TV retailer is tuned in to customers’ needs

Is this a tough time to be selling televisions, appliances and furniture in downtown Monroe, when margins are ever-shrinking, when the market is flooded with Chinese imports, when big-box retail chains carry the same products and even computer chains now sell televisions?

Sure it is, says Stan Diroff, general manager of DuRocher’s TV & Appliance. It’s always a challenge, but if you do a few things right, and offer what your competitors can’t, you’ll be around a while.

Diroff’s boss, Don DuRocher, started the business in 1950 as a television repair service. He started selling televisions in 1952, then added appliances in the early 1960s. In the mid-1970s, DuRocher added La-Z-Boy recliners to the mix and now sells a variety of furniture from fellow Monroe business La-Z-Boy.

“Back in 1975 we were a test market for selling La-Z-Boy recliners outside of a furniture store,” recalled Diroff, who has been with the business for 40 years. “In our first three days, we sold over 500 recliners. La-Z-Boy recognized that selling recliners next to televisions was a good idea.”

DuRocher also owns three La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries in the Toledo, Ohio, area. The Ohio stores are currently being turned into “New Generation” La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries, larger stores that offer more selection and design services.

What is the secret of their success? According to Diroff and Chris DuRocher (Don’s son and store manager at the Monroe location), they find ways to save on operating costs; they hire, train and retain an excellent sales staff; and they provide superior, personalized customer service.

“Our job isn’t to sell customers our merchandise—it’s to help them buy,” explained Diroff. He believes this subtle distinction is important.

“Most stores are focused on making the sale. We want to help customers make the right decision. Customers recognize and appreciate that.

“We do a tremendous amount of appliance business in the Ohio market, and we’ve never run an appliance ad in that market. It’s all from good word of mouth,” Diroff said.

Customer service begins with the first conversation on the sales floor. The need for knowledgeable and friendly salespeople, common to all retailers, has increased dramatically in the electronics and appliance fields.

Televisions are a good example. More television types with more features crowd the floor: plasma, LCD, rear projection and CRT (“tube”) sets. Then there’s the new aspect ratio (16:9 instead of the familiar 4:3).

“Customers ask, ‘why do I need this wide screen? It’s weird!’ It’s our job to explain,” said Chris DuRocher.

Moreover, the advent of high definition (HD) television has created a lot of confusion among customers. Explaining the difference between “HD-ready” and “HD-capable” is just the beginning.

“People also want to know about the media side: which shows or networks will be using HDTV and when. That’s another area we have to be current on,” explained Diroff.

Some don’t realize that high-definition programming is already available (on digital cable and broadcast stations), but they realize changes are coming and they want to understand.

With so many options for consumers, the salesperson’s job becomes crucial. This is just as true for appliances, which also have new technologies and more features than in the past.

“We have lots of experience, so we can raise questions the customer hasn’t yet considered. Will the refrigerator stick out four inches from the counters? In some layouts, it doesn’t matter; in others, it makes a huge difference. We do this every day, so we know where all the little glitches would be,” added Diroff.

This level of customer service requires a top-notch staff. DuRocher and Diroff strive to hire and retain quality employees. Diroff believes this is another difference between them and their competition.

“There’s no way the sales clerks in big-box stores can keep up with all the technology,” said Diroff. Their customers often suffer, making big purchases without understanding all the choices or without finding a good fit, according to Chris DuRocher.

Diroff prefers to hire an outgoing young person with the right attitude to an experienced salesperson who has worked at several other stores.

“If you hire bright people who have the right attitude, you can teach them anything. If you hire people with more experience but poor attitudes, you can’t teach them a thing.”

The next step is investing in the staff, providing sales training and frequent technical education. Finally, to retain this human-resource investment, DuRocher’s offers ample benefits. Along with health insurance, the company offers a Section 125 plan, a 401(k) plan and profit sharing. More than one employee has retired with a “sizable nest egg,” as Diroff described it.

Despite these extras spent to build employee loyalty, Diroff maintains DuRocher’s management is not spendthrift.

“We found that the marketplace really dictates the prices, so the place to increase profits is internally,” explained Diroff.
For example, the store belongs to a cooperative buying group with about 120 members, which buys about $2 billion in merchandise a year. “With that level of buying power we can compete with the national chains.”

They also save by paying cash whenever feasible. Diroff believes “a lot of the stores that we’ve seen go out of business get into trouble when they take too long to pay manufacturers.

“Your payment agreement with a manufacturer might specify for you to pay for an item in 90 days. If you sell the item in 30 days, you might keep that money for the extra 60 days and put it someplace else that seems more urgent. That’s a no-no with most manufacturers.

“Here, we do just the opposite. We have built up the capital to allow us to pay cash for merchandise. Taking advantage of cash discounts can affect the bottom line dramatically.”

Commercial relationships also help the business. About 35 to 40 percent of its appliance business is with builders. “High-end builders come to us for appliances, often buying so-called ‘exotic’ brands like Thermidor, Viking or Subzero, which have higher margins.”
From the back offices to the sales floor, DuRocher’s business strategy works well. But the best part of the job is the customers.

“Many become friends. Many people are second-generation customers—they remember coming here with their parents 20 years ago.

“When you’re in business for the long term, you won’t hit a homerun the first year. It takes a long time to build and maintain a customer base—time and a lot of work. But it’s fun.”

This article was written by Amy Buttery, Michigan Retailer staff writer.

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