Key Takeaways

• Physical showrooms remain powerful sales tools, helping distributors build trust, elevate perception and close deals through hands-on experiences.

• Well-designed spaces inspire creativity and shift conversations from transactional to strategic, showcasing higher-end products and decoration techniques clients can see and feel.

• Despite the rise of e-commerce, showrooms still play a key role, complementing digital by creating belief, deeper engagement and stronger client relationships.

“Wow.”

That’s the first reaction clients have when they walk into the 13,000-square-foot showroom of Counselor Top 40 distributor Eagle Promotions (asi/185320) in Las Vegas. The decorator, which works with everyone from “Joe the plumber to Disney,” invested about a quarter of a million dollars into creating and modernizing the space, which President Mario Stadtlander describes as “a mini-trade show every day at our office.”

Stadtlander and CEO Sean Ono worked to give the showroom an inviting, retail feel, comparing the vibe to a Nordstrom. The company regularly changes out stock, displaying all the latest apparel and hard goods from its supplier partners, with good, better, best options for a variety of styles and SKUs. The duo estimates that they have 1,200 garments from Counselor Top 40 supplier SanMar (asi/84863) alone in the space.

In the age of one-click digital shopping, it may seem counterintuitive to invest so much time and money in a physical space that’s not tied directly to the company’s production or warehousing operations, but for Ono and Stadtlander, it was a bit of a no-brainer. “It helps us actually close accounts,” says Ono. “When clients get here, they’re just like, ‘OK, you guys are legit. You’re not going anywhere.’”

Jeff Moffett, owner of a Counselor Top 40 distributor Fully Promoted (asi/384000) franchise in Overland Park, KS, agrees, calling his 320-square-foot showroom “the closer.” Sales don’t come naturally to Moffett, a self-described introverted “spreadsheet guy,” but luckily, he adds, the showroom does the work for him. “If we get a potential customer in our showroom,” Moffett says, “the deal is essentially done. Rarely does a decision-maker come in and not ultimately place an order.”

The Benefits of Showrooms

A well-curated and intentionally designed physical showroom serves a variety of purposes for distributors. It builds trust, elevates perceptions and educates clients, giving them a multisensory experience with a variety of products and decoration techniques they may not have realized were a possibility. 

Read this full feature on Counselor.