McSwain Carpet and Floors is the winner of the World Floor Covering Association's (WFCA) Gold Standard Award for excellence in retailing.

“McSwain stood out from the crowd in many ways but their overall mantra sums it up best ‘to put the customer first and to meet and exceed expectations 100% of the time,’” said Scott Humphrey, WFCA's CEO. “Not only has this store continued to achieve financial growth in a challenging market, they have also netted high ratings in customer satisfaction, retention, and new business word-of-mouth referrals. A true testament of their retail mastery—what some might consider to be the Holy Grail—they have achieved extremely high ratings for employee satisfaction and retention.”

Recognized by many for outstanding customer service, McSwain has designed unique tactics to keep customers happy and coming back with repeat business. A pre-installation checklist helps to ensure that everyone involved from the customer to the installer are all on the same page. A company representative is also designated on every job to stay in touch with the customer throughout each phase of the process from ordering to post installation. McSwain instills in their staff the importance of exceeding customer expectations and as part of their approach they empower their staff to make immediate decisions when problems need to be addressed and corrected. Not having to deal with “red tape” and other delays alleviates frustration and disappointment and ensures customer experience that is as smooth and stress-free as possible. Post-installation, McSwain sends all customers an online Satisfaction Survey. If problems are detected the management team swings into action to correct less than positive experiences promptly.

McSwain has also made heavy investments in their marketing programs. This included revamping their website. The new site is up by 76% in unique visitors from 2014 to 2015. Social media has also been a big growth area for the store with double-digit growth in number of followers on the most popular sites including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest. In total McSwain has reached over 475,000 people via social media in 2015 alone, according to the company.

“We have been serving the metro Cincinnati community for over 45 years and in that time we have continued to build on our foundation, not only as a retailer focused on our customer’s experience but also as a pillar of support in our community,” said Jason McSwain, owner of the retail operation. “At McSwain, we value ‘giving back’ as a central mission in our business model. Our employees are encouraged to be leaders in all capacities within the community and our business supports this. We are active with many causes including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, ‘Homes For Our Troops’, Habitat for Humanity, the establishment of a free medical clinic in Cincinnati and multiple other charitable causes.”

In addition to one standout retailer, for the first time the WFCA is also recognizing five additional stores this year for Gold Standard Honorable Mentions:

o Carpet Plus based in Charlottesville, Va.

o Classique Floors based in Portland, Ore.

o Sergenians Floor Coverings based in Madison, Wis.

o Cash and Carry Flooring based in Traverse City, Mich.

o Coles Fine Flooring based in San Diego

For more information, visit wfca-pro.org.