We are your partners.
(33:42):
We just want your home to bethe safe, welcoming, wonderful
place that you want it to be,and it is our mission to get you
there.
So if you have this sense thatyou're cultivating across all of
your consumer outreach, thatincreases your trustworthiness
and the value, the perceivedvalue of your brand and what you
(34:03):
offer customers.
Oh my gosh, it's so tremendous.
Me just think about it.
You, as a shopper, where areyou going to want to go?
You want to go and spend yourmoney with brands that you trust
, with people that you know.
It's so, so critical.
And I just think, as lightingand fan showroom retailers,
(34:26):
sometimes we just know we're theexperts and we just assume the
public at large knows that too.
But how are they gonna know?
You know, before I came intothis industry I don't know that
it ever would occurred to me togo to a specialty store.
I probably would have just goneto a big box store.
True moment confessional.
(34:46):
I probably would have.
I don't think it would haveoccurred to me to understand the
value of a specialty businesslike a lighting or plumbing
showroom.
It wouldn't have occurred to me.
Now you buy the wrong thing afew times and it quickly becomes
clear.
So these are like the messagesthat we need to communicate as
(35:10):
an not only really in theshowroom side, but as an
industry at large.
Again, if you're a listener atall to the podcast and things
we've been doing, the conceptI've always had around this idea
is why lighting showrooms, wedo bring a lot of value to the
people that shop with us, thatunderstand all of the ins and
(35:34):
outs, the expertise required forthese positions or for these
decisions for a homeowner.
So really focusing on that,everyone in this industry,
focusing on that together andreally supporting the value of a
lighting showroom.
That is like my dream for how Iwant the future of the lighting
(35:58):
and fan industry to go.
I just think there is so muchopportunity there and it would
benefit all of us and in thatpie I was talking about.
So if there's like four slicesout of it now and the showroom
pie has been shrinking, if wecan really hone in on the
importance of why your lightingshowroom is so important for
(36:20):
customers, why you're so helpful, if you have all this
trustworthiness and greatperceived value built into your
showroom, well then maybe yourpie starts to grow just a little
bit more and maybe the Ecom pieshrinks a little, maybe the Big
Pucks pie slice shrinks alittle.
And I really think, asshowrooms, that's what we need
(36:42):
to be focusing on the most, notthe fact that there's multiple
pieces of pie, but how do weincrease our slice of pie?
What is the value that ashowroom brings?
That is necessary, that isuseful, and don't forget those
margins.
Increase those margins.
Use any number of the tips here.
(37:03):
Email me your own tip forincreasing margins, something
that's been super successful inyour showroom that you wanna
share with me.
That might help other showrooms.
Really, the stronger we all aretogether, the better our whole
industry becomes.
I know that for a fact.
Thank you again to Fanimationfor sponsoring this episode of
(37:25):
Lighting with Lisa.
Till next time, everyone, takecare.
Hello and welcome fellow lighting nerds and
friends to Lighting with Lisa,the podcast sponsored this week
by Fanimation.
Thank you so much, fanimation,for sponsoring the podcast.
I very much appreciate it andstay tuned for more from
Fanimation.
So this week's episode.
(00:23):
Oh, housekeeping note at thetop, don't forget if you have
ideas, suggestions, just followup, commentary on a podcast
episode.
Please email me at lisa atlightingwithlisacom.
I super appreciate anyone whotakes the time to send a message
(00:44):
, even if it's just a fewsentences.
I will combine that potentiallyinto an upcoming episode and of
course, I can keep you asanonymous or visible as you want
.
If you personally would like tobe featured on an upcoming
episode of the podcast, pleasealso reach out via email.
(01:05):
If your company is interestedin sponsoring a podcast, please
reach out to that email.
I would be delighted to hearfrom you.
And also, don't forget and theshow notes are two very useful
light fixture groups.
One is the fixture finder groupand the other is the
residential lighting industryJob board.
Please follow those links, jointhose groups and stay engaged
(01:28):
with a positive momentum in ourindustry.
Thank you so much and I'll beon the lookout for your emails.
So the topic this week ismargins, margins, margins.
I'm super excited for thisepisode.
I really am.
It's one of the biggest ongoingchallenges in any business.
(01:52):
Right to every business islooking to increase their
margins.
There's not one of us thatisn't.
It's necessary and it'simportant, and how we all aim to
grow and thrive is by boostingour margins.
So the challenge in lighting isthe margin squeeze.
(02:17):
This really started, in myopinion, with the thriving of
e-commerce businesses and all ofthe related IMAP, map Pick your
Right acronym there for each,various by manufacturer.
(02:38):
But so many of those MAP pricesended.
We went through a whole ups anddowns and ups and downs with
those, but they ended upsettling out around at a
standard number.
Because this podcast is public,I'm not going to stay what that
number is, although anyone inthe industry listening to this
(03:02):
is well aware but in the event,we have a consumer listening to
the podcast.
I don't want to give up thatinformation.
So we bounced around a bit, butwe settled on a retail price
structure in our industry andthat retail price structure
(03:24):
online did not necessarilycorrespond with what everyone's
brick and mortar pricing levelswere.
Not that I think at the end ofthe day things were so much
different, but because of howthe lighting showroom business
operates, because of who thegeneral clientele is, we just
(03:48):
had things programmed adifferent way and in doing so we
were able to maintain decentmargin levels in a way that
worked for our business, ourcustomer mix, our stores.
So pricing could the retailprice on the tag could vary
(04:10):
between different brick andmortar showrooms across the
country, depending on who theirtarget audience was.
Well, with e-com sales, thatoption went away.
Right, it just became too easyfor anyone to walk into any
brick and mortar store, find anitem, go to Google or pick your
(04:33):
favorite search engine, findthat product, find it at a
different price a lower pricepotentially and just buy now.
And this is really where Ibelieve us in the brick and
mortar showroom industry reallyface some challenges, because
this really upended thestructure of our businesses.
(04:57):
Like the business model that wehad been following, that people
had been making work fordecades by this time was almost
overnight, like removed from us.
So everyone had to scramble abit, some quicker than others,
to get on board with this wholenew system so that we could kind
(05:18):
of repair these marginsqueezing issues, and I think by
and large a lot of people have,but it's still an ongoing
concern, right?
Because so much else about theway our businesses are
structured and what ourcustomers expect of us as brick
and mortar retailers.
Like, none of that changed, butour ability to charge a maybe a
(05:42):
little bit more of a higherprice, that did go away.
So we've all had to learn to bea little bit savvier, a little
more economical, a little morethoughtful in order to keep the
margins where they need to be tosustain a healthy business.
And then the other kind ofnewest wrinkle with this is when
(06:08):
a brick and mortar showroom isin some version of competition
with their own suppliers who arealso selling products direct to
consumer or whatever.
It's just a challenging wrinkle, right.
So I've said before on thispodcast I will continue to say
it that what I really just thinkhappens is we take the pie of
(06:31):
customers who are interested inbuying a light fixture and all
we do is like subdivide thepieces of pie.
So if the showroom pie was, youknow, half the pie and the big
box store was a quarter of thepie and E-com was a quarter of
the pie, well, you insert themanufacturers, direct sales, and
(06:53):
that probably takes away alittle from all the slices of
pie.
It just it adds themanufacturer slice in, but it
shrinks everything else.
We're not like growing the pie,we're just subdividing it
differently.
And that is, you know, achallenge.
Now, most manufacturers who dothis, the pricing is very fair
(07:14):
in terms of like it's the sameprice on their sites as it would
be on my own store's website.
It's just, it's just a thingyou know, and I don't suspect
it's going away.
So I don't really see too muchpoint in harping on it.
Quite honestly, this podcast inthe Lighting with Lisa brand it
(07:38):
.
This is a space for solutionsand it's not for complaints.
It's not for name checking,it's not for any of those things
.
We just have to take what wehave, highlight the issues.
You know there is absolutely anecessity to shine a light on
these challenges and make sureeveryone is aware of the
(08:02):
implications of some of thesepolicies.
If you're not working frontlines in a showroom, dealing
with consumers every day face toface, it might not be as clear
to you how impactful some ofthese decisions are.
In the showroom world.
It might seem more complainingabout nothing when there are
(08:22):
complaints.
So I'm really just trying toshine a light on the issue.
But we're not here to go in onanybody doing this or that or
the other.
We just have to figure out somesolutions, some ways forward,
some ways to understand what ouroperating challenges are and
(08:45):
how to still find a way tothrive as a business given those
challenges, and hopefully thechallenges aren't so big that we
end up going out of businessright, like that is sort of the
unsaid thing.
That's very scary about some ofthis stuff is, you know, the
reason we all worry so muchabout margins and the margin
(09:07):
shrinkage we've experienced iswhen you look at that and you
look at your overhead operatingcosts that for the most part are
pretty fixed.
When those numbers get realclose together it's a little
scary.
So there is definitely alwayscause for concern.
On this topic, I just wanteveryone to identify what the
(09:31):
issues are, identify which partof the issue impacts your
showroom the most and then takeactive steps to find ways to
boost your margin andprofitability in your showroom.
So one thing I've done in myown store and I talk about often
(09:52):
is that knowing what themanufacturers are doing like for
the health of their ownbusinesses, that definitely
impacts my display decisions andyou know we'll continue to do
so and I'm y'all.
I'm love everything in thisindustry like so so much.
(10:12):
That's why I do this, but I dohave to make you know, smart
decisions based on what I seegoing on and what I know my own
business needs in order to keepmy staff employed and to be able
to grow and try new things andexpand the business and reach
(10:33):
new customers.
There's just, you know, acertain baseline of health that
we need to do all that.
So I want to.
I'm gonna pause at this momentto thank our sponsor of this
episode and then, after the,after the break, we're gonna
talk about different strategiesfor increasing margins and I'm
(10:56):
gonna go in depth on a few ofthese.
So definitely stay tuned forthat.
So this episode of lightingwith Lisa is sponsored by fan a
nation.
Thank you so much, fan a nationfor sponsoring the podcast this
week.
If you didn't already know,here are some fun and exciting
(11:17):
things about fan a nation thatyou should know and consider
when you're looking for aceiling fan line to stock and
display in your showroom.
So if you didn't know Iactually didn't know this in
January of next year, januarytwenty twenty four fan a nation
is celebrating forty years inbusiness.
I suspect, knowing the team atfan a nation, there will be some
(11:40):
fun parties coming up atJanuary light of a show.
I don't actually know this, butI say stay tuned for whatever
that is A fan a nation's focusis entirely on ceiling fans, not
chandeliers, not bathroomvanities, only fans.
And so I talk about this a loton the podcast in in terms of
like, when you're thinking aboutyour business, compared to like
(12:05):
a big box store or one of theseA king glomerate type stores
that sell plumbing, lighting,whatever else.
You know the beauty of workingwith the lighting showroom as
you get really specificknowledge and experience on
lighting and fans, and so fan anation has that same quality
(12:27):
where they are just focused onfans.
Fan a nation is, believe mosteveryone knows is a family owned
and operated business.
They have the widest variety ofresidential and how hospitality
fans for indoors and outdoors.
It's easily scalable line in somany sizes finishes.
(12:49):
You name it.
The every fan a nation DC motorincludes the fan sync Wi-Fi as
well as something that many ofus have been asking for Color
temperature tunable light kitsselectable on the handheld
remote, not on the fan itself.
On the remote that choices arethree thousand four thousand
(13:10):
five thousand Kelvin.
And that's on all fan a nationDC motor products, which is
pretty cool.
Fan a nation has a unilateralminimum retail price policy.
If you're a stocking dealerwith fan a nation and you buy
into their program, at whateverthe different levels are, your
sales rep can clue you in on allof that.
There's different incentives.
(13:34):
As your purchases with fan anation grow, so do the
incentives pricing, discounts,freight spiff or co-op, avoid
drop ship fees, minimum orderfees and they incentivize your
over your growth with the growthwith the volume rebate, which
is one of my favorite thingspersonally.
The return policy is norestocking fee for products
(13:55):
returned new in the box as longas the wires have not been cut
within 60 days of the receipt ofthe product.
And, of course, the showroompays the return freight back to
fan a nation.
But we all know on topic today,returns are costly and impact
margins.
And lastly, fan a nation wantseveryone to know that they pride
(14:19):
ourselves in giving the bestcustomer experience possible,
from sales through service totechnical support after the sale
.
So thank you, fan a nation.
Okay, so on to margins andpotential strategies.
So if you Google the internetwhich I may or may not have done
(14:41):
.
I had a list I wanted to add toit.
I think I've mentioned thisbefore, but it always kind of
makes me giggle that the veryfirst thing when you Google
sorry how to boost your marginsis raise prices.
Well, as we know, that's out.
That's not something on oure-com qualified products from
(15:05):
most of our lighting and fanmanufacturers.
Raising prices just isn't athing for the reasons mentioned
at the top of the episode.
Now I will say this is wherebringing in unique products
really really helps.
So every showroom might have adifferent take on what a unique
(15:26):
product is.
What I have been enjoying in myshowroom is to bring in some
decor and lifestyle productsthat correlate with the vibe of
living in coastal southeasternGeorgia.
In South Carolina it's verypopular.
(15:46):
We have a lot of people movingto this area and have had for
the past three years.
So the anything that kind ofsuits the lifestyle of the area
that we're able to bring inwhether it's tea towels with a
cute graphic and a city name andlocation printed on it, you
(16:12):
name it Anything thatcorresponds with the lifestyle
of our little corner of theworld, products we can bring in
that repeat that feeling thatpeople really enjoy, like that's
why they're moving here.
We're able to get a bit highermargin.
It's not.
(16:32):
We're not locked into.
You know, this is how much thechandelier costs and there's
really no way around it.
The retail price is the retailprice.
So with these other goods,especially ones that are like
customized, you can get moremargin.
Now, do you have to sell waymore of them to equal the ticket
(16:53):
price of, like, one greatceiling fan or one great
chandelier?
Sure, of course you do, butwe're talking about boosting
margins and finding productslike this that you can add on to
any sale and or have availableto a customer who's maybe in the
process of building a home,just shopping your store in
(17:16):
advance, because they want someideas.
They know their builder's goingto send them in anyway.
They were in the area, theyjust wanted to poke around, they
wanted to meet the salesperson.
Whatever the reason is, eventhat experience could end up in
a sale, and then they'll be backand then they'll realize that
also you have these kinds ofgifts or decor or pick whatever
(17:39):
suits your market area and theprofile of your business.
I can only speak to the one thatwe've selected in my store, but
there could be any number ofother things that you would
really key in on.
Maybe you become like huge inartwork or you pick like this is
kind of where your creativityas the showroom owner, working
(18:03):
with your sales team, you canreally kind of try to source
products and find interestingthings that you can make a
higher margin on.
I highly recommend doing thatsupporting those product sales
with great merchandising andgetting your sales team really
(18:23):
excited about those things,whether it's something even as
random as dog toys, somethingthat could be like really unique
, that really gets your teamexcited.
Like candles has been kind of atraditional thing and candles
are great, but there are evenmore little unique niches that
(18:47):
you can find that will reallyhelp in terms of keeping your
margins just a little bit higher, and I definitely recommend
exploring those.
And one of the other points I'mgoing to make well, let's just
move on to it is another way tokeep your margins strong is to
focus on customer retention andrepeat visits.
(19:09):
So a lot of stores do this vialike a loyalty program like how
many loyalty apps do you have onyour phone so that you can get
a benefit?
And I get it.
I have not actually triedimplementing a loyalty program
at my store.
If you have and have feedbackthat you'd like to share, please
(19:32):
email me, lisa, atlightingwithlisacom.
I would love to hear somedetails on that and maybe I'd do
some more research on it.
But that focusing on customerretention and repeat visits is
really critical when you have aresidential lighting and fan
showroom.
One of the other challenges interms of things that we talk
(19:53):
about often in our industry isit's not like everyone goes out
every year and buys a new diningroom chandelier right, it's
just not a thing.
Well, if it is a thing, youhave a lot of money, but it's
just not a common thing.
You know, I feel like we'relucky if people want to upgrade
(20:16):
their lighting every five years,let alone most people.
They move into a house, theymight go on a renovation spree
and then that's it.
We don't see them again for 20years.
So the idea here is to reallyfocus on your customer retention
, focus on a great customerexperience, so that they have
(20:41):
blinders on when it comes tolooking at lighting and fans,
and we want to repeat theirvisits to our showroom.
And this, again, is where thefirst recommendation about
bringing in an array of productsoutside of lighting can be
really helpful to continue todraw people into your showroom
(21:04):
on a regular basis.
So if you are primarily anamazing lighting and fan
distributor, keep at it.
But if you can also add ongreat local gifts, great hostess
gifts, great accent furniturelittle things that people do go
(21:27):
out and shop for and if they canremember that your store is
really a place to go like, oh Iwant to go here, I want to go
there and oh, I also want to gocheck out the lighting store
because they bring in such cuteproduct, they give people a
reason to come into your storemore frequently and for a
different, like a wider array ofpurchases.
(21:49):
That way they're not thinkingof your business once every 10
years.
Maybe they're thinking of yourbusiness multiple times a year
and visiting you and justbringing in that much more
income.
Maybe they're not spending$1,000 every time they come in,
but if they spend $200 everytime they come in and they do
(22:09):
that a couple times a year,there's a lot of great value in
keeping that customer andkeeping them engaged with you,
and the money you're going tomake over the lifetime of that
customer is really, reallyimportant to the health of your
business, so don't don't sellthat short for sure.
So that's a huge one for me.
(22:32):
Another really big one is tooptimize your vendor
partnerships.
You can do this a number ofways.
Whether you consolidatesuppliers, whether you do this
or that, my recommendation,quite honestly and this is no
big secret to anybody who's beenin the industry is to really
(22:55):
figure out your 10 or 15 bestvendor partnerships for your
business, and this is going tobe different for every lighting
show in across the country.
It's going to differ based onwho your primary customer is.
It's going to differ based on,like, what you're trying to do
(23:15):
with the business.
Are you trying to increase yourretail sales?
Are you trying to grow yourbuilder business?
Are you trying to grow yourdesigner business?
Whatever it is, we all havedifferent needs.
But really step back,especially as we approach the
end of the year, and think aboutwhat your growth targets are
for 2024 in terms of customerand optimize your supplier
(23:36):
relationships based on thosetargets.
Aggregate your dollars yourdollars are your friend in this
case.
So the more you can aggregateyour purchasing power with a
smaller number of supplierswhile also maintaining good
relationships with any number ofthe other suppliers out there.
(23:57):
This is not a zero sum game.
It's not one or the other.
It is a both and space.
But when you can really key inon those suppliers that are
really critical to your business, work with those sales agents,
work with those factories, getsigned up for their incentive
program, that might make senseto your business, even if it
(24:19):
costs a little upfront.
If there's a longer term payoffand benefits, do that.
Get whatever works for yourbusiness, whether like is it
more important to you to havefree freight every day of the
week?
Is it more important to you tohave inside discounts?
When you commit to a brand,they will, nine times out of 10,
(24:41):
commit back to you.
They just don't want.
They want us to be clear aboutour partnerships.
They want us to respect ourpartnerships and honor them.
And as long as you go into itwith all of that intentioned and
well lined out for them aboutwhere you're taking your
business, I promise you they'llmeet you at the table and you
(25:03):
can find a way forward and a waythat boosts your bottom line
and really helps your margin.
It's one of the best things I'vebeen able to do in my store and
my personal plan for 2024 is tokeep expanding and optimizing
these relationships to driveeven more sales and bottom line
(25:23):
success.
For me it takes some time right.
You can't just flip a switch onthis and it works perfectly
overnight.
You have to spend a year, acouple of years really investing
with a brand or two that alignswith what your product needs
are for your showroom.
But when you can do that, it istruly, truly helpful to the
(25:46):
overall success of your business.
So optimize suppliers for sure.
Okay.
So the other next one on margins.
I'm just going to skip througha couple of these that are
pretty easy.
Reduce costs, okay, yeah, Imean.
I think we're all aware thatthe best way to increase margin
is to reduce your overhead andfixed expenses.
(26:07):
It's probably the first thingeveryone goes to when they need
more profitability.
So that one's pretty easy.
Straightforward I guess easy isthe wrong word.
Reducing costs is not easy, butit's a pretty straightforward
one.
Inventory management is alwaysimportant.
Make sure you're only buyingwhat you need when you need it,
(26:30):
that you're not running short ofthings and overpaying, keeping
your warehouse appropriatelystocked and clear of dead stock.
I'm always such a big fan ofgetting rid of discontinued
product as quick as you can, soinventory management is always,
always important.
(26:54):
There's two that are kind ofhand in hand Markdowns.
So the general rule of thumb ifyou want to increase your
margins is to avoid markdowns,avoid excessive discounting.
But back to that topic aboutretail pricing.
(27:14):
There's IMAP holiday is goingon for almost everything you
sell, like almost all the timeanyway.
Some brands are like literallyalways on sale and again Not
here to name check anybody.
This is very easy to figure outlook at your own website and
(27:34):
you can see where the salesalways are.
So, yeah, I'd love to avoidmarkdowns, but to some degree I
my hands are also tied on this,because if it's manufacturers
but you know pricing holiday, Ihave to honor that.
I can't, I can't really argueand say you should pay more for
it.
So the the tip here is to besmart about discounts, right?
(28:01):
So we can't really avoid IMAPholidays as much as I would
really love to see somemoderation of IMAP holidays.
But we can try to be smartabout our discounts.
You know, if you know you wantto run a promotion on ceiling
fans or exterior lighting, seeabout doing some sort of bulk
(28:23):
buy at a discount so that youcan offer like a special promo
to your customers Without itactually shrinking your margins.
You know, to some degree we areretail businesses and and
discounting is always going tobe a part of what we do.
So the I think really the bestway to manage this is Well, you
(28:48):
know, wherever you can do greatbuys to provide that extra value
.
But I really think a lot ofthis just goes back to that
previous suggestion ofoptimizing your vendor
relationships.
If you have optimal vendorrelationships, even if their
product goes on sale, you shouldbe reasonably insulated from
(29:10):
those discounts.
It's just always going to be achallenge, but consumers are
always going to expect things togo on sale.
So this is really where youhave to be strategic About what
makes sense to display, whatmakes sense to stock, what makes
sense for your partners, foryour showroom.
And again, that's going to varyfor everybody.
There is no one-size-fits-allsolution here.
(29:32):
So the last few Tips well,here's one and then the other
two I'm going to combine intoone because, well, we're running
a bit long I love this topic.
The other kind of conventionalwisdom on margins is to do ups
up sales and add-on sales.
You know, in my own showroomYou're gonna get a question if
(29:57):
you don't sell light bulbs witha fixture if the light bulbs
aren't already included, I'mgonna ask, I'm gonna want to
know, why not You're?
So you know there's any numberof add-ons and upsells we can do
in our industry.
Making sure that your staff isappropriately trained and
knowledgeable about those upsale opportunities is a
challenge and it's something asa showroom owner or manager you
(30:21):
really need to spend time on.
Because when a when asalesperson is going to upsell,
it doesn't need to come off asan upsell pitch.
Consumers will shut that downso quick.
But if it's just a part of theconversation, the dialogue, well
, you're are you're doing this,wouldn't it if we?
(30:41):
If we do this thing, yeah, itincreases the price, but you get
these other benefits.
Like, as long as it is always apart of the the customer's best
interest, doing those add-onand up sale opportunities are
actually fairly easy, but you dojust have to be very strategic
and knowledgeable about how youpresent them.
(31:03):
If it's just kind of like stuffthrown at the wall and hoping
something sticks, consumers dotend to be pretty savvy and see
right through that and they'lljust say no, thank you, just
give me what I already asked forand we agreed upon.
So that is always and willalways be an opportunity to
boost margins via add-on andupsell.
And this is where also havingthat other product mix of maybe
(31:27):
a little bit higher margin goodsthat you're adding on to every
sale Is really important.
They came for a ceiling fan.
They left with a ceiling fanand a cute little gift basket
for their Hostess gift for aparty they're going to later
that day.
So Any way that you can likeadd on with those higher margin
goods is super, super useful.
(31:48):
So the last Margin tip that Ifelt that I really like and that
really resonated with me andwas like I need to work on this
more for my store is To increaseyour, your showroom brand's,
trustworthiness and perceivedvalue.
So that's kind of like to metwo sides of the same coin a bit
(32:12):
, but when you think about it,like Google reviews are like the
best and Having a bunch ofGoogle reviews all like in the
four and five star range Reallyjust gives your showroom such
perceived value for potentialshoppers and peace of mind
(32:36):
Knowing that if they go therethey're gonna get a good
experience, that chances arethat Everything's gonna go well
because their perception of yourstore, based on like online
reviews is tremendous, likeGoogle reviews is the easy thing
.
But in all of yourcommunications with the public
(32:56):
at large so via your socialmedia, via emails, google ads,
whatever you're focusing on Ithink it's really, really
important to build in an elementof perceived value via your
expert staff and trustworthiness.
We understand the challenges ofBuying a new fan.
(33:21):
We understand the challenges ofLED lighting technology in you
know, as it exists today.
We understand we are here foryou.
We will explain it to you, willanswer all of your questions.
Whatever you need, our businessis here for you.
We have got your back.
You can trust us.
We are your partners.
(33:42):
We just want your home to bethe safe, welcoming, wonderful
place that you want it to be,and it is our mission to get you
there.
So if you have this sense thatyou're cultivating across all of
your consumer outreach, thatincreases your trustworthiness
and the value, the perceivedvalue of your brand and what you
(34:03):
offer customers.
Oh my gosh, it's so tremendous.
Me just think about it.
You, as a shopper, where areyou going to want to go?
You want to go and spend yourmoney with brands that you trust
, with people that you know.
It's so, so critical.
And I just think, as lightingand fan showroom retailers,
(34:26):
sometimes we just know we're theexperts and we just assume the
public at large knows that too.
But how are they gonna know?
You know, before I came intothis industry I don't know that
it ever would occurred to me togo to a specialty store.
I probably would have just goneto a big box store.
True moment confessional.
(34:46):
I probably would have.
I don't think it would haveoccurred to me to understand the
value of a specialty businesslike a lighting or plumbing
showroom.
It wouldn't have occurred to me.
Now you buy the wrong thing afew times and it quickly becomes
clear.
So these are like the messagesthat we need to communicate as
(35:10):
an not only really in theshowroom side, but as an
industry at large.
Again, if you're a listener atall to the podcast and things
we've been doing, the conceptI've always had around this idea
is why lighting showrooms, wedo bring a lot of value to the
people that shop with us, thatunderstand all of the ins and
(35:34):
outs, the expertise required forthese positions or for these
decisions for a homeowner.
So really focusing on that,everyone in this industry,
focusing on that together andreally supporting the value of a
lighting showroom.
That is like my dream for how Iwant the future of the lighting
(35:58):
and fan industry to go.
I just think there is so muchopportunity there and it would
benefit all of us and in thatpie I was talking about.
So if there's like four slicesout of it now and the showroom
pie has been shrinking, if wecan really hone in on the
importance of why your lightingshowroom is so important for
(36:20):
customers, why you're so helpful, if you have all this
trustworthiness and greatperceived value built into your
showroom, well then maybe yourpie starts to grow just a little
bit more and maybe the Ecom pieshrinks a little, maybe the Big
Pucks pie slice shrinks alittle.
And I really think, asshowrooms, that's what we need
(36:42):
to be focusing on the most, notthe fact that there's multiple
pieces of pie, but how do weincrease our slice of pie?
What is the value that ashowroom brings?
That is necessary, that isuseful, and don't forget those
margins.
Increase those margins.
Use any number of the tips here.
(37:03):
Email me your own tip forincreasing margins, something
that's been super successful inyour showroom that you wanna
share with me.
That might help other showrooms.
Really, the stronger we all aretogether, the better our whole
industry becomes.
I know that for a fact.
Thank you again to Fanimationfor sponsoring this episode of
(37:25):
Lighting with Lisa.
Till next time, everyone, takecare.
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