Erin Bittner is the C.O.O. of Pierce Hardware and JCR
Distributors, which has Pierce showroom locations in Dallas and Fort
Worth, Texas, and he has been in the DPH industry for the past 15 years.
Phil Hotarek: What do you see as the biggest surprises about our industry?
Erin Bittner: The value and power of strong
relationships, how complex product offerings are and how challenging
product integration into the construction of the home really is. The
necessity to employ a quality professional who has tremendous product
knowledge and experience matters!
Phil: The most challenging aspect of our industry?
Erin: Keeping up with the constant change
from manufacturers to reps. New price books, new displays, product
discontinuations, price changes, etc., certainly make our jobs
challenging, not to mention trying to utilize co-op funds to promote
quality brands alongside our own branding efforts.
Phil: Any success stories you would like to share?
Erin: Our company was generously converted
to an ESOP (employee owned), which had to be fronted by our former owner
Mike McKenzie during the great recession. It's hard to convey the
value of what Mike did for this company - he carried a large financial
risk for the benefit of longtime employees. He saw value in their tenure
and experience and had a vision for how well that value would translate
into an employee owned entity. That's a huge success story!
Phil: If there is one thing you can sell, it's...?
Erin: If you're referring to a product, I
would say The Galley Workstation. If you are talking about my
experiences though, I believe it is the value of using a quality
showroom. "We must be experts at communicating all that we do for our
clients to ensure our full value is recognized... This is especially
important when so many customers are using online tools for research and
comparison. New competitors continue to drive prices down and try to
steal our clients, so we need to continue to innovate, execute well and
always learn more."
Phil: Have you registered for the DPHA Recognition Program yet?
Erin: Yes. All our new employees have been
registered. The Recognition Program at first was found to be complex
and confusing because employees thought that simply going through the
quizzes was the recognition program itself. We are rediscovering how
much the program, as well as DPHA, itself has to offer. I strongly
encourage your showroom managers to reach out to the team at DPHA to
review the tools available through the Aassociation you can use
immediately.
Phil: Have you completed any category tests?
Erin: The team has. I have a personal goal to finish 5 classes in 2017.
Phil: How have you benefited from participating in the Recognition Program, if at all?
Erin: In addition to helping our new
employees get up to speed, participation in the program aids in the
mental discipline of constantly learning, even if you are already fairly
knowledgeable. Our team's knowledge and experience sets us apart, so
continuing education is essential to our future. Just try to pass Jim
Babbitt's 21 question sample quiz and you may be humbled on what all you
could learn or re-learn.
Phil: Is that face-to-face or online training?
Erin: On-line and face-to-face. It depends on the subject or the quality of the online material.
Phil: What are some key factors that set you apart from other showrooms?
Erin: We closed down our historic showroom
in a boutique shopping mall area (retail space, 1500 square feet of
showroom space) and moved everyone to a new location next to Love Field
in Dallas, a more industrial area that allowed us to create a much
larger showroom (more than triple the previous size). People are now
able to see both plumbing and hardware for the entire home. We are
currently remodeling the Fort Worth showroom and we continue to invest
in our employees as owners. The showroom is designed in such a way that
the displays and decor can be frequently changed. We show exclusive
brands and products you can only see at Pierce. But at the end of the
day, the quality, tenure and knowledge of our team is what matters most.
Phil: How do you compete with the surge in e-commerce sales?
Erin: We constantly promote and communicate
the value of buying from a professional. Our actions must back up our
words as well. We also use smart merchandising techniques to better
convey the value of our authentic brands. We focus on making Pierce
Hardware a destination for seeing the latest and greatest products in
the world and creating the strongest relationship possible along the
way.
Phil: In your opinion, what do we need to do as an industry to further education in decorative plumbing amongst the masses?
Erin: We need to formalize and scale the
educational process so we can take people who have the right DNA to sell
decorative products and put them through a system. We need to capture
best practices from expert showrooms around the country and integrate
them, and not limit to materials a manufacturer provides. A Rolls Royce
may be the finest car made, but how you sell one every week is what
really interests me! Having a formal program, yielding recognized
credentials such as the ones architects, real estate agents and/or
designers have validates the credibility of what showroom professionals
are offering. It could also lead to other elements such as certain
manufacturers selling only to accredited qualified showrooms. We live
in a society where everything can be purchased online or is accessible
through an app right at your fingertips. An experienced professional
saves the consumer time and hassle in addition to providing unmatched
support to the trade. Formalizing the education program may validate us
as qualified professionals, providing a myriad of possibilities through
recognition amongst manufacturers, reps, designers, and consumers.
Phil: And just for fun, what is one thing your coworkers don't know about you?
Erin: I played the tuba from 3rd grade all the way through high school. I am sure there is a "hot air" joke in there somewhere.
Phil: When your friends ask, "You sell toilets?" you say?
Erin: Yes, lots of them, we sell the coolest potties you've ever seen!
