I had been to all of our showrooms before. Bradlee was where my career at Hardwood Artisans began. Woodbridge is attached to the workshop, and we use it as a visual resource. Chantilly and Rockville had gone through remodels last year, and I assisted is moving furniture around for them. But I never spent time in one with customers.
So I decided, with a bit of subtle persuasion , to spend the day up at Rockville amongst the people we build this stuff for. Rockville is the most trafficked of our showrooms, as well as benefiting from being staffed by three of the better sales staff, so it was a good place to get to know the sales side of the business.
It wasn't quite what I expected. It was easy to talk with customers. Probably because there were others around, so I didn't have to worry about making a mistake. And mostly I hovered, watching, and getting pointed out as the guy who builds this stuff. I did get to entertain some of the kids who came in, showing them the beds hidden behind the bookcases, or the tv that hides inside the cabinet.
I did get a few assignments, trying to design a waterfall coffee table to have a flip top, drawing up a mod file drawer in autocad, and looking through the files for a previous customer. And I talked intelligently about our furniture with a few customers.
It was a good experience. I'll be back in the showroom...when my schedule permits.
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