The Furniture Training Company Blog: 2012

Sell More Mattresses with Gerry Morris

We are working with Mattress Selling Guru, Gerry Morris, to create a mattress course that answers all the mattress sales questions you could ever ask.

learn from the "Mattress Guru" in his own laid-back and engaging style
10 highly interactive multimedia lessons for retail mattress salespeople
applicable to all retailer brands and compatible with any mattress training
receive a certificate upon completion
subscriptions include unlimited access to all of the course lessons, tests & worksheets for a full 90 days

Get more details!

Service, Service, Service

As a whole, the retail furniture industry could do better at serving customers. Research data indicates the industry as a whole falls somewhere in the lower half of all retail industries for customer service. The industry is better than some, but not as good as many other industries in regards to providing valuable service to our customers.

Provide better service
Why should we care about the data? Does it really matter that we rank lower than other industries in service? It absolutely matters and it’s a hot topic. The reality is that retailers have struggled to maintain revenues at the same level as seen in previous years. We know this, because we live

New Sales Skills Lesson

The third and final lesson of our new training series, "Selling Your Store's Credit Plan," is now available and online! It's one of nearly 100 sales training lessons included in the

See you in Las Vegas

Be sure to stop and visit with us at the Las Vegas Market. We'll be in the Retailer Resource Center (Building C) Monday through Thursday of next week.

Win an iPad for Training

Win a New iPad or other valuable prize while you train.

FTC is giving away 48 Amazon gift cards and 1 new iPad before the last day of High Point Market, 2012. Every week until Market, four salespeople will win a $25 Amazon gift card, and during the week of High Point Market someone will win a new iPad.

Your Purpose Statement

Your goal as a sales associate should be to assist and direct customers through the buying process. The method of gaining your customers' permission to discuss their wants and needs is called sharing your Purpose Statement.

This is where you sell yourself to your customers. If delivered correctly, your purpose statement will convince your customers that you have their best interests at heart and are fully qualified to assist them. The following are the four elements of a Purpose Statement:

Can You Afford Training?

You have thought about it and considered doing it, but how many furniture store owners have actually spent time and money on a training course for their employees?

It is tough to stay competitive these days as a furniture store. Margins are slim and there may not be extra resources for things like training. On the other hand, good sales associates are difficult to find, turnover is high, and you need a competitive edge over big box retailers. But can you afford it?

Highlight Your Certification!

We're excited to see that Chariho Furniture takes pride in being Furniture Training Company certified! The spotlights for their Interior Design Team list The Furniture Training Company Room Design certification among their other qualifications.

Follow Chariho Furniture's lead! When you highlight your staff, be sure to include their achievements with The Furniture Training Company.

New Training Podcast

You and your staff need our new Inbound Calls Podcast:

Perfect follow-up to the 5 Telephone Skills lessons
Be able to keep callers happy and interested
Gain ideas for handling customer complaints
Learn to treat callers the way they deserve
Worksheet to practice new skills

New Sales Skills Lesson

The latest lesson in our new training series, "Selling Your Store's Credit Plan," is now available! Its one of nearly 100 sales training lessons in our training collection. This lesson will help you:

know what your customers really need and want
easily talk about credit options with your customer
sell more furniture

Update from High Point Market

It's been another good High Point Market, even with the spring rain. We've enjoyed our face time with both long time and new clients who came by for the latest news. Everyone's been so complimentary of our furniture sales training modules and the benefits they've seen. Of course, as hoped for, we've also made many new friends who are now subscribing their salespeople to the industry's biggest and most effective furniture training. After today we'll close up the space and say goodbye to High Point until the leaves fall in October.

Look for Us at High Point Market

Please come visit The Furniture Training Company at High Point Market, April 21-26, 2012.

Show Me, Show Me

A couple of years ago my son went mountain biking on the Slickrock Trail in Moab, Utah, with his scout troop. He was so excited to return and tell us about his new favorite sport. Furthermore, he was adamant that I buy a mountain bike and take up the sport with him. Over the course of the next several weeks he told me about the technique he used to keep himself upright and in control while descending the treacherously steep hills of Slickrock. “You have to keep your behind way over the rear tire,” he told me. I tried riding down our front steps. It was harder than it sounded, and I crashed on several attempts. After I had received enough scrapes and bruises, I did something exceptionally smart. I asked my son to show me exactly how he did it. Hey, it worked! I was finally able to ride the bike down our hard steps and, eventually, the steep trails of Slickrock.

May We Recommend: Furniture World

We love reading the Furniture World sales education articles! Check out their online archive or visit their whole website: www.furninfo.com.

The Rule of Seven

When my kids complain about teachers giving too much homework, I reminisce about the Japanese class I once took that required me to learn more than 100 new vocabulary words each day. Yikes! I thought my brain was going to explode. I struggled and worked for hours each day, hoping the new words wouldn’t leak out of my ears and onto my desk. Fortunately, I was just 19 years old at the time, and my circuits survived the experience.

New Training Podcast

Have you ever noticed that the best sellers are usually the best listeners? In the new podcast, Listening Brings Success, you'll learn about becoming the listener your customers will love to buy from.

Our podcasts are a great follow up to the skills you learn in the interactive SalesForce: Selling with Service lessons. Call one of our training specialists if you have questions about including the podcasts in your training plan. 866-755-5996

Furniture Training Company Contest

Top o' the mornin' to ye!

The Furniture Training Company is on Facebook! We want you to join us! If you "Like" our Facebook page by St. Patrick's Day (March 17, 2012) you will be entered into a drawing for a $50 Amazon Gift Card.

Store Owners and Managers: Be sure to tell your sales staff how they can win.

Click here to Enter the Drawing!

In Training : Do As I Do

They figure that doing things the way we do will ensure the most success and the most profit. It only makes sense that the boss knows what’s best.

What parent hasn't had the embarrassing and frightening experience of watching one of their children engage in misbehavior of some sort, only to realize that the behavior was actually learned from the parent? There is a country song about a father who hears his four-year-old son utter a four-letter word. When the father asked "Now where'd you learn to talk like that?" the boy responded by proudly declaring, "I've been watching you, dad ain't that cool?" Then he adds, "I want to do everything you do. So I've been watching you."

Ouch, that hurts.

New Sales Skills Lesson

Every customer comes into your store wondering how she'll pay for the furniture she wants to buy. Our new training series, Selling Your Store's Credit Plan, will teach you the steps you should take to set her at ease so she'll buy the furniture she really wants.

Lesson one, Introducing Your Store's Credit Plan, teaches the first steps in this important process and is available at www.furnituretrainingcompany.com

Click here to login and take the training now »

Strike Gold with the New Podcast

In the new motivational podcast, Mike Petersen shares some tips for achieving sales success even when the going gets tough!

Login to Listen »

Contest Winners Share Their Thoughts

Brian Olney of RC Willey
Winner of the Amazon Kindle

"I would like to take a moment to thank The Furniture Training Company, for the service you provide.

"I have used your services over the last year. When I began working at the RC Willey store, I was introduced to your company as a great training center. I felt so overwhelmed with the new sales position in the furniture industry, and it was nice to locate a source to assist me in gaining the necessary training needed to be successful.

"I have spent my entire life in retail sales, as a store manager, district manager, and a sales representative, so I felt I had a great knowledge of sales. But I have gained so much from your course. I feel your course has helped me to improve around 20-25% more. I'm looking forward to finishing the [training] to see if I can continue to increase my sales even higher."

Norberto Salinas of LFD Furniture
Winner of the Canon Powershot

Norberto has enjoyed the training immensely and says he is more confident talking with customers because of the things he’s learned. He believes that knowing product is very important, and has seen his sales increase because he knows more about what his store offers!

Hugo Canales of LFD Furniture
Winner of the $100 Amazon Gift Card

Hugo says his sales have increased by at least 20-30% since subscribing to The Furniture Training Company website.

He reports, "everything is interesting especially how furniture is built." Knowing how furniture is built has increased his ability to speak confidently with his customers.

He's also learned the importance of understanding his customer. Without asking questions, you won't know if the guy in the shorts is looking to spend $100 or $20,000.

Bob Lantz of Star Furniture
Winner of the Kindle Fire

"I have been in the furniture business approximately 5 years.

"These online trainings have helped me to gain a better understanding of the furniture that I'm selling. They've helped me to learn facets I would never have thought to study before, such as manufacturing techniques, and I have been better able to answer my customer's questions because of my new found knowledge.

"I feel that I have become a more well rounded salesman because of these online trainings; more 3 dimensional. Which in turn helps me to meet my customer's needs."

Visit Us in Las Vegas

Please visit us at the Las Vegas Furniture Market. See the new lessons we've recently added to the site. Leave a business card and receive FREE a 24"X36" full-color sales training poster -- a $10.00 value.

We'll be inside the Western Home Furnishings Retailer Resource Center, 4th Floor, Building C. If you can't find us, call my mobile (435) 770.6935.

Regards,

Mark Lacy
President, The Furniture Training Company

p.s. Won't be in Las Vegas? Call toll-free (866) 755-5996 with your questions, or go online and sign-up for a NO-RISK TRIAL of our sales training website. Even if you have seen our training before, please take a look. We've added countless new training resources.

Call (866) 755-5996 for more details.