Naples, Fla.—Daltile is enhancing its value proposition for its Statements Elite dealers with a number of new initiatives designed to increase sales. Among the enhancements to the program are a more coordinated effort between Daltile showrooms and Statements dealers, an elaborate countertop program, new digital marketing tools and the addition of the Marazzi brand to the program.
Launched in 2010, the Statements proposition continues to be enhanced. Statements is arguably the most advanced selling system for ceramic tile. The showroom-within-a-showroom concept serves as a destination within a store and is designed to increase profitability for dealers and simplify the shopping experience for consumers. Statements Elite dealers enjoy a host of benefits—merchandising and leads being two of the most significant pieces, giving them a tremendous advantage in the marketplace.
The whole idea behind Statements is simplification. While most ceramic tile is merchandised via display racks where consumers are left to flip through boards with no starting point, Statements allows consumers to easily navigate the design process in a 600-square-foot environment. It gives the customer curated assortments within the product look and style they desire, making it easier for the RSA and consumer to quickly narrow down their choices, thereby eliminating frustration.
The ultimate goal of the Statements program is to help dealers grow their businesses by creating a connected online and in-store experience that inspires customers, simplifies product selection and helps move projects from inspiration to purchase.
With that, Daltile built the foundation of Statements on five core pillars:
- Lead generation (five different types)
- Co-op advertising (Daltile’s only such program)
- Two promotional campaigns a year
- Postable (Exclusive to Statements, dealers provide Daltile with their Meta accounts, Instagram and Facebook, and their website, and then content is pushed to them. They can curate it and determine when and what goes on, but they just literally approve and go forward. It talks all about Daltile and it layers in what they’re already working on.
- Exclusive merchandising
At the recent Statements conference, where the theme was “Transformation,” one of the program’s newest initiatives is creating a stronger connection between Daltile’s 100-plus showrooms and the 250 Statements dealer showrooms.
“Our showrooms see roughly 170,000 visitors a year,” said Jarrod Smyth, director of dealer sales West. “A portion of those visitors come in unattached. They’re looking for help with design, product selection and putting their project together.
“We’re building a bridge that connects what happens inside our showrooms with our Statements dealers, giving them the opportunity to close the sale. We’ll help guide the customer through the selection process, develop the opportunity and then hand it over on a platter to a dedicated person on the dealer’s team.
“That allows the dealer to close the job—and potentially capture additional business through the other products and services they offer.”
The key to this showroom alliance is Daltile sending qualified, buy-now customers to Statements dealers. Daltile finds the customers who are not attached to another dealer, designer or contractor; spends a couple hours helping them select all the products; then quotes her showroom pricing. “Then we’re going to say, ‘You can get preferred pricing only through our preferred dealers,’” Smyth said. At that time, Daltile will send the quote directly to that Statements dealer’s dedicated person and the connection is made. The end result: Daltile drives more business to Statements showrooms.
The second opportunity for Statements dealers announced at this conference is a new countertop program, specifically quartz countertops made in the U.S. Research reveals that many customers who walk into a flooring showroom seeking a ceramic tile or porcelain floor are doing a full kitchen remodel. “We’re looking to help tie that package together so you can sell that customer a countertop, wall tile, floor tile, the whole package,” said Patrick Warren, vice president, residential sales, dealer and showrooms. “This helps tie that countertop component to the project.”
While Daltile is preferring to keep details of the program under wraps, here are the nuts and bolts. “The result is a turnkey program that makes selling countertops simple for Statements dealers. Daltile’s national footprint includes 42 countertop locations across the country. The anchor piece of the new program is the Dickson quartz facility, which has recently doubled its capacity and expanded its design capabilities. We have product, a fabricator network and pre-negotiated pricing,” Warren said. “We put all of that together in a way that helps [Statements dealers] easily close that sale and allow that countertop to be part of that bundle package.”
The third new opportunity for Statements dealers is to introduce the Marazzi brand into the Statements showroom. Marazzi is positioned as the premium offering within Dal-Tile’s portfolio of brands, providing dealers with an expanded range of products to meet more customer needs. This creates a compelling one-stop solution: one call, one order and one delivery.
“Daltile provides the breadth, innovation and complete project solutions our customers expect,” Warren said. “Adding Marazzi builds on that strength with a distinct, more fashion-forward offering rooted in Italian design—bringing bolder styling and a more premium aesthetic that complements Daltile without duplicating it.”
Lastly, Daltile is updating its digital strategy with initiatives for Statements dealers to become more relevant and visible to consumers currently in the market for ceramic tile. As well, it is furthering its partnership with Roomvo to gain exposure on sites frequented by home buyers and home sellers. These include Redfin, REMAX, OneHome and Homeowner.
“If someone is looking to buy a home, they’re going to be able to go in and enable Roomvo Stylizer where they have the ability to visualize new floors and countertops and the backsplash being updated,” said Bobbi Alonzo, senior director of digital marketing, Daltile. “But what’s unique about this, is it’s going to show them our product. And then they can click on where to buy. That will take them directly to a new locator. Another thing that’s unique: We can target homes in any market area by home value. We can match products to home value. Products with higher price points will be offered in homes with higher value. Same things with products and homes with lower value. We’re going to make the options affordable.”
Dealers make a ‘Statement’
Statements dealers with whom FCNews spoke said the program has had a significant impact on their ceramic tile business. For example, Penny Carnino, general manager at Grigsby’s Carpet, Tile and Hardwood in Tulsa, Okla., was touting the merchandising tools that Grigsby’s has gotten have been “wonderful. My people love the giant tables that came with the program because they get to lay out everything with their customers. And then having the other Daltile selections right there around the table. We also have an additional cubby that shows more Daltile merchandise.”
A Statements dealer since its inception 16 years ago, Carnino said taking on Statements has definitely increased Grigsby’s tile business. “And it really increased our Daltile business. Daltile now commands a bigger share of our ceramic tile business because of Statements.” What’s more, she believes Grigsby’s closing rate on tile has increased because of Statements. “I think that’s attributed to the offering coupled with some of the promotions we get, which aren’t very prevalent in the tile industry. That’s helped draw attention to that segment of the business at least twice a year.”
Carnino is excited about the addition of countertops to the program. “We do a little bit of countertops now, but we only sell the slab portion. Now we have the opportunity to wrap it all into one ticket. People like to do the majority of shopping in one place, and now we have the opportunity to do that. It’s going to be great for our RSAs.”
Tom Urban, general manager of Great Lakes Carpet and Tile in the Orlando, Fla., area, has also been a Statements dealer for about 15 years. “The best thing with Statements is how the displays get your showroom to look like a boutique tile area,” he said. “It looks like it’s a boutique that encompasses everything the customer might want. Mosaics, decorative tiles, floor tiles. Customers almost have to gravitate toward it. It’s kind of hard not to.”
Urban said the display system has resulted in Great Lakes selling better jobs. And like Grigsby’s, Statements has increased Daltile’s percentage of Great Lakes’ tile sales. “Probably 50% of our tile business is Daltile,” he said. “Before we became a Statements dealer, it was way less with the old displays and old cards.”
Great Lakes has been one of four Statements dealers piloting the countertop program. While they are currently training the RSAs, Urban is already looking ahead at ways to market it. “Right now, we’re looking at ways to bundle things,” he said. “Now you have countertops, backsplashes, etc. Maybe the customer buys a countertop, and she gets a Daltile backsplash at a discount.”
Richard Akel, Akel’s Carpet One, Little Rock, Ark., joined the Statements program more recently, within the last seven years, but sings a similar tune. “Statements gets you into ceramic in a professional way,” he said. “I can compare it to a Karastan gallery. It’s the same [concept] with the Daltile Statements gallery. People gravitate toward the gallery; it’s a destination.”
Like the others, Akel has witnessed an increase in his ceramic sales. “But it’s certainly increased with Daltile. Daltile now has a bigger share of my ceramic business. And not only am I doing more ceramics than I ever have, but Statements has made the average ticket go up on ceramic.”
He is also excited about the countertops, because he is already in that business. “It sounds like they’ve already negotiated a good price and people. It’s a package pricing deal, which I think is very important.”
