You may be surprised to know carpet is still king of floor covering. Despite the growth in popularity of hard surface, broadloom still rules the roost. In the residential market, hard surface has made greater strides, but not so in the commercial market. Residentially, hard surface owns most of the main floor- kitchens, bathrooms, family rooms, great rooms and so on. Carpet is still the flooring product of choice for bedrooms. As a result of the hard surface increase, area rugs have grown. If you don't offer area rugs you're missing the boat on additional sales and profits. Most consumers who buy hard surface flooring buy area rugs.

The builder market is soft right now for broadloom but the luxury market is up. On average carpet sales in the residential market are off anywhere from 10% to 12%. Commercial sales are booming in almost every market. In some, commercial flooring dealers we've spoken to can't keep up with the demand. The commercial market generates higher margins and profits, so even with the residential slow-down, mills manufacturing commercial products are doing well.

Stone and ceramic sales are up- on the floor, walls and counter tops. In addition, glass tile sales, as accents with tile or on their own, are being used more and more. Using glass to me is the ultimate expression of luxury because it looks like jewels in the floor or on walls.

Since consumers can access any Web site with information on floor covering products, and television shows on HGTV feature a multitude of floor covering products, you need to be aware of what the consuming public is seeing and demanding. If you are aware of the products most consumers want, and you advertise and market them with professional installation, it is my opinion you will be very successful. One of the keys to a successful business is to listen to the wants and desires of your market and give it to them.

As for claims, we are seeing an increase in complaints for wood and ceramic. One of the primary reasons for this is ignorance on the part of the retailers selling the product. Very few are taking advantage of the information available to them from the sources that explain wood characteristics, installation, performance and idiosyncrasies. The same is true of ceramic tile materials. As a result we are fielding more questions on issues for these materials from dealers who don't fully understand them and their installation.

If we can call this a statistic, by a stretch, the lack of information on the part of people selling the product, looking at complaints and processing claims are up dramatically. There are far fewer technical people in the industry than years ago and more young, inexperienced and uneducated administrative types who don't understand the products. Let me make this crystal clear: The likelihood of you getting a correct answer to a problem from anyone who sells the product or handles the claims is remote. The complexity of the problems is increasing due to the variety of products and conditions that can adversely affect them. For example, we have had three claims on vinyl plank material in the last two weeks that no one, not even the manufacturer, could figure out. This is bad news for you if you rely on a manufacturer who you think you can trust to have the answers. This isn't just talk; we see this and deal with it everyday.

Don't despair because of the statistics you hear daily. Statistically, those businesses that focus on success will continue to be successful, if you create value for your customers, they will, in turn, create value for you. If you don't, they won't regardless of what statistics say.