Sample Chapter 1: What is so Different
About the Bedding Department?
Sample Chapter 2: The Ladder is Against
the Wrong Wall
To
see all available chapters, please go to the contents
page.
WHAT
IS SO DIFFERENT ABOUT THE BEDDING DEPARTMENT?
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New
salespeople quickly become aware of The Bedding Department. There
is something different about it. Even many veteran salespeople
can’t tell you exactly why it is so different, but they
too are aware of it. In many stores, only a small percentage of
the sales staff sell mattress sets effectively. Some salespeople
admit they will turn away when they see customers walking toward
you know where.
MANAGEMENT WOULD BE HORRIFIED
A
salesperson at a prominent furniture store known nationwide reports
that out of 22 salespeople, none were interested in selling mattresses
that he knew of. They wanted to be out on the floor selling big
ticket items and didn't want to spend the time to deal with customers
asking all their questions about mattresses only to have them
buy a $500 set. They felt that there was not enough return on
investment.
One
manufacturer’s representative asked a group of 75 furniture
salespeople to raise their hands if they liked selling bedding.
Only 5 or 6 hands were raised.
A
new sales associate comments, "I avoid the bedding department
at all cost."
There
are countless examples of this attitude. What is most puzzling
though is how few people can tell you why it is that way. They
have some ideas, but for the most part, they have just learned
to shy away from it and let someone else deal with it.
THINK OF THE INVESTMENT
Think
of the investment furniture stores make to be in the bedding business.
Bedding is a product that must be advertised consistently. In
major markets, full page ads run in the tens of thousands of dollars.
The cost is staggering. As they say, you’re either in the
business or you’re not. Most stores realize the profitability
potential of bedding and try to get their share of the business.
Just look at any weekend newspaper and especially the pre-holiday
issues and you will see more bedding ads than almost any other
product category.
Companies
will invest enormous amounts of money in inventory and advertising.
They will dedicate valuable square footage to the bedding department,
consult with experts for display, and exert great effort merchandising
line-ups from the manufacturers. Many hours are spent making sure
cover, specifications, labels, pricing, etc. are compatible, attractive,
and competitive in the marketplace. Then the representatives try
to "teach" and "train" how to sell the products.
You probably see your bedding reps much more often than furniture
representatives.
All
this effort and expense comes down to where the rubber meets the
road -- the salespeople dealing with the customer. It doesn’t
matter how well everything else is done. If the sales staff is
at best, "indifferent" and at worse, "adverse"
to selling bedding, all is for naught. When considering that the
great majority of bedding customers don’t browse, they buy,
why wouldn’t all sales people love to sell mattresses?
THROWING MONEY AWAY
An
enterprising young salesman at a well known retailer conducted
his own survey for one month to see how many customers who purchased
bedroom furniture also purchased a mattress set. He was very disturbed
to find out that 40 percent of them purchased from another retailer,
many on the same day. When asked why, most said their salesperson
didn’t mention it and they didn’t realize that the
store had a bedding department. WOW.
Some
sales people have the feeling that if a customer is making such
a big investment in furniture, that they better not push it and
ask for more. There is no risk in asking, especially if you consider
it a responsibility to make sure your customers are sleeping on
good supportive and comfortable mattresses.
True,
this survey was based on one month at one store and cannot be
considered representative of all stores. However, it is probably
safe to say that most every store loses at least some percentage
of their mattress sales in this way -- by default. The only risk
involved in asking is that the customer will say they don’t
need a new mattress. Many customers will appreciate that you care
enough to ask.
IT GETS WORSE
Many
salespeople who shy away from bedding will spend an hour with
a couple browsing for furniture and announce, "We are not
buying but would like to get some ideas. We may buy eventually."
Think about it. It seems irrational that any salesperson would
invest time in a browser and not a buyer. How can this be?
DON’T FORGET:
People
don’t like to buy mattresses, that’s why salespeople
don’t like to sell them.
Plain
and simple, that is it in a nutshell. It doesn’t mean that
all salespeople hate selling mattresses and it doesn’t mean
that all people hate to buy them. Attitudes from either can range
from indifference to really disliking. As always, there are exceptions.
Many
stores have a small percentage of salespeople who do like to sell
beds and do it quite well, maybe quiet well. It’s their
secret. Other salespeople just let them take care of the bedding
department.
If
some of this sounds all too familiar to you, maybe this book can
help change your attitude toward mattress sales.
THE
LADDER IS AGAINST THE WRONG WALL
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Have
you heard the story of the construction crew? They are doing a
major renovation on a particular section of a building. They must
climb a ladder to reach their given task. The supervisor does
a terrific job overseeing his workers. He directs and motivates
them to do quality work efficiently and safely. He is a skillful
teacher and his workers perform accordingly. They work hard and
much gets accomplished.
The
building owner comes to check on the progress and points out that
the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall. The supervisor was
looking so closely that he didn’t realize the mistake. The
majority of mattress sales training has the ladder on the wrong
wall.
DON’T BLAME ME
Yes
it is true and there is a reason for it. Don’t fault the
industry. Bedding manufacturers probably do the best job of sales
training of any furniture product there is. But, the whole premise
of sales instruction has been a reactive response to customers
buying a product they need. The intellectual, analytical approach
leads people to seek some value reference to justify the dollars
they may spend. In other words, they ask questions about what
is in the mattress to see if they think it is a good value. The
general consensus has been that if salespeople could answer the
questions with product knowledge and a few features and benefits,
the customer would buy the best bed they could afford.
THEY DON’T REALLY CARE
Customers
don’t really care how mattresses are made. If you think
this isn’t true, start asking people you know who are not
shopping for a mattress how interested they are in knowing. To
save you the time, there have been surveys that prove this statement.
Consistently nationwide, people questioned at random say they
have no interest in knowing how mattresses are made, or what the
difference in the brands are. So in essence, customers are asking
questions that they don’t want the answer to. Why? When
they see dozens of upholstered rectangles with price differences
of hundreds, and in some cases thousands of dollars, they are
overwhelmed and they don’t know what else to ask.
Customers
don’t really care how mattresses are made. They only ask
to find a value reference to see if they can justify the dollars
they are not excited about spending.
But
even more astonishing, most sales training has been directed toward
what customers don’t want to know. In most cases describing
specifications and explaining differences to a customer results
in them "stepping down" to what they perceive to be
the better value. Most customers will never accept that upholstery
layers cost as much as they do. Dress it up however you want by
explaining benefits of foam, fiber and cover, but you are still
describing foam, fiber and cover. Not what most people consider
hi-tech.
MAYBE A SCIENTIST COULD EXPLAIN
If
you learn enough about upholstery layers you may be able to make
a pretty good case for their cost. Let’s say you research
and load your presentation gun with lots of ammo on the molecular
structure of foam cells and fiber properties. Aim that at your
customer and see how fast they run. Most people would rather watch
paint dry than discuss molecular theory.
MOVE THE LADDER
If
you learn to lean the ladder over to the wall of Want, your customer
will be choosing a set for the right reason. You will be discussing
comfort and quality of sleep. There will be smiles and gestures.
Customers will have more of an eagerness, than a skeptical reluctance
to buy. The section A Different Approach will help you understand
how to get customers to want to buy a mattress.
THE
BIG PICTURE
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LOOK
AT THE FOREST AND THE TREES.
It
is easy to not see the forest for the trees. People can get caught
up in their own situation and lose sight of the bigger picture.
As in many products, bedding involves many more people and resources
than one may be aware of.
Let’s
take a look at some things that are involved in manufacturing
bedding and how it ultimately gets into a consumer’s home.
Let’s begin with the box spring wooden slats. Well this
goes pretty far back, but someone had to grow the trees. Most
wood comes from white pine or fir forests, mostly in the northwest.
It takes years to grow a tree to maturity, harvest it, cut it
to rough lengths, send it to wood mills, and cut it to the dimensions
for the frame.
The
wire comes from steel mills that make bulk wire and send it to
component manufacturers to be made into the spring units and box
spring coils or modules. Well, if you want to take a step back,
the steel came from iron ore that had to be mined. (You can go
as far as you want with this.)
Other
manufactures make the foam, some make the fibers, and the pads.
Other companies make the chemicals that make the foam and fiber.
While foam and fiber sound like simple products, there are engineers
that spend their lives developing new and better materials for
more comfort and durability.
Huge
fabric mills make the covers. Some are in North Carolina, New
Orleans, Belgium, and Spain. Fashion designers try to keep up
with current trends in colors, patterns, and textures.
LOOK AT ALL THE PEOPLE
Now,
each company has to have people manufacture the goods, purchase
the materials, and maintain the machinery. There are accountants
and managers. All have salespeople calling on mattress manufacturers
trying to sell their particular goods. Most have advertising departments.
Truck drivers transport the goods to the manufacturers.
Major
mattress manufacturers employ thousands of people for all their
factories. There are workers who assemble all the components;
there are quality control inspectors, sales reps, managers, maintenance
workers, truck drivers, etc. Major manufacturers have research
and development engineers, national account representatives, and
advertising executives.
There
are major companies that make the machinery to manufacture all
the components.
Then
consider the retailers. You are probably more aware of how many
people are involved in your own company. The management, secretaries,
accountants, computer operators, warehouse people, customer service,
and the list goes on and on.
Now
think of the advertising people at your company, and then the
people at the newspaper, radio, TV, maybe even outdoor advertising.
Okay,
this sounds like it is getting out of control, but it doesn’t
stop there. Every operation along the way involves people. Most
every person directly involved has some type of family or relationship
involvement that is dependent on him or her. Maybe you are starting
to see how far reaching this is. It is incalculable.
This
simple product literally affects and involves thousands and thousands
of people. When you start thinking like this, it adds more importance
to what you do on a daily basis.
The
people involved are interdependent upon each other. Meaning that
while each person may perform their own individual task, they
are dependent upon everyone else doing their individual task as
well. Each is just a small link in a huge chain. Each person has
some direct or indirect effect on each other, including their
own families.
OKAY,
IT’S YOUR TURN
Here
is where you come in. All this long and involved process comes
down to you. Every step of the way is connected to you selling
the product to the consumer. You literally start the domino effect
that goes all the way to the tree growing, the fabric woven, the
steel mined, and everything in between, because until the mattress
set is sold, there is no reason to do anything else. Wow, this
sounds pretty abstract, but it is entirely true. You don’t
have to accept this or even think about it, but if you choose
to, it can bring a new perspective and importance to what you
do.
There
is a great story of three bricklayers all working on the same
task of building a school. When asked what their job was: one
answered: "I am laying these bricks one by one all day long."
The next answered: "I am building a wall." The third
answered: "I am building the future for my community."
Guess which one enjoyed his job the most.
While
not comparing selling mattresses to building schools, the attitude
and perspective found in this story can turn a job from a dull
monotonous task to a wonderful challenging daily experience. And
if you don’t think the difference in attitude will affect
your sales, then you are probably not reading this book.
You
can either "sell mattresses" or you can contribute to
the quality of people’s lives and health for years to come.
You
can either pull down a commission check or you can become a strong
link in the huge chain that you are a part of, having an effect,
even in some small way, on literally thousands and thousands of
people.
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