By Matthew Spieler
Anaheim, Calif.—Five years ago, the World Floor Covering Association ( WFCA) created a certification program to provide salespeople, managers/owners and other non-retailer professionals a vehicle by which experience, knowledge and performance could be measured and formally recognized. Recognizing what the importance certification can mean to a business, the scope of the program has been expanded by partnering with other entities and allowing their educational offerings to qualify as “credits” toward eventually taking the certification exam.

Chris Davis, WFCA’s president and CEO, said under this structure, Armstrong, CCA Global Partners and Mohawk are the first to include WFCA’s certification program. “These companies have a history of industry leadership so it is no surprise they are the first to get on board.”

Several others are expected to join in the near future, as are a number of individuals who provide educational courses, he added.

“Professional certification is an idea whose time has come,” said Bob Hill, WFCA’s immediate past chairman and president of Floor Covering Associates, who played an instrumental role in the program expansion. “It is another important tool to help independent retailers differentiate themselves from home centers and online stores. With the vast number of new products and methods available today, floor covering is no longer a simple consumer product.”

Tom Clingan, Armstrong’s sales training manager, agreed. “It’s an excellent opportunity for anyone who sells flooring to be able to position themselves with their customer as a true professional. What better way for the sales professional to offer a true competitive advantage?”

As part of the arrangement, each participating company will continue to conduct its own educational programs as it had before. Only the standards for certification qualification and testing will be overseen by the WFCA. Member companies will work with the association to define new accredited programs and to identify the number of hours necessary to remain accredited.

And, as it has been from the start, certified individuals must participate in continuing education and renew their certification every three years.

The one thing that will not happen, Davis stressed, is courses taught by partners will not be on selling a particular product. “We will make sure this is not used as a commercial.”

The specific certification programs affected by this expansion include: CFS—Certified Flooring Sales Consultant, which recognizes salespeople; CFE—Certified Flooring Executive, targeted for upper management, and CFP—Certified Flooring Professional, which includes non-retailer professionals such as cleaners, inspectors and others.
Davis said plans call for online classes and certification testing to be available through participating companies. The tests cannot be downloaded nor copied, as they will contain rotating questions so no two tests are the same. Plus, there will be a time limit on taking it.

While the test can be a daunting task, Davis said there should be no reason for worry. He described it as taking a driving test. “If you know your stuff, it’s not that hard. But if you don’t know anything about the industry, you shouldn’t take it.”

Though a few have come close to a perfect score, he noted that is not the point. “This is set up to be a reasonable test of knowledge of the industry and on the particular field of profession. All one needs is a passing score. That demonstrates you are a qualified professional in your area of expertise.”

Industry standard

Currently, there are 350 people who have been certified, with another 450 in the process of getting their certification.

“This agreement will build on our efforts and eventually become an industry standard,” Davis said. “I hope by the end of next year there are a couple of thousand people who have been certified. That’s not out of the realm considering how many educational opportunities are available.”

He noted both Mohawk and CCA have “university” programs with literally hundreds of courses conducted each year around the country.

Then there is Armstrong. Clingan added, “All our training programs are available online at the Armstrong Customer Training Center or conducted in-store by one of our distributor partners.”

Davis said this program expansion is in line with WFCA’s mission “to foster the growth of the industry and to provide members with the tools necessary to succeed in business. A person or business becomes more credible with third-party certification, as the consumer recognizes this as something industry-wide and not just a brand. This lets her feel more comfortable and confident because she is dealing with a professional person and/or operation that has been recognized by their industry.”

For more information on WFCA’s certification program, call 800.624.6880.