KBB - February/March 2015 - 40

KBIS Rocked!

KBIS SPECIAL SECTION

A Look at Three Voices From The Industry Sessions
to help foster business, inspiration and experience
Whether you didn't get a chance to attend KBIS this year or you

Luxe - a demure and glamorous look - will show itself through

didn't have enough time in your schedule to be a part of all of the

pale ﬂorals, curvilinear shapes and rose-gold colors. Bold, intricate,

amazing educational opportunities, we've got your back. Here's a

ﬁligree patterns and Victorian-inﬂuenced designs will pair with

look at three of the NKBA's Voices From The Industry sessions.

fashion-inspired designs and mixed accessories.

Top 10 Reasons Why Businesses Don't Grow

widths, tribal patterns and natural shapes. Sensory details, industrial

Vintage revival draws from colorful textures, varying striped

Because kitchens and bath projects can be

touches, rivets and bevels will complement textured and tempered

intricate and costly, customers are taking more

metals, tarnished silver and weathered woods.

time to make decisions. That and many other

The executive style will contrast other trends with a more

factors play into business growth, and certain

masculine feel through houndstooth and argyle patterns. In an

changes can speed up the process.

understated avante-garde environment, the gray hues and gold

The wrong location makes a huge difference

pairing will create a soft and elegant palette.

in customer demand. The business should be easily visible and

Today's love of iridescent metals and weathered styles will evolve

accessible by locals. Out-of-control growth will take a formerly

into the geomodern style. Raw, earthy colors and off-whites ground

successful business into debt. Raffael Brugnoni, CKD, business

this design in the authentic, rustic and unpolished.

coach with SEN Design Group, emphasized that sometimes less is
more, even if it is difﬁcult to resist hiring at peak times.
Backup

plans

and

future

prospects

should

These trends each have something in common with the other, like
the reoccurrence of the vintage and authentic. Taking subtle cues

always

be

from each can update a look and keep it modern for years to come.

considered. Without a succession plan in the business, there are
often power struggles between partners and family businesses.

Showrooms of the Future and the Experience Economy

Valued employees expecting to move up in position may leave if

"All roads lead to the experience technology,"

not considered. An organizational chart can help determine where

the takeaway from this seminar led by Kirk

each employee is and where he or she should expect to grow.

Heiner, chief marketing officer at KB Express,

Operational mediocrity is often hard to see from an owner's

and Twila Heiner of KB Express, emphasizes the

perspective. The sales process needs to be a step-by-step process

importance of senses in a technology-based

that will deﬁne how the service will be put in place. This will also put
customers at ease when they know where they are in the process.

society.
The new experience economy requires showroom owners to

Similarly, operational inefﬁciencies will drag a business down.

innovate, engage and implement interactive customer-centered

Dysfunctional management will also result in a lack of focus,

processes into their showroom designs. Customers, not products,

vision and planning. The entire staff needs to have a clear picture

have to be at the center of a showroom. Since most studies

of where the business is going in the vision statement. Brugnoni

show that customers feel afraid, frustrated and confused when

advises business owners to seek outside professional assistance to

remodeling, the best draw is a simple, relaxing and inspirational

overcome this issue in business planning.

shopping experience.

Sourcing Design Inspiration
from International Trends

be used in an actual room. While sample pieces should be easily

A showroom should also show the products the way they would
attainable, every single product should not be on the show floor.

Judd Lord, senior director of industrial design

People normally walk into a showroom with an idea of what style or

at the Delta Faucet Company, is known for

color they want, so consider organizing displays by style, theme or

hunting down the emerging trends around the

color - rather than wonder walls - so people can compare easily.

world. Lord introduced the main trends he and

+
K BB

that is disarming and authentic. The human connection is the final

two years.

40

Finally, pull in the customer with a well-informed, respectful staff

his team have predicted will surface in the next

piece that will surpass online buying in the future.

February/March 2015 / www.kbbonline.com / The Ofﬁcial Sponsor of KBIS www.kbis.com
http://www.kbbonline.com http://www.kbis.com
KBB - February/March 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of KBB - February/March 2015
