MILWAUKEE—Alliance Flooring, parent company of such buying groups as CarpetsPlus Color Tile, Carpetland Color Tile and Floorco, has always known member Wendy Werner to be a special person who runs a professional business operation. Alliance has awarded her with the company’s Business Owner of the Year award for 2008 and she has hosted one of the organization’s “Summit” meetings in which her store was opened for other members to see and learn how she operates as well as critique the business.

Now the nation’s remodeling industry knows how special Werner and her business are, thanks to her recently winning a number of honors from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI), including its 2008 Distributor of the Year National Achievement Award.

This latest honor came after Werner first won the Milwaukee/NARI chapter’s 2008 Distributor of the Year Award in January. It should be noted, that the Milwaukee/NARI Home Improvement Council is the largest of the national association’s 61 chapters with more than 900 members.

Strong commitment

The award, which recognizes distributors who have demonstrated a strong commitment to NARI, the professional remodeling industry and the communities in which they do business, was for Werner’s Floorco of Milwaukee operation. Floorco is Alliance’s direct-to-the-trade flooring wholesaler. Werner’s operation consists of a 7,500-square-foot showroom in West Allis, Wis. The business has been a NARI member since 2006.

“We always promote NARI and ask others in the community to get active in the association as well,” Werner said. “You need to get involved and give back to an association that gives so much to its members.”

In giving the award to Werner, it was noted how her Floorco operation, a supplier to a number of Milwaukee/NARI members, not only works with those companies to enhance their business operations, but to be more available to consumers.

Some of the activities the association signaled out as to why Floorco was honored include, staff members volunteer their time to serve on association committees and provide replies to inquiries that come from consumers as well as being experts on radio call-in shows and as sources for feature stories relating to flooring. In addition, the company strives to provide educational information to consumers interested in home improvement and remodeling through its relationships with area contractors.

Werner said these and other activities fit into her philosophy for having a successful business, namely cultivating and keeping relationships. “The minute someone walks through our front door, we are establishing a long-term relationship with that client.” She cited “simple things” such as a cup of coffee, a bottle of water or soda, or even just a friendly hello, as stuff that “goes a long way when making a first impression.”

The company also hosts different events “where we focus on a certain product or trends,” she explained, “and invite our members and their guests to come and educate themselves so that they can stay on top of the product knowledge and flooring trends.”