Marine Fabricator January/February 2022 - 17

Create a warm,
comfortable
environment. Two decades ago,
80-year-old SugarHouse Industries
designed and built a new,
larger
showroom with taller ceilings, highend
tile and bigger windows that let
in more natural light. " We wanted
something more open, with a less
industrial feel, that conveys the kind of
high-end image we're going for, " says
Mike Peterson, president of the Salt
Lake City, Utah, company.
Keep improving based on
customer response. " Sometimes it's
easy to put it up one way, set it and forget
it, and never improve it, " Peterson notes.
" But watch customer interactions, paying
attention to what kinds of questions still
come up and what you still struggle to
convey to customers. Have a continual
improvement mind-set. "
Staff up with knowledgeable
salespeople. SugarHouse employs
four full-time trained retail sales
associates to answer phones, greet walkins
and manage in-person sales. " We
want to instill confi dence that we know
what we're doing and can make quality
covers that are going to solve customers'
problems and meet their needs, "
Peterson says. " A lot of that comes from
their interactions with our consultants. "
Provide plenty of product
visuals. Several years ago, SugarHouse
commissioned the building of a 13foot
scale-model boat as a showroom
display piece. " It shows as many
products as we can fi t on it, and it
helps customers visualize what they're
buying, " Peterson explains. " It has
upholstery, half a cockpit cover, half a
tie-down storage cover, shade tops and
different styles of enclosures. Before we
had it, we were pointing at photos in
albums or using a lot of hand gestures,
like playing charades, trying to mimic
what a bimini cover was and how tall
it would be where the cover attached
to the boat.
" This has been a great thing for our
salespeople and consultants, and our
customers love it as well. Being able to
set clear expectations with customers is
so important. "
Renna creates her own sample books
and Keeler works through the digital
photo printing service Snapfi sh (www.
snapfi sh.com) to create custom photo
books for customers. Keeler also relies
heavily on posters. " I want customers to
be able to look around and see what's
possible, " he says. " People come in and
say they want the thing that has the
thing ... and we can point to a poster
and say, 'You're talking about a bimini
top with a slant back.' "
Be tactile. All three fabricators
stress the importance of providing
examples of fabrics, foams and other
materials for clients to compare. " It's
really important for people to actually
feel the textures, weights,
strengths
and densities, to really have it in their
hands, " says Keeler. " Often people
have ideas in their heads of what they
www.marinefabricatormag.com | 17
TOP: Tov and Kelsey Renna use their
home, which is next to their Maine-based
business, to display the quality of an
awning they designed.
ABOVE: Kelsey Renna and her husband
Tov, owners of MarineRennavators, look
over a project in the showroom of their
business. Photos: MarineRennavators LLC.
http://www.sh.com http://www.marinefabricatormag.com
Marine Fabricator January/February 2022

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