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::: Selling floors (and more) in Romania
FROM ABROAD of Giovanni Carlini, Foreign correspondent
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A sales system
that limits itself
to waiting for
customers to walk
through the door
that may have
been merely open
to criticism once
is now absolutely
untenable today.
Consider the
experience of the
Casa Bambus
Company ...
For this article, we went in
search of a leader in a certain
nation, Romania, to be
exact, in order to offer our readers
more than just ideas and hypotheses
for commercial agreements
as well.
The current crisis imposes the
search for new channels; the article
below provides a response.
::: Company experience
We interviewed Anca Buta, Marketing
Manager at the Casa Bambus
Company with headquarters
in Targu-Jiu but its biggest showroom
and largest warehouse
(2000 m2) in Bucharest, the nation’s
capital.
How many articles do you sell
in your showroom?
Our offer is cantered around
wood: parquet, doors, and other
complementary products. We import
parquet from South Africa,
South America and Africa. In Europe,
we distribute through the
German Haro and the Italian Gazzotti.
How many showrooms do you
have in Romania?
We’re present in all Romania’s
biggest cities (Bucharest, Targu-
Jiu, Cluj-Napoca and Costanta)
with our showrooms and agents
who work as employees and are
supported by the stores.
Do you mean to say that in addition
to showrooms you also
have your own sales force?
Of course! A sales system that
limits itself to waiting for customers
to walk through the door
that may have been merely open
to criticism once is now absolutely
untenable today. This
means assigning sales representatives
to the showrooms (at
least 2 per store) who also work
externally, visiting clients and
making appointments for them to
visit us here.
In addition to these two sales representatives
per store, there are others in varying numbers
who work especially with
larger customers or supervise
major projects underway
at hotels, entire worksites,
and so on.
Each sales rep has his or
her own office and passes a
lot of time around the coffee
machine talking to visitors
and clients. The informal atmosphere
makes relationships
with customers less
strictly “business”.
How big is one of your
showrooms?
Our largest store is located in the
center of Bucharest and occupies
130 m2; the others in smaller
towns are even bigger.
::: Variable geometry
What is your “showroom formula”?
We believe that a showroom
should showcase the company’s identity
and style through its organization
and product assortment.
For us, the showroom is synonymous
with elegance in presenting
solutions, and this has rewarded
us with a faithful clientele at the
medium-high end.
As for layout, our “variable geometry”
lets us organize ourselves as
required by theme or particular
and “exotic” forms. This implies
continuous revision: our showroom
must renew itself regularly
in order to constantly maintain
seasonal appeal and capture the
interest of the clients who stop in.
Knowing that we change window
dressing and more every 40-45
days, many customers come precisely for this reason. They may
not necessarily buy anything;
they look around and maybe mention
some of the novelty and new
things they see to a friend. This is
a very important form of advertising
for us: we think that the
“grapevine” generally works better
than a billboard.
To complete the picture, we give
a lot of priority to colorful and
provocative décor that we change
often, even if we have a preference
for pastels.
The entrance is big, and features
glass doors.
The parking lot outside is also indispensable,
and this one we
made ourselves. Wherever we
can, we set up a terrace at the
back that completes the showroom
with all our various types of
wood on display that can be appreciated
better in natural light.
 How are things with you competitors?
The other showrooms in our area
handle different types of product.
What’s more, they don’t vary their display as often as we do.
We are reassured by these two
factors, also because we are years
of experience ahead of them.
How many people visit your
showroom?
We get around 60 - 80 visitors
each month, 54% of whom end up
making a purchase; we doubt that
we’ll be able to maintain the same
flow in 2009 in light of the current
economic crisis.
I know that I’m not saying anything
new. In this moment of difficulty we’re looking for solutions
that are more successful in capturing
attention of the people
passing by our windows, even
provoking them.
In the context of expanding our
activity to face the crisis firstly,
and with an eye on our future positioning
secondly, we are very interested
in the possibilities offered
by synergy and alliances
with European and Italian operators
in particular, with whom we
also have a long tradition of working
together.
 ::: Conclusions
Putting ourselves in the shoes of
a reader of Professional Parquet
International, in addition to providing
specific reasons for “picking
up the phone” and talking
with a distributor positioned in
the Eastern Europe market, the
following objective data emerge
from this study:
• The effect on the 2009 balance
sheets of all the operators in
the market will leave little room
for illusion, and will amount to a
drop ranging from 20 to 25% in
total sales;
• In order to manage this crisis
situation destined to continue
after 2009, new strategies and
completely rethought battle
plans are required;
• In this context, in addition to agreements
with easily-reached nations
and markets, the showroom
must be considered in terms of its
“entertainment” value. This
means continuously alternating
the presentation of products, colors,
and geometry while following
the evolution in sales techniques that capture customer attention
even outside the sales outlet without
waiting for him or her to step
in spontaneously;
 • It’s not the space that makes a
showroom, but its organization.
In our case, we’ve seen that 130
m2 with the right organization are
enough to be the national leader;
• The idea of maintaining a presence
in different cities around
the country makes a name and
gives credibility to a brand. The
consumer gets the feeling that
she’s dealing with a widespread
network instead of some isolated
dealer struggling to stay in
the market;
• Lastly, the degree of cooperation
possible between the sales
outlet and the sales representatives
who work everywhere
outside and rely on showroom
structures for support is well
worth bearing in mind.
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