There is a real ground swell of disgruntled retailers of late who insist that carpet quality is terrible. Getting first quality broadloom continues to be a nagging problem.

Amazingly, mills realize this, but everyone is so production driven, shipping everything that gets made is like an addiction. Otherwise, there would not be so many complaints from dealers across the country.

Retailers are forced to increase their staffs to handle claims, and claims have increased to a greater percentage of sales. The industry’s average for claims just a few years ago was said to be 2% of sales, but that is an arguable figure today. Try upwards of 8% in some cases. How can you make a profit running a business when you have to figure in such a high number for claims?

Wouldn’t it be better to slow down and try to reduce losses by preventing claims for defective products? I can try to force you to do something to rectify this, but until the dealer and the manufacturer start talking seriously about this problem it’s going to get worse instead of better.

What does a claim really cost you? First, the time and trouble of addressing the complaint. You have to go out and look at the concern, at least you should. You have to report it. Wait for someone to look at it and hope he knows what he’s looking at, which it itself can bring you a whole other series of ulcer inducing dialogue.

SATISFIED CUSTOMER

You have to pull up the product and listen to the consumer complain further because they have to take another day off and move the furniture again, for which she may want you to pay. “ Who’s going to pay to tune the piano again and compensate me for removing and replacing all those Hummels in the curio cabinet once more, which took me a week to do the last time,” the consumer may lament.

You may have two days of labor, two days of the consumer’s time, plus overhead and any other hidden costs you can image. You’ve also most likely alienated the customer by making her endure a tumultuous event. Are you having fun yet?

Now consider this information taken from Cleaning Digest in the summer 1999 issue obtained from Technical Assistance Research Programs, Inc. Even when a customer does complain, 50% are not satisfied with the company’s efforts to resolve the problem. So, even if you replace the product and insure that everything is alright, 50% will still not be happy.

Further in this information, dissatisfied customers typically tell 8 to 16 others about an unsatisfactory experience they had with a company. Considering most floor covering purchases are either made or influenced by women, that should scare the daylights out of you.

Women’s’ network of referrals are immense. If someone in the office puts the hex on buying something from you because you jerked Helen in accounting around over a side match problem with her carpet, you might as well have just died. Nothing you can do will change the minds of all Helens’ friends and associates when they hear how you disrespected her time, integrity and hard earned cash by causing her pain and suffering in the purchase of her new flooring material.

And that doesn’t only hold true for the dealer. The manufacturer suffers as well You can be sure they’ll ask who makes the product to be sure to avoid buying it. Further, consider this from the same source: Word of mouth is one of the most important factors influencing a customer’s decision to buy from a company. Third party recommendations mean sure sales. They also mean “non-sales” to those of you who have suffered the wrath of a dissatisfied customer.

I’ll leave you with these last two bits of information to think about from this data: Fifty percent of the time, customers who have a problem are not likely to tell the business about it. Fifty to ninety percent of these silent individuals will take their business elsewhere the next time.

Now, sit down and seriously consider the ramifications of all this information to your business. Don’t you think you should do something about this now, and fast?