By John Woolsey Vice president of marketing, Anderson Hardwood Floors
Many years ago I had a close friend who was just getting started at a local branch of a well-known brokerage company. One day a middle-age, rather dowdy lady entered their office and asked if she could speak with a broker. Based on her looks and demeanor, no one in the office wanted to waste time on her so she was assigned to my friend as the junior member of the staff. As it turned out, her looks were deceiving. Her husband had recently passed away and she wanted to invest the proceeds of his $5 million insurance policy. It was a nice commission for my friend and wake-up call for his associates.

Many of us in the floor covering business make the same mistake. We prejudge the customer and think we have to sell her the cheapest floor in our store to assure we will make the sale. This is particularly true in these tough times when a customer coming in the door is a much less frequent commodity.

Recent data confirms that today’s consumer still prefers hardwood to alternative hard surface options, but she wants to get more bang for her buck, more value for her investment. The key word here is “value” and not “cheap.” So the question this should raise for the retail salesperson is, “How can I create value?”

Two answers come to mind. First, start with the best. If a consumer falls in love with a floor she will do almost anything to find a way to afford it. Worst case, if it is truly outside her budget you can show her another floor that has most of the same features and benefits at a slightly lower cost. Remember, you can always trade down but it is almost impossible to trade-up.

This brings us to the second suggestion: Use the product’s features to create consumer benefits. Traditionally a product is higher priced because it offers more benefits. Make sure the consumer knows you are not trying to sell her a higher priced floor but rather one that will provide her long-term performance and satisfaction. This is doubly important when you consider today’s consumer will probably stay in her existing home a lot longer than she used to.

Finally, close your sale by selling the unique benefits your company offers: professional installation, quality workmanship, your reputation in the community and your satisfied customers.