Back to School

July 31, 2007  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on August 2007 In a challenging business environment for vendors and manufacturers alike, making the sale has a lot to do with attitude. The more a retail salesperson knows about a line and the more he or she knows about the company itself, the easier it is to sell.

While regular store visits from a manufacturer’s representative helpuild that knowledge, some vendors are taking a more intensive approach to teaching retail customers about their products through educational programs that bring dealers to the factory for a couple of days of talking product and getting to know people at the company.

Hickory Chair, American Leather, Classic Leather, Ekornes and others have set up so-called “universities” or “schools” that give the people who’ll sell their goods to consumers a more personal educational experience.

Susan Carroll is a sales and design associate at Mertins Dyke Home, a high-end retailer in Little Rock, Ark., where she’s worked for the past year-and-a-half. She attended Hickory Chair University this past February and American Leather University last fall.

What’s the difference between these types of on-site educational programs and sitting down in a meeting with a sales rep?

“I’m a visual person, and I have an easier time selling things I believe in,” Carroll said. “I want to know that it’s a well-run company, and one that treats its employees well. Those are the kinds of things you can’t get out of a typical sales meeting.”

She came away from both the Hickory Chair and American Leather programs very impressed with both companies.

“You see everything from the ground up, how the furniture is made. It makes everything a sales rep might tell you come alive,” Carroll said. “I got to see how well each company treats its employees. It seemed like they had employees that are hugely invested in the company. They encouraged people making the furniture to speak up, Hickory Chair in particular—they seem to be doing a lot of things right as far as employee input. I appreciate that Hickory Chair went to the guy who runs the machine every day and asked how it could be done better. Both were very positive experiences, and I’d say they help me sell those products better.”

Hickory Chair University is a two-day program. The company provides lodging, food and training to all Hickory Chair dealers that participate in the program. Since dealers will be touring the company’s plant in Hickory, N.C., attire is casual, with participants encouraged to wear soft-soled shoes such as tennis shoes. Jeans, shorts and khakis are all acceptable dress.

The dealer is required to provide transportation to and from Hickory Chair University and pays incidentals, and also for any days’ lodging other than those specified for the event.

After dinner on the day of arrival, the program gets started in earnest the next morning with a welcoming overview and tour of the company’s wood plant.

After a feedback session and lunch with management, the program continues with an upholstery plant tour, more feedback and then an overview of Hickory Chair collections and options.

An important aspect of the Hickory Chair session relates to its EDGE (Employees Dedicated to Growth and Excellence) program. EDGE engages Hickory Chair’s employees to take an active role when it comes to improved cycle times, waste reduction, improved quality and faster shipping.

After breakfast the second day, students get a look at the Hickory Chair Web site, stocking programs and image library. After a chair fabric, leather and trim workshop and lunch with management, participants “graduate.”

A Full Plate

American Leather has run its American Leather University for seven years now. The quarterly program averages around 60 individuals from retail customers, and to date has more than 1,000 “graduates.”

“There are a lot of factories that do this, but they’re often focused on the entertainment aspect,” said Matthew Hayward, vice president of corporate marketing, for American Leather.

Participants arrive in American Leather’s headquarters city of Dallas, on a Monday and depart Wednesday night. After a Monday night meet and greet, they spend two long days studying the company’s product, as well as sales techniques of benefit to any line they sell.

Day one takes place at the plant, while the Wednesday sessions are in a classroom setting back at the hotel.

“We know that with a premium brand it’s never the easier sale because of the higher-price ticket,” said Hayward. “A retailer needs more ammunition to make that sale. American Leather University is one of the best marketing dollar investments we make—in the people selling our products.”

The first full day of the program, Tuesday, participants spend all day at American Leather’s plant. There, they tour the factory, study American’s production techniques, and learn how to sell the company’s quality and delivery features.

“There’s a detailed session on just-in-time manufacturing selling techniques with our CEO (Bob Duncan),” Hayward said. “There’s a ‘Living with Leather’ seminar to teach about the different types of leather, how to clean them. We have a number of patents, so we also spend a lot of time on our key features.”

The day’s program also includes a branding class exploring why shoppers pay more for a branded product.

“We feel there’s a lot of value in the American Leather brand,” Hayward said. “We have 720,000 SKUs available in two- to three-week shipping.”

On Wednesday, ALU goes back to the hotel for a day of seminars.

“We bring in a gentleman named Richard Tyler, who’s been ranked as one of the Top 10 sales trainers in the world,” Hayward said. “He teaches the difference between a salesperson and a professional salesperson.”

Tyler’s program focuses on the “science” of sales—approaching customers, finding out their wants and needs, understanding and answering consumer concerns, and finding the right leather for the right lifestyle.

“It’s very unique—he’s not selling American Leather per se,” Hayward said. “He’s teaching an educational program of being a better salesperson.”

Getting Fired Up

Jim Arnwine is president and an owner of Arwine’s Home Furnishings, which has two stores in Knoxville and Chattanooga, Tenn. He’s sent a lot of his salespeople to school sponsored by Ekornes Inc. in Somerset, N.J., to learn about that seating manufacturer’s line.

Ekornes’ sleekly modern Stressless seating is a bit of a surprise in Arnwine’s stores, which carry mostly traditional Pennsylvania House product. He said the Ekornes School gets his salespeople fired up about selling furniture that’s a lot different from most of the stores’ offerings.

“One of our employees at the Chattanooga store just got back, and she was so excited because she thought she knew all about the Stressless line,” Arnwine said. “I’ve been to the schools myself, and I’ve sold that line since 1992.”

Bringing retail salespeople in for manufacturer-sponsored training is a confidence builder, Arnwine said.

“It gives them more confidence after they come back ... even if they’ve been selling a line for a while,” he said. Arnwine particularly likes Ekornes’ division of training into “basic” and “advanced” curriculums.

“If one of our people is selling Stressless chairs, I’ll require them to go to the New Jersey (basic) school before I let them get too far along,” Arnwine noted. “We’d always had the trainers come to the store, but in most cases going to the actual school makes (salespeople) fired up when they get back.”

Over the July 4 holiday sales period, for example, recent Ekornes School participants helped Arnwine’s sell 37 Stressless chairs. His goal for the entire month of July was 100, so the retailer was well on its way to meeting that target after less than a week.

Arnwine particularly likes the intensive role-playing exercises that puts Ekornes School participants through their paces when it comes to moving the product. He also gets some help for the brand’s visibility in the retailer’s markets.

“We have Stressless chairs in malls in Knoxville and Chattanooga, and also in the Knoxville airport,” he said. “We have customers coming in looking for Ekornes, and we want to be ready to help them.”

In fact, the first thing customers walking into Arnwine’s see is a Stressless chair.

Arnwine himself has made a point of going to manufacturer-sponsored training programs.

“Any time we can send people to manufacturers for training, we do it,” he said. “I was an old farm boy before I got into this business, and I’ve learned a lot. I’d been selling Ekornes for a while before I went to the school, and I was surprised how much I had to learn.”