Contractor Milton Frank Plumbing opened its original bath-and-kitchen showroom 10 years ago with a simple premise that has stood the test of time, even when times are slow.

“The economy is down but people still want to refresh their homes,” says Patty Frank, who owns the company with her husband, Milton. “And they want to pick out their products themselves. That’s why we started the showroom.”

Milton Frank started his company in 1984 primarily doing plumbing service. Not until 15 years later did Milton Frank Plumbing open its first showroom in a different location.

The showroom also gives the plumbing contractor greater control over the products it installs. Before the showroom opened, customers frequently picked out their products at a big-box home center and hired Milton Frank Plumbing to install them.

“Our showroom sells products that they can’t get at the home centers,” Patty Frank says. “People will go there and think they know what they want. But our products are a step up from Home Depot and Lowe’s.”

Not only are its products an upgrade from what’s available at home centers, she says, but its customer service is as well. No better proof of that than many of the company’s customers are repeat customers. They mostly are homeowners and designers, as opposed to builders or other contractors who are more likely to visit wholesalers’ showrooms.

The contractor installs 80% of the products it sells through its showroom, Milton Frank says. The showroom accounts for about 10% of the company’s revenue.

“We didn’t establish the showroom as a separate profit center,” he says. “It’s an enhancement of our service business.”

Residential look

Enlarge this picture The showroom features product displays that can be changed out quickly as well as operating faucets and other plumbing products.

The showroom’s residential setting gives it a look that’s noticeably different from either a bigbox home center or a showroom that a plumbing wholesaler might operate. The building that houses the showroom looks like, well, a house. It is set among tall trees on 1½ acres on a major road in Spring, TX, outside Houston.

“We want the outside to look inviting, frilly and residential,” Patty Frank says. “When customers come in, we want to make it look like their home. We have no fluorescent lights in the showroom, so a product on display would look like it would in their own home.”

The showroom features working showerheads, faucets and toilets, at least one of which is equipped with a bidet seat. “We installed a bidet seat at the beauty shop,” Patty Frank says, indicating the hairdresser through the showroom’s front window. “The ladies come over here after experiencing the bidet seat across the street.”

Enlarge this picture Mounting sinks on iron stands and other products, such as toilet seats, on moveable walls assists in rotating the displays.

The showroom displays other products whose benefits are best understood by plumbing contractors, who then can educate their customers. These include: water-filtration products; hot water recirculation systems, which reduce the wait for hot water in the shower; and water heaters, which provide hot water for whirlpool tubs and shower systems.

At one time, the showroom operated three large whirlpool tubs. Showroom design staff Suzanne Kelly and Shantel Vahldiek decided they could make better use of the space.

“People don’t need to see whirlpools,” Patty Frank says. “They bubble up. People know it.”

With the showroom being an economical 2,000 square feet, the staff is constantly looking for ways to make the best use of the space and freshen its look. The staff updates displays as new products arrive and decorates the showroom seasonally for holidays such as Easter with colored eggs and Valentine’s Day with red glittering hearts. Mounting sinks on iron stands and other products, such as toilet seats, on moveable walls assists in rotating the displays.

“Our receptionist is located where our bathroom used to be,” Patty Frank says. “Our saying around here is, ‘If you don’t like change, you’re in the wrong spot.’”

Built On Service

Enlarge this picture “We installed a bidet seat at the beauty shop,” Patty Frank says, indicating the hairdresser through the showroom’s front window. “The ladies come over here after experiencing the bidet seat across the street.”

If customers get the feeling they’re shopping in someone’s home, they have a good reason. The building that houses the showroom is where Milton Frank lived when he was in high school. His company purchased the building in 2002 from his mother, gutted the interior for the showroom and office space and constructed an addition that contains other offices, a training room and warehouse.

Milton Frank started his company in 1984 primarily doing plumbing service. Not until 15 years later did Milton Frank Plumbing open its first showroom in a different location.

Even at 400 square feet, the first showroom provided the contractor with more control over the products it sold and installed, allowing it to extend its warranties. Visits to the Kohler Design Center in Wisconsin and to Houston-area showrooms operated by Ferguson Enterprises and other wholesalers inspired the Franks to broaden their vision.

With five times as much space, the new showroom allowed the Franks to display far more products and do so more creatively. What helped the showroom take off, however, was the addition of Suzanne Kelly to the showroom sales staff.

A former employee of Home Depot’s Expo Design Center in Houston, Kelly is a member of the American Society of Interior Designers. She can talk to customers about design options for their bathrooms and kitchens as well as educate them about a broader array of plumbing products.

The arrangement of the products in the showroom assists Kelly and other members of the sales staff in showing customers how a certain faucet, sink or shower system might look in their own home.

The contractor’s capacity to install the products on display in the showroom completes the customer service cycle. More than the product selection, customer service is what distinguishes Milton Frank Plumbing.

Both Milton and Patty Frank are active members of Quality Service Contractors, a best-practices group within the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors–National Association. Patty Frank recently finished her term as QSC chairperson. QSC trains its members through semiannual meetings, onsite business coaches, online offerings and printed materials. QSC members seek to improve their business operations, including customer service and marketing.

During the downturn, Milton Frank Plumbing continues to market its showroom through Houston area newspapers and magazines, Yellow Pages, Web site, direct mail and home shows. The contractor also promotes its showroom with a variety of give-aways, including tape measures, rubber ducks, magnets and oven pull-sticks, which resemble a wooden ruler with a notch that fits over an oven rack.

The company recently replaced its large display sign on the major road with a digital sign. “Putting up the digital sign will get more of people’s attention and look more professional,” Patty Frank says. “With the economy being down, we’ve got to do things to get people in the showroom.”