Greetings Floor Dealers! It's no secret that box stores, online dealers, and other discounters are trying to steal your customers. Most dealers would like to put Home Depot in their crosshairs for a change. To do that you need to implement strategies that create differentiation, position you and your sales team as trusted advisors, and [...]
Greetings Floor Dealers! "Have you ever lost customers because you couldn't match Home Depot's $39 installation?" I asked a group of attendees on a recent Marketing Mastery webinar I was co-hosting with Dustin Aaronson (FCNews Associate Publisher). More than half said they had. Well, Home Depot has upped the ante. If you've lost customers because [...]
Greetings Floor Dealers! Years ago I owned a carpet cleaning company. During that time there was a local charity selling coupon books with deep discounts to local businesses such as restaurants, lube shops, and—you guessed it—carpet cleaning companies. One carpet cleaner participated by including a coupon for "one room free, up to 200 SF." He [...]
Greetings Floor Dealers! At the 2014 TISE West event in Las Vegas, I attended James Dion's class on the psychology of price. He said, "Price is just a number, yet consumer's are obsessed with it. If you want to know who to blame, look in the mirror." I agree. For years box stores and national [...]
Greetings Floor Dealers! Not long ago I was on a coaching call with Mark, a floor dealer from the Chicago area. "We love having Home Depot for neighbors," he said. "We take a lot of business from them." I spewed iced tea as I burst out laughing. "Details! Details! Give me details!" I said after [...]
Greetings Floor Dealers! FLOOR DEALER: We carry a large selection of well-known, high-quality products and we provide great customer service. JIM: So what's the problem? FLOOR DEALER: The only thing our customers care about is cheap price. I was in Starbuck's with a friend not long ago. I ordered a Trenta black iced tea, [...]
Greetings Floor Dealers! "We're kicking Home Depot's Butt. We love having them as neighbors because we take a lot of business from them." I was on the phone with Mark Bouquet, a floor dealer from the suburbs of Chicago and one of my Flooring Success Systems members. He went on to tell me that they [...]