No Vacuums Here
That success has come by design. Using its experience with an existing showroom in Bellingham, Van took cues from its customers there, and visited numerous other showrooms throughout the area and nationally, to get ideas about what elements it might include—or avoid—in its own facility. A big issue that Jonathan Van saw in many other showrooms was the tendency by dealers to present product in a vacuum. It’s an aspect that he says hinders, rather than helps, a sale.
“For example, you would see various door hardware in a series of manufacturers’ displays,” Van says. “We decided to create our own hardware display, with five custom boards that have 15 locks on them from different manufacturers. They can be compared on their own merit, instead of having to go back and forth between various manufacturers’ displays, which is often confusing for the customer.”
Van then gathered employees at all levels to get feedback about what customers wanted. “We brought in our sales guys from our different territories, because they’re the ones working with the builders, and they see what’s going on out there,” Koehler says. “And even though we’re in a small market, what’s popular in North Shore is different than what they’re doing in Metro West and Rhode Island and the Cape. We brought in somebody from purchasing and customer service, and one of the girls who worked the [Bellingham] showroom on Saturdays, to see what was happening there. We elicited a lot of input from a lot of people.” From Van’s perspective, it was that team approach that helped lead to the success of the finished product.
For customers like Boston-based FBN Construction, a full-service custom builder and renovator with projects ranging from $100,000 to $4 million, the showroom has been an invaluable resource in landing business and keeping projects moving along. For example, on a recent build-out in Wellesley, Mass., FBN president Bob Ernst recommended his clients visit Van’s showroom to get ideas for what they wanted in their own home. “Too often in our business, people sign off on plans for a design element, only to find out when they see it that it was not what they wanted,” Ernst says. “What actually came out of it with our customers is that Van is now going to build a bunch of custom millwork for us, because the client didn’t see exactly what they were looking for. They had very specific design criteria, and Van helped them get there.”
Like his counterparts at Kistler & Knapp, Ernst has been comfortable sending his clients in on their own, because he knows that beyond the wow factor of the showroom itself Van offers the service and expertise to back its displays up. “When I have sent people in, they’re treated with respect and dignity and patience. That goes a long way to reinforce in our clients’ mind that we’re a top-notch organization,” Ernst says. “It’s almost like it’s our showroom, like an extension of us. That’s sort of how we view it.”
Vital Statistics
- Company: Van Millwork
- Year founded: 1967
- Headquarters: Bellingham, Mass.
- Number of locations: 4
- Number of employees: 70
- 2005 gross sales: $20 million
- Pro sales percentage: 90%
