McSwain Given WFCA Gold Standard Award for Excellence in Retailing

Dalton, GA, February 11, 2016—Scott Humphrey, chief executive officer, World Floor Covering Association (WFCA), has announced the annual winner of the Gold Standard Award for excellence in retailing: McSwain Carpet and Floors, based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The WFCA Gold Standard Award carries with it a $5,000.00 check, press recognition, a trophy, acknowledgement on the WFCA website and a customized WFCA seal for the winning store’s entrance.

Recognized by many for outstanding customer service, McSwain has designed unique tactics to keep customers happy and coming back with repeat business. A pre-installation checklist helps to ensure that everyone involved from the customer to the installer are all on the same page. A company representative is also designated on every job to stay in touch with the customer throughout each phase of the process from ordering to post installation. McSwain instills in their staff the importance of exceeding customer expectations and as part of their approach they empower their staff to make immediate decisions when problems need to be addressed and corrected. Not having to deal with “red tape” and other delays alleviates frustration and disappointment and ensures customer experience that is as smooth and stress-free as possible. Post-installation, McSwain sends all customers an online satisfaction survey. If problems are detected the management team swings into action to correct less than positive experiences promptly.

McSwain has also made heavy investments in its marketing programs. This included revamping its website. The new site is up by 76% in unique visitors from 2014 to 2015. Social media has also been a big growth area for the store with double-digit growth in number of followers on the most popular sites including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest. In total McSwain has reached over 475,000 people via social media in 2015 alone.

In addition to one standout retailer, for the first time the WFCA is also recognizing five additional stores this year for Gold Standard Honorable Mentions: Carpet Plus based in Charlottesville, Virginia; Classique Floors based in Portland, Oregon; Sergenians Floor Coverings based in Madison, Wisconsin; Cash and Carry Flooring based in Traverse City, Michigan; and Coles Fine Flooring based in San Diego, California.