Partnering with a local Feng Shui master boosted Statewide Lighting’s customer base and provided a new resource for Sandy Sue Rector’s clients.
There is a statistic floating out there in the lighting retail world that people buy a lighting fixture once every 10 years or more. Partnering with builders has always been a sure way to reach a lot of homeowners, but after the building boom went bust, that predictable volume has lessened considerably. Many lighting showrooms are broadening their assortment to include decorative accessories, casual furniture, and other categories to remain profitable.
There is yet another dilemma. How do you let your local community know that you offer things they might not even realize they need or want? For Statewide Lighting in Scottsdale, Ariz., owner Allen Childers and his staff did some brainstorming.
“The digital marketing director at Statewide Lighting’s Scottsdale store, Stacie Lambeth, found me on Facebook and said she was looking for a Feng Shui expert to feature in their blog,” recalls Sandy Sue Rector, a Phoenix-based International Feng Shui Master, professional speaker, and real estate expert who has attained Feng Shui Real Estate Professionals certification and runs a successful Feng Shui practice in Phoenix called Balance Your Life (www.balanceyourlife.net).
Coincidentally, Rector had been looking for a local lighting resource for her clients. Lambeth and Rector quickly realized that an even greater collaboration was possible beyond providing information for a blog post. Upon learning that Statewide Lighting offered mirrors, fountains, and decorative fireplaces, Rector asked if the showroom would be interested in hosting a seminar to bring in more clients.
“The purpose of the Feng Shui event was to educate consumers on the benefits of using lighting, mirrors, fountains, and fire products to improve their career, money, and relationships. I [share] how to use lighting and color in our spaces to create harmony, as well as the proper placement of Water and Fire Elements to balance the Yin and Yang in our home and workplace,” Rector explains. After visiting the showroom and perusing the assortment, she requested certain pieces to be highlighted on tables during her presentation.
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“Finding a lighting company that also sold water features (i.e. fountains) was important to me —especially being in Arizona where we lack the Element of Water,” she notes. Most of the stores Rector had visited only stocked fountains on a seasonal basis. During the week of the seminar, Statewide Lighting offered a special discount on a line of weather-resistant stainless steel fire spheres and made sure there was plenty of stock on-hand. Other complementary items – such as mirrors – were also highlighted.
The “Lighten Up Your Life” seminar was promoted through social media by both Statewide Lighting and Rector’s Balance Your Life Web site and Facebook page — and all included a link to reserve free tickets. In addition, Rector put the media on alert. “I figured I could pull in 30 or so people from my own client base, but I knew we’d need a press release to draw a big crowd. The local TV stations all air segments about what’s going on in the Valley during the [upcoming] weekend,” she recounts. “Our event was announced on [ABC affiliate] channel 15 as well as Good Morning Arizona [on channel 3].”
Rector also brought in radio personality Michelle Corr – host of Michelle Corr 6° Radio talk show on KWSS 93.9 FM in Phoenix and VoiceAmerica.com – to emcee the event. (Corr is also the CEO of 6° Media Consulting Agency and president of Talkstars Production Co.)
Approximately 75 people signed up for the event, and many attendees hadn’t ever set foot inside Statewide Lighting before. Not only was the event successful in bringing in new potential customers, but many purchased an item (i.e. mirror, fountain, fire sphere) featuring an element that was talked about.
