My mission in this industry has been to unleash
the potential of retailers. Some advice works in normal times. Some is better
suited for times of distress. Most will work in any economy. For example, I
speak and correspond with many floor covering storeowners who are proud they
are personally responsible for the lion’s share of their company’s sales
volume. I truly believe and let them know this is admirable, but for the
business to reach its full potential, it’s critical for owners to develop
programs that will have their salespeople’s skills approaching or even
surpassing the level of their owner.
When I lead
industry seminars that deal with human interaction-customer service, management
or sales-about half of the session is devoted to human skills. This has
prompted some casual observers to offer the half-baked opinion that all of my
sessions are similar.
Whether
your business does a million dollars or 100 million dollars in annual sales
volume, you are likely to be affected by the current economy. Similarly, no
matter what level of success you have attained in manufacturing, distribution
or retailing, you can’t know it all or even 20% of it. It seems the more you
know, the more you realize what you don’t know. Forty-nine years in the
industry and it seems I learn more each year than in the previous one.
We
are well enough along in this downturn that any advice might be coming a little
late. If you're reading this, there’s a good chance you have endured a sharp
drop in demand for flooring. Still, it
is worth noting that there are a few important common sense things that should
remain high on your list these days. They are worth reviewing.
Last
time we discussed the differences between manufacturers’ advertising and retail
advertising. In a nutshell, manufacturers want to create a desire for their
products and retailers want consumers to purchase these products in their
particular store.
Something
I rarely write about is retail advertising. Not that it’s a subject I am
unfamiliar with, but there have been other priorities. In addition to this, the
subject is controversial simply because there are so many opinions on the
subject and more importantly, it is an area where fiber producers, marketing
people and manufacturers insert themselves. While these people and their
organizations are indispensable to all of us, their agendas are at odds with
that of most retailers.
Scarcely a week goes by when some
retailer doesn’t ask that question. My sincere belief is that most flooring
retailers can benefit greatly from aligning with a retail group. Bottom line is
the average group member has significantly higher sales and gross profit than
nonaligned stores which proves the efficacy of joining a group. While less than
40% of floor covering retailers in America are aligned with a group, they
account for over 70% of the volume. My work as an educator, consultant and
organizer of recruitment activities with the major retail groups affords me
access to much information about them.
Times
are tough and from everything we hear things will get tougher in the months
ahead. The building bubble has burst and the fallout is trickling down past the
floor covering business to the plumbers, electricians, carpenters and
dry-wallers. But let’s keep things in perspective: During the Great Depression
unemployment reached 20%. That may be a staggering statistic but it also means
that 80% of Americans were still working. Today things are not nearly as
bleak.
Economic slowdowns and the
sluggish business conditions they bring also represent opportunity. It’s a
chance to reassess what you do and how you do it. If you’re not as busy as last year, why not use the time to
re-evaluate your operation? Think about how you attract new business; how you
go about merchandising and marketing.
Do you close up early on the weekends-and thus lose out on what could be
the busiest time of the week? You have probably had changes in mind for some
time, but as we all know, change sometimes comes hard.
How easy can it get? Leave it to
the retail co-op Big Bob’s to come up with something simple that makes an
incredible difference in your business. The theme of the retailer’s convention
this year was: Be proud of who you are. Be proud of what you do. Be proud of
who you work for. The store owners on hand didn’t have to have this explained
to them. Some are among the nation’s largest flooring retailers and many posted
healthy sales increases for 2007. (One owner was up 45% last year!)