When you commit your company’s time and resources to producing a sales office, it needs to work as hard as you. It should stand out among the competition, attract your ideal audience, and strongly communicate your brand, product and message.
Here are 11 insider tips from Diva Works, to help you achieve an outstanding sales office, without pulling your hair out.
1.Set your objectives for the sales office
This is an essential step in creating a memorable sales office that delivers a solid return on investment.
What are your aims with this project? Is it building brand awareness? Establishing connections in the industry? Making sales? Or something else?
Try to limit yourself to 3 objectives, otherwise, your display will be pulled in too many directions, and you’ll end up with something that looks and feels unfocused.
Ideally, your objectives should be measurable so you can track your return on investment. For example, you might want ‘X’ number of leads, 40 customer groups for the week, or some other quantifiable deliverable.
2.Lock in a budget for your sales office
Knowing your budget gives you clarity that makes decision-making easier.
It will guide you in your choice of the right-fit partners, display space, fixtures and finishes, and enable you to make quick decisions about what can or can’t be done based on budget.
It’s also helpful to be transparent with your budget. Sharing it with your suppliers means they can guide you on what can be offered at that price point.
3.Be different to the other sales offices
Many firms fall into the trap of doing the same thing over and over, and then wonder why their ROI for their sales offices and displays are ordinary at best. Others copy industry norms and end up blending in instead of standing out.
You’re competing for your target audience’s attention, so your sales office stand needs to be distinctive and engaging.
What could you do to be different? To disrupt what’s gone before?
For example, if your competitors’ approach is ‘open and clean’, could you do ‘intimate and secret’?
Be creative! The future success of ex lies in embracing the new and unusual. Even if you take baby steps towards this, your sales office will be more memorable, and you’ll be rewarded with a more engaged audience, more leads and more sales.
4.Don’t be afraid of sales office technology
These days, your audience is likely to expect to engage with technology as part of their visit to your sales office.
Can you make use of iPads, QR codes, or touchscreens (and more) to enhance their experience?
Engage a firm that has experience in using these technologies who can provide the right advice on what you can use based on your budget and objectives.
The good news is that much of this technology is not expensive, such as digital photo frames, iPads or Surface Pros. Using technology can also provide you with quick stats regarding engagement that feeds back into your ROI.
There’s an abundance of online tools and platforms that streamline the planning process and make it vastly simpler to collaborate on and manage the process of delivering a sales office.
Examples include Evernote, Basecamp, Slack and Trello.
5.Collaborate with sales office professionals
There’s no question – it really shows when sales offices have been developed and delivered with professional help. There’s an extra level of finesse, sensory appeal, practicality – and let’s face it – wow factor.
Because you’ve already established your objectives and budget, it will be easier to choose the right sales office provider to partner with.
Look for someone you can collaborate easily with, who will respond to your project brief creatively and provide sound and realistic solutions, all while keeping the overall budget in mind.
You need someone who loves what they do, is easy to get a hold of and who’ll be there throughout the length of the project up to and including being your advocate on-site during the install phase when things can get a little wild!
By collaborating with the right partner, you’ll save time, minimise stress and get a sales office that generates results you’re thrilled with.
6.Get buy-in from your company along the way
Engage all your team members for input into the sales office brief and through the project life. Feedback from the CEO, the person authorising payments and any other key players will ensure there are no sticky moments at project launch where your superiors turn to you and say, ‘How did we just sink $150K on this crap?!?’
Update your team regularly on how the display looks and the associated costs. Your sales office partner can help with the internal sell by being at these briefings so they can answer queries on costs, material selection, the design rationale and so on.
You’ll need support in selling the benefits of the sales office design and fit-out, so actively recruit inside and outside your company to get the help you need.
7.Be super organised for your sales office launch
Once you’ve secured a sales office building or space, put all your relevant documents together in one folder for easy access, and set up a simple spreadsheet with all the contacts and basic details of the sales office.
This includes launch dates, venue address and all the suppliers’ phone number/email contact details (you’ll be amazed at how often you do need to contact them!).
You can streamline your organisational process further by using tools such as Basecamp, Trello or Google spreadsheets and documents to set up cloud-based information portals.
This will reduce the number of queries you’re fielding as all key information is hosted virtually (and not just held by you).
8.Get clear on your sales office message
What do you want your potential clients to do, know or feel?
Think of this like a ‘newspaper method’ of display messaging.
First, you need a ‘headline’ and this might be the company or project name (in large text) near the entry to the sales office
Next comes the ‘sub-heading’. This is where your tagline or brand pillars are displayed that tells customers why your development is different to the competition.
Finally, you have a body copy that can explain key benefits, features or nearby amenities. But don’t fall into the trap of overloading a sales office with text and copy. Less is more in this environment.
Overall, your messaging must be communicated by the sales office fit-out, so be consistent with all the elements you deploy.
9.Colour is a tool. Use it in your display!
Many companies stick with the corporate colours in the design of their sales office, but your options are so much broader than this.
Colour can be used as a highlight and to turn up or down the ‘temperature’ of the sales office. It can be used to evoke emotion or used as a spotlight feature.
Colour can also be delivered using different textures like metals, timbers, fabrics and plastics. Another little-used but oh-so-effective use of colour can be achieved using smart lighting where LED lights can change the colour of the sales office over seconds or throughout the day, so your fit-out is not static, and has an evolving look and feel.
10.Like fashion, accessories really complete the ‘look’ of a sales office
Accessories such as styling items, furniture, greenery and discussion areas often get overlooked in the design and specification of a sales office.
Don’t underestimate how important these are to the ‘theme’ of your sales office.
Styling items and planting must support the overall look and feel of the sales office. A poor selection can instantly devalue the rest of your efforts in creating an engaging and cohesive look.
Comfortable chairs featuring quality textiles invite people to sit and chat. Right-height discussion benches where customers can lay out plans and tak options over with a consultant. These details tell a customer they are welcome and encourage them to stay.
11.Staff your sales office with only the best and brightest
The sales office is unique in the marketing mix as it involves direct, face-to-face interactions.
It’s far more immediate and responsive than any digital or traditional based marketing, as the connections, conversations and engagement are real and immediate.
Therefore, it’s vital that the consultants who work on your sales office can ask engaging questions and connect with your target audience.
Don’t use poor communicators or staff who want to sit in the back of house area and only answer emails. Choose consultants who are interested in people and who are enthusiastic about their role – and who recognise the opportunity and value that sales offices offer.
We hope our list of expert tips makes it easier for you to plan and deliver a sales office that delights!
If you’d like more information, we’d be happy to help. Contact Diva Works at fiona@divaworks.com.au
