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OPERATIONSmanagement04 FOAM PACKAGINGMATERIALS RECYCLING BASICS Recycling EPS now makes sense for fur-niture retailers. There are a number ofprocessing alternatives that can changeits disposal from a big expense to onethat can actually generate a payback.
MARKETINGmanagement12 REVENUE OPPORTUNITIES WITH FREE WEBSITE ANALYTICSGoogle has empowered any home fur-nishings retailer who wants to uncover
and/or create revenue opportunities byinstalling Google Analytics on his or herwebsite. Here are the top ten ways youcan use analytics to generate moreoffline sales from your online efforts.
24 FORGET OLD MEDIAUSE PEOPLE MEDIA™ -- PART 5People Media™ begin at the top. Yourstore’s Brand begins with your own per-sonal Brand. All of us have a Brand. Youcannot fake it. Here are easy and inex-pensive tips for using People Media onyour website, on your sales floor, in yourdirect mail and even at the point ofdelivery.
36 RETAIL PROFILE: DECORIUMOnce customers walk in the front door
of Decorium, this retailer’s focus is onengaging them and keeping themfocused on the home furnishings buyingprocess.
SALES SKILLS/management18 16 BEDDING SALES TIPS Sixteen ways you can boost beddingsales... from developing rapport (#1) Tohandling customer objections by treat-ing them as implied needs.
46 WHEN SHE SAYS, “I’LL KNOW IT WHEN I SEE IT.” The main reason salespeople shouldnot handle the “I’ll know it when I see it”with resigned reticence is that to do so isto betray their role as consultants. Hereis how you might, in this situation, getthe customer’s permission to assist themin finding the home furnishings that theytruly need and deserve.
16 HELP YOUR BEDDING CUSTOMERS TO COOL IT! This article is the first in a two-part seriesexploring the physiology of sleep, theevolution of bedding products, valuepromises and how to accurately conveythese messages to consumers at thepoint of sale.
DEPARTMENTS50 BEST SELLING DESIGNSFURNITURE WORLD editors’ picks ofbest selling furniture and accessorydesigns.
2 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
FURNITURE WORLD MAGAZINE • BPA Association of Business Publishers
1333A North Ave. #437, New Rochelle, NY 10804Tel: 914-235-3095 • Fax: 914-235-3278 • www.furninfo.com
Publisher • Barton Bienenstock • [email protected] • Russell Bienenstock • [email protected] President Sales • Thelma Mason Davis • [email protected] Publisher • Larry Stein • [email protected] Manager Eastern Region • Gary Siegel • [email protected] Executive Eastern Region • Jon Siegel • [email protected] Editor • S.T. Bienenstock • [email protected] & Feature Editor • Janet Holt-Johnstone • [email protected]/ Design Editor • Barbara Bienenstock • [email protected] • Gifford Dorival • [email protected] Feature Editor • Cathy Finney • [email protected] Education Feature Editor • Cathy Finney • [email protected] Feature Editor • Larry Mullins • [email protected]
FURNITURE WORLD: (ISSN0738-890X) - Published every 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 andadditional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: send address changes to FURNITURE WORLD, 1333A NorthAvenue, #437, New Rochelle, NY 10804. Copyright 2007 Towse Publishing Company, all rights reserved.Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.
Cover Photo: Featured is Manchester & Britania from Kathy IrelandHome by Omnia Furniture. These classic pieces were designed with themost sophisticated furniture purchaser in mind. Attention to detail, deepseating, nail heads and tufting will allow your customers to turn their living rooms into libraries. See page 1 in this issue or visitwww.omnialeather.com for more information.
IN THIS ISSUEThe Business Solutions Magazine For Furniture Retailers
FOUNDED 1870 • Visit www.furninfo.com The Industry’s Most Extensive Furniture Site
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 8:57 PM Page 2
The April 2006 issue of FURNITUREWORLD Magazine provided acomprehensive overview of recy-cling and trash disposal. This arti-
cle, posted to the Operations ArticleArchives on www.furninfo.com includedinformation on recycling Styrofoam (EPS)used to provide damage protection formerchandise from offshore and domesticmanufacturing locations.
While EPS is great for this function, itsdisposal characteristics are of increasingconcern to furniture retailers for cost andenvironmental reasons. Styrofoam orEPS is a composite of 2-5% petroleumbased polystyrene and 95-98% air. Thismaterial doesn’t compress in compactors
and a thousand pounds of it can fill a 53ft. trailer, making disposal very expen-sive.
Recycling EPS now makes sense forfurniture retailers. There are a number ofprocessing alternatives that can changeits disposal from a big expense to onethat can actually generate a payback.This article will provide highlights of sev-eral successful approaches. One willsurely be viable for your company.
CASE STUDY LINDER’S FURNITURE
Linder’s Furniture, the 2007 WesternHome Furnishings Association Retailer of
the Year, operates ten locations inSouthern California. Operations DirectorMark Kantor provided insight into acomprehensive program at Linder’s thatresulted in the recycling of approximate-ly 95% of all traditional waste productsincluding office paper, corrugated, plas-tic film and EPS. Only garbage goes inthe trash now.
Their on-site installation of Runi equip-ment provided by Olympic Wire &Equipment resulted in a payback in lessthan one year. It also resulted in favor-able publicity in the local papers andpositive employee attitudes regardingtheir roles in making the environmentbetter.
Foam Packaging Materials
RECYCLINGStyrofoam (EPS) is 2-5% petroleum based styrene and 95-98% air.
Recycling this bulky product now makes sense for home furnishings retailers.
Warehouse Management by Dan Bolger
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/3/08 2:40 PM Page 4
Runi equipment handles EPS by pro-cessing it into dense foam blocks. Theend result looks like logs that are easilystacked and palletized. The materialfrom Linder’s is shipped to TimbronCorporation in Walnut Creek Californiato make interior trim moldings for HomeDepot and other customers.
About twenty other locations havebeen set up with Runi equipment by
Olympic Wire & Equipment in the WestCoast region and there are numerousothers throughout the USA andInternational locations.
OTHER EPS RECYCLING OPTIONS
If you are a smaller retailer for whomthis capital expenditure on equipmentdoesn’t make sense, there may be other
options. Check to see if there are com-munity-wide recycling solutions forsmaller generators in your area.The Cityof Roseville CA, for example, has beenoperating a community wide programfor EPS since fall 2007. Materials can bedropped off at several recycling centers.The city provides containers for pick upfrom local furniture retailers generatinglarger amounts of EPS. Arrangementshave been made for businesses to drop
6 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
Runi equipment handles EPS by processing it intodense foam blocks. The end result looks like logs thatare easily stacked and palletized. The material fromLinder’s is shipped to Timbron Corporation in WalnutCreek California.
RT has designed an EPS densifying mechanism using high volume extrudertechnology: EPS scrap is densified intohard ingots going through crusher, heatbands, and extruder. The XT-200 is suitablefor smaller to medium sized retailers. TheXT-700 unit can process volumes for community recycling or large warehouseoperations. The XT-500 is the most popular,used by City Furniture and EldoradoFurniture.
XT-400
XT-200
XT-500
XT-700
Foam Packaging Materials
RECYCLING
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/3/08 2:55 PM Page 6
off EPS peanuts at package stores forreuse, and bubble wrap is recycled foruse by local libraries to package interlibrary loans. Sam Bigley of the city’sEnvironmental Utilities department saysthat the response has been very positiveand they are looking to expand theircapacity.
Another approach to EPS recycling isto shred and extrude the foam material.This process removes air and producesingots that can be molded into lampbases, baseboards and similar itemsanywhere in the world. The ingots arefork lift handled in either large bags orboxes. City Furniture, Eldorado Furnitureand many others are using RecycleTechequipment that uses this technology.
There are also numerous companiesthat can use packing foam for alternativeuses. For instance, Rastra Inc. re-processes the foam for insulated con-crete forms. This option may only be costeffective for you if you are within a rea-
sonable distance from the secondaryuser of the material. After reviewing thecost of disposal versus transporting to aNew Jersey foam recycler, SuburbanFurniture’s Mark Friedman chose haulingto the recycling facility. They accumulate
the foam in large plastic bags or mat-tress bags and deliver them in their owntruck.
In conversations with retailers anddelivery companies at the 2008International Furniture Transportation &
RECYCLING EPS NOW MAKESSENSE FOR FURNITURE RETAILERS.There are a number of processing alternatives that canchange its disposal from a big expense to one that canactually generate a payback.
AFTER REVIEWINGTHE COST OF
DISPOSAL VERSUSTRANSPORTING
to a New Jersey foam recycler, Suburban
Furniture’s Mark Friedmanchose hauling to the
recycling facility.
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 8:58 PM Page 7
Logistics Conference, everyone con-curred that proper separation of the var-ious materials for recycling is essential.Foam glued to corrugated can’t be recy-cled. Retailers should ask their manufac-turing suppliers, to work towards incor-porating packaging details that maxi-mize recycling opportunities.
Whether one system is better thananother is beyond the scope of this arti-cle but users of each system werepleased with their respective results. Anysolution is obviously better than land fill-ing EPS. Both Runi and RecycleTech offer
equipment with capacities for small,medium and large generators of foam.The current value is in the range of 8 to30 cents per pound depending on geo-graphic location and market conditions.
ADDITIONALINFORMATION
Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers:http://www.epspackaging.org/
Olympic Wire & Equipment Company :www.olympicequipment.com
Recycle Tech Corp:http://recycletechno.com
City of Roseville CA:www.roseville.ca.us/eu
Daniel Bolger P.E. provides operations con-sulting services to clients throughout NorthAmerica .You can contact Dan at [email protected] or call 740-503-8875.For more information on this or other trans-portation, logistics and furniture warehous-ing topics, go to www.furninfo.com to readall of Dan’s articles.
ANOTHER APPROACH TO EPS RECYCLINGis to shred and extrude the foam material. This process removes air
and produces ingots that can be molded into lamp bases, baseboards, etc.
8 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 8:58 PM Page 8
Breathing new life into your world.
Building C promises to be the grandest opening yet!
World Market Center Las Vegas now has more than 5 million square feet of new vendors and new products—all located, for the fi rst time, on one, spectacular campus!
To register and book hotel rooms go to www.lasvegasmarket.com©2
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Welcome to the new world.
05-08- vegas page 10-11:Furniture World 5/1/08 6:33 PM Page 11
Just about every home furnishingsretailer has a website these days.Some are well done, customerfocused and brand appropriate.
Many aren’t, but we will leave that dis-cussion for another day.
Even fewer retailers take the time andeffort to track their website analytics. So
why should you do this? Well, first, it’sfree. No strings attached. Google hasempowered anyone who wants touncover and/or create revenue opportu-
nities by installing Google Analytics onhis or her website. Only a company with Google’s mar-
ket power and incredibly smart employ-ees would make such a useful toolavailable for free, but they have, andeveryone of you with a website shouldwant to use it - especially in our currenteconomic environment. Working efficiently to maximize ROI is
imperative in times like these andGoogle Analytics makes this much eas-ier and less time consuming. It deliversmany of the metrics you need to accu-rately measure the effectiveness ofalmost every aspect of your online andoffline advertising dollars.With careful review and interpretation,
you will be able to immediately makechanges to your website and to otherreal world operational areas to bringyou into closer alignment with your cus-tomers’ desires – NOW and in realtime.
INSTALLINGGOOGLE ANALYTICS
How do you install Google Analyticson your website, and what, exactly, willit allow you to do?
Create Revenue Opportunities With
WEBSITE ANALYTICSFree website analytics can help you unlock the potential
of your website, your advertising and your business.
Internet Marketing By Leslie Carothers
JJan 1, 2007 - Jan 31, 2007
400
800
400
800
January 1, 2007 January 8, 2007 January 15, 2007 January 22, 2007 January 29, 2007
VisitsJan 1, 2007 - Jan 31, 2007Dec 1, 2006 - Dec 31, 2006
Site Usage
16,107 VisitsDec 1, 2006 - Dec 31, 2006: 13,209 (21.94%)
3.86 Pages/VisitDec 1, 2006 - Dec 31, 2006: 4.08 (-5.37%)
36.81% Bounce RateDec 1, 2006 - Dec 31, 2006: 35.98% (2.30%)
62,142 PageviewsDec 1, 2006 - Dec 31, 2006: 53,855 (15.39%)
00:03:22 Avg. Time on SiteDec 1, 2006 - Dec 31, 2006: 00:03:31 (-4.27%)
50.44% % New VisitsDec 1, 2006 - Dec 31, 2006: 49.73% (1.42%)
Visitors Overview
300
600
300
600
Visitors
10,160
Traffic Sources Overview
Direct11,543 (71.66%)
Search Engines3,108 (19.30%)
Referring Sites1,456 (9.04%)
Browsers
Browser Visits % visits
Internet Explorer 13,136 81.55%
Firefox 2,349 14.58%
Safari 393 2.44%
Netscape 116 0.72%
Opera 55 0.34%
Visits
17 13,214
Map Overlay world
Export
Traffic Sources
Content
Goals
Ecommerce
Settings Email
Dashboard
Visitors
Saved Reports
Settings About this Report Conversion University Common Questions Report Finder
Analytics Settings View Reports:
My Account | Help | Contact Us | Sign OutAnalytics
Click to select Website Profile
?
?
?
?
Dashboard
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 8:58 PM Page 12
First, to install it, type the following linkinto your browser’s window and followthe directions found on this blog:http://www.themeplayground.com/how-to-install-google-analytics-on-your-wordpress-blog.
Now, what are the top ten ways retail-ers can use analytics to uncover or cre-ate revenue opportunities?
1 The executive dashboard functionallows you to see all of the most
critically important metrics from yourwebsite at one glance. If there is a prob-lem area, you can immediately takeaction to correct it.
2 You can target your advertising dol-lars much more effectively because
this useful tool allows you to see deepgeographic data. For instance:
•You can see exactly what zip codesyour website’s visitors are in.
•You can determine exactly whatareas of your trading area are gar-nering more page views.
•You can measure if your offline adsare working by noting how manymore page views you had from aparticular geographical area by dateor time based on when you placed acertain ad.
3 You can see how your website isperforming with different date
ranges-at a glance. This allows you toimmediately see the results of a directmail campaign or an ad that was placedin a more traditional media format.
4 If you advertise with AdWords or AdSense, Google Analytics will pro-
vide you with specific metrics for eachcampaign, group or keyword you use.You can see the number of clicks, thecost, and conversion and if it resulted inan ecommerce transaction (if you haveecommerce) or some other goal thatyou’ve pre-defined. Then, it will calculateyour margin-revenue spent vs. the cost ofacquiring the customer.
5 Site overlay allows you to see howmany times each link on your site
has been clicked and whether that ulti-mately led to conversion if you are run-ning ecommerce. If not, you can take alook at your most clicked on links andbrainstorm what is it about those linksthat is appealing to your visitors. Thenyou can replicate that information inother media. In addition, you can re-work those links that are not attractingvisitors to make them more relevant. Youcan do this as often as you wish.
6 Analytics also allows you to set upspecific reports and specify when
and to whom they will automatically besent. This makes for clear communica-tion and huge productivity savings.
7 You will be able to see which key-words visitors are using to come to
your site and their ranking. This allowsyou to set up targeted advertising cam-paigns with those keywords, send outoffers to them and add relevant contentto your website to bring them back formore. For instance, if the number onekeyword that people are using on yoursite is “couch” vs. “sofa”, you can buythe ad word “couch” in order to gener-ate more traffic. It can also alert you tobizarre keywords and unusual trends thatyou would never find out about other-wise. If you find out, for example, that forthree months running, the top three key-words on your site are: “outdoor furni-ture”, “kitchen tables” and “area rugs”,you can add appropriate content to yoursite and also alert your buyers to the factthat consumers are looking for theseproduct categories on your website andprobably in your store as well.
8 You will be able to identify websitesthat people are coming from to visit
your site and also view the number ofvisitors coming from each of these sites.You may want to consider sponsoredsearch ads on sites that send you themost traffic. In addition, if you do ecom-
You can measure if your offlineads are working by notinghow many more page viewsyou had from a particular geographical area by date ortime based on when youplaced a certain ad.
May/June 2008 FURNITURE WORLD 13
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 8:58 PM Page 13
merce, you will be able to see how manypeople convert off of each referring siteand so understand the relative quality ofthe traffic you receive.
9 You can track how many of yourvisitors come back to your site
again and again so you know if yourcontent and offers are relevant. If not,you can make changes to bring up yournumbers.
10 Last, but not least, GoogleAnalytics tells you what the top
content is for each page on your site.You can see how many times it has beenviewed and how long the average cus-tomer “sticks” to that piece of content.By looking at this daily or weekly, youcan determine what content your cus-tomers find valuable. This will allow youto offer more valuable content, offers orcoupons on specific pages, or stage aspecial store event that relates to thatcontent.
There are many more metrics thatGoogle Analytics offers you, as well. Asyou explore and become familiar withthis tool, you and your team will findeven more creative ways to uncover and
create revenue based on your particularneeds.
Before setting up your reports, youmay also want to take a look at thisexcellent article, “Make Web AnalyticsActionable: Focus On “What’sChanged” at www.kaushik.net/avinash.This article points out that that siftingthrough piles of web data can be difficultand tedious and mentions additionaltools that savvy marketers can use tofocus attention on changes in the webuse data stream over time. These toolscan help you to more quickly see whichkeywords are rising or falling and helpyou to find hidden trends in website data.
For any retailer, using and takingaction on the metrics available from thefree Google Analytics application is ahuge step forward. It can help to tightlyalign your buying, visual merchandising,website, marketing and advertisingteams in order to attract new customerswho are looking for companies thatunderstand them, listen to them, engagewith them and advertise to them withoffers based on their real interests.
Once your customers understand thatyou are authentically and consistentlytargeting your messages to their particu-
lar needs, your opportunity to gain mar-ket share, margins and referrals canincrease exponentially. These customers,cultivated intelligently through your useof leading edge website analytics arelikely to become your biggest advocatesin both the real and online worlds.
Leslie Carothers, is a 25 year veteranof the home furnishings industry and theprincipal of The Kaleidoscope Partnership- a national company that helps retailersand manufacturers leverage the internetand their websites to powerfully and prof-itably impact their businesses. Her areasof expertise include: Using analytics todrive profitable growth through differentbusiness units; writing content for retailand manufacturer websites; increasingconversion rates from phone or emailinquiries; and helping retailers and man-ufacturers lay out their websites for max-imum ease of consumer and consultantuse and functionality.
Questions on any aspect of internetmarketing including how to use websiteanalytics, can be directed to Leslie viathe furninfo.com message boards oremail [email protected]. She can alsobe reached directly at 713.705.2482
14 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
You can see how your website is performing with different date ranges-at aglance. This allows you toimmediately see the results of a direct mail campaign or an ad that was placed in amore traditional media format.
Google Analytics
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 8:58 PM Page 14
In the past decade, awareness aboutthe importance of a good night’ssleep has increased dramatically. Thebedding industry and consumers alike
have reaped the benefits of new medicalknowledge about sleep and the body’ssleep physiology.
Dr. James Maas, pioneer in the field ofsleep research, helped bring this knowl-edge to the masses with his 1998 BestSeller, “Power Sleep”. In his book, theCornell University professor tackles suchtopics as sleep physiology and ways tohelp improve the quality of sleep. Gettingregular exercise, for example, is just oneof the factors in helping one drift intounconsciousness at bedtime. Bedroomenvironment and diet also matter.
William C. Dement, MD, PhD andfounder of the world's first sleep disorders
center at Stanford University alsoexplored the physiology of sleep. Dr.Dement was the first to intensively studythe connection between rapid eye move-ment (REM sleep) and dreaming. In hisbook, “The Promise of Sleep,” Dr.Dement teaches how to "reclaim healthysleep" in one’s own life by adopting a"sleep-smart lifestyle."
Harvard professor and founder of theBehavioral Medicine Insomnia Program,Gregg Jacobs, not only explored how toachieve healthy sleep, but actually over-come insomnia. One of the most impor-tant factors he stresses: developing asleep-enhancing lifestyle including diet,exercise, and an understanding of theimportance of body temperature.
An informed consumer now looks formuch more than initial comfort in their
bedding – and it’s our responsibility to bea knowledgeable resource on the partic-ulars of sleep physiology.
Historically, the bedding industry hasstruggled to rid itself of the commoditylabel and longed for the day when a newmattress was mentioned in the samebreath as a vacation or health club mem-bership. Now that medical science hasconfirmed and stressed the importanceof healthy sleep, that day has finallyarrived at retail. The bedding industryhas matured before our very eyes.Bedding technologies now encompasseverything from memory foam and per-formance fabrics to synthetic and naturalfill pillow tops.
This article is the first in a two-partseries exploring the physiology of sleep,the evolution of bedding products, value
Help Bedding Customers To
COOL IT!Part 1: Customers need more than just a mattress. They are really looking for a good night’s sleep!
Sleep Physiology & Technology by Guys Eckert
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 8:58 PM Page 16
The problem isn’t that people aren’ t spending mone y. It’s that
retailers aren’t advertising effectively to get customers to
come see them.
There’s nothing more frustrating than
spending thousands of dollars on advertising
and getting poor results. It’s enough to
drive you crazy!
How Direct Response Marketing Can Increase Your Sales And Profits
It’s Like A Direct Response Ad Agency…With Paying All The
Commissions! Get Ads, flyers, mailers and more already done for you!
It’s no secret that times have been difficult for retailers over the past several months in the home furnishings industry. Talk of recession abounds. GOB sales all around you… customers holding back the purse strings because of economic uncertainty, and gloom and doom all over the news make for a difficult retail cycle now and into 2008. However there is good news.
NEW PROGRAM GIVES YOU ADS, MAILERS, AND MARKETING PIECES
PROVEN TO PUT CUSTOMERS IN YOUR STORE… ALREADY DONE FOR YOU!
Even during tough times many retailers thrive, gain market share, and make more money than ever before. They do it by mar keting ef fect ivel y to get new member s. If you think people aren’t buying furniture or bedding, just look at the IKEA parking lot. It’s full from morning till night! The problem isn’t that people aren’ t spending money .
It’s that retailers aren’t advertising effectively to get customers to come see them, instead of IKEA, Costco, Sam’s Club, or any number of other big box competitors.
Getting Customers In The Door Is EVERYTHING.
It’s really quite simple. No customers mean no sales. The number one priority of ever y store owner in the world should be M ARKETING to get new and past customers into the store.
The problem is marketing can be a fickle, difficult and unpredictable thing. What worked in the past isn’t working any more…there’s nothing more frustrating than spending thousands of dollars on advertising and getting poor results. It’s enough to drive you crazy! (Believe me, I’ve been there too!) The Solution Is A New Kind
Of Marketing Well, not new really. But very new to most home furnishings retailers. It’s called Direct Response Marketing. You’ve probably read several of my articles in this magazine, even received information from us in the mail.
But Things Have Changed, And We’ve Changed Too!
Over the past year Ethan and I have been teaching our 200+ retailer members how to use this new kind of marketing to increase sales with great results. The problem is learning and creating this type of marketing is difficult, time consuming, and expensive to learn.
These professionally written ads have been tested in the real world to generate powerful results, FAST. They all have the 11 essential elements that are needed to make an ad perform incredibly well. This includes engaging copy, great offers, compelling headlines, testimonials, guarantees and more.
Now you can get a marketing calendar with effective ads EVERY SINGLE MONTH (proven to fill your st ore with customers) without having to do any of the creative work yourself for just $397 per month. Just one new customer from these ads will more than pay back your small investment. Plus we guarantee you’ ll get much mor e than just 1 new customer from these Don e For You Ads. That’s a fraction of the price you’d pay to have an ad agency or freelance copywriter create them for you (Plus ad ag encies don’ t even know how to do this ty pe of marketing!)
Sorry! NOT EVERYONE CAN JOIN
Each member using these powerful marketing pieces is allowed to veto their top competitor. If you ar e already on the veto lis t you cannot join. So call today to make sure you get involved before it’s too late!
CALL 800-393-2054
ADVERTISEMENT
Call 800-393-2054 Now To Get More Information And To Finally Fill Your Store With Customers Using
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05-08- traffic guys 17:Furniture World 5/6/08 1:59 PM Page 17
promises and how to accurately conveythese messages to consumers at thepoint of sale.
SLEEP PHYSIOLOGYSleep experts like Drs. Maas, Dement
and Jacobs all agree that – aside fromliving a generally healthy lifestyle – oneof the most important factors in getting agood night’s sleep is the entire sleepenvironment. Wall color, lighting, fengshui, room temperature, and sleep sur-face all contribute. Is there a better placeto address all of these issues than a fullservice retail furniture store?
With our hectic schedules, it can be achallenge to get a solid eight hours ofsleep every night. Our daily balancingact of work, family, friends and every-thing else leaves little time to worryabout keeping our bedrooms in an “opti-mum sleep condition”. There are, how-
16 BeddingSALES TIPS
BY PETER MARINO
1 Create rapport with the customers. Don’t make this a grim experience.You’re not selling caskets.
2 Find out what their current mattress is like. Was it once a comfortablemattress that gradually lost its comfort?
3 What’s wrong with its current performance? Does it sag? Is its edge support gone?
4 Make shopping for a mattress a pleasant experience. Customers don’tbuy when they’re mad, sad, or scared. They only buy when they're glad.
Make them glad.
5 Shoe salespeople don’t just show their shoes; they have their customerstry them out. Don’t merely point to your mattresses. Have the customers
try them, and not just for a few seconds.
6 Once you get through the regularly asked closed probes having to dowith size, who’s going to be sleeping on the mattress, etc., start to ask
some open probes, such as, “Mind telling me what the most important thingyour looking for in your new mattress?”
7 Tell your customers you are going to have them go through comfort buying. Don’t refer to it as comfort selling. Unfortunately, the word selling
has negative connotations like the words taxes and mortgages.
8 You can never know too much about your sleep sets, but you can talktoo much about them. Customers don’t come in to learn about how to
manufacture a sleep set. Were that the case, your owner would have advertised for them to go to a mattress factory.
9 If you are selling in a furniture store, you may need to guide your customers to your store’s sleep shop. Along the way, develop good rap-
port with your customers, and if you have the time, get some valuable infor-mation from them. You might try the 3-step opening: “Would you mind tellingme, on the way to our sleep shop, what your greatest concern is about buyinga mattress? That way I can skip all those questions that have nothing to dowith why you’re here. Would that be all right?” You can use the same 3-stepopening if you work in a sleep shop. Simply skip the words “on the way to oursleep shop.”
10 Regarding the manufacturers specs, take your cue from the customer.Most customers don’t want to hear about the specs. No matter how
good you are at explaining them, most customers just end up confused. If thecustomer should ask about the specs, explain them as briefly as you can byusing the model samples with which your store provides you.
11 Don’t talk features and benefits until your customer gets on one ofyour mattresses and his or her body language tells you he or she likes
THE SLEEPENVIRONMENTWall color, lighting,
feng shui, room temperature, and sleep surface all contribute. Isthere a better place to
address all of these issuesthan a full service
retail furniture store?
18 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 8:58 PM Page 18
ever, some simple things that can bedone in order to achieve a better night’ssleep. But first, we must know the basicsof sleep physiology:
•Your body must cool down in order togo to sleep.
•Your body continues to cool off duringthe evening until just before youawake.
•Your body begins preparing for sleepat sundown when your retina sends asignal to your brain - which, in turn,sends a signal to the pineal gland tobegin to produce Melatonin.
•Melatonin is a naturally occurringchemical that lowers your body tem-perature and makes you drowsy (thishas the same impact as taking a warmshower before going to bed; yourbody temperature elevates while inthe shower, then cools once you comeout). That change in temperaturemakes you drowsy and helps you pre-
pare for sleep.
•There are 5 phases of sleep in a typi-cal sleep cycle with the 5th being theall-important REM (Rapid EyeMovement) sleep. Studies have shownthat REM propensity increases whenyour body temperature is at its lowestpoint during sleep…typically in theearly morning hours. during REM yourbrain reorganizes and recharges forthe next day. This is also the state inwhich you experience vivid dreams.
•You must go through all 5 phases ofsleep consecutively in order to
achieve REM sleep. If you wake up inthe middle of Phase 3, you don’t fallback asleep and pick up where youleft off. You will have to successfullycomplete Phases 1 and 2 again.
•Most sleep experts recommend settingyour room temperature between 65and 68 degrees Fahrenheit for opti-mum sleep.
Since most consumers don’t know allthe technical details of sleep physiology,it’s our responsibility to explain it.Remember – having knowledge aboutand explaining these topics will also dif-
that one. At that point you might say something like the following; “What you’reliking about this mattress is the way it cradles and caresses you as it supportsyou. Let me show you a sample of the foam on this mattress. It’s the same foamthat burn centers use to conform to the sensitive bodies of burn victims. Features tell, but benefits sell.
12 The best way to handle a price objection is to make use of the followingsayings before objection ever comes up:
(a) When you buy quality, you cry only once.
(b) You don’t always get what you pay for, but you hardly ever get what youdon’t pay for.
(c) Price is much like condiments; you should be putting them on food thatalready tastes good. Price alone won’t ever give you a good night’s sleep,or your present mattress would be doing that for you. It’s already paid for!
13 In asking for the sale, timing is everything. But keep in mind that timingmust always be accompanied by buying signals. The stronger, the better.
It is at the point of asking for the sale that all the little things you did to createexcellent rapport with your customer pay off. Remember, customers don’t buywhen they are mad, sad, scared; only when they are glad.
14 Remember that rapport is both a state and a process, and that it is avolatile state. As soon as you discontinue the process that won you
rapport, it can vanish in a second.
15 When you ask for the sale, do so with confidence. Remember theRoman poet Livy’s words: Confidence begets confidence.
16 Handle every customer objection as an implied need. Your task is tosupport the implied need, and not to look upon the objection as an
adversary to be overcome. Selling is a collaborative process, not a competitiveone.
COOL IT!
CREATING A SLEEP COCOON
may look fashionable, but it can actually
work against what ourcustomers’ bodies are
naturally trying to do –and that’s cool down.
20 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
Continued from page 18
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 8:58 PM Page 20
ferentiate you from your competition.When purchasing a bed, most con-sumers simply lie down to see if they feel“comfortable”. Unfortunately, this isoften in the middle of a very crowded,noisy showroom with bright lights andtemperatures not conducive to relax-ation. As sleep experts, you can help cre-ate an environment that will more accu-rately reflect the optimum sleep environ-ment, educating your customer and cre-ating a scenario that will ultimately leadto your customer making the proper pur-chase.
Historically, home textiles retailershave stressed the technique of layering
bedding products to consumers. Thisprocess can actually work against themand contribute to many sleepless nights!Remember, we’re all walking fur-naces…there’s warm moisture radiatingoff our skin at all times. Creating theirown little sleep cocoon may look fash-ionable, but it can actually work againstwhat our customers’ bodies are natural-ly trying to do – and that’s cool down.The heat radiating from their skin getstrapped inside the cocoon, causing therelative humidity and microclimate tem-perature to elevate. If they’re like 80% ofthe consumers in this country, the nextstep involves throwing the covers off or
sticking a leg out to cool down. Whenthey get too cool, the leg comes back inand the covers come back on. Someconsumers do that for the first 15 min-utes they’re in bed, and others do that allnight long. Think about it - if they tossand turn for a total of one hour eachnight, by the end of week they’ve lost theequivalent of a full night’s sleep!
Now that we know what it takes toachieve a good night’s sleep, we cancontinue in the next issue of FURNITUREWORLD Magazine to look at emergingtechnologies that are paving the way tobetter sleep. We’ll not only delve intonew bedding technologies, but also lookat examples of manufacturers who arepioneering the bedding market throughproduct development and retailerswhose innovative point-of-sale, market-ing and advertising strategies are payinghuge dividends.
Guys Eckert has been with OutlastTechnologies since 1999. He is respon-sible for product development, supplychain management, sales and market-ing, and overall profit and loss for thebusiness unit. Guy is an expert in spe-cialized bedding, top of bed products,mattresses and more. He possesses aunique point of view on how new tech-nologies are advancing the future of thebedding industry and permanently rais-ing the bar for comfort standards. Heholds a Bachelor of Science degree fromEmbry Riddle Aeronautical University.
Outlast Technologies, Inc. a pioneer indeveloping phase-change materials andapplications. As an innovative technolo-gy company, Outlast has launched tem-perature-regulating technology in appar-el, footwear, bedding and accessories.Originally developed for NASA,Outlast® fibers, fabrics and coatingscontain patented microencapsulatedphase-change materials calledThermocules™, which absorb, store, andrelease heat, providing increased com-fort for consumers.
HELP BEDDING CUSTOMERS COOL IT!
22 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 8:58 PM Page 22
Updated For Digital Age - 7 Lost
AD SECRETSPart 5: You use People Media™ every day whether you know it or not. They determine your “Brand,” but are you maximizing their potential?
Advertising Strategies by Larry Mullins
“Mother, will you please look at mejust once as though you reallysaw me?” That sad line is fromthe famous play, Our Town, by
Thornton Wilder. So, what has it got to dowith selling furniture? If you can use yourimagination, a great deal. Because, manypeople who work in furniture stores andmany shoppers have the same feeling asEmily Webb, the character in the play whouttered those words. Why? Because few fur-niture stores have great People Media™.
People Media™ begin at the top. Theyare character-driven. You may be think-ing: “Hey, wait a minute. Isn’t this articlesupposed to be about the digital ageand branding my store? I don’t need alecture about character.” I’m sure youdon’t. But, the most important messagestore owners can take home today is thattheir store’s Brand begins with their ownpersonal Brand. All of us have a Brand.
We cannot fake it. Whether you are a CEO, or in sales,
or are a vendor, or a delivery person, orany other associate, you also have a per-sonal Brand. It has been said that thesalesperson is the store to the customer.This is true enough. In fact, every associ-ate in the store is, by degree, the store.So is the delivery captain (more on thatlater), and to an even greater degree,the boss.
There are four principle factors thatquickly project your Brand:
• How do I look? • How do I sound? • What do I say? • How well do I listen?
An astonishing fifty-five percent of yourBrand is communicated by facial expres-sion and body language alone. Your
voice—not including your words—maytransmit as much as thirty-eight percentof your meaning in face-to-face commu-nications. And your words (at least in thefirst minute or less) account for onlyseven percent of your communication. Ifyou don’t like the way your associatesare expressing the Brand of your compa-ny, there is a strong possibility they aremodeling you. If not you, then they aremodeling your managers, who in turnare likely modeling you.
In his book, The Irresistible Offer…How to Sell Your Product in ThreeSeconds or Less, Mark Joyner suggeststhat his own sales super-guru Brandrequires several elements. (You canadjust these elements any way you wantfor your status as super furniture entre-preneur, or super sales person, or what-ever):
• Impeccable grooming
24 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
Wendell uses no dazzling graphics, but the Brand, thestory, and the personality of thestore are projected through andthrough. When he uses his photoand introduces his associates inprint advertising, it is especially effective because he has alreadyestablished a Brand with thecommunity.
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 10:59 PM Page 24
• Friendly smile• Confident posture• Outgoing and kind nature• “My spirit shining through”• First words: Something disarming
and friendly
Joyner adds this note: “Some peoplemay read these words and want to vomit,and that’s OK. Cynical and sarcasticpeople may not like guys like me, andthat’s cool. My [Brand] will sort rightthrough them. I don’t want to be aroundthem and they don’t want to be aroundme. No worries.”
Since you are still reading, I will pre-sume you find the list of qualities thatJoyner recommends is at least worthconsidering. And, hopefully you buy intothe premise that your character is the pri-mary molder of your store’s Brand. Youunderstand that the quality of yourPeople Media™ begins with what youproject to your associates, your cus-tomers, and your vendors. What are youcommunicating to your managers andassociates? Integrity? Confidence?Grace and power? Caring? Or fear,annoyance and lack of confidence?
What next? The quality of your PeopleMedia is reflected in everything the cus-tomer encounters during the shopping
experience. The shopping experiencebegins with the setting of their expecta-tions (from advertising, a friend, pureluck, or your website). It continuesthrough the appearance of your parkinglot, showroom, bathrooms, your associ-ates, and through the selling sequences.Previous FURNITURE WORLD Magazinearticles that have covered these topics indetail can be found in the furninfo.comwebsite marketing article archives. Theshopping experience, for most stores,ends with the delivery (unless there is aservice or quality problem). It should notend there, but it usually does.
HOW TO BRINGCUSTOMERS BACK
I once interviewed over three hundredassociates for a large furniture chain. Itwas a great education that really camealive while speaking with the deliverycrews. I happened to meet an interestingdelivery captain. When asked to describehis job, he responded by saying, “Look, Iam the most important person in thesales process. I resell every customer onthe purchase they made. I tell them howgreat it looks, and how they made agreat selection that their family andfriends will admire. There is neverbuyer’s remorse when I deliver some-
thing.” This beautifully arrogant statement
stayed with me. My wife and I recentlyhad a leather sectional delivered to ourhome in St. Augustine. The delivery cap-tain did a great job. He demonstratedthe piece, gave us hints on care, and lefthis card if anything else was needed.Now, my experience as a furniture cus-tomer was eye-opening. I got to thinking,what could be added to this deliverysequence, this exceptional PeopleMedia, that would make it even better?
First off, consider the formula createdby Jay Abraham that was presented inthe March/April 2008 issue of FURNI-TURE WORLD Magazine. Jay stated thatthere are three, and only three, ways toincrease your business.
• Increase your number of customers.• Increase the size of your tickets. • Increase the number of times your
customers visit your store.
Moreover, Jay claimed that amere10% increase in each of these cat-egories will double your volume. Hereare some specific ways that will measur-ably increase your volume in two of thesethree categories. I’m sure you can brain-storm more improvements to the deliverysequence.
IT DOESN'T HAVE TOCOST A FORTUNE TOEFFECTIVELY “BRAND” ONYOUR WEBSITEWendell Farrell, of Wendell's Furniture ofColchester, Vermont, is a customer-oriented furniture entrepreneur who has vividly brandedhimself. Wendell's website is nothing spectacular,but it is very customer-oriented and easy to use.And it has features none of the big boxes have.Instead of a self-congratulatory, boring paragraph"about us" and a photo of the owner of the company, Wendell's website features several 30second clips of Wendell, sitting relaxed in theshowroom talking directly to the customer. Thismight sound a bit egoistic, but Wendell has aknack of framing his story almost completelyaround the customer's interest. It's all in the sincerity of delivery. Read Wendell’s story in thisarticle.
May/June 2008 FURNITURE WORLD 25
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May/June 2008 FURNITURE WORLD 27
SUGGESTED SCENARIO: Afterplacing the recliner or sofa in the rightplace and admiring how great it looksand stating what an excellent buy thecustomer has made (before thrustingthe scary-looking paperwork at her),the delivery captain hands the cus-tomer a gift. This gift has three parts.First, it has a lovely thank you cardfrom the salesperson. “Mrs. Smith,your sales adviser, Jane Consultant,asked me to be sure to pass this alongto you.” Later, Mrs. Smith will learnthat inside is a personal note fromJane Consultant thanking her for thepurchase, and assuring Mrs. Smiththat Jane will personally be glad tohelp if there is ever a need. Sales per-sons should look at any future contactwith Mrs. Smith, not as an annoy-ance, but rather as another opportu-nity to exceed her expectations forquality and service. Inside are a cou-ple of cards from Jane Consultant,and a final little note along theselines: “The greatest honor you cangive me is to recommend my servicesto a friend ...”
Next, the little gift pack contains asmall brochure selling your store. Yes,you should have one by now. It is crit-ical that such a “portable website” behanded to every guest who happensinto your store. This silent salespersontells your story and introduces yourunique Brand in the best possible way.It makes sense to leave your prospectsand customers with a reminder ofhow great you and your team are.Once the creative work is done, sucha flyer is relatively inexpensive. Finally,consider placing other surprises in the“Come Back” package to wow yourcustomer and exceed their expecta-tions. Perhaps include a specialcoupon or an invitation to your nextdecorating seminar. This key element
in building business has been coveredin Margaret DeGange’s multi-partDecorating Crash Course series inFURNITURE WORLD Magazine, thatis posted to the article archives areaon www.furninfo.com. It would alsobe a nice touch if the delivery captainhanded his card to the customer. Or,at least a card stating “Delivered withpride by ___________ and _________of ________ Furniture.”
OK, it will be a lot of fuss to createand police a program like this. But,remember that it costs eight timesmore to get a new customer than tokeep an old one. And, if this tech-nique works only one out of ten timesin getting a referral or bringing a cus-tomer back into your store, it willreach Abraham’s ten percent criterionfor doubling your store’s business!
WILL YOU DO IT?I got a couple of responses from
store owners who wanted to know if Iwas serious when I wrote that onlyone percent of people who read JayAbraham’s book will follow hisadvice. The answer is yes. Only aboutone percent excel on world-class lev-els in any given field. To illustrate this,I pass along a little story. Mark Joyneris a top consultant-guru. He tells in hisaforementioned book that he oncegave a seminar to a few hundredpeople, and he asked this question:“How many of you have ever heard ofNapoleon Hill’s book, Think andGrow Rich?” Almost everyone in theroom stood up. “How many of youhave read it?” Nearly everyoneremained standing. Joyner then said:“If any of you still standing don’tbelieve that following the principles inthis book will make you rich and suc-cessful beyond your wildest dreams, Iwant you to sit down right now.”
AFTER PLACING THE RECLINEROR SOFA IN THE RIGHT PLACE
and admiring how great it looks and stating what an excellent buy the customer has made, the delivery
captain hands the customer a gift. This gift has three parts.
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 11:01 PM Page 27
28 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
LOST AD SECRETS Everyone remained standing. Then Marknoted that on page 38 of the trade pub-lication of Think and Grow Rich,Napoleon Hill suggests that—if you wantto have success with his book and getrich—it is imperative to use his formulato craft a brief personal statement, com-mit it to memory, and repeat it twice dailyuntil the dough comes rolling in. Joynerthen said that since everyone still stand-ing believes in the book, surely someonewill come up on the stage and recite theirsuccess statement. He said everyone elseshould sit down. You probably guessedit. Everyone sat down.
One percent of furniture entrepre-neurs and salespeople are shakers andmovers and only a few successful inde-pendents will at least seriously considerthe delivery sequence advice suggestedearlier. One in particular comes to mind.His story, coming from the front lines ofthe furniture industry, is worth ten articlesby ivory tower experts. Wendell Farrell, ofWendell’s Furniture of Colchester,Vermont, is a customer-oriented furniture
entrepreneur. He has vividly brandedhimself. A natural at projecting goodPeople Media, Wendell Furniture is oneof the few furniture stores that had agood year last year. And Wendell grewhis business in the face of a famous BigBox competitor. In fact, he helped com-pel them to close their doors after a shortrun and leave town! How did Wendell doit? Read on.
WHO’S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD BOX?
When a big box came to Colchester in2005, it frightened many stores on furni-ture row. And it hurt them all at first withgreat looks, low prices and huge adbudgets. It seemed as though nothingcould stop the big box. Meanwhile, awayfrom furniture row, Wendell ignored thebig box, and kept plusing his own brand.“Plusing” is a term Walt Disney used toindicate taking a good concept idea andadding to it to make it better. Wendell’sdid not try to outgun the big box. He car-ried his traditional lines and stuck to
them. Before very long the big box wasfading, and eventually, unceremoniouslyclosed its doors.
So what is so great about howWendell advertises his Brand? It’s allabout the customer. When a customercalls Wendell’s on the phone, WendellFarrell himself is as likely to answer asanyone ... “Good afternoon, this isWendell. How may I help you?” Wellthought out and practiced phone eti-quette is an important, yet often ignoredaspect of furniture store brand-building.Associates need to be supplied with ascript to do it right. Something along thelines of , “Good afternoon, (store name),this is Jane Smith. How may I help you?”Or, “Good afternoon (store name), Howmay I help you? This is Jane Smith.”Research has shown that customers willremember a person’s name if it is statedlast. The benefit of this technique is thatthe customer will often start their reply byrestating the Associates name, puttingthe ensuing conversation on a more per-sonal basis. So often Associates simply
WOMEN READ STORIESABOUT FURNITURE...The current issue of O AT HOME Magazine byOprah Winfrey devoted a page to the old Peacockchair. By telling a background story, about a pieceof furniture (that most of us have forgotten), this piecesuddenly becomes a desirable item.
This FURNITURE WORLD Magazine article tells howa retailer uses the internet to Brand his store and tocreatively tell stories about his home furnishingsproducts. There is more product information, moreconsumer benefits, and more unique selling featuresin one of his 30 second spots than most big boxesuse in an entire copy-starved flyer!
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 11:01 PM Page 28
grumble the store name, whatever it maybe. Not only does Wendell often answerthe phone, he loves to wait on cus-tomers. According to Britt Beemer ofAmerica’s Research Group, people feelhonored when the owner of a store waitson them. Wendell’s associates are allsalaried, so there is no friction whenWendell takes an UP. Wendell will evenmake you a cup of fresh down-homecoffee in the store’s kitchen. Did I saystore’s kitchen? Yes. For more informa-tion on the power of the imagery of thehome to American consumers, reviewthe FURNITURE WORLD Magazine arti-cle, “The Code That Unlocks Customer’sHearts & Wallets” (Parts 1&2) that isposted to the marketing managementarticle archives on the www.furninfo.comwebsite.
These are simple and inexpensive
techniques that any furniture store cando in its own way. Let’s look at Wendell’swebsite, for example. It was set up by amember of Wendell’s staff, MikePrevuzmak. Nothing spectacular. But it isvery customer-oriented and easy to use.And it has features none of the big boxeshave. Instead of a self-congratulatory,boring paragraph “about us” (that noone ever reads) and a photo of theowner of the company, Wendell’s web-site features several 30 second clips ofWendell, sitting relaxed in the showroomtalking directly to the customer. Thismight sound a bit egoistic, but Wendellhas a knack of framing his story almostcompletely around the customer’s inter-est. It’s all in the sincerity of delivery.Here is a sample script:
“Here at Wendell’s Furniture we really,really value the customer. The sales help
is phenomenal. They treat everybody thesame, everyone gets taken care of. Noone is on commission at Wendell’s, talkto anybody in a blue shirt. Everybodytakes care of you, everybody makesdeals. We do not allow any customer tobe unhappy. Here at Wendell’s Furniture,we take care of you.” (Super-imposedover the screen are the words: “Yourtotal satisfaction is our main priority.”)
Another good spot features Wendellwalking casually in the showroom …“High folks, it’s Flexsteel authorized saletime. This is the big one…” (Cut toWendell on his knees by a sofa. He hasa marking pen in his hand.) “This is thenewest in Microfiber technology and onlyFlexsteel has it” (Wendell is touching thearm of the sofa as he says this.) (Cut toclose up of Wendell’s hand holding themarking pen. He marks several swipes
30 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
SHOULD DIRECT MAIL BE DISGUISEDAS A FIRST CLASS PERSONAL COMMUNICATION? Should direct mail be disguised as a first class personal communication? Views differ on this. But Mullinspoints out that Nightingale-Conant’s extremely successful direct-mail pieces capture prospects with a greatstory, and then carry them along to an irresistible offer. People love good stories. Note how this powerfulnarrative pulls you in. Hard to resist checking it out, isn’t it? The secret of learning to tell your story andcommunicate your Brand in a compelling way is to relate it to theconsumer’s own interest. Read in this article how one retailer inColchester, Vermont took on a big box by telling his story and projecting his Brand.
Sitting in his sister-in-law’s driveway, the broke, homeless man poundedhis fists on the steering wheel, crying, sobbing. “Why can’t anything goright for me? Why does everything I try go wrong? When did Ibecome such a worthless loser? How am I going to get my wife andkids out of this basement and into a house?” Then it struck him like atire iron to the face. He sat up, wiped his eyes, looking dumbstruck, sayingto himself, “Holy cow. How could I have forgotten that? It worked forme before. I KNOW it will work again! How could I have been sucha moron?
In only six months, that formerly desperate man had bought a $385,000house with half down, and became a millionaire in less than a year. Healso bought a vacation house, put away enough money for his kid’s college education, easily stopped bad habits, and attained completefinancial freedom ... all accomplished automatically, without effort orwillpower! What was the obscure secret he remembered in that moment ofclarity that allowed him to take complete control of his life?
Inside, we’ll explain the whole story ...
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 11:01 PM Page 30
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0508- margarett page 31:Furniture World 5/6/08 3:41 PM Page 31
on the sofa arm.) “See the ink?”(Rubbing it off) Now the ink has gone –with just a Handy Wipe.” (Cut to Wendellkneeling beside a leather recliner) “Justfeel the quality of this leather on thisFlexsteel Recliner.” (Cut to Wendellkneeling beside an occasional chair)“Why buy Flexsteel?” (Wendell flips thechair over exposing the springs. Hereaches in and grabs one, pulling on it)“It’s just about indestructible. You can’twear it out, and you can’t break it.” (Cutto full showroom, large Super with sig:“15% TO 20% OFF FLEXSTEEL FACTO-RY AUTHORIZED SALE”) “At 15 to 20%savings, this is the time to purchase yourbeautiful Flexsteel furniture, exclusively atWendell’s Furniture” (Cut to outside storeshot with address and phone suppedover.)
There is more product information,more consumer benefits, and moreunique selling features in this 30-secondcommercial than most big boxes use in
an entire copy-starved flyer! Yet there isnothing difficult to execute and nothingspectacular. This is the kind of Brandingthat you can adapt and start doing now.The big boxes are too busy being big tolet the human side of their story and theirdesire to serve show through. I shouldemphasize again, though: Wendell’sdelivery in his commercials is exception-al. His sincerity, and his Brand, shinethrough in how he talks, his body lan-guage and in his appearance in theubiquitous Wendell’s “blue shirt.” It isworth a trip to wendellsfurniture.com tosee him do his thing.
There’s more. Wendell has a“Shopping Guide” tab. If you open it,you are able to access general informa-tion about buying furniture and mattress-es. (This one could be improved with acouple of additional streams or clips fea-turing Wendell.) Also, you can click on“Our Suppliers” (Better would be “OurFamous Brands”) and immediately
access the websites of Wendell’s keybrands, such as Flexsteel, el ran,Berkline, Benchcraft, etc. Berkline has anexcellent site, by the way, with an option-
al virtual human being “guide.”Benchcraft had one too. But, I wonderwhy these huge companies can’t use theCEO to deliver some kind of a short per-sonal message to the consumer in theWendell fashion? Using only slick prosand carefully crafted scripts dampen theauthenticity of the presentation. Wendelluses no dazzling graphics, etc., but theBrand, the story, and the personality ofthe store are projected through andthrough. When Wendell uses his photoand introduces his associates in printadvertising, it is especially effectivebecause he has already established aBrand with the community.
There are weaknesses in the site, Iknow. I could nitpick. But compared towhat the big boxes do, this one con-nects. It is real, believable, and human.Not so with the big boxes. One big box,claiming to be mattress experts, showsnothing but sizes and prices. No person-al connection, no benefits, no uniqueselling propositions, no arresting con-cepts about the expertise of the associ-ates or ease of selection (the mass of tinymattress illustrations and prices are over-whelming). Moreover, the assurance ofsatisfaction has almost as much smallprint as a real estate contract.
DIRECT MAIL OFFERSI regret that there is no more space to
spend with you this month. But I haveone more thing to tell you. Someone
32 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
LOST AD SECRETS
FOR HIGH IMPACTPROMOTIONS,sell your product quickly and directly withan “ irresistible” offer onthe envelope. Then,expand on the offer inside.
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 11:01 PM Page 32
“Best Profit Per Square Foot InMy Entire Lineup!”
-Don Olsen, Owner
It’s Another AmazingWallbeds! Success StoryDon’s store has sold an average of 1.5Wallbeds per month for the past 14 years. The247th Wallbed is on the way.
That’s pretty remarkable! Particularly whenyou consider that his store is in a town of7,500, 100 miles north of Seattle.
You don’t 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 share a 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
www.Wallbedsinfo.coma product of WESTCOTT DESIGNS, INC. Richmond, CA 94806Represented in the US and Canada by Resource Associates, Inc.
Phone 800-934-6711Fax 888-477-6796 - Email [email protected]
DeCamp & Stradford Furniture Headquarters
Wallbeds! in many styles and finishes
Popular Hiddenbed. Home office to bed in 2 seconds!
0508- wallbeds - 33:Furniture World 5/3/08 1:49 PM Page 33
34 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
For high impact furniture promotions, sell your productquickly and directly with an “ irresistible” offer on the envelope. Then, expand on the offer inside. Wow your customers and exceed their expectations when theyrespond by visiting your store. Install techniques to bringcustomers back and encourage them to tell their friendsabout you. The letter below did great volume during bitterMinnesota weather this winter.
MAKEYOUR
IRRESISTIBLEOFFERFIRST!
EXPAND ONYOUR OFFER
INSIDE!
LOST ADSECRETS
wrote me and asked if you should try to disguise a direct mailpiece to make it look like a personal first class mail letter froma friend. The argument is that more people will open the letter.True enough, but that’s as far as it goes, the next stop will bethe trash can. Among the top direct marketers I know are theNightingale-Conant folks. Check out the exhibit in this article,and note how their direct-appeal drags you into the letter.
For high impact furniture promotions, I suggest you adoptthis technique I use for direct mail: Sell your product quickly anddirectly with an “ irresistible” offer on the envelope. Then,expand on the offer inside. Wow your customers and exceedtheir expectations when they respond and come to your store.Establish and practice techniques to bring customers back andencourage them to tell their friends about you.
Yes, I am aware you don’t have time for all of this. So, devel-op a team of a few young lions to work with you and pursuethese ideas. What incentive do they have? They get to learnsomething valuable. Young people today are motivated bytraining, learning something that will give them an edge.Reward some aspiring person with an eye of the tiger to studycopywriting by getting some of the great advertising books forthem or paying for his or her writing course. Time spent train-ing and brainstorming your Brand is not down time, it will repayyou many times over. Most of all: Don’t just talk about yourBrand, begin to LIVE your Brand. I look forward to our next visit.
Contributing Editor Larry Mullins has 30+ years experience in thefront lines of furniture marketing. Over the past ten years he hasdeveloped a Visionary Management program that can impact theculture of an entire organization and bring it to life. He also producesstate-of- the-art promotional advertising packages for everythingfrom quick cash flow to complete exit strategies and store closings.Larry is the President of UltraSales, Inc.. Questions about this articlecan be sent to Larry care of FURNITURE WORLD [email protected].
See more articles by Larry in the marketing management archiveson furninfo.com or call him direct at (904) 794 9212.
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 11:01 PM Page 34
To declare that Decorium’s philos-ophy is unique and far-reachingmight be an understatement.Third generation Steve Forberg,
now CEO, is convinced that,“Knowledge is key, and we can alwayslearn something from someone else atany age and at any point in life”. It wasin 1999 Steve attended a meeting thatopened his consciousness to a wellspring of information with an esteemedU.S. based performance and friendshipgroup. It was his introduction to the con-cept of open intellectual exchangeamongst his industry peers.
The only Canadian retailer in thisexclusive furniture sector gathering,Steve asserts, “We all have the sameissues, the same likes and dislikes. It’sso beneficial. We share information oneverything, advertising, marketing, prod-uct lines, even our financials.
“The first half day we walk through thehost city’s store and critique it, then pro-vide feed back. It’s so worthwhile!” An
annual event, Steve “spends three din-ners, and two full days in the board-room, all this time brainstorming non-stop with other furniture CEOs.
“There is another group devoted tothe needs of sales managers, and anoperations group that talks about ware-housing and so forth. It’s well worth theinvestment in time and in money.”
Both retailers and manufacturers areinvolved, small and large.
“The group was planning to come toToronto on September 12, 2001.Obviously, it was necessary to postponethe meeting until October. Once here,they enjoyed their Canadian experience.We certainly learned from it, and wechanged some things as a result of thisvisit. You can become complacent. Youmust be ready to change.”
Forty years ago, Steve’s grandfathercame to Canada from Poland and madehis start in the manufacturing business,Starchrome Furniture, “the largest metal
furniture company in the country in the‘40s, ‘50s and 60s”.
In 1976, his father, Joe, was selling ina retail furniture store when he decidedto establish Furniture Plaza, his own busi-ness. His younger brother, Bill, joinedhim in the enterprise.
In the early ‘80s, they changed thename to Grand Design, and soon therewere seven stores, “all over the GTA, thecity of Toronto, Mississauga, Markham,two in North York, and west to Londonand Kitchener”. Decorium’s currentlocation was the distribution centre atSupertest Road off Dufferin Street innear-north Toronto.
Later in the decade, North Americawas visited by a memorable recession,and the GST (goods and services tax)was imposed. The resilient Forberg’s“closed all our stores and liquidated thedistribution centre. We had a small littlestore below our centre for the designtrade, our product lines imported from
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“ONCE THEY REGISTERwith us, we offer them a broad spectrum of opportunities, including our very popular $1,000 shopping spree.”
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0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/3/08 2:42 PM Page 36
From: Giff Gates [mailto:Giff@****.com] Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2007 9:50 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: 4 page letter Sat, Sun & Mon we wrote in excess of $100,000. I suppose that’s all relative for stores; for some that might be a lot; for others disappointing. For Us, It�s Phenomenal! We were very pleased -- daily averages would run $16,000 to $20,000. We're consistently hitting over $25,000. On Tues and Wed we pulled in over $50,000. The staying power of the promo is surprising.... As you know, we’ve been in business for over 60 years. And after 10 down months in a row, I was amazed to see that We Had the Best December in the History of our company… Now that is saying something. Giff
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05-08- traffic guys 17:Furniture World 5/6/08 3:47 PM Page 37
Europe, Italy in particular. A boutique,really, and we called it Decorium, acombination of Décor and Emporium!We moved Decorium upstairs in ‘93-’94, and opened it to the public. At first
it was 5,000 square feet, then, as busi-ness improved, 10,000 to 15,000 to20,000 and, finally, our last big expan-sion to100,000 square feet, the wholedistribution centre.
“I came into the business in 1996, justas things started to change. I had spenta couple of years as marketing directorfor Sports Authority, before pursuing ourfamily business.
“Since 2007, the three of us, myfather, my brother Howard, and me,have run Decorium. We’re big enoughto bring the consumer great value and tomove a lot of product, and small enoughto grow! We offer a lot of style at everyday prices, a little better store and a littlebetter fashion. We’re a one store oper-ation and we are very hands on, ship-ping all over the world.”
In the last few years, the forward-think-ing Forbergs have structured an innova-tive corporate division, recognizing andapplauding the enormous surge inToronto condominium development.“We’ve created a furniture package withthe Shane Baghai condo people, andrecently furnished 200 units completelydown to lamps and accessories,
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DECORIUMabsolutely turn key. The buyers aremostly investors from Hong Kong andDubai and they are renting them out fur-nished. In the case of local purchasers,when someone buys a condo, theyreceive from the builder a Decorium dis-count card, excellent exposure for us, ofcourse.
“Toronto’s Princess Margaret Hospitalruns a huge, fund-raising lottery everyyear, giving away large Tridel andGreenpark homes and condos. We fur-nish the model homes for them.
“Debbie Fernandez is the manager ofthe corporate division, and she devotesherself completely to this fascinating newchallenge. She is a super talent.”
And there are today’s small spaceissues, down-sizers, first home couples,singles, and so to assist their visualiza-tion processes the perceptive Forbergshave devised a special model area with-in the store to show consumers graphi-cally how they can get the most lifestyleelbow room from their available squarefootage. And with complementary in-store designer advice. “Twenty-five per-
cent of our staffers are designers andthey are in the upper one-third of per-formers. With good staff we have lessturnover, and we develop our staff fromwithin.
“We have our own design centre with-in Decorium and this helps to get theconsumer engaged in colour coordinat-ing. The Internet room planner is a greatfeature, too, both on the spot and on theweb. Consumers can measure theirspaces at home and spend time on theircomputers moving furniture about, thene-mail the result to our designers to pre-pick possible pieces, or bring the plansin with them when they visit.
“Decorium is a destination store; wedon’t have many browsers because ofour location. People come to usbecause we give them what they reallywant. Today’s consumer is different andwe must all flex to change. They are alot more educated and confident, andbefore they come to us they know (inmany cases from the our website, fromshelter magazines and television designprogrammes) what they are looking for,the style, the trends, where the product is
made, the construction components ofthe pieces and they have a pretty goodidea of pricing. They are much fartherahead in the buying process, stage four,not stage one. You have to adapt toeach individual consumer. A degree inpsychology would help!
“We collect information from the con-sumer both from our website and from akiosk at the front door. They are askedto register with us, to provide their name,e-mail address, and so forth, thus help-ing us to build our database. Once theyare registered with us we offer them abroad spectrum of opportunities, includ-ing our very popular $1,000 shoppingspree.” No purchase is necessary, con-sumers can enter in store or online.
“Every month I broadcast an e-mailnewsletter which incorporates four-daypromotional incentives, news abouttrends, what’s happening in décor, an e-blast! The special incentives are notoffered to the public at large.”Decorium currently lists 10,000 on-lineconsumers. “We do a lot online withbanner advertising and word scan,Google search words.”
THE PERCEPTIVE FORBERGS HAVE DEVISEDa special model area within the store to show consumers graphically how they can get the mostlifestyle elbow room from their available square footage.
New Surroundings Area, 10,000 sq. ft.
42 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 11:01 PM Page 42
Steve, with a degree in BusinessAdministration and a huge imagination,“does all the buying, all the advertisingand oversees the operations end ofthings. Howard is in charge of sales forDecorium.
“Dad comes into the store three orfour days a week when he’s at home andhis input is invaluable. He spends win-ters now in Florida playing golf.”
About nine months ago, the Forbergsdeveloped a new section withinDecorium called “Surroundings”, anexciting 10,000 square foot gallery.
“Very functional furniture, completelycontemporary.” An outstanding, colour-ful insert was placed, in broad distribu-tion, in Canada’s national newspaper,“The Globe & Mail”. The insertannounced a four-day event, “Save upto 50% OFF storewide”. A very success-ful promotion. And a point of interest forvisiting consumers.
For additional exposure, he has usedCondo Life Magazine and Toronto Life.“And the teachers’ magazine. We run aspecial promotion for the teachers ofOntario to thank them for their efforts in
shaping the minds of the future, givingback something to these special peo-ple.”
Just recently, Decorium addedUniversal Furniture/Better Homes andGardens furniture line, the newlyunveiled fourth collection, “traditionalstyling with transitional flair”, to theirfloor and their website’s promotionalincentives at 20% off. Steve is high onBetter Homes and Gardens’ huge read-ership of 40 million women, “the secondbest selling book in the world, secondonly to the Bible! The collections reflect
44 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
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what women want based on feedback from field editorsthat scout the country in search of their input.” Stevecited one accent piece, a night table that eliminatesthose untidy cords; one can plug in lamps, clock radios,whatever, right into the table.
Other suppliers are Bernhardt, Stanley, Magnussen,Pulaski, Broyhill, Décor-Rest, Lexington, Romano,Renwil, Brentwood and Palliser, among others.
“We are a very service oriented company, both preand post sale. If a customer decides they really don’tlike a fabric, for instance, we will work with them, findthem a fabric they do like, and send the piece out to ourupholsterer. Customization. They made the decision tocome to you for their needs; we believe in giving thecustomer what they really want.
“Our best customers are those that have had service.We take care of anything, major or minor, large orsmall. We handle problems after the manufacturers’warranties have expired. Business is about relationshipsand customer service.
“There are more channels for the consumer to pur-chase furniture than ever before. The big box stores, thesuper centres, even grocery stores, and consumers canbe confused. We have to be first, and we have to be dif-ferent, our merchandise, our service and display. Somany retailers now are price driven, and we made thedecision not to play in that game but instead operate inthe upper middle market with style, value, selection andservice.”
Steve is convinced that, “The industry must shareinformation, not necessarily in their own trading area,but in general; we could all learn so much more.”Precisely the concept of the founders of FURNITURE WORLDMagazine, more than a century ago.
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hile there are instances inwhich the words “I’ll know itwhen I see it” are based onlogic, there are other
instances in which logic is totally lackingin this so-called common sense dictum.
Take the example of an instance inwhich the dictum is logical. Let’s say youlost your glasses while working in yourgarden. You can say with absolute logicyou’ll know your glasses when you seethem (if you can see them without yourglasses).
Let’s apply this dictum to a customershopping for a sofa who, up front, hasjust told her salesperson, “I’ll know itwhen I see it.” The customer may havebeen searching the internet and foundsomething that looks appropriate. And ifthe customer’s most important need isbased on something visible like color,style, or size, she may have a valid point.For that reason, you might reply by say-ing something like the following: “Sinceyou seem to be looking for something ina sofa having to do with how it looks,would you mind if I asked you a fewquestions about what you’re hoping tosee in the sofa you are looking for?”Having gained the customer’s permis-sion, you can proceed to inquire aboutsuch things as the color, style, and sizethe customer might have in mind.
More often than not, however, whatthe customer is looking for is not based
on color, style, or size. Instead, it is basedon comfort or durability or both, qualitiesthat do not reveal themselves to a mere-ly external visual examination. In otherwords, some features customers arelooking for have to do with the valencefactors – a term that address the very per-sonalized or relevant benefits that a cus-tomer requires. Experienced salespeopleare fully aware that the valence factorscustomers consciously seek in a mattress,for example, vary considerably fromthose they seek in upholstered goods.Meanwhile the valence factors customersseek in case goods vary considerablyfrom those they seek either in a mattressor in an upholstered item. But the mainreason salespeople should not handlethe “I’ll know it when I see it” withresigned reticence is that to do so is tobetray their role as consultants. There ismore to furniture than meets the eye. Andwhile it is true the average customershopping for furniture is not looking for asalesperson to tell them how to build agiven piece of furniture, the followingsaying popularized among yesteryear’ssalespeople is apropos: “You can neverknow too much about your product, butyou can talk too much about it.” It is thefirst part of that compound sentence thattoo many salespeople disregard.
Nor is the glib expression that furnitureis not rocket science the final verdict onwhether salespeople should have a spe-
cialized knowledge of their product. Thetechniques required to make the coils inour premium mattresses required a lot ofserious research. The stress tests the bestchairs are subjected to are impressiveindeed. And the sheer knowledge ofchemistry imbedded in the dyes thatcolor the more precious fabrics onupholstered goods is highly sophisticat-ed.
Because furniture is complicated, cus-tomers require knowledgeable salespeo-ple who truly are consultants. As consul-tants, salespeople must uncover the hid-den needs of their customers. That callsfor subtle probing skills. The best sales-people in every industry are wizards atprobing for customer needs: what thecustomer is specifically looking for, thecustomer’s complete needs, and the pri-ority of those needs. These wizards don’tinterrogate; instead, like whales, theysound out a customer’s needs.Interestingly, the French word for probingis sonder, to sound out.
A blogger on the creative-brand.comwebsite noted his concern with the glibsaying, “I’ll know it when I see it.”Although that site focuses on anotherindustry, his comments are apropos forours as well. He states that, “I’ll know itwhen I see it” means that you have noclear idea of what you’re trying toaccomplish with your work – no criteriafor your decisions. Therefore, you have
46 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
“I’ll Know It When...
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no criteria to evaluate them against…Instead, here’s what happens: you endup evaluating your options by simplylooking for something that happens tostrike a chord and look nice to you.Doing this reduces your evaluation ofideas from strategic to aesthetic. Insteadof looking for the right strategic solution,you end up looking for what’s pretty.”
If your store is designed and merchan-dised in a way that spurs a positive emo-tional response in customers, then a dif-ferent approach may be called for. If a
high percentage of them “see it” in yourstore and “know it,” and if customerswho are just looking, can get help quick-ly when they need it, then the skillful andearly sounding out of customer needsmay not be appropriate. If not, then thenext time one of your customers tells you,“I’ll know it when I see it,” be a wizard, aSherlock Holmes. Try to get to the bot-tom of what that customer is telling youwithout annoying them. Your responsecalls for more than rocket science, sincemany customers simply don’t know
enough about furniture features and howthese features will meet their needs, toknow it when they see it. They won’tknow simply by looking at a recliner thatit has a built-in mechanism for assuringthe recliner will hold a given comfortableposition for years to come. They won’tknow that a mattress is not to be judgedby the number of its coils alone, or thata proper comfort test is necessary to pickthe right set. They won’t know that,depending on a customer’s personalizedneeds, a fabric that is a blend may besuperior to a fabric consisting of, say,Olefin alone or of Nylon alone. In otherwords, the average customer requires aconsultant’s eyes, backed up by special-ized product knowledge.
For all salespeople there will remainthese three requirements: product knowl-edge, selling skills, and attitude. Howwell you can provide your customers withthe consultation they require will alwaysdepend on how well you can recom-mend the best product, once you haveuncovered the customer’s personalizedneeds. Only with your help does the cus-tomer have a real chance of knowing itwhen he or she sees it.
Trainer, educator and group leader Dr.Peter A. Marino writes extensively onsales training techniques and their furni-ture retailing applications. He has deepexperience as a top salesman, salesmanager, corporate trainer and consul-tant. Dr. Marino has undergraduatedegrees in English and philosophy and aPh. D. in ancient Greek and Latin. Hisbooks include “The Golden Rules ofSelling Bedding”, “Stop Losing ThoseBedding Sales” and “It’s Buying, Silly!”available through FURNITURE WORLD.Questions can be sent to Peter Marino [email protected]. You can read allof Dr. Marino’s articles on furninfo.comin the Sales Skill article archives.
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for more information. Microfiber (see section on polyester) is ideal for upholstery and decorative fabrics that are comfortable and exceptionally durable. Engineered for a naturally soft look and feel, the silk-like fiber imparts a luxurious feel in a wide variety of fabric constructions. Fabrics constructed of the fiber have the appearance of lush fabrics such as velour and brushed suede and are also available as chenilles,boucles and brushed twills.
Features: It is characterized by resistance to dete-rioration resulting from moisture, chemicals,mildew, rot, mold and perspiration. This light andhighly durable fiber almost equals nylon forstrength and has remarkable resistance to abra-sion. It also resists fading, but is sensitive to heatand if not specially treated it may be damaged bysunlight.
Care: Olefin can be spotcleaned or washed. It resistssoiling and can be dry cleanedor washed.
Uses: Flat woven fabrics andvelvets are made from Olefinfibers.
POLYESTER/MICROFIBER
Composition: Polyester,(Trade names: Dacron®;Micromattique®, Fortrel®;Kodel®; Trevira®; Vycron®; Textura®) is a long-chainsynthetic polymer first marketed by DuPont in theearly 1950's. Since then, fabrics made from poly-ester microfiber have been developed. A microdenier (microfiber) is a filament having a diameterof 1 denier or less. The thickness of microfibersranges from just above 1 denier per filament to 0.3dpf or below. Invista (formally DuPont Textiles andInteriors) holds the patents for the most widelyused technology for producing spun oriented poly-ester micro denier (microfiber).
Appearance: Polyester fibers can be produced
with a semi-bright to dull sheen and a crisp to softfeel. Polyester fabrics drape well and are remark-ably resistant to wrinkling. They can also be madeinto a warp knitted fabric that resembles suededleather.
Features: This fiber is very strong, durable andhas good resistance to abrasive wear. It also resists
deterioration when exposed tomildew, sunlight, water andinsects. Traditional polyesterstaple fabrics (used in apparel)have been known to pill, col-lect static electricity and soileasily. Staple fibers are shortcut length fibers, whereas fila-ment fibers are longer. Thevast majority of polyesterfibers used in upholstery areof the filament variety.Polyester micro denier(microfiber), however, hasexcellent resistance to soilingand staining.
Care: Polyester fabrics, like most upholstery fab-rics require regular vacuuming. Stains can becleaned with solvents or detergents. Polyester driesquickly and resists wrinkling.
Uses: Polyester blends beautifully and can be usedto help make cotton fabrics stronger. It is oftenused in upholstery fabric blends and as the corematerial in vinyl coated polyester outdoor fabrics.Widely available fabrics of polyester micro denier(microfiber) are finer than silk, soft, versatile, easyto clean and durable.
Photos courtesy of Inifi, Inc.
THE THREE MAJORFIBER CATEGORIES
used in upholstery fabrics are cellulosicfibers, protein fibers
and man-made fibers.
by alternatively passing individual filling yarns over
and under adjacent warp yarns along the whole
length of a fabric. Plain weave is widely used. It is
strong, versatile and appropriate for many different
fibers and blends. Cheesecloth, chintz, taffeta,
muslin, chambray and canvas are all plain weave
fabrics. They differ in the compactness of the weave,
the weight of the warp/filling yarns used, and the
colors of the warp/filling yarns.
Rib Weave, a variation of plain weave, produces a
ribbed effect. This is often achieved by utilizing
heavier filling than warp yarns. Most plain weaves
are balanced, which means that the number of warp
and filling yarns are approximately equal. If many
more filling than warp yarns are used (cramming) a
ribbed appearance also results.
Basket Weave, another variation, is constructed
of one or more filling yarns that ride together over
and under two or more warp yarns. This construc-
tion is often not as strong as rib or basic plain
weaves due to slippage or bunching of the yarns.
Check and plaid patterns can be produced with a
basket weave.
TWILL WEAVE
A diagonal line or ridge (wale)
in the face side of a fabric is char-
acteristic of a twill weave. This line
results from filling yarns which
float over two or more warps. With
each successive filling yarn, the
float is either displaced right or left,
forming the diagonal ridge. If the
pattern is reversed, the ridges will
run both ways producing a herringbone pattern.
Twill weaves tend to be attractive, durable and resis-
tant to showing soil. Wool tweeds, gabardine, flannel
and denim are all twill weaves.
SATIN WEAVE
The satin weave has warp yarns which float over
filling yarns. The larger the float, the fewer the num-
ber of filling yarns (warp/filling intersections) that
show on the face of the fabric. If the yarn is smooth
and lustrous the fabric will be as well. Filament
yarns such as silk, nylon, rayon and acetate are used
in many satin weave fabrics for this reason. Sateen
weave is similar to satin except that the filling yarns
float over the warp. Because the float portions of a
satin weave fabric are not "tied down" as often as in,
a plain or twill weave, they may be susceptible to
snagging and are not suggested for heavy wear
applications.
DECORATIVE WEAVES
Complex or decorative weaves must be manufac-
tured on specialized looms that translate complicat-
ed instructions into woven patterns.
Jacquard Weave: Jacquard
fabrics are produced on a loom
which controls individual warp
yarns. The jacquard attach-
ment is capable of creating
simple patterns, pictorial
scenes and complex designs.
Two or more of the basic
weaves can be combined in
the same fabric. Some
fabrics commonly woven on
Leno: A special process where filling
yarns pass between crossed pairs of
warp yarns (above).
Satin Weave: Large floats are
characteristic of satin weaves that can
be smooth and lustrous (left).
Fabrics
48 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
For all salespeople there will remain these requirements: product knowledge,
selling skills, and attitude.
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/6/08 2:16 PM Page 48
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05-08- laun ad:Layout 1 5/5/08 4:03 PM Page 49
05-08 page 50-51 design:04-05 2 design 5/5/08 4:07 PM Page 50
May/June 2008 FURNITURE WORLD 51
05-08 page 50-51 design:04-05 2 design 5/6/08 12:10 PM Page 51
05-08 page 52-53 design:04-05 2 design 5/5/08 4:09 PM Page 52
May/June 2008 FURNITURE WORLD 53
05-08 page 52-53 design:04-05 2 design 5/6/08 12:18 PM Page 53
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May/June 2008 FURNITURE WORLD 55
05-08 page54-55 design:04-05 2 design 5/5/08 4:13 PM Page 55
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0508 tags:Layout 1 5/1/08 3:48 PM Page 56
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See previous page for Tags. Use separate page if necessary...order guns needles & barbs
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05-08- GUIDE & order:furniture world 5/1/08 3:39 PM Page 57
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0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 11:05 PM Page 59
“To say that the furniture business is ‘tough’ right now would be a gross understatement. To say that the weathergave us any help would be a lie. But despite those two huge negatives staring us in the face, the Larry
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Call LarrCall Larry Mullins Direct:y Mullins Direct: 904 794-9212 904 794-9212 or email:or email: [email protected]@bellsouth.net(Be sure to read Larry’s timely article in this month’s Furniture World! See more articles at www.ultrasales.com)
Business Slow? Weather Bad? Randy Terrio Faced slow businessplus a Minnesota Winter and Managed to Set Sales Records!
Business Slow? Weather Bad? Randy Terrio Faced slow businessplus a Minnesota Winter and Managed to Set Sales Records!
Finding GREAT PEOPLE Is What We Do!In our first nine years we’ve worked with more than 200 Home Furnishings ClientCompanies Nationwide - and with clients in the United Kingdom, Europe and China.
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Subscribe ToFURNITURE WORLD• Six powerful issues.
• In-depth articles onretail marketing, finance, operations,sales & finance.
Subscribe Online Atwww.furninfo.com877-235-3095
60 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
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0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 11:05 PM Page 60
0508 furn world quark2:furnworld 5/2/08 11:05 PM Page 61
A.A. Laun 920-894-7441 [email protected] 49Arc Way Trolleys 800-263-1338 [email protected] 58Artisan House 203-563-0017 [email protected] 53Bermex 819-227-2284 [email protected] 52Bolger Group Consulting 740-503-8875 [email protected] 58Brownstone 510-236-0703 [email protected] 51CathyCam 877-346-6939 [email protected] 59CDS Solutions 888-309-8002 [email protected] 3Classic Design 817-446-3204 [email protected] 21Classic Flame 561-330-3201 [email protected] 51Collezione Europa 201-541-8600 [email protected] 15Custom Design Software 800-884-0806 [email protected] 45Darafeev 909-613-1818 [email protected] 5DG Associates 800-551-5864 [email protected] 61Dinec 819-227-2284 [email protected] 51Dutailier Furniture 800-363-9817 [email protected] Cover 4Easels By Amron 800-44-EASEL [email protected] 44Educational Guides 877-235-3095 [email protected] 57Fashion Bed Group 800-825-5233 [email protected] 23Flexsteel 563-556-7730 [email protected] 54Ford Trucks www.fordvehicles.com 64Furniture Team 717-361-7858 [email protected] 60Furniture Wizard 619-482-2613 [email protected] 40-41Genesis Software 509-536-4739 [email protected] 43Groovystuff 214-956-0536 [email protected] 53Harden 315- 245-1000 [email protected] 52HFIA 800-942-4663 [email protected] 44Huppe 819-758-1529 [email protected] 26-27Kaleidoscope Partnership 713-705-2482 [email protected] 38Kathy Ireland Home by Omnia 909-393-4400 [email protected] C2, 1Keystone Furniture 717-656-1309 [email protected] 22Klaussner 888-732-5948 [email protected] 52Lynch Sales 800-824-2238 [email protected] 59Magnussen 336-841-4424 [email protected] 54MicroD 800-964-3876 [email protected] 19Mi-di 819-227-2284 [email protected] 50Morry Dickter 800-521-9953 [email protected] 61New Creative 800-435-1000 [email protected] 50Olympic Wire & Equipment 949-646-9731 [email protected] 7Perri Fine Furniture 416-665-1991 [email protected] 32Philips Collection 336-882-7400 [email protected] 54Planned Furn. Promotions 800-472-5242 [email protected] 29PROFITSystems 866-595-9376 [email protected] 35,39Recruiting Leder 770-977-8783 [email protected] 58RecycleTech Corp. 201-943-7142 [email protected] 8Retail6 888-309-8002 [email protected] 3
RetailerBuyers.com 866-861-4505 [email protected] 34Slit Tags 877-235-3095 [email protected] 56Storis 888-478-6747 [email protected] 9Tradewins 425-482-9321 [email protected] 53Traffic Guys 800-393-2054 [email protected] 17, 37Truck Skin 877-866-7546 [email protected] 63UltraSales 303-530-5366 [email protected] 60Wallbeds 800-882-2258 [email protected] 33World Market Center 702-599-9621 [email protected] 10-11
62 FURNITURE WORLD May/June 2008
ADVERTISER & DESIGN EDITORIAL INDEXCOMPANY TELEPHONE EMAIL PAGE# COMPANY TELEPHONE EMAIL PAGE#
A UNIQUE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY!Are you a senior manager with strong sales and teambuilding experience and dream of owning your own busi-ness? Is available cash or investment holding you back?We may have a unique opportunity for you.
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If you would like to learn more, please call Russell at FURNITURE WORLD Magazine 877-235-3095 or [email protected]. Please include a letter of introduction, your resume, and geographical preference.All inquiries will be handled with the strictest confidence.
REPS WANTED: COFFEE TABLE TOP OTTOMAN LINE
Looking for experienced reps to sell the latest trend inliving room accessories. Relaxation Designs introducesthe world's first Coffee Table Top Ottoman. Perfect for everyday relaxation, sports enthusiasts and video gamers,these promotable items can be customized with graphicsand text. Please call Eric Elan at Relaxation Designs 678-778 8042 (www.relaxationdesigns) to discuss this uniqueand profitable opportunity.
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