First Free ALA Member Forum Focuses on Showroom Success

One of the new ALA member benefits being launched this year are live Member Forums featuring guest speakers who will offer expertise targeted to your business category (manufacturer, showroom, or representative). Each live session is FREE to ALA members and is divided into two parts: a 20- to 30-minute presentation, followed by questions and discussion from attendees. The Member Forums will also be recorded and available online if members are not able to attend live. 

The first Member Forum will be held on March 5, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (CT) and was created specifically for ALA showroom members. The guest speaker is Matt Rowan, vice president, residential lighting & marketing, ASID, LS, at Dominion Lighting, which operates three showrooms on the East Coast. Dominion Lighting has received 18 awards for excellence including Best Lighting Showroom – East/Atlantic Region at the January 2024 ARTS Awards.

In his session Showrooms are Obsolete. Experiences Aren't. Reimagining Your Lighting Business to Engage and Inspire, Rowan will share real-life examples of how showroom owners can make the necessary changes and invest in their business for profit and success. During the Q & A discussion portion, participants are encouraged to ask questions or discuss any obstacles that they may have with merchandising and other areas.  

According to Rowan, showroom owners do not need to spend a lot of money in order to create a profitable experience for customers.  

“Believe it or not, one of the first big steps you can take only involves your current inventory and a little sweat equity,” he states. “Editing and curating the fixtures you show, and forming groupings with space between them, will bring an immediate sense of focus to customers. It reduces clutter and confusion and elevates the design – and perceived value – of each piece. Remember that most clients enter your space already feeling overwhelmed with choices, so you want your showroom to solve that problem for them,” Rowan explains. 

Displays aren’t the only component to creating a memorable in-store experience for customers. “Your brand experience has thousands of what we call ‘touchpoints’ or moments where your clientele interacts with your business. Each one of these is important, whether it be your mobile site, your phone greeting, or the signage as they approach your store. Most importantly, each is an opportunity to reinforce your brand experience or – if not properly thought out – lose a customer.”

Showrooms that make a concentrated effort to hone in on ways to exceed customer expectations will discover that even small changes can lead to a bump in profits. 

“If we’ve done our job right and have positioned ourselves as trusted advisors (or as we like to call ourselves, ‘lighting sherpas’), we’ll not only benefit from repeat business, but also get the best free marketing there is — word of mouth,” Rowan says. “From a numbers standpoint, our new, curated format led to a 20-percent growth in the first year we implemented it, and a 30% additional growth in the second year.”

And it’s not only large showrooms that can see measurable results. “Even a small showroom can benefit from this type of merchandising and brand focus,” Rowan remarks. “I’d even go so far to say that smaller spaces need even more attention and thought with their brand experience and merchandising.”

If attendees would like to solve some of the branding or merchandising issues they are currently facing, this new interactive live Member Forum format is the perfect platform for brainstorming solutions. Attendees are encouraged to share their own challenges and even email images ahead of time to have those issues addressed live.  

Other areas that Rowan will cover in his session include effective methods for letting clients know that your showroom has made changes and ways to encourage them to stop in, plus suggestions for rebranding or updating your showroom’s website on an affordable budget. 

To register for free for this live Member Forum session in March, click here. 

Registered attendees who would like to submit a photo of a showroom area they would like Rowan’s input on during the Forum can email that image to Nici@ALALighting.com and include your showroom name.

ALA will host additional forums in 2024 for manufacturers, showrooms, and lighting representatives, with additional dates to be added soon. Check the ALA website for updates.