Tomorrow’s Customer
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Tomorrow’s Customer
Peter Parsons
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You know that feeling when you jump in a pool for the first time, and the cold water jolts you awake? I had a moment like that the other day—not in a pool, but in my own backyard, watching my son try to play.
He’s seven years old, and I discovered he has no imagination. We were outside having a no-tablet day, and he came to me because he couldn’t play on his own. He couldn’t create any kind of fantasy without the aid of a screen. When I was a boy, I imagined bad guys running around the yard. I’d grab my pretend gun and battle any imaginary forces that crossed my path. He can’t do that, and I think a lot of it comes down to where we’ve arrived as a society with technology. Screen time seems to be replacing kids’ imaginations.
That was my wake-up call—because if I plan to be in business for the next 12 years or more, I need to figure out how to sell to these future generations. My sales tactics over the years have always involved painting pictures for customers, helping them imagine how a fireplace would look in their space. Will I still be able to sell that same way to my son’s generation? Would I even be able to sell the same way five years from now?
Will I still be able to sell that same way to my son’s generation? Would I even be able to sell the same way five years from now?
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Our industry, it seems, is fairly slow to change. I read an article in The Fire Time Magazine by Jerry Isenhour on smart AI adoption for hearth businesses, and I agree that AI is the next big thing we can use behind the scenes. But what about the front lines of our businesses? How do we sell to tomorrow’s customers who can’t imagine what that fireplace will look like in their living room? Are we going to be an industry that continues to react to change, or are we going to get proactive and build the next generation of showrooms for the next generation of buyers?
I think our industry needs to get ahead of this shift by rethinking the showroom experience. Full-size projection technology, AI-generated imagery, and virtual reality can help tomorrow’s customers see what they can’t imagine on their own.
To start, full-size projection can bridge the gap between a brochure and a buying decision. The concept is straightforward: Imagine a section of your showroom with white walls, maybe some light-absorbing surfaces to create a cinema-type feel, and a high-definition projector. This may sound a little far-fetched, but companies like Lifesize Plans are already doing something similar. I came across them while my wife and I were planning a new house. They take your house plans and project them full-size in a large indoor space so you can walk through your entire home before you spend a dollar on construction. It helps people who can’t imagine what their home will look like from a piece of paper—and it got me thinking about our showrooms. Let’s say customers come in looking for a fireplace, and you ask if they have a picture of their living room. They pull one up on their phone, you upload it to the projector, and suddenly their living room is right there in your showroom. From there, you’ve got two options—roll one of your movable display units into the space so they can see the real thing in context, or upload an image of any fireplace your experience tells you is the right fit. Either way, the customer can now see what that unit looks like in their home, no imagination required.
AI-generated imagery, meanwhile, takes that experience even further. Have you seen those Bigfoot vlogs being created with AI lately? The technology to create realistic images is getting remarkable. Now imagine your customers are standing in front of that projected image of their living room and mention they’re planning to change their walls to stone, tile, or something else entirely. AI can generate that change right on the screen in real time. Instead of asking your customer to imagine what the fireplace would look like against a stone wall, you can show them. This kind of on-the-fly customization turns a showroom visit into something personal and specific—and it pushes the showroom experience from a sales pitch to a partnership by helping customers see exactly what they’re getting before they buy.
Finally, virtual reality pushes the concept further still. You’ve probably seen those videos where people are wearing VR headsets and get scared to death because they believe they’re standing on the edge of a tall building or riding a roller coaster. VR is so good that it tricks your senses into thinking you’re actually there. So who among us is going to be the first to create a virtual showroom on a VR headset so tomorrow’s customers can visit your store without stepping foot inside of it? VR doesn’t just solve the imagination problem—it removes the need for the customer to be physically present at all, expanding your reach beyond your local markets.
Again, these aren’t just distant possibilities. The technology for all three of these tools exists right now. Projection could let our customers see their own living rooms in our showrooms. AI could let them customize the experience in real time. And VR could let them visit our stores from anywhere. Together, they give our industry a way to sell to a generation that thinks in screens, not daydreams—and they turn the showroom into the kind of immersive experience tomorrow’s buyers will expect.
The future is here. What are we waiting for?
Together, they give our industry a way to sell to a generation that thinks in screens, not daydreams— and they turn the showroom into the kind of immersive experience tomorrow’s buyers will expect.
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Peter Parsons
Peter Parsons is the Owner of The Tin Man, a fabrication shop and hearth store in Corner Brook, Newfoundland. He's been in the hearth industry for over 25 years.
