Change is one of the most feared events in the life of a human being. Anything that deviates from the norm of ones life usually causes great discomfort and anxiety. But change is also how you grow, push yourself to higher levels, how you learn and how you expand your horizons. Change allows you to experience possibility and new opportunities to make you more than you think you can be.

In the carpet industry today change is very evident and it will be more prevalent as we march along in time. One thing that is changing rapidly is backings in carpet products. This is a subject we have touched on before but it has come up in several conversations with carpet retailers.

DOWS LIFESPAN, SOFTBAC, ADBAC

The point of the conversations has been all the new carpet backings and the effect they are having on the carpet installer. One retailer in particular mentioned my article on Softbac and did I really think it was that good. I said yes. He stated that his installers aren’t crazy about it because they find it difficult to install and maneuver over pad. I told him that there is a technique to working with this backing and that it requires implementing different skills than the installer may heretofore have been using or may be used to. There is also a video produced by Shaw Industries that will show the installers how to install and work with the product and an excellent tech services department, foremost in the industry, that they only need call for assistance. This backing is not the only backing that installers are going to have to learn to work with. There’s Mohawks UPS and Smartback, Amocos Adbac, Dows LifeSpan, new moisture barrier bacs, new Kangabacks, enhanced urethane backs, higher quality Actionbacs and more woven backs.

A carpet installer has to be looked at as an auto mechanic. If you own an auto repair garage you don’t limit your customers to a particular type of car unless you specialize in that make, such as servicing only Mercedes or BMW for example. Whoever pulls into your garage, be it with a Ford, Chevy, Dodge or other make, by offering yourself out as a auto repair service, your mechanics have to be adept at working on these vehicles. The auto repair shop owner would have his mechanics train to work on different cars. Often you’ll see the diplomas of mechanics hanging over their work areas, proudly displayed. To do the job properly and correctly the mechanic must be trained, educated in his career and continually updated. Cars certainly change more than carpet.

Carpet installers have to know how to work with all types of carpet backings because as a carpet dealer you aren’t going to have the option of ordering whatever backing you want on whatever carpet the manufacturer is building.

Manufacturers reserve the right to change the product at any time and new backings, most not proprietary to the carpet mill, can be incorporated into whatever product line they choose. These new backings, implemented properly are going to give us higher quality carpet, eliminate claims relative to old backing technology, raise the price of the product and make each one different to install.

For this reason the carpet installer has to be able to work with all of the backings. Some will be easier to work with than others but all will require new skills, changes and flexibility in technique and employment of new processes and installation materials. A big change is inevitable and if you think you’re going to avoid it you better get into another business.

As a retailer you’re going to have to change along with everything else. Once you get used to changing all the time you’ll realize two things, change brings about new opportunities as it teaches you more about yourself and change gets easier the more you experience it. Changing is going to mean a much closer working relationship with the installers. Remember, floor covering is just ballast until it’s properly installed. Without good installers you ain’t nothin’. For starters you had better put the pressure on the manufacturers and backing producers to get all the information you can on these new backings. That includes written materials, installation instructions and videos on what this stuff is, why it is and how to install it. Then you have to share it with the installers by conducting regular meetings with them and your sales staff. 30 minutes each week, on a Friday, payday, with coffee and donuts, will get them all in. And if you have to pay a little more, then that’s what you’ll have to do. At times in my career when I sold carpet I told the installers I wanted the best job and that whatever it cost I was willing to pay. I never had an installation complaint and it never cost that much more to get the best job. When you’re all pulling in the same direction you have a team, when you’re all going in different directions you have chaos. Chaos is more change than most people can handle.

I don’t think change is that difficult. In fact I love change, it makes life and business exciting. Those retailers and business owners who are open to change, reluctantly or freely, will be amazingly successful and profitable. If you want things the same way all the time go live in a tree. If you want life to give you all you want, expect and deserve for yourself and your family then do what you have to do to achieve it. Don’t sit around and lament about how things used to be, they aren’t that way anymore. Accept the new backings, train and continually educate your installers and sales staff and communicate with them regularly. You’ll see how much better your business will be. The change will do you good.

I might also add that you might want to invest in you or members of your staff attending the LGM Carpet Seminar. These are scheduled in the Events section on FloorBiz. I vow to help make change easier and to help you with your business.