Marine Fabricator January/February 2022 - 16

Brick-and-mortar brilliance
Make customers feel involved. Oyster
Creek was specifi cally designed with an
open fl oor plan so customers can see into
the work space at any given time, separated
only by a counter. " We want them to
walk into a welcome spot, not someplace
that's sterile, " Keeler explains. " It should
be different than internet shopping. "
Keep it authentic. At two-year-old
At MarineRennavators LLC, Belfast,
Maine, owners Kelsey and Tov Renna
keep their work space tidy as they
routinely invite clients into their
workroom to view production.
While every fabricator uses a different
strategy, we interviewed three who fi nd
value in offering both a comprehensive,
user-friendly online showroom along
with a welcoming on-site showroom
so customers can narrow down their
choices before making their fi nal selections
in person.
Here are their suggestions for establishing
and maintaining robust showrooms
in both categories.
MarineRennavators LLC, a two-person
shop out of Belfast, Maine, Kelsey
Renna and her husband, Tov, routinely
invite clients into their workroom to
view production and often ask them to
their adjacent home to share a meal. " As
long as you stay genuine and honest as
to what you're capable of and what you
cannot do, you can't go wrong, " Renna
says of the couple's philosophy.
Design decor thoughtfully. At
Oyster Creek, Keeler maintained the vintage
character of his building by replacing
the windows with large, multi-paneled
versions and using them to showcase
antique sewing machines-the machines
that started his business.
ONLINE AND ON-SITE SHOWROOMS WORK TOGETHER
F
abricators fi nd that online and on-site
showrooms perform different functions that
support each other.
* " People fi nd us online through search and can
request an estimate. Then when they call, the
online showroom is used for examples of what they
want. But we encourage people to come by for
two reasons: to see our operations and where their
products are being made, and to sit down with the
materials and actually have them in their hands.
Almost all our clients do come in unless they're far
out of town. " Greg Keeler, Oyster Creek Canvas Co.
* Clients of SugarHouse Industries are encouraged
to peruse the online showroom and discuss
preferences, prices and lead times by phone
before making appointments to come in for fi nal
16 Marine Fabricator | January/February 2022
selections. " After COVID, we looked at our sales
model and realized we didn't try very hard to help
customers over the phone; we just steered them
in, " he says. " That's been part of our motivation
to be more helpful remotely before they actually
come in. But a pretty small percentage buy online
... they almost always want to be here in the
shop. A lot of customers would be uncomfortable
spending thousands of dollars, sight unseen. "
Mike Peterson, SugarHouse Industries
* " We don't really have anyone who buys online. We
start with a tour of their boat and a tour of what
they're thinking, then send drawings and samples.
Then we basically invite people to see their work
in progress as frequently as they want to at our
house. " Kelsey Renna, MarineRennavators LLC
Marine Fabricator January/February 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Marine Fabricator January/February 2022
