Furniture World January & February 2008

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4/92FURNITURE WORLD January/February 2008

The Business Solutions Magazine For Furniture Retailers

FOUNDED 1870 Visit www.furninfo.com The Industrys Most Extensive Furniture Site

Cover Photo:The new, innovative Matrix Glider from

Dutailier allows consumers tochoose among a selection ofcomponents to "build" a glider that isperfectly adapted to their physicalmorphology. Interchangeable seats,armrests and mechanisms permit theglider to comfortably fit a short, averageor tall person. The modular design alsoallows stock parts to be used to createinstant custom design configurations.See page 1 in this issue or visitwww.dutailier.comfor more information.

FURNITURE WORLD MAGAZINE1333A North Ave. #437New Rochelle, NY 10804Tel: 914-235-3095 Fax: 914-235-3278www.furninfo.com [email protected]

BARTON BIENENSTOCK-PublisherRUSSELL BIENENSTOCK-EditorTHELMA MASON-DAVIS-VP SalesLARRY STEIN- Associate PublisherGARY SIEGEL- Sales Manager Eastern RegionJON SIEGEL- Sales & Customer Service RepS.T. BIENENSTOCK- Associate EditorJANET H. JOHNSTONE - Canadian EditorBARBARA BIENENSTOCK- Art/DesignGIFFORD DORIVAL- ComptrollerSUSANNE LEBOVIC- CirculationPETER MARINO-Sales Ed. Feature EditorDAN BOLGER- Operations Feature EditorCATHY FINNEY- Sales Skills Feature EditorLARRY MULLINS- Marketing Feature Editor

BPA Association of Business Publishers

FURNITURE WORLD: (ISSN0738-890X) - Publishedevery other month by Towse Publishing Co., 1333-ANorth Avenue, #437 New Rochelle, NY 10804.Subscription: $19 per year; $39.00 for 3 years, $26Canada, $4/copy; Foreign $85; (U.S. currency only).Periodical postage paid at New Rochelle, NY and addi-tional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send addresschanges to FURNITURE WORLD, 1333A North Avenue,#437, New Rochelle, NY 10804. Copyright 2007 Towse

Publishing Company, all rights reserved. Reproductionin whole or in part is strictly prohibited.

SALESskills/management

Decorating School CrashCourse - Part 5, PlacementDecorating seminars help customerssolve problems, and they position youas a home furnishings expert.Margarett DeGange presents a scriptyou can use to put on a FurniturePlacement Seminar for yourcustomers and prospects. PAGE 62.

Meet The RetailSales Power PlayersSales tips and training tools fromsome of the best sales associates andCathy Finney. PAGE 38.

Staying Alive DuringTough Times - Part 4Even with a great strategy andprofessional players, without acoaching staff who observe, adjust,consult with individual players, andperform ongoing training, and whomeasure everything, the results willnot be good. PAGE 56.

MARKETINGmanagement

14 Things Furniture GuysDont Know About WomenInformative and humorous look at theways our male dominated industry ismissing out on really connecting with ourtarget customers. PAGE 6.

Lost Ad Secrets Part 3:Go Tell Your StoryLarry Mullins explains how toeffectively use new, inexpensive,

uncluttered, media to reach the publicand tell your story. He does a postmortem on those pervasive Big Boxads and provides tips to help you tomake your ads really pull. PAGE 16.

Double Your StoreTraffic - Part 6Direct mail is proving to be more andmore effective, even while traffic andsales slump for most furniture retail-ers. If, however, you find that yourdirect mail results are flagging, readthis article for tips and techniquesthat are guaranteed to improve yourreturns. PAGE 44.

Retail Profile:

Conway FurnitureRetailer uses light and entertainingradio commercial format to promotea Shop North America, environ-mental and quality message.PAGE 72.

OPERATIONSmanagement

Second FURNITURE WORLDBeautiful Truck ContestFURNITURE WORLD readers,

Majors and Independent Storesentered their amazingly beautifultrucks this year along with advertis-ing, maintenance and delivery tips.Winners are presented in a number ofcategories including a new one, RetailShow Trucks. PAGE 28.

DEPARTMENTS

DESIGN SECTIONBest selling furniture andaccessories. PAGES 80-85.


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our top selling items in your advertising, not the dogsyou are about to discontinue. Sometimes non-verbal com-munication is the most powerful of all. Listen.

What he Really Means To Say: For goodness sake, payattention! By assessing what we are buying, youll know

exactly what to advertise to increase your sales. Andmake new customers and build relationships, and clearout merchandise.

Observation #8: Women are very trusting. Do not breakthat trust, as you will never regain it. Under-promise and

I feel pretty...oh so pretty... I feel

pretty and wittyand??? Women dont relish getting sold

by weird strangers.

Without honest deals and addedvalue its sayonara!

Communicate at every touch point.

Pay attention. Dont waste their time.

50% of women are unmarried. Areyour ads directed at only marriedwomen?

Your 50% off sales are missing halfthe audience.

Appeal to their hearts, and emotionsas well as their heads.
http://www.omifactory.com/


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ver-deliver has always been a good formula. A lot of our

advertising does over-promise and when a consumercomes into the store they are disappointed by the actualexperience.

What he Really Means To Say: Women have long mem-ories. Dont mess with us. If you give us honest deals andadded value, well be life-long customers. If not, sayonara.

Observation #9: Women and their friends love to sharewhere they had the best shopping experience and wherethey found the best things at the best price. This is thepreeminent form of advertising: referral from a friend.

What he Really Means To Say: We are a giving segmentof humanity and cannot keep a bargain to ourselves. Sodo-right by us, and well do-right by you, Dudley.

Observation #10: Dont assume anything. When youassume, you know what happens.

What he Really Means To Say: Yeah: dont take us forgranted, or you are in deep kimshee.

Observation #11: Women are the largest segment mov-ing toward the internet and embracing it as a medium.Newspapers seem to be suffering the most. Make sureyour media mix addresses the media usage of todays on-the-go women, not yesterdays stay-at-home mom.

What he Really Means To Say: No more sweet little olhousewife keeping the hearth warm... we are worldly-wise, and take no guff from anyone. Advertise what wewant where we want it, and voila! Youve hit us in themedium. Watch it.

Observation #12: Women are very loyal. This works on

several levels. They are loyal to the programs they watch,

magazines they read, websites they visit and most of all,to stores they shop and buy from.

What he Really Means To Say: Once our friend, alwaysour friend. Weve got you, babe.

Observation #13: Women buy based on emotions. Hit emwhere they feel and youve hit em in the pocketbook.

What he Really Means To Say: Women think with theirhearts and emotions as well as with their smarts. If youcan hit all three, youre a better businessman than others,Gunga Din.

Observation #14: Anything else, wise guy er wisegal?

What he Really Means To Say: As a matter of fact, yes.If you are really smart, you will train your employees toalways acknowledge my presence. No matter how busy,they should give me a high sign that they recognize I amthere and will be with me shortly. Ill be glad to wait aslong as they dont treat me as invisible. And SMILE!Nobody likes a grouch. Unless, of course, your name isSteve.

Steve Fusco is President and founder of Top of MindAwareness Advertising, a full service Advertising Agency

with offices in Scottsdale, AZ. and Milwaukee WI. Stevehas been trying to save the world from bad advertisingone client at a time for over 25 years.

Ms. Lucky Hayes is Creative Department TrafficCoordinator for T.O.M.A.. She is also an actor, the authorof That's No Way To Act - a handbook for actors and acontributing writer to Stars & Stripes, Japan.

Several of T.O.M.As clients consistently rank among thetop 100 furniture retailers in the nation. Others are thetop performing licensees within the Ashley FurnitureHomeStore, Drexel Heritage and Thomasville chains. Anythoughts good or bad can be sent to [email protected] call 480-502-6852.

Why do women haveto be so difficult?

14 THINGSFURNITURE GUYS DONT KNOW ABOUT WOMEN


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THE SEVEN LOST

Ad SecretsUpdated For A Digital AgePart 3: How can you squeeze the most out of every

ad dollar now that our industry isnt booming?

ADVERTISING STRATEGIES BYLARRYMULLINS

Imagine an industry that spends mil-

lions of dollars every day of the yearon advertising, and most of thatmoney is wasted. You may think I am

exaggerating. No, this is no time toexaggerate. Recently it was the giantscreen TV fad that greatly cut intohome furnishings sales. Then the hous-ing market tsunami followed. Many bigplayers have tanked, or are tanking.Man has never built an unsinkable ship nor an invincible furniture chain. Youmay be looking around and wondering:Who is going to survive?

The answer is: two kinds of furniture

stores will survive and prosper. The

stack em up and blow em out stores,and the stores that adopt new market-ing techniques to tell their story. If youare the former, this article will not be ofmuch help. However, if you are serviceoriented, open-minded, and hungry, Iwill suggest some techniques you canuse to take advantage of the most excit-ing opportunity in home furnishingshistory.

Did I write opportunity? Isnt theworld falling apart? No, regardless ofthe negative press, the world is not

falling apart. TRENDS E MAGAZINE(www.crucialtrends.com ) observes intheir latest issue: Whether its theS&L crisis of 1989, the Asian debt cri-sis of 1998, the tech wreck crisis of2000, or the American subprime mort-gage crisis of 2007 the problem, thesolution, and the outcome are funda-mentally the same in every case

The article goes on to point out thatin times of crisis the market alwayssorts out the winners from the losers,

sometimes in spite of government or

private intervention. First, the winnersstrive to figure out the big picture. Thenthey look for new tools to adapt to thesituation. What are these new tools fortodays home furnishings dealers? Howwill they work? In this article I willexplain a few and how you can profitfrom understanding and using them.

Well, OK, you may counter, Butisnt the United States economy fallingapart? No again. History tells us that afree economy system has ups anddowns. And that is precisely why smart

entrepreneurs use tough times to lookfor the new opportunities that are sureto come, and prepare to take advantageof them before their competitors wiseup. TRENDS reports that employmentcontinues at record highs. Averagehourly earnings are up 8.4 percent vers-es September of 2005, the fastest paceof wage gains for any two year periodsince 1990. Incomes are growing rapidlyand consumer net worth is at a recordhigh. TRENDS suggests that we forget

USE HEADLINES THAT WORK

O AT HOME uses benefit headlines tocapture readers for its successfulmagazine. The home furnishings industrygenerally lacks the talented advertisingpeople who know how to write suchheadlines. The top pros in the best adagencies apply proven principles to double

or triple the effectiveness of their printmedia or they would not have jobs.


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YOU CAN ADVERTISE MORE

EFFECTIVELY THAN THE BIG BOXES

Is No Payments Until 2012 really the onlymessage we have for the consumer? Don't we

have anything to say about the things ourfabulous products, dedicated service and

unparalleled expertise can do for their home?Ads like this can be slapped together in

twenty minutes and are a colossal waste of

co-op and the store's advertising dollars.about any short term recession. They expect a mild recessionin 2011, but another explosive run-up until then.

So why isnt the home furnishings industry booming?Where are all the consumer dollars going? Dont people knowthat they are getting more for their money than ever whenthey buy furniture? Why dont they respond to our slick adver-tising messages any more?

In my judgment there are three reasons the furnitureindustry is foundering. First, creating selling messages inprint is a lost art in the furniture industry. Promotional flyers,ROP newspaper ads and direct mail all look alike and fail to

tell a story. Is No Payments Until 2012 really the only mes-sage we have for the consumer? Dont we have anything tosay about the things our fabulous products, dedicated serviceand unparalleled expertise can do for their home? At first,gorgeous computer generated color images and dramaticgraphics, were effective traffic builders. But now everyonecan do about the same thing and so beautiful pics and flashygraphics are table stakes. They can no longer distinguish astore and sell by themselves. They need to be complementedby a compelling message. Without persuasive, creative copy,computers only enable graphic artists to create bad advertis-ing more rapidly.

Second, new techniques must be developed by smaller, mid-

dle of the road independents to deliver their message to the

communities they serve. The big furniture boxes succeed indrowning out the independent by sheer volume of weak, look-alike advertising. But there is an empty Blue Ocean of oppor-tunity out there waiting for tomorrows winners those whoare willing to commit the time, resources and energy totake the plunge.

Third, those who would be tomorrows leaders in the furni-ture industry must learn to plan strategically with vision andexecute tactically with precision and flexibility. No profession-al football team enters a game without a strategic game plan a plan that every player understands and buys into.

Moreover, a successful game plan must embrace a large num-ber of complex plays (or tactics) that every player knows howto execute. In other words, the team enters the game pre-pared. Every wise athlete knows the game or the match iswon or lost before its played. And, there is more.

A professional football team has a crew of expert coaches.Their job is twofold keep the game plan on target andmake adjustments when things go wrong. No one can predictif or when the quarterback will be injured, the left tackle willbreak a rib, or when the weather will weaken the passinggame. Coaches inspire and lead. When the coaches give up thegame is over. They dont have to say anything. But, if they loseheart they may as well wave a white flag.

Everything you will read in this article boils down to these

January/February 2008FURNITURE WORLD 17


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Increase your prof i ts with an extraord inary co l lect ion of sofas, cha irs andloveseats with coordinating tables. Luxury leathers with exposed wood frames

and down- filled cushions...its easy to add style, selection and value to your showroom.

Add More Cushion to Your Profits!Add More Cushion to Your Profits!
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conclusions: You need to learn to tell your story effectivelyand persuasively. It must be orchestrated to your prospectspersonal interests and needs. You need new, inexpensive,uncluttered, media to reach the public and tell your story.And you need to craft a dynamic new game plan that yourentire team understands and buys into.

Lets take a look at these three complex issues in turn andsee if we can hammer out an action plan for selling lots morefurniture in 2008.

1. HOW TO DOUBLE OR TRIPLE THE

EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR PRINT MEDIA

Oprah Winfrey publishes a remarkably successful maga-zine dedicated to the home environment. It is titled O ATHOME. Its successful because women have a passion for cre-ating a beautiful home. They do not have a passion for sofas,loveseats and mattress sets. No payments until 2011 does notset their hearts aflutter. Label headlines and copy, and printads that have confusing, glaring graphics wont hold theirattention. Oprah succeeds because she hires top writers andart directors who do not destroy the story with graphics thatmake the copy unreadable. Invest a few bucks on a copy of

Oprahs magazine and get a lesson in how to use print mes-

sages to attract and sell readers.

First of all, study the cover of Oprahs O AT HOME maga-zine. The writers and the editors know that the cover mustwork or they will soon be out of a job. So every cover is loadedwith benefit headlines. The benefit headlines have one prima-ry purpose: to get the reader to open the magazine and keepreading. This is close to what a headline and the subheads ona home furnishings direct mail piece, flyer or ROP ad mustaccomplish: get the reader to want to read more. Here are afew samples from Oprahs recent issues:

No Hassle Makeovers

BLAH to WOW! In One Hour, One Day, OneWeekend

FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR OWN HOME

YES YOU CAN! Do it Yourself, Get Exactly WhatYou Want, (AND SAVE BIG)

How to Live Large in a Small Space

The reader or subscriber who opens the magazine will notbe disappointed. They will be treated to a rich array of ideas,carefully crafted spreads that are easy to read and embroi-dered with beautiful illustrations. This is the stuff that

women crave, and will not find in the clutter and glut of print

HOW TOP PROS SELL

FURNITURE BY MAILThe "Perfect Chair" ad above is from a Sharper Image

flyer. You may want to ask an ad person who claimsthat direct mail doesnt workanymore, or that a completecopy story is old fashioned:How can Sharper Image sella $1,999 chair with a directmail flyer? Check out thebenefit headlines andcompelling copy in the SkyMall catalogue exhibit atright. Why do the copywritersfor Sharper Image and SkyMall work so hard on smallspace ads? Because the cost-effectiveness of their effortsare constantly measured.Troubles in the economy ornot, if they don't get responseand sell merchandise in theexpensive space allotted tothem, their jobs will be in

jeopardy.


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dvertising produced for retail furniture stores. I have a stackof ads and flyers in front of me from the best and brightest ofthe big box advertisers. What kind of headlines is the ladygreeted with when she picks one up? Here are some samples.

Message From Big Box #1:

YOU CANT BEAT THIS CREDIT OFFER!INTEREST FREE FOR FIVE YEARS! NO NONO... In the corner I read: THERE IS A DIFFER-ENCE.[Oh yeah? Then why dont you tell me whatthe difference is?] This is one of those throw-away slo-gans that any business could use.


NO INTEREST NO PAYMENTS NO DOWNPAYMENTS TIL NOVEMBER 2008![What do I

care? You havent sold me anything yet. Imagine a salesperson greeting a customer with this tired phrase.]


NEW DESIGNS. FRESH NEW LOOK.Not a badstart. But where are these new designs and fresh newlooks? Why are you showing me a huge illustration of awoman on a mattress? Wait a minute! This is a mattressad! The illustration takes up the entire full page. Theonly other information on the ad are label headlines onthree Simmons Beautyrest king sets with prices. And ofcourse: ONLY $1 DOWN. TAKE 5 YEARS TO PAY!No benefits or product features. Hey, do you guys sell

only king size sets? Do you have a selection of mattresssets in different sizes and firmnesses? Are your sales con-sultants trained to sell me the right mattresses? This bigbox has a great story to tell, but you would never knowit. Ads like this can be slapped together in twenty min-utes and are a colossal waste of co-op and the storesadvertising dollars. Finally, there is a total absence ofinteresting, informative selling body copy in all thesepieces.

A long-standing mantra for one-on-one selling is: Neverpoint out a product point without tying it to a benefit. Forexample, dont talk price without talking value. Dont makecomments about merchandise that can be responded to with

So what? Whats in it for me? Label headlines and nuts and

bolts copy put people to sleep. Here is a sample label headlineand nuts and bolts description for the front page feature itemfor one of the big box flyers:

THE GREGORY SECTIONAL Rich brownleather-like fabric with beige Microfiber superplush cushions.[What does leather-like mean? Whatis Microfiber? What does it do for me?]Loose pillowbacks.[I cant see this?]Matching chair available.Left arm facing sofa & right arm facing chaise.[But there is no right arm facing the chaise. There is noright arm at all.]

Compare the lazy big box efforts with the Perfect Chairad in the Sharper Image flyer exhibit. Compare it to the ben-efit headlines and compelling copy in the Sky Mall catalogueexhibit. Why do the copywriters for Sharper Image and SkyMall work so hard on small space ads? Because the cost-effec-

tiveness of their efforts are constantly measured. If they dontget response and sell merchandise in the expensive spaceallotted to them, they will not have a job for the next issue.

Millions and millions of dollars of research have estab-lished a core of basic advertising principles that make adver-tising effective. These foundational principles are not a mat-ter of opinion. They have been distilled and tested over andover again by men like Bedell, Ogilvy, Caples, and modernmarketers like Gerber, Abraham and a dozen others. It isappalling that so much wasteful furniture advertising is cre-ated today by people who are unaware of this body of knowl-edge. The top pros in the best ad agencies apply proven prin-ciples to double or triple the effectiveness of their print mediaor they would not have jobs. I adopt these principles for mod-ern readers and use them faithfully in the national market-place almost daily, and I know they still work.

Within this big box incompetence lies your opportunity. Idont want to belabor the need for advertising knowledge andexpertise in the furniture industry. If you want to know more,check out the marketing article archives on FURNITUREWORLD Magazines website www.furninfo.com and searchfor Advertising Principles - Parts 1 &2. These articles willenlarge upon the issues of advertising professionalism, andhow to acquire it. If you think that you dont have time toresearch this, consider the football coach. He also has a largenumber of hats to wear. He must be an astute psychologistand motivator, trainer, strategic planner and so on. He must

find time to study his competition and create new tactics. It


Ad Secrets Updated


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ould be unthinkable for a professionalfootball coach to go into a game withoutknowing the basic principles that drivegreat teams.

2. MAKE YOUR

COMPETITION IRRELEVANT

The principles of Blue Ocean market-ing have been covered in previousissues. See FURNITURE WORLD arti-cles, Blue Ocean Marketing Can MakeYour Competitors Irrelevant - Parts

1&2 posted to the marketing articlearchives on www.furninfo.com. Thereare two Blue Ocean programs that yousimply must launch before the bigboxes in your marketplace do. These arefree Decorator Clinics for the public,and a Shop at Home program. The clin-

ics will exponentially increase yourmarket share, and the Shop at Homeprogram can be an important new prof-it center for you. Ethan Allen has longemployed this program, and sooner orlater the more middle-of-the-road bigboxes will come up with their own ver-sions. Beat them to it in your market.

The key to making these programssuccessful is to train several of yourbest sales associates to become leadersand trainers for the rest of the staff.

You may already have decorators onstaff, but it is important to have severalpeople who are qualified to train theentire staff and new associates in thebasics of decorating. Both Cathy Finney,a feature editor for FURNITUREWORLD Magazine, and Margarett

DeGange, another FURNITUREWORLD contributor, have programs totrain the trainers so you can indepen-dently sustain your programs. DeGangehas produced an excellent runningseries of articles, Decorator SchoolCrash Course, that gives you step bystep instructions for staging a publicdecorating clinic. Check furninfo.comfor earlier installments.

USE BLUE OCEAN

AND PEOPLE MEDIA MAGICA Blue Ocean game plan can revolu-

tionize your store in 2008. While youcannot outgun the big boxes, you canrun better, more appealing ads. Butmore is needed. Media is becoming pro-hibitively costly. It is harder and harderto reach the public. The public is simplygetting too many messages, there is toomuch repetitive and boring advertisingclutter, too many look-alike flyers, toomany intrusive TV and radio commer-cials.

You need to learn to tell your storyeffectively and persuasively. It must beorchestrated to your prospects personalinterests and needs. You need to beginto use new, inexpensive, uncluttered,media to reach the public and tell yourstory. And you need to craft a dynamicnew game plan that your entire teamunderstands and buys into.

The three concepts above are interre-lated. It is hard to grasp a whole newstrategic paradigm of marketing furni-ture, but new gimmicks wont suffice

anymore. A professional football teamwould not consider entering into agame with the New England Patriots byjust adding a few trick plays to theirtactics. They would develop an overallstrategy, a game plan that embraces allthree factors above. And finally, youneed a secret weapon that the big boxescannot copy in their massive centraladvertising departments.

The secret weapon that can changeeverything is People Media. Word ofmouth advertising. Some intellectualgiant once came up with a saying: The

24 FURNITURE WORLD January/February 2008

Ad Secrets Updated
mailto:[email protected]


27/92January/February 2008FURNITURE WORLD 25

medium IS the message. In the case of

PEOPLE, this is a truth. People commu-nicating with other people... saying goodthings about your store and about yourmerchandise... People Media may be thebest-kept and most powerful secret inmarketing! The quality of your PeopleMedia depends upon the quality of themessages you send to your associates,executives and managers, the messagesthat your staff sends to each otherandthe messages that your company, as awhole, sends out to your customers andthe general community.

People Media work much faster andmore effectively than all the othermedia put together, and it is more effec-tive. People Media is essential becausetraditional media suffers from a growingglut and a general lack of credibility.

Here is an example of the power of

People Media. A while back I wanted to

buy a new digital camera. I went on lineand was totally overwhelmed. After afew hours of confusion I happened toask a friend his opinion of digital cam-eras. He immediately responded that hehad researched them carefully, anddecided to buy a particular brand andhe loves it. Bingo! I was sold and boughtthe one he recommended. I love it andhave told several people about it.

Lack of space compels me to continuethis discussion in the next FURNITUREWORLD issue. We will examine the

power of People Media in depth, andhow you can harness them with pro-grams like Shop at Home to make 2008a banner year of profit and fun. We willalso discuss how to create a world-classgame plan to set all of these ideas intomotion. It will be a great ride and I hope

you will join me.

Contributing Editor Larry Mullinshas 30+ years experience in the frontlines of furniture marketing. Over thepast ten years he has developed aVisionary Management program thatcan impact the culture of an entire orga-nization and bring it to life. He also pro-duces state-of- the-art promotionaladvertising packages for everything fromquick cash flow to complete exit strate-gies and store closings. Larry is thePresident of UltraSales, Inc.. Questions

about this article can be sent to Larrycare of FURNITURE WORLD [email protected].

See more articles by Larry in themarketing management archives onfurninfo.com or call him direct at(303)530-5366.

HOW COOL GRAPHICS

CAN SOMETIMES DESTROY

AD EFFECTIVENESS

Research has proven that large

amounts of reverse copy reducesreadership, in some cases asmuch as 50 to 70%.But graphic artists love toreverse copy on layouts tomake the design of the pagelook contemporary and cool.Even Sharper Imagesometimes surrenders to thegraphic artists passion to be

cool, as in the spreads atright. As a result, very wellwritten and persuasivecopy is rendered far lessreadable. Oprahs O ATHOME magazine managesto have dynamic spreads without reversing large areasof copy. Unless ad people know and apply the proven principlesof advertising they will inadvertently make costly errors.

LOOKING FOR SALES EDUCATION INFORMATION?

Find 1,000 Authoritative Articles

www.furninfo.com

FURNITURE WORLD Magazines Information Rich Website


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http://www.dinec.com/


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orth Americas furniture retailers continue tocome up with superb delivery truck graphics aspart of their advertising and corporate identityprograms. Its logical that beautiful trucks hit

home with consumers because they are highly visible toMs. Smith. When your truck delivers to her neighborhood,it not only delivers the obvious information related by thetrucks condition and graphics, but also a more subtle onethat tells her where her neighbors needs for home fur-nishings are being met.

A really great benefit of great looking trucks is the factthat they cover your entire marketing area and your movingbill boards are even seen inside gated communities as youmake perfect deliveries. To ensure the best possible image,during routine maintenance, you should make sure thattruck bumpers and vehicle under-structure are touched upas necessary. This is a step that many furniture retailers

overlook. In addition, wheels should either be routinelypainted or, if you want to go upscale, you can consider buyingpolished aluminum rims. And of course, with increased con-cern for environmental pollution and going green, your dri-vers should never leave their truck idling. For security, makesure that drivers make sure to remove the key and take itwith them inside the home. And your procedure manualshould specify that the helper gets out of the truck at eachdelivery and guides the driver while backing up to elimi-nate the possibility of property damage or snag-ging a low hanging TV cable.

When one of your trucks is sitting at a customers homewith the rear door open, the view should not be at odds withyour reputation. Furniture should be properly blanketwrapped and everything should be tied for stability. Insistthat all trash be bagged or placed after each stop in anempty carton. What if your customer should look in thetruck cab and see a mess of cups, lunch bags and otherdebris? That would not be optimal, so make sure thatgarbage is removed from the cab daily and that the interioris cleaned at weekly intervals. This establishes a standard ofperformance you expect your delivery team to adhere to,regardless of whether they are your own employees or adelivery service. Its your reputation on the line... the lastopportunity to satisfy the customer on this order and anopportunity to plant the seeds for their next purchase.Remember that training yields positive benefits.

Beautiful trucks arent an extra cost but a joy to behold

and real benefit. Did you know that a 30 inch by 12 foot ban-ner on the side of a bus in a relatively small community cancost $500 each month? Doing a wrapped bus can cost $1,000per month, or more depending on the population and trafficvolume. Billboards range from $500 to over $2,000 eachmonth for space rental plus a production fee. You can esti-

mate the advertising value foryour beautiful trucks byvisiting the web site of thelarge billboard and bus

advertising com-

FURNITURE WORLD READERS LOVE THEIR

BEAUTIFUL TRUCKSSecond beautiful furniture truck contest attracts some winners.

WAREHOUSE & DELIVERYBYDANBOLGER, P.E.

Upscale retailer Robb &Stucky won for itsbeautiful truck in the LocalDelivery In-House for homefurnishings with over $25million in sales. Baers

Furniture received honorablemention in the same category


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ichael AlanFurnishings wasthe winner inthe Small

Service/Furniture Vancategory andreceivedhonorablemention for Local Furniture Delivery - In Housefor retailers $5-25 million.


pany www.lamar.com.

When I first put graphics on my truck fleet in the mid sev-enties, the options were paint or 3M decals. Todays decals

are far superior. An increasing number are graphics printedon vinyl, like the ones from TruckSkin on some of this yearsentries. Creative retailers rotate the graphics seasonally orduring special promotion periods or to announce store open-ings. Also consider putting your most beautiful truck incommunity parades. Art Vans Show Truck gets accoladeseverywhere it goes and communities throughout their mar-keting area ask them to send it. IKEA uses the unique ser-vices of locomotion-media.com for special events throughoutthe USA with excellent results. (especially the one used at aFlorida opening set up as a bedroom and filled with humanmodels.)

While not specifically part of this contest, another evident

trend is the increasing role of demountable truck bodies.These units are loaded at central furniture distribution cen-ters, transported two at a time to distant points by a singledriver. Local delivery teams then deliver the boxes withinthat marketing area. There can be strategic advantages forretailers with stores where outlying points are beyond twohour driving time.

Bottom line, having beautiful trucks isnt an expense.Beautiful trucks pay dividends in so many ways for singlestore retailers and multiple location retailers. Thats whyyou want them to look great all the time.

SMALL SERVICE/FURNITURE VAN

Winner - Michael Alan Furnishings: This Lake Havasu,Arizona retailer, known for excellent service, submittedentries in the Local Furniture Delivery In-House andSmall Service/Furniture Van categories.

Family owned Michael Alan Furnishings & InteriorDesign features, beautifully displayed, quality furnitureand accessories at the best possible prices. The companyalso offers design services.

This retailer wins in the cargo van category and gets hon-orable mention in the local furniture delivery category.

Equipment: 99 Chevy Cargo Van (winner) and IsuzuNPR (honorable mention). The store credits the vans

longevity to Mark Denevan, their Customer ServiceTechnician. Mark has been with Michael Alan since 1995,and is its primary driver and care giver. The van is

washed and thoroughly inspected weekly. Every 3,000miles the oil is changed, and every 5,000 the tires arerotated.

Van Use: The van is used for large accessory jobs, servicecalls, small deliveries, or in some cases quick emergencydeliveries. It is equipped with a ladder, toolbox, blankets,furniture touch-up kits, and other appropriate supplies tohandle any job situation. It is not uncommon for the vanto be used on a morning accessory job, then go to a ser-vice call and transport a recliner to the local upholsterer,and then go on a delivery. It is even used to run errands,such as picking up water and soda for the store. MichaelAlans desert living customers appreciated the water andsoda they offer free to their customers... and they gothrough a lot of bottled water!

Submitted by: Mark Brady.

Sales Volume: 5-25 Million Dollars.

Cargo Van Graphics: Graphics that relate a clean, profes-sional and upscale image were designed in-house and air-brushed by a local graphics company.

Delivery Truck Graphics: Vinyl graphics by TruckSkin,Traverse City, MI were designed and installed in Lake

Havasu. Rails and straps secure the design to the side.Each truck has different graphics, with the same pictureon each side. The back has another smaller picture withlogo, and the front shows just the logo.

Michael Allen inspects and preps all products in thewarehouse before loading for delivery. Once in the home,items receive their "White Glove" treatment. The deliveryteam makes sure everything is set-up and cleaned againbefore they leave. The customer is then asked to sign adelivery receipt, which states they have received theirproduct in good condition. Should there be a need for ser-vice, due to whatever circumstance, the issue is reportedright away to the service department. Customers are left

with the feeling that they know they will be taken care of.


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www.microdinc.com

Bowens Big On EasyPlan Pro

f you want to find out how much difference the right room-

planning software can make, just ask Bowen Town &

Country Furniturein Winston-Salem, NC. With as many

as 50,000 manufacturers templates, plus a full range of

configurable shapes, doors, windows and accessories to

choose from, MicroDs EasyPlan Pro lets Bowens designers

and sales associates create room plans to scale and arrange

correctly-sized furniture and fixtures in a room of virtually any

shape or size. Even more important, it helps close more sales.

According to owner Scott Bowen, EasyPlan Pro and ePreVue

(web-based electronic catalog) are practical tools that we use

and give freely to every customer. Its a bargain!

eres what other staff members have to say:

Garry Crist, Bowen

Sales Associate:I tell all my customersabout Room Plannerand ePreVue. In fact, Ireceived an order todayfor a sofa, leather chairand ottoman that wasthe direct result of mycustomer using RoomPlanner to confirm thesizes that they needed.

The best furniture business technology.

Cynthia Tesh, Director of Design Services:MicroDs Room Planner is so easy to use!Plans can quickly be shared with clients.

To find out more, see us at theLas Vegas Market, World Market Center,Building B 16th Floor,

Retail Resource Center #5,January 28 - February 1, 2008or call 800-964-3876, ext. 253.Or visit us online at www.microdinc.com.
http://www.microd.com/


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exas based Interior Ideas is the winner forLocal Delivery Truck - In House for homefurnishings retailers with under $25 million insales. Bradens and Circle Furniture receivehonorable mention in this category.

The company says that they receive calls all the time onwhat an outstanding delivery team they have.

LOCAL DELIVERY TRUCK IN-HOUSEUNDER $25 MILLION SALES

Interior Ideas, Inc.: San Antonio, Texas based InteriorIdeas is located in a high-end shopping center that con-tains a movie theater and more than 10 restaurants. Thetruck is a three sided billboard that sits in the parking lotvisible to everyone who visits this center. There is a dif-ferent image on each side of the truck.

Graphics: This retailer chose the graphics to showcasetheir vendor Vanguard.

Equipment: 2005 Isuzu NPR With 14 foot Supreme Box.

Graphics: The graphics were chosen from hundreds ofoptions to showcase the look and caliber of their store.

Benefits: Chris Pfeiffer, President of Interior Ideas notedthat, Its a great delivery truck, very eye-catching as itdelivers around town and a wonderful billboard when itsits in the parking lot.

Delivery Area: Delivers furniture and accessories to SanAntonio and surrounding Towns.

Honorable Mention - Circle Furniture: With five stores

and two outlet centers in Massachusetts, Circle Furnituregets honorable mention for its attention grabbing graph-ics approach and use of color. The retailer is known for

eclectic, contemporary selection, fast delivery times formade-to-order items, corporate philanthropy, support ofthe regional economy, and most of all, fun.

Equipment: Isuzu FTR.

Graphics: Their advertising agency designed and thegraphic created by TruckSkin.

Person Responsible: Jonathan Boyle

Maintenance: Monthly preventative maintenance andweekly washing.

Delivery Area: Delivers home furnishings to NewEngland states, small items via UPS and nationally viafurniture carrier.

Honorable Mention - Bradens Fine Furniture &Interiors: This retailer founded in 1956 offers fine furni-ture and quality design services in its 95,000 square footshowroom and two Bradens Lifestyles stores.

Equipment: Freightliner M2 with 26 foot Morgan Boxand Demountable Truck Body System.

Delivery Area: Furniture delivered around the Knoxville,

TN area.



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www.microdinc.com

Increase your website sales with MicroD.

ccording to The Wall Street Journal, 80% of big-ticketpurchases furniture included are first researched on theInternet. So if you are not offering a valuable pre-shopping

experience on your website, youre missing a tremendous salesopportunity. Our Internet-based EasyPlan Pro and ePreVueprovide that opportunity.

With as many as 50,000 manufacturers templates, plus afull range of configurable shapes, doors, windows andaccessories to choose from, EasyPlan Pro enables users tocreate a room plan to scale and arrange correctly sizedfurniture and fixtures in a room of virtually any shape or size.

ePreVue presents your product on your website andenables users to search for and visualize exactly howcustom-order furniture, case goods and accessories will

look. They can also select a choice of fabrics for anupholstered item, then automatically drape it. Its a 24/7advertising tool that will help increase your revenue.

Click on the picture icon arounda highlighted item to view anddrape it in ePreVue

Together,EasyPlan Pro and ePreVue

help customers visualize and feel more

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furniture decisions. Even more important

this one-two punch on your website will

help you close more sales.

To find out more, see us at the

Las Vegas Market, World Market Center,

Building B 16th Floor,Retail Resource Center #5,

January 28 - February 1, 2008

or call 800-964-3876, ext. 253.

The best furniture business technology.
http://www.microd.com/


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akes the last point of contact with customers. A sectionof their franchise operations manual dedicated to deliveryincludes step-by-step procedures, scripting, scheduling,uniforms, appearance, maintenance, driver hiring criteria,and even theft prevention.

Truck Advertising Benefits: The roving billboard keepsthe Verlo name in the public eye, drawing top-of-mindawareness. Their goal: instant recognition!

Truck Maintenance: Individual franchise owners areresponsible for maintenance and fleet operations.Monthly maintenance is required of each franchise owner,including cleaning, washing, and waxing schedules. Thedelivery section of Verlo Mattress Factory StoresOperations Manual outlines items for daily (tires, lights,washer fluid, general appearance, etc.), weekly (handling,brakes, alignment, etc.), monthly (transmission, oil, radia-tor), and quarterly (speedometer, dashboards gauges, etc.)

inspections that must be submitted and filed with thelocal franchise owner.

Product Description: Each franchise owner has a deliv-ery team responsible for getting beds, futons, pillows,frames, etc. to the customer.

LOCAL FURNITUREDELIVERY TRUCK OUTSOURCED

Winner Tepperman's: This four store Ontario, Canadabased retailer promises its customers, the best fashions,values and brand names in Furniture, Mattresses,Appliances, and Audio/Video at guaranteed lowest prices

providing you the after-sale service."

Sales Volume: Over 25 million dollars.

Equipment: International 4400 DT466.

Truck Graphics: The logo was developed by their in-houseadvertising department. It was applied using paint.

Benefits: Teppermans goal was to keep the graphicsdesign simple, but very visible. The bright red grabsattention. The same design and color is used on theirdelivery shuttle and in-home service trucks. The websiteaddress is visible on the rear of each of the trucks whichare kept exceptionally clean and scratch free.

Special Modifications: Teppermans added air condition-ing due to the very humid Ontario summers.

Special Maintenance: Trucks receive a daily circle checkand monthly on-site check up. The leasing company offersa mobile repair service. Trucks are replaced every threeyears or 75,000 miles and re-painted every two years.

Delivery Area: 100 miles from each DC.

LONG HAUL FURNITURE DELIVERY

Winner - Havertys Furniture: Haverty's Furniture is afull-service home furnishings retailer with over 120 show-rooms in 17 states in the Southern and Midwestern USregions providing its customers with a wide selection ofquality merchandise in middle to upper-middle price

Havertys Furniture is the winner for best LongHaul Delivery Truck with Ivan Smith Furnituregetting honorable mention in this category. Bothuse Demountable Concepts truck body system.

Verlo Mattress Factory Stores had thebest Local Furniture Delivery Truck inthe franchise or Licensee category.


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anges. Founded in 1885.

Submitted By: Steve Schingler, Assistant VP ofDistribution.

Equipment: Freightliner M2 with 26 foot Morgan Box withDemountable Truck Body System

Delivery Area: 250 mile radius of Braselton, GA.

Honorable Mention - Ivan Smith Furniture: Shreveport,Louisiana based Ivan Smith Furniture has almost 30 storelocations in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. They promisetheir customers, professional delivery services and a followup call after delivery to ensure that customers are satisfiedand were treated with courtesy.

Equipment: Hino 258LP with Supreme 26 foot box and theDemountable Truck Body System.

Delivery Area: Delivery within a 250 mile radius of

Shreveport, LA.

Sales Volume: More than 25 Million.

SHOW TRUCKS

Winner: Art Van Furniture based in Warren Michigan, ArtVan Furniture operates Michigan's largest private deliveryfleet and travels over five million miles per year throughoutthe state of Michigan. Art Van is a family owned and operat-ed company with 29 stores in 28 cities in Michigan

Sales Volume: More than $25 million.

Equipment: Sterling Truck.

Truck Graphics: Graphics were designed and developed byArt Vans in-house graphics team. The Cindy Truck hasapplied vinyl graphics and the Holiday Truck graphics are

applied vinyl with metallic overlay.

Special Events: The Art Van trucks participate in severalcruises and parades, receiving enthusiastic community sup-port. Both the Cindy Truck and Holiday Truck have speakersto play music in parades.

Submitted by: Mike Hogan, Fleet Manager.

Delivered Products: Home furnishings in northern Indiana,Northern, Ohio, Ontario and throughout Michigan.

Honorable Mention- IKEA: IKEA operates over 265 storesworldwide and more than 30 in the US. The chain is knownfor offering low prices for well-designed, stylish, functionalfurnishings along with a family and employee friendlyatmosphere. Although not known for home delivery services;home-delivery, export and assembly services can bearranged.

Equipment: The IKEA custom made glass truck has beenused in many markets around the country to promote store

openings and events. The truck is so unusual that it com-mands attention wherever it goes. There are even video clipsof the truck on YouTube.

Daniel Bolger P.E. provides operations consulting services toclients throughout North America .You can contact Dan [email protected] or call 740-503-8875. For more informa-tion on this or other transportation, logistics and furniturewarehousing topics, go to www.furninfo.com to read all ofDans articles. Dont Miss Dan Bolgers Las Vegas MarketSeminar, "Warehouse & Delivery Excellence--Getting Back toBasics.Warehouse Improvements Without Large CapitalInvestments. Thursday, January 31 from 10:00-11:30 a.m. in

the RRC, 16th Fl., Bldg B.

BEAUTIFUL TRUCKS

Show trucks make their debut in thisinstallment of FURNITURE WORLDsBeautiful Furniture Truck Contest. ArtVan Furnitures Cindy and Holidaytruck were winners. IKEAs eye catchingGlass Truck ran a close second based onits unique advertising potential.


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Home furnishings meets fashion at the MGM Grand.

Dont miss these five easy-to-shopshow sections at MGM Grand.

For complete information, to register and to reserve your hotel rooms online,

visit www.LasVegasMarket.com

LOCATED AT MGM CONFERENCE CENTER

LOCATED AT MGM GARDEN ARENA

LOCATED AT MGM PAVILION



Home Furnishings Runway.SM

More choices. More ideas. More exciting new directions

to explore. Dont leave Las Vegas Market without shopping

the Tradeshow Exhibits at the MGM Grand.

DONT MISS THESE MGM HIGHLIGHTS:

:: Classic Hollywood Soiree event, Tuesday, January 29, MGM Pool.

Bask in glamour and fanfare as you enjoy cocktails and culinary delights

while mingling in this ultra-vogue environment.

:: Free Seminars and Networking Events. Las Vegas Market is avaluable resource for ideas, strategies and inspiration. Sharpen yourprofessional edge at Las Vegas Market seminarslocated at MGM.

:: Enter to win a complete July 08 Mandalay Bay vacation package.

The Viva Las Vegas Market Giveaway includes accommodations for fivenights, two dinner vouchers, two VIP nightclub passes, and two show orconcert tickets.

:: Complimentary Buyers Lunch, Wednesday, January 30.Take a break from your productive shopping day with a tasty lunchON US! World Market Center will host a complimentary buyer lunchat the MGM Grand between 11:30 am and 2:00 pm.

2007WorldMarketCenterLLC
http://www.lasvegasmarket.com/


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he quarterback doesnt stay in the locker room tryingto score the much needed touchdown. Baseball playersdont stay dug out in the dugout trying to figure outwhen its their turn at bat. They know when it is their

time to make that wood connect with the ball and hit it out ofthe park, and theyre ready.

Likewise, professional sales and design associates need toknow when it is their turn to be UP and be ready to per-form.

All of the sales associates (power players) interviewed forthis article were asked to speak about their sales successstrategies.

One underlying aspect of selling they all spoke of is the

importance of connecting quickly with customers. In everyaspect of life, perception is reality. Salespeople only get oneshot at connecting with Ethel by making the best possiblefirst impression.

THE PLAYERS APPROACH

Renee Elzea from Norwalk in Tulsa, Oklahoma told us,Its all in the greeting. Its meeting them and connectingintellect to intellect. Rhonda Benzig, her sales manager and

coach said that Renee and her entire team are driven tosucceed. They have a passion for helping the client.

Karen Currier, one of the top players at JonnsContemporary Interiors in Phila., PA. is in total agreement,Connecting with the client as their advisor and their profes-sional friend is just one of the keys to her success.

But to connect, salespeople first have to GET OUT OFTHE FORT! They cant play the game while sitting on thebench! To quote Goethe, Whatever you can do, or dream youcan, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

THE PLAYERS MISSION

Power Players must be on a mission. They must be

ready to play and act boldly. The best ones are the actingCMOs (Chief Motivational Officers) of their companies.Before they take to the field, they already know what theywant to accomplish. According to Charles Garfield author ofPeak Performers, Mission is the source of peak perfor-mance... It determines behavior and fuels motivation.... Apeak performer sorts things out and takes not just action,but purposeful action, in the service of results. It helps peo-ple, To stand out, to excel at achieving something uniquelyones own that one cares deeply about.

In The Art of Power, Thich Nhat Hanh, says that, whenwe are clear about our motivations, our actions are muchmore powerful because we can do them with one hundred

percent intention... Everyone of us has a strong goal for ourlife. We want to achieve something. All of the Power

MEET THE RETAIL SALES

Power PlayersSales tips and training tools from successful sales associates.

CUSTOMERS INTO CLIENTS BYCATHYFINNEY.

Norwalk Tulsa Power Players Clockwise from top left: Jeanne Meek: SaleRhonda Benzing: Manager, Sonni Sears: Sales, Kristin Yannacombe: Sales,

Debbie Sumrall: Sales, Renee Elzea: Sales

ITS ALL IN THE GREETING.

Its meeting them and connectingintellect to intellect.-Renee Elzea, Norwalk in Tulsa


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layers we spoke with set goals, and once they hit a goal,they raise the bar again. Half way through one month, a con-sultant interviewed for this article who was at $8,000 toldme, Cathy, its okay. Ill make my goal. Her goal was$80,000. She hit $91,000. She was on a mission. There wasnever any doubt! Purposeful action was the key.

HOW PLAYERS VIEW THE GAMEVictims are nouns. Owners are verbs. They take action.

Years ago when I read this quote by Buckminster Fuller, Iwalked around for days chanting, I seem to be a verb. Iseem to be a verb. If you want to be a player, you need tostart chanting too!

This notion of being a verb implies self confidence. Ifyoure not confident, youre not credible. Al Siebert whowrote, The Resiliency Advantage, points out that self-confi-dence is an action predictor. It is your gatekeeper to effectiveaction. In Peak Performers, Mr. Garfield agrees, Self-confi-dent people feel an internal authority to act, based on a

sense of their own expertise.Confident people are curious. They always want to know

more, be more, do more. They enjoy learning in the school oflife. Dr. Siebert says that, curiosity can be viewed as a sortof open-brainedness... People with closed brains refuse to lis-ten to information. Its rapid reality reading. Its the old say-ing - Your mind is like a parachute; it doesnt work unlessits open!

Curious people, and successful sales professionals want tolearn, so they listen, really listen. They employ the FACEFormula.

Forward lean Lean or turn toward your client astheyre speaking.

Acknowledge what they are saying by nodding, sayingum, hum, or use reflective statements. So what youresaying is . . . This way they know that you get it.

Care about your client and their needs.

Empathize Put yourself in their shoes. Become the buyer.

THE PLAYERS WINNING TECHNIQUESPeople like to buy, but they dont like to be sold.

Customers are in your store to become owners, so refer tothe sofa you present to them as, Your new sofa. Give themownership. In Stop Acting like a Seller and Start Thinkinglike a Buyer, Jerry Acuff talks about the five rules of buy-ing:

Rule #1: Think like a buyer NOT a seller Youll sellmore.

Rule #2: The quality of your business is directly linked tothe desire of your customer to want to have a conversationwith you.

Rule #3: The size of your business is directly linked to yourability to ask questions that get your prospective customerthinking.

Rule #4: If they feel pressure, there wont be any meaning-ful dialogue. If they feel pressure, there probably wont beany dialogue at all!

Rule #5: No pressure = conversation. It becomes an invita-tion for the partnering process to begin.

To summarize, conversation can lead to communicationwhich can foster connecting and mutual collaboration for the

purpose of meeting the customers needs.

Michael Shank, theDirector of Design,

at Interiors inLancaster, PA

said that theact of listen-

ing is hissecret

for

THE ACT OF LISTENING...

is Michael Shanks secret for success. He asks his customers,What goals may I help you accomplish here today? Then he listens.

From Jonns Contemporary Interiors (left to right

top row)Mark Camphouse, Dominic Cozzi,

Marie Kooker, David Stein, (left to right

bottom) Mimi Yu, Karen Currier, Joan Paaske,Francois Jawarhi, Susan Silver.


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http://www.furnituretrafficguys.com/


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uccess. He asks his customers, What goals may I help youaccomplish here today? Then he listens. Listening is whatseparates the players from everybody else. Listening iswhat you do with people. Hearing is what you do to noise!

As youre listening, take notes. It shows Louise thatwhat shes saying is important to you. Its quite a compli-ment to someone when they know that what theyre sayingis important enough for you to write down. Tell her whatyoure doing so that there arent any surprises. Just say,Louise, Im just going to take a few notes because I dont

want to miss anything. David Stein, also from JonnsContemporary Interiors is great at this. He starts takingnotes, while creating a room sketch (on the back of an enve-lope if need be), all at the same time. For more informationon creating effective room sketches read, I'm Here, Your"Sketchee!" from the March/April 2007 issue of FURNITUREWORLD posted to the article archives on www.furninfo.com,

Josh Gordin, author of Presentations that ChangeMinds, says that, Every presenta-tion should be customized. Matchyour messaging. Some people buy onemotion, some buy on price, andsome buy on ideas. Listening helps

you find out what your customersideas are, and what she reallywants. It also helps to establish youas a professional, and differentiatesyou from the clerk in that other fur-niture store down the street whosesales pitch consisted of sprayingand praying. For Francois Jawahriand Dominic Cozzi fromPhiladelphia, establishing yourselfas a professional IS what helps youstay in control of the selling situa-tion. Thats why listening is such acrucial step in the partnering process. Nobody ever listenedthemselves out of a sale, but, how many times have wetalked ourselves out of one?

Will Rogers nailed it when he said, If you love what youdo youll never work a day in your life! All the PowerPeople interviewed were passionate about going the dis-tance. They had store goals, but they all had their own per-sonal goals as well to chart their success. When youre pas-sionate about what you do, people know because you glow!People like to be around people who love what they do.Misery may love company but your customer doesnt want tokeep company with misery and neither should you! Hangout with winners, not whiners! Emulate the winning mem-bers of your team. Learn from them. Copy cats cash in!

HOW PLAYERS FOLLOW UP

Follow-up was high on the list of valuable skills cited bythe group. All Power People reached out and touched theirclients A LOT! Kristen Yannaccone from Tulsa has a longlist of clients who are loyal to her because of how often shecommunicates with them. Kristen posts consistent high salesnumbers month after month. Shes built her business by cul-tivating her client base and working to get referrals. Kristenhas adopted the principles in Let Your Clients be Your SalesForce, the terrific book by Robert Reck. Players dont waitfor traffic to come through the door. They create their owntraffic! Thats why its follow-up or fall down!

BATTER UP!

Players like to play! They have a great sense of fun.Another Tulsa teammate, Sunny Sears engages her clientsin fun. She is like a puppy. She just makes you want to

play. She gets Ethel emotionallyinvolved and helps to eliminate anyapprehension she might be feeling.Smile! Have fun! Smiling is wonderful.When youre smiling, nobody is reallysure what youve been up to! Whowants to be around a grump? NotEthel! Not me. Neither should you. Ifyou let someone else bring you down,they are literally taking money out ofyour wallet. Yep, theyre costing you afortune. Attitude is everything in thisbusiness. Be a Player! Play!

A very special thank you to all the con-sultants who participated, and to thecoaches of these team of playersMichele Consylman of Interiors, MarieKooker of Jonns Contemporary

Interiors and Rhonda Benzig of Norwalk.

Cathy Finney is President of Ancell Affiliates\T N T. Sheis a noted motivational speaker, sales trainer, and manage-ment consultant. Questions on any aspect of sales training orsales management can be sent to Cathy care of FURNITUREWORLD Magazine, at [email protected] or call her tollfree at (877-FINNYFX).

See all of Cathys articles on furninfo.com in the SalesSkills Index. Call 877-235-3095 for more information on heraudio learning courses: Pass the Power, Please! on retailmanagement; House Calls on how to do more and moreprofitable house calls; and The Marketing of Me Inc. on howto follow-up to turn retail customers into clients for life.


DAVID STEIN

FROM

JONN

S

CONTEMPORARYINTERIORS

is great at this. Hestarts taking notes, whilecreating a room sketch,

all at the same time.

Meet The Sales Power Players


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http://www.profitsystems.com/groups


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t was an incredible experience. The single best marketing

piece I ever received at home was a personal letter in anenvelope with a live stamp on it.

Several years ago I came across what appeared to be apersonal letter sent to me by someone in my area. It had alive stamp on the envelope and what looked like a handwrit-ten address.

I opened it up and read that, Frustrated Plumber is prac-tically giving away 54 premium pullout spout faucets, 54top tier disposals, and 54 high grade toilets (The kind largeenough to flush a tennis ball). Okay, he had my attention.

I went on to read 5 pages about this plumber and why hewas doing this incredible deal. The piece had no pictures, no

prices, and no Sale, Sale, Sale anywhere in it.

Unfortunately I didnt need any of the above plumbing

services, but I was so impressed with this marketing piecethat I called the plumbing contractor myself. I asked himabout the letter, and he told me We picked the people wewanted to do business with, and sent it specifically to thoseneighborhoods. Our phones have been ringing off the hook!People love that letter, and are calling us like crazy.

Just like the Frustrated Plumber we all have people wewant to do business with. These are customers that buywith higher average sales, buy often, and refer all of theirfriends and family.

Wouldnt you love to identify, target, and spend your mar-keting dollars only on these perfect customers to bring moreof them into your store on a regular basis? You Can. And its

simple to do.You do it by using the best tool available to retailers in the

marketing world... direct mail.

Many furniture retailers are finding that right now theirnewspaper, television and radio ads arent working as well

as they have in the past.

There are reasons for all of this that we dont need togo into, but direct mail still works, and will alwayswork if done properly.

CAN A LONG,

HANDWRITTEN SALESLETTER BE EFFECTIVE?Yes. The presentation can includetestimonials, guarantees andpersonality. These are all essentialelements. You simply cant work allof this into a postcard or one pagenewspaper ad. Batesville Furniture,recently used this two page letterand had its best month ever.

DOUBLE YOUR STORE TRAFFIC

Put A Stamp On It!Part 6: The most effective traffic building tool for furniture retailers.

ADVERTISING STRATEGYBYBRETTKITCHEN AND ETHANKAP


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THE BENEFITS OF DIRECT MAIL

1. Its targeted.

2. You can customize your message to a specific personor market.

3. You can make it feel personal. Personal one-on-one mar-keting always sells better than generic mass media advertis-ing. No other kind of advertising lets you connect like this.

4. You target your message to reach the people who aremost likely to do business with you.

5. It gives you greater control over your marketing, bud-

gets, and timelines.6. Flexibility: You have no limits on the length or format ofyour sales presentation. In fact this is one of the single mostimportant attributes of direct mail. The best marketersknow that, The more you tell, the more you sell. Contraryto popular belief, pictures and logos dont sell anything.WORDS compel emotions, and emotions cause people to buy.

Some of the most effective marketing pieces are 3, 4 even5 pages long. Can you imagine sending a 5 page letter to sellfurniture or bedding? If your first thought is That wontwork for me then you are dead wrong. The most effectivemarketing pieces retailers use are not postcards or full pagenewspaper ads. They are personal, compelling, letters.

The letter format allows you to tell your story, give a goodreason why your target customer should want to buy, devel-op emotional wants, and present them with a good offer. Thepresentation can include testimonials, guarantees and per-sonality. These are all essential elements. You simply cantwork all of this into a postcard or one page newspaper ad.

7. Cheap Testing Ground. You can send out a couple hun-dred or thousand direct mail pieces and see if it worksbefore wasting much money.

Retailers should be spending at least half of their market-ing budget on direct mail. Thats right. It may seem high toyou, but its all about Return on Investment, and what

works, wins.

In fact, the reason most retailers dont use more direct

mail is because there is no direct mail salesperson.You probably have a radio sales rep, a TV rep and news-

paper ad rep. The Yellow Pages ad rep knows where to findyou as well. But you dont have the direct mail sales repshowing up on your doorstep talking you into using directmail. It just doesnt happen. Therefore you dont spend asmuch on direct mail as you should.

Individually sent direct mail pieces are highly effective ina way that co-op mailers or buying group flyers are not.Sure, these are inexpensive, but not cost effective in terms oftime or money.

Sure you spend a little more per piece for direct mail, butyou also get the benefit of being able to target your cus-

tomers precisely with a message crafted just for them.In direct mail you can lose small and win big. Lets recap.

First you test carefully to find a winner, and once you find awinner, you roll out. All it takes is one call to your mailinghouse.

Now before you run out and stop all your marketing andput it in direct mail, you need to know how to make it work.

Home furnishings retailer Naturwood did over$700,000.00 in sales with a 4 page letter. Giff Gates at GatesFurniture in Grants Pass Oregon had his best December inhis stores history with a 5 page letter. Jim Fisher at AmishFurniture Shoppe, Chicago Illinois did $310,000 in a monthoff a 4 page letter. Charles Covington at Batesville

Furniture, Batesville Arkansas just had his best month inrecent history with a 2 page handwritten letter.

All of these sales numbers are nice, but the ROI is whatmatters. In every case these numbers are even more excitingonce you figure in the low cost of the marketing that gener-ated the sales figures. Jim fisher spent 4,000 to generate$310,000. Naturwood spent $20,000 to generate over$700,000. Giff Gates only sent out 10,000 mailings (at a costof less than $1.00 per piece) to create sales of over $650,000.

8. Its reusable! Its a system. Once you create a winner, youcan reuse it, re-target it to other market segments andemploy it year after year with just a few small tweaks.

We will now briefly look at the three steps you can take to


THE MOST

IMPORTANT PART OF

ANY ADVERTISING

you can possibly do is crafting abelievable, compelling story orconcept. This is what lets customers buyin, and helps them to believe that what youare sharing is a legitimate offer.


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Put A Stamp On It!

create effective direct mail pieces. Further discussion of

these steps will appear in the next issue of FURNITUREWORLD Magazine.

STEP #1: THE MESSAGE

The most important part of any advertising you can possi-bly do is crafting a believable, compelling story. The story isthe basis of all successful marketing. You can also call it theConcept. The concept is what creates interest in customers.It lets them buy in, and helps them to believe that whatyou are sharing is a legitimate offer. This is one of the rea-sons why direct mail is so effective. A newspaper ad, televi-sion radio commercial doesnt allow you the space to tell astory that is compelling enough to have our customers take

action.

STEP #2: THE HEADLINE

Imagine walking out the front door tomorrow morning,hot coffee in hand, picking up your newspaper only to real-ize, there are NO headlines. None-just page after page oftext. Tons of content with no way to distinguish what arti-cles were about.

How excited would you be about reading the paper everyday? You wouldnt know where to start, what articles inter-ested you, or where to find them. Finding an article youwere interested in would be like finding a needle in ahaystack.

In this analogy its easy to see the importance of usingheadlines to direct people to read what is interesting tothem. Yet time after time furniture retailers use ads andmarketing that simply broadcasts SALE or CompanyName as a headline. Neither of these are remotely effectivein grabbing customer interest or encouraging them to readyour marketing piece. Yet, this is absolutely critical for suc-

cess.

What is one good way to learn to write good headlines?One of the quickest, is to look at the magazines on the gro-cery store rack while you are checking out.

Who can resist reading...

99 Ways to lose weight fast (but well show you the ONEthat actually works)

NEW DISCOVERY! Secret ingredient in eggs and nachocheese that could cure cancer!

7 Ways Celebrity Furniture Writer Brett Kitchen got backto Pre baby shape just 43 days after delivery!

How to have your friends and family secretly whispering

behind your backenvying your beautiful homeDirect Marketing experts agree that the headline is

between 75% and 90% of the ad. Putting your companyname, or the same old Labor Day Sale at the top of yourads will ruin the rest of the adno matter how good it is.

STEP #3: PERSONALITY

You want to make sure that your customer feels like theyknow you, the owner personally, and that when they buyfrom your store, they are actually buying from you.

This is one of the premiere ways independent Davidretailers can beat Goliaths in your market. People dontwant to do business with a nameless, faceless big box orga-nization. In fact, Anti-Megacorporation (Wal-Mart, HomeDepot, etc.) sentiment is as high as it has ever been. Peoplewant to have a relationship, they crave the feeling that theybelong, and want to feel like Everyone Knows Their Name.More information on making yourself a celebrityexpert/spokesperson can be found in Part 4 of this DoubleYour Store Traffic series, posted to FURNITURE WORLD


DIRECT MARKETING EXPERTS AGREE

that the headline is between 75% and 90% of the ad. Putting the companyname, or the same old Labor Day Sale headline will ruin the whole ad.


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Best ProfitPer Square Foot In

My Entire Lineup!-Don Olsen, OwnerIts Another AmazingWallbeds! Success Story

Dons store has sold an average of 1.5Wallbeds per month for the past 14 years. The

247th Wallbed is on the way.Thats pretty remarkable! Particularly whenyou consider that his store is in a town of7,500, 100 miles north of Seattle.

You dont have to be a big guy in a big townto win with Wallbeds, as Don can tell you.

Wallbeds has slowly and carefully developeda network of retail partners. There are stillmarkets open, so, if you are interested inlooking at this high performing category,please give us a call. We would like to sharea few more success stories with you, andexplore the possibility of your companybecoming another one!

VISIT OUR SHOWROOMSLas Vegas , WMC, Pavillion #3 Space #P30016High Point Furniture PlazaSan Francisco Mart 1

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ont you love that old saying When the goinggets tough, the tough get going? Its one of thoseclichs that speaks to our topic but is, in clichterms, easier said than done. What does get

going mean in the context of surviving in tough times?To me it means not doing the same things over and overand expecting different results (I am obviously clich-rid-den).

In the last issue of FURNITURE WORLD Magazineyou read about the importance of having a selling strate-gy, a written description of your customer engagementprinciples, and your written set of how tos for all of

your staff members to follow when dealing with your cus-tomers. If you dont have one, you havent a chance ofinfluencing (controlling, in Peter Druckers world) the

most important relationship in your business the onebetween your customers and your salespeople.

Strategies are developed so that the processes of salescan be managed. Your strategy should be based on thethings covered in earlier articles, such as measurementsand results analysis. If, for example, you know that yourclosing ratio is 10% on first visits on a particular cus-tomer home furnishings project, but 60% on the secondvisit, your strategy cannot be based on closing sales thefirst time, but rather on doing things that ensure cus-tomers who dont buy today will return a second time.

So, assuming you have such a strategy, have developed

a training program around it, and have provided trainingto your sales staff, youre good to go, right? Well, thinkabout what would happen if an NFL team developedtheir offensive strategy the West Coast Offense forexample trained all the professional players in the sys-tem, put the players on the field with another team (whoalso has a strategy) but had no coaching staff at all onthe sidelines to oversee performance? Im sorry about thefootball reference, but it really is a perfect example ofwhat Im trying to get across. In the end, even with agreat strategy and professional players, without a coach-ing staff who observe, adjust, consult with individualplayers, and perform ongoing training, and who measureeverything, the results will not be good.

Sales management in furniture stores should takeplace on the selling floor, with your customers, as yourgame is being played. You have one tremendous advan-tage over an NFL team, too your coaches can actuallyget in the game and play right along with the salespeo-ple, demonstrating desired strategic elements of yourplan, showing salespeople what is expected and how tointeract. You have to have some sales manager/coacheswho can do this or your performance will suffer.

Theres another major difference between us and ourNFL team: our players are not part of a team when play-ing our game. They are, instead, individual players, morelike sprinters or swimmers (except for relays, of course).

STAYING ALIVE DURINGSTAYING ALIVE DURING

SLOW TIMESSLOW TIMESPart 4: You have an official written selling strategy, so why do each of your

salespeople still have their own personal wayof dealing with your customers?

RETAIL MANAGEMENTBYJOE CAPILLO

FREE RETAILER REGISTRATION

For more information visit

www.retailbuyers.comor call 1-866-861-4505

It was a pleasure doing businesswith Retailbuyers.com.

I especially liked thefact that they makesure you are happywith the price,including shippingcharges, before anymoney is exchanged.

-Paul

BUY & SELL

http://www.retailbuyers.com/


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Some companies do utilize T/O (Turn Over) systems, where customerscant leave the store without talking to two people, one of them usually a"closer" (a floor or sales manager). This type of system is a strategy I per-sonally reject because its affect on customers is almost always negative.

Hardly any retail home furnishings stores field active, involved,instructive sales managers on the selling floor to insure that their compa-nys selling strategy, explained so carefully and thoroughly in sales train-ing, is actually delivered to customers. Usually, each salesperson has hisor her own way of dealing with customers, and the companys strategy bedamned. There are also no effective management systems in place foradjusting deviations from proscribed methods, and no effective mea-surement system to provide managers and salespeople with accurateassessments of their performance. In contrast, The NFL runs one of themost high-tech video studios in the country. A permanent visual record ofevery game is made, studied, compared against the expected standard

and used to coach individual players.Most retail sales managers dont understand how far down the line

coaching has to go, meaning how close to the actual customer, engage-ment should be. In our business, the best possible coaching is done rightdown there with the salesperson and the customer. Sometimes coachingcan consist of as little as a word or two, sometimes more, but always itmust be done against the background of an established selling strategy.The written selling strategy is the standard of behavior against which allactual behavior should be compared.

Feedback is a critical element of coaching and it has to be current, andrelated to actual observed behavior. Your favorite question for salespeoplewhen asking them to compare their behavior against the standard shouldbe, How could that have been better? So when should you ask thatquestion? Should it be at a monthly or semi annual performance review?Of course not! You want to ask the question as close to the actual salesperformance as possible. Only then can you effectively reinforce a coach-ing cycle that consists of measure > train > observe > feedback > observe.

This is really simple. When you have a clearly defined and documentedselling strategy and have built an effective training system around it, theonly way to ensure you get the results you want is to provide your adultemployees with on-the-floor coaching in real situations, and provide themwith supportive environments in which to develop.

Joe Capillo is a furniture industry veteran with 35 years combined experi-ence as a retail consultant and retail industry executive.

He is a contributing editor to FURNITURE WORLD and a frequent speaker at industry functions. Joe makes himself available for private consulta-tions on any aspect of retail sales management and sales education. He can bereached at [email protected]. See many more articles by Joe Capillo onthe FURNITURE WORLD website furninfo.com.

STAYING ALIVESTAYING ALIVE

THE BEST POSSIBLE COACHING

can consist of as little as a word or two, butit must always be done against the

background of an established selling strategy.
http://www.huppe.net/


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DECORATING SCHOOL

Crash CourseLesson #5: Furniture Placement Strategies to Bring Your Rooms to Life.LEARNING BASIC SKILLS BY: MARGARETTDEGANGE, M.ED.

Editors note:This is the fifth articlein our Decorating Crash Course series.The text is written so that you can easi-ly use it to conduct a customer seminaron furniture placement. It can be pre-

sented as is but you should add addi-tional elements to give your seminars apersonal touch as outlined in theDecember/January 2007 issue of FUR-NITURE WORLD Magazine, Simplebut Sensational Seminars: Keys to aMemorable Presentation, posted to thearticle archives on www.furninfo.com.Decorating seminars are a fantasticway to get quality leads and referrals.They help customers to solve decoratingproblems, and they position you as ahome furnishings expert.

Quotation marks only appear at thevery beginning and end of the sampleseminar script for ease of presentation.

I have been black and blue insome spot, somewhere, almost allmy life from too intimate con-tacts with my own furniture.- Frank Lloyd Wright

SAMPLE SCRIPT

FURNITURE ARRANGING

W

elcome everybody to thefifth Decorating School

Crash Course seminargiven compliments of XYZFurniture Store. My name is _______and we will be looking at the heart ofInterior Decorating; the art of furni-ture placement, better known as sim-ply rearranging the furniture.

When I was a child, I was oftengreeted with a new arrangement of ourliving room, dining room, or bedroomfurniture when I came through thedoor after school. My mother had mas-tered the most inexpensive method forgaining an interior design impactshe

knew how to successfully place fur-nishings. It was cheap, and it was easy,and she took full advantage of thefacts. She rearranged the furnitureseveral times a year!

It had a powerful impact on me. Iremember many times feeling asthough I had walked into a new home,basking in the exciting new placement

of otherwise old furniture. It was nice,and it made me feel special. Im surethis played a part in my career choicein the home decorating industry.(Note: You can insert your own interest-

ing or ice breaking story to replacethis and the previous paragraph.)

The point should be clear. Our inte-rior furniture arrangements affect ourlivessometimes mildly, but some-times not. If you have ever been in aroom where the furniture placementwas awkward or unattractive, youprobably felt a sense of unrest. Thereis a certain and sure energy or vibethat comes from a beautifully placedroom. Quite simply, it makes us feelGOOD!

HAPPIER LIVES THROUGH

FURNITURE PLACEMENT

Creating pleasing furniture arrange-ments can help us live happy and pro-ductive lives by contributing to a senseof security and feeling grounded with-in our homes. There is tr

Documents

Furniture World January & February 2008