Recapping What The Attendees Of Bravo And Unilog’s Event, Evolve 2022, Walked Away With – And Why You Should Care!
At the end of March, almost two hundred plumbing, hardware and lighting store and showroom owners, key employees and service providers, who partner with Bravo/Unilog clients to offer technology services, gathered at the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel on the Universal Studios campus in Orlando, FL. Now, just a few weeks later, one glaring question still faces us all: Is your company, “heart attack” serious about taking your internet game to the next level in 2022, or are you still believing that the economic trends of today are just another fad?!
From the opening remarks by Unilog’s CEO, Suchit Bachalli, who spoke about how “Zoom Fatigue,” and COVID have impacted 3 key areas of change, the crowd — which was comprised of Bravo and Unilog clients of every shape, size and structure — were excited, engaged and ready to ‘evolve’ so that meeting any and all challenges that the click-and-order world of commerce is presenting, could occur with confidence and clarity, because they know Bravo and Unilog have their back.
From Frustration To Feeling Free… This Is Your Top Journey To Trek In 2022!
From a consumer behavior perspective, businesses today must be concerned about whether or not the content and product data their company is publishing is accurate, more thorough and/or complete than their competition. It must resonate with ideal clients and trade partners in a high tech and high touch way, and be optimized so that it transitions an acceptable number of website browsers into sales opportunities and buyers every day of the week, and month after month.
Although mountains of evidence are showing how millennials have more modern day buying preferences and learn much differently than previous generations, what is not for questioning anymore is whether your company’s, “digital twin” (i.e., your website and online infrastructure as a whole) is getting people to say, “ooh, aah, and yeah,” with their wallet, when it comes to purchasing what your company brings to market, online and off the internet.
Up until the past few years, the focus for many Bravo clients has been to leverage the product catalog to get a web visitor into their place of business, a showroom or supply house. From there, step #2 has been to use the wish list and SpexBuilder functionality, to complete a quote in the most visually appealing way possible. From there, step #3 of the buyer’s journey has been for you to stay in contact with a potential purchaser (i.e., your lead) until a “cha-ching” sound rings from the cash register.
Admittedly, the process of furthering your relationship with them doesn’t end here, for the sake of staying brief, I’m going to leave out a few of the items I described in more detail in a blog that was published on January 19, 2022 on the topic of the Relationship Building Life Cycle.
Networking & Ramping Up Return On Investment Was Our Top Priority At Evolve 2022
Ace Rosenstein, President of Bravo Business Media and Executive Vice President at Unilog, told me on a phone call prior to the Evolve event, that a Bravo client on the decorative side of the platform, “sells products at their business, they’re not purchased.” In other words, there is an element of white glove customer service happening during the ‘consultative sale’ process that you, a Bravo client, should be refining and improving as time marches on in today’s, post COVID economy.
Personally, I agree with Ace that most Bravo clients need to continue to focus more on mastering the brick and mortar sales process than they have in the past. Also, because the Showroom Marketing Team at Bravo works directly with dozens of Bravo clients each month through our Paid Marketing Program, I see far too many businesses (Bravo clients or not), neglecting to use ‘profit multipliers’ in their sales process. These are techniques that will allow their company to stand out, get more inquiries (phone calls, form fill-outs, direction clicks for terms that aren’t their company, orders from their webstore), and ultimately close more business in a seamless, systematic way, especially with the local consumers who are performing searches online for things they sell.
Although Bravo clients have come a long way in regards to being aligned with and operating using best practices from the click-and-order side of things, they need to realize that competing with Amazon, Build, Wayfair, and other online retailers is not the real goal to be focused on. Rather, aside from being an entirely different business model, there are many ways to gain more market share and sales online – without taking on the bullies in the online schoolyard in any way.
During a breakout session where I presented at Evolve, I shared how a top goal for a Bravo customer at this point in time should be to focus on absolutely dominating their local market online using strategies to blanket the first page of Google and being “sticky” on social media – even if their current grasp of technology has them thinking my phone in this picture above is what they believe to be an EYE-Phone today. LOL!
Truth is, once you begin getting exposure online from people with the highest intent to buy, turning browsers into buyers in the most profitable way possible is what should matter most.
That’s right, generating business THROUGH THE INTERNET is the best (and most profitable) strategy to master before you enable eCommerce on your website and alter your business model from a B2C perspective. I often tell Bravo clients to roll-out an eCommerce strategy AFTER they are making a profit from their business development initiatives online with the local folks who are going to Google and typing in, “Bath Showroom Near Me,” or “Kitchen Design Center,” in their area, to partner with for their project.
From a B2B perspective, having eCommerce enabled on your website will allow you to streamline and automate the ordering process, give your team back more time to do the things that matter most at your company: Doing more of the Results Producing Activities to grow the company and to allow your trades partners and specifiers to show up in a more organized way with their clients.
In short, #TheRichesAreInYourNiches when you dominate locally, and once that is accomplished for a few months, generating revenue ON THE WEB should become a focus.
The “What If” Keynote By Mike Rayburn Was Awesome, But Have
You Ever Heard Someone “Jam Out” On An 18 String Guitar Before?
To piggyback on what the keynote speaker at “Evolve” brought to our attention, ask yourself or your team, “But What IF we did this, that, or the other thing, differently?” Would the results skew for the better IF you weren’t fixated on being let down before testing a new strategy?!
Here are a few questions to ponder about taking a deeper dive into the online ocean in 2022:
- What if the people and companies who are finding success online these days once had many of the same reservations as you do right now?
- What if you could align with an ally and technology partner who would hold your hand, show you the ropes, and partake in the goal-getting process with your team, daily?
- What if all of the things you’ve convinced yourself could go wrong with this process did go wrong? But more importantly, what if you weren’t the person to have to fix it all?
- What if you knew you were leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table because you aren’t taking advantage of the things Gold Standard Showrooms™ are?
- What if there was A ZERO RISK WAY for you to learn what steps should be taken next, and that dozens of Bravo clients have pursued and succeeded with at various levels over the years?
“Incremental Progress Is Key”
Mark Okun
Mark Okun, Sales and Marketing Consultant at Bravo and Unilog said, “Incremental progress is key,” along your journey of trekking from brick-and-mortar success story to click-and-order superstar. My suggestion is to advance your playbook slowly, steadily and systematically!
However, while you’re trekking, be sure to remain data-driven in your thinking and disinclined in your decision-making when taking on new business development initiatives. To recap a point I made earlier, “What if there was A ZERO RISK WAY for you to learn what steps should be taken next? And was what dozens of Bravo clients have pursued and succeeded with at various levels over the years?
Well, this is your time to learn as much as you can about turning your online insights into more income. The following are the next steps I strongly recommend you take after reading this recap piece and/or missing out on attending Evolve 2022 live in Orlando.
First, make sure you have the Showroom Marketing Team at Bravo put together a Market Analysis Report for your company. This quick-read report shows you how many searchers are looking for a showroom like yours in your service area(s), how many searchers are looking for the product categories and brands you have listed on your website, and it also takes a look at how your competitors are advertising in your area.
Finally, I’d like to formally invite you to have Austin Pike, Director of Web Conversions for the Showroom Marketing Team at Bravo, film an analysis video of your website, analyze what your Google Analytics account is showcasing about your site’s performance, and what your marketing universe looks like numbers-wise for what searchers in your local area want to buy that your company sells.
We’re excited to hear back from you about how you believe we can help you take things to higher profits and beyond in 2022. If you would like to get your Market Analysis Report and Website Review and Market Analysis Video from our team, please set up a time to talk about it here!
