Making Money With Laminate - 08 Retailers' Guide

Try to avoid positioning laminate flooring as an inexpensive alternative. Customers will think it’s inferior. And they’ll think it isn’t real. There are many good reasons why laminate flooring is a popular choice; at the top of the list are ease of maintenance and durability. Over the past five years laminate has come into its own as a flooring category with its own unique characteristics.

The best of today’s laminate looks are not only stunningly realistic, but they’re loaded with glamour, thanks again to advancements in technology. Invite the customer to dream about bringing the outdoors in (the latest interior décor trend) by featuring and displaying laminate’s grains, including exotics, distressed looks, and stone marbling. Install a vignette using different categories, say two different wood species or stones, or border an Italian stone look with an exotic wood in laminate.

Extol the virtues of laminate’s versatility in that it can be installed almost anywhere in the home and that recent improvements in underlayment technology have virtually eliminated the hollow sound that was once a negative characteristic of laminate flooring. Great laminate has great value. Try purchasing a few “sticks” from the local big box outlet and compare them to the value and breadth of fashion you offer instead.

Feature not only the traditional three inch wide wood looks, but also plank and tile formats—especially larger format stone look tiles, a look that continues to grow in popularity.

The big cost savings with laminate comes with the installation. Explain that you still recommend a professional installation but with a floating/interlocking floor, prep time is drastically reduced.

DEVELOPING YOUR A-TEAM

Your employees are your face to the consumer and the greater community. You want the best team possible, because they'll deliver on "game day"--every day your store is open.

Developing an A-team means knowing first what your customers want, then delivering those wants better than anyone else. Doing something "right" doesn't guarantee that anyone will ever call you again; doing it "better" gives you a competitive edge.

Here are some tips to get you started.

• Establish performance-based goals that can be easily measured for everyone in your organization. Make sure you state job responsibilities clearly. If goals are vague and not measurable, they'll probably not get done or done correctly.

• Institute a reward system, encouraging superior customer service from everyone and providing incentives for everyone for selling additional products. Try a point system for selling extra merchandise, cleaning supplies or services and then turning points into store "bucks" that can be used to purchase time off or a longer lunch hour.

• Have monthly meetings with all your staff--customer service, warehouse, administration and sales. Prepare an agenda. Recognize people who are doing an outstanding job, and focus on the value of improving interdepartmental communications. Develop topics that interest your employees, and ask them to come up with some topics.

• Reward customer service and support personnel by taking them to meet their customers. It builds relationships, improves customer service and builds your business.

• Hold a congratulations party yearly for your company. Give gifts and rewards to everyone, including "significant others," who support the people who support you. How about citing an employee's child who makes the honor roll? consider a morale-building outing for all your employees--a fishing trip, a movie, or an afternoon at a sporting event.

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