These Are John Gosselin’s Top 10 Takeaways From The 2023 Southern Wholesaler Association (SWA) Meeting At The SanDestin Hilton In Florida
July 6, 2023
ShowroomMarketing.Com's Top 6 Takeaways About Technology From The 2023 LPG And IMARK Annual Expo In Orlando, FL
ShowroomMarketing.Com's Top 6 Takeaways About Technology From The 2023 LPG And IMARK Annual Expo In Orlando, FL
After the longest break since the inaugural show many years ago, the Luxury Products Group (LPG) and IMARK Plumbing hosted over 1,300 Decorative Plumbing and Hardware showrooms and wholesale distribution experts for their 2023 Annual Expo at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, FL on Feb 1-6.
Despite being part of both groups since 2020, this was our company’s first show as an official service provider in our company’s 9-year history. To summarize, it was simply amazing – on all accounts. We were blown away by the vision and leadership of Jeff MacDowell, Executive Director of LPG, of the entire LPG and IMARK team, and from the Board of Directors and members during the 3-day event! We also had a ton of fun with our supplier partners and service providers
There were wonderful social gatherings and educational offerings for the members, staff, and supplier and service provider partners that kept the vibe high, the fellowship and networking exciting, and the sharing of ideas and best practices about, “what’s working now,” for businesses all over North America.
ShowroomMarketing.com was fortunate to have 10 clients in attendance on the LPG side of the show and we enjoyed catching up with them for a few minutes at our table and during the breaks and after-hour events. Many of our clients were excited to meet our team for the first time, in person, plus they were able to review their company’s, “No Lead Left Behind,” Lead Scoring Sheet (their CRM), as well as review their Business Intelligence Dashboard – which is a tool that we recently introduced to showcase the 20% of the Metrics That Matter Most for their Business Development Initiatives and Operational Efficiency Processes.
These Are Our Team’s Top 3 Takeaways From The 2023 LPG Expo
- It is very important for Manufacturers to continue educating their Reps and Dealers because design trends and buyer preferences are changing so quickly. In short, it’s never a bad thing to over-educate the people who are the most responsible for getting your products into properties and projects of all shapes and sizes – especially at a time when staff turnover is higher than ever for showrooms in every market across North America. Along with education, it’s crucial to continue putting relationships first.
- It is also critical for showrooms to get more tech-savvy and to bring personnel on board who understand how to win more business “on” and “through” the internet channel (YES, there is a difference between these two concepts) and to learn how to control more market share in their most profitable zip codes and service areas.
One key concept that our team communicated to dozens of LPG members we met with is that although we help Showrooms Ramp Up Results with their online business development efforts, we are not looking to have any of your staff fired or replace the person on your marketing team. We aim to empower your people as we come on board with the data and metrics that make a huge difference! In fact, many of our clients have a Director of Marketing or Marketing Coordinator that we work very closely with to facilitate all of our doings and to report the results and ROI they’re getting. We even like to say, “We come with the Super Hero cape for your marketing person / marketing team to wear!”
- There are also many Distributors from the IMARK side who have Retail Showroom Locations. These are the entities (in our 1-on-1 appointments and from companies who heard about the great work we’re doing from others in the group and stopped by randomly to say hello) that wanted to know how they should be going about making their Website more Streamlined to accurately represent the Wholesale AND Retail side of their business to best grow visibility and sales!?
Although we have relatively simple answers for this (that we’ll gladly share with you and your team), each situation requires a Custom Set of Solutions to Goal-Get in the most optimal way.
ShowroomMarketing.Com’s Final Thoughts About The LPG Expo 2023
If you or your team would like to discuss the best practices we shared about how to “tie” all of the technologies you’re currently using at your company (your website platform, EPR, CRM, and POS system) or if you would like to understand more about why a VAST MAJORITY of the Decorative Showrooms we chatted with at the show said they’re going to continue to learn more about the things we’re doing for the Industry, please Book a Time to Discuss your needs with our team at ShowroomMarketing.com/lets-talk.
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As for the IMARK side of things, the conversations were quite different. In short, there is much more revenue being generated by the Wholesale Distribution element of this group. However, with more sales volume, there is also a need to Better Streamline and Systematize all that is happening because it’s much more complex and cut-throat than the Decorative Plumbing World.
These Are Our Team's Top 3 Takeaways From The 2023 IMARK Expo
1. Most of the Support on the Internet side of things for the IMARK members is at the Marketing Director Position or the eCommerce Data Management Position. For the members who have a Marketing Director or eCommerce Director, woo ooo. However, far too often, generating new Revenue and Controlling more Market Share is not part of their task list on a daily basis. If a Wholesaler is expecting even adequate results from their Internet Business Development Initiatives, they need better Roadmaps to chart each step of their company’s journey!
2. Many of the website’s IMARK members lack a “high touch” feel to compliment their identity in the offline world. Let’s face it, although the advent of the internet and B2B eCommerce have become more prevalent since the pandemic, having a relationship with those who Know, Like, and Trust you to take care of their needs, will never be “going out” of style anytime soon.
Also, because ShowroomMarketing.com has access to Studying and Analyzing over 1 million Website Visitors per month in the Decorative and Wholesale Plumbing Industry, we have data that supports why having an About Us / Meet The Team page, Our History page, a page that shows how you serve and give to the Community you’re in, a Gallery Page to display pics of your brick and mortar store and the projects your products have been a part of, and a page(s) that show what your Physical Locations look like, and a dedicated landing page for each town that is prevalent or profitable for your business, goes a long way for Transitioning Browsers to Buyers and for turning Online Insights into Income through the Internet Channel.
3. There is a MAJOR need to better allocate the Co-op Dollars that are being generated for IMARK members. With that being said, having parties for your Trade Partners, putting on golf outings, and hunting or fishing excursions are never a bad idea. #FunIsAlwaysAGoodStrategy
However, numerous IMARK members came and grabbed our team to learn more about how we can help them maximize their Co-op Dollars to grow sales, get new accounts, and increase their company’s brand awareness in their service areas.
Stay posted on the specific programs we offer because Ted Havel has asked us to put an article together on this topic + the team from Blue Volt and the ShowroomMarketing.com team have something up their sleeves that will be revealed soon!
ShowroomMarketing.com’s Final Thoughts About The IMARK Expo 2023
In summary, if you haven’t had a chance to read the article that was published in Supply House Times on February 6 (while the IMARK event was going on) titled The State Of The Showroom, John Gosselin, our company’s CEO, was featured several times in the article because of how our expertise and first-hand knowledge about how Technology will be used to Fuel Growth, to Control more Market Share, and to Operate more Efficiently in 2023, and beyond is super trendy and very demanded these days.
The Top Takeaway we hope you get from this LPG/IMARK Recap is that it’s no longer okay to sit on the sidelines and/or be irresponsible when it comes to using the Internet to advance your business and quality of life.
We’re here to help, and technology shouldn’t scare you so much 🙂
Finally, if you haven’t connected with our company on LinkedIn yet, please do so.
