Interview with Mark Quinn, VP Merchandising, Mattress Firm
Mark Quinn explains
why It’s so much more interesting and satisfying to be in the life
improvement business than just selling mattresses.
Before joining Mattress Firm as its new Vice President of Merchandising,
Mark Quinn already had a dynamic career in the mattress industry. Quinn
co-founded luxury bedding manufacturer Spink & Co. USA, worked for Sherwood
Bedding and served as Segment Vice President of Marketing for Leggett &
Platt.
He’s well known for his collaborations with Mark Kinsley, CEO at Englander.
These include the Dos Marcos Podcast he modestly describes as “the galaxy’s
greatest bedding podcast,” and the book, “Come Back to Bed: Attract More
Foot Traffic and Make People Fall in Love with Your Store.”
Furniture World asked Quinn to share his thoughts about the future of
mattress retailing and his tenure at Mattress Firm.
“Coming to Mattress Firm has been awesome,” he replied. “Our people are
incredibly talented. Mattress Firm understands the value of branding and how
to set itself apart from the rest. As the largest bedding retailer in the
U.S., we focus on communicating the value of our products and the services
we provide.”
Quinn related his excitement at being able to help create messaging that
explains the relevance to people’s lives of what Mattress Firm does so well.
“Much of that relevance,” he explained, “comes from seeing ourselves as
being in the health and wellness business.”
Need-Driven Purchases
“People don’t shop for the new fall line of mattresses,” Quinn continued.
Mattresses are a need-driven item and a long-term durable good. Most folks
would rather vacation in the Bahamas than spend $3,000 on a mattress.
“People don’t shop for the new fall line of mattresses,” Quinn continued.
Mattresses are a need-driven item and a long-term durable good. Most folks
would rather vacation in the Bahamas than spend $3,000 on a mattress.
“One thing I want Furniture World’s readers who sell bedding to understand
is that Mattress Firm’s focus is health and wellness and we are working hard
to craft our messages to make that clear to our customers.
“When your purpose is driven by health and wellness,” he said, “it requires
a departure from product—price—promotion advertising in favor of focusing on
the serious consequences of not getting enough sleep. It’s a message that
just about everyone can relate to.
“Not too long ago, I gave a speech to 400 people at the National Bedding
Federation Gala Awards Dinner in Telford, England. I asked everyone to look
around and notice their competitors in the room. Then, I asked them to
consider the idea that as an industry we are all riding out the same storm,
just in different boats. That’s why we should be looking at how we, as an
industry, can make ourselves more relevant to consumers. If we continue to
talk about what we each do in terms of product, price, and promotion we will
stay at the bottom of our customers’ shopping lists.
“Instead, we can do a better job of reorienting the conversation toward how
our products help customers live their best lives by promoting health and
wellness. These conversations can easily center around how better sleep can
improve memory, contribute to better relationships, increase happiness,
reduce anxiety, enhance work/school productivity and boost sports
performance.”
Promoting Brands & Price
Furniture World pointed out there is a long list of bedding and furniture
store retailers already on board with this idea. So, why are others focusing
almost exclusively on promoting brands and price?
Most retailers are better at product extension than innovation. They are
creatures of habit who feel comfortable tweaking practices that have worked
for them in the past. Good marketing is tricky because it lives at the
intersection of science and art. Creative messaging —like the idea of
talking about sleep and how it makes people feel—must be balanced with the
practical business goals of convincing, converting and transacting.
“I’m not suggesting that mattress retailers abandon price-off promotions,”
Quinn continued. “I am saying that it’s important for mattress retailers to
build value every single time they send marketing messages out into the
universe to build their retail brands. Follow the examples of great branding
companies like Tempur-Pedic and Apple Computer. These companies don’t go on
television promoting their sales. Instead, they focus on building value.
Once you’ve established value, then it’s okay to explain that everything is
on sale, 50 percent off.”
Get Customers to Love You
“Whatever you decide your message should be and how you want your customers
to feel, it should be communicated at every opportunity on your website, in
social media, advertising and in correspondence with customers. Then grade
yourself. That is what inspires people to make decisions. If you want to
beat out your competition, make customers love you by showing them who you
are.”
Editor’s note: For an excellent discussion of the value of emotion in
branding see David Blair’s article in the July/August 2022 Furniture world
issue, “The Emotional Impact of Branding” at
www.furninfo.com/ furniture-world-articles/3993
).
“Channel great home furnishing retailers who serve their communities, do
excellent marketing and have fun with their customers.
“At Mattress Firm, we have some advantages of scale, but being a successful
community-based store has advantages as well.”
“Emotion drives every decision in politics as well as in business. It is
what inspires people to make decisions. If you want to beat out your competition, make customers love you by
showing them who you are.”
Living in Mattress Limbo
“What differentiates one furniture or mattress store from another? For most
I would say, not all that much,” adds Quinn. “When pressed to explain the
differences, an average store owner might say that their people are
different, their service is better, or they stand behind what they sell.
That’s just what every other store says.
“Customers need to feel the difference between you and your competitors.
Those differences should be highlighted in the way you position and market
your company. If there aren’t any compelling differences, then change or
even transformation is probably necessary. W. Edwards Deming, the proponent
of continuous improvement, once said, ‘It’s not necessary to change.
Survival is not mandatory.’
“It’s my view that retailers end up in mattress purgatory when they don’t
stand for anything. Emotion drives decision. When consumers hate a product
or a brand, there’s no way they are going to buy. When they love a brand,
they will either rush out and buy it or put it on their wish list. Anything
in the middle that’s ‘sort of good’ or ‘kind of cool’ isn’t compelling at
all from an emotional perspective. The middle ground lacks definition and is
a type of purgatory for mattress brands and mattress stores.”
Quinn went on to explain his view that “mattress brands that do it all from
the bottom to the top in terms of price and construction risk falling into
this middle-of -the-road category as well.
“Mark Kinsley always says that the riches are in the niches. I agree. As a
mattress buyer, I’m less interested in purchasing products that are almost
indistinguishable from those manufactured by other companies. I want to show
brands that give me a better reason to buy from them.
“Finding a unique niche, technology or purpose is challenging. But, to avoid
slipping into mattress purgatory, retailers and manufacturers can work to
stand for something, be bold in their approach to the market, define who
they are and find ways to not be like everyone else.”
Three Things (Fit For Print) That Excite Mark Quinn
Product Technology: “I am excited about how companies are
integrating technology into mattresses and bases to prevent snoring, track
biometrics and integrate advanced heating and cooling technologies. New
product innovation drives growth and helps keep us front of mind with
consumers. The problem is that we need more creative thinkers in our
industry.”
Data Intelligence: “Mattress Firm’s strategic partnership
with SleepScore Labs allows us to equip our highly-trained Sleep Experts™
with SleepScore’s data and technology to help customers get the best night’s
sleep possible,” said Quinn. “If a salesperson asks a shopper to try a
pillow and it feels great, that’s one way to sell. Another way is to let
them know what we’ve learned from our in-depth pillow fitting study which
found that on average, participants slept 8.1 hours more per week when they
were fitted for a pillow, compared to using their original pillow.
“It’s an example of using technology to give consumers a better
understanding of how products outperform. It’s also part of Mattress Firm’s
commitment to educating customers during the shopping phase of their
purchase journey, satisfying their curiosity and interest.”
Credibility: Quinn observed that retailers need to be
credible if they want their customers to feel comfortable accepting sleep
and wellness advice from their salespeople. “Customers can tell within five
minutes if a salesperson is just there to sell them a mattress. But when the
purpose is to help solve a problem, human-to-human, they understand that
focus pretty quickly as well.
“At Mattress Firm we call our associates Sleep Experts and back up that
title with training. At first, the Sleep Experts title concerned me because
it presents a high bar for salespeople. Then I considered that most
physicians only get a few hours of training on sleep and sports coaches
rarely talk about it. And, although students learn about nutrition and
exercise in health class, sleep isn’t a covered topic. Mattress Firm’s Sleep
Experts get over 200 hours of training so they can impart sleep wisdom to
better serve their customers during in-store visits, via phone and online
chat.
“Our Sleep Experts help shoppers find the perfect mattress and teach parents
to have conversations with their kids about the importance of sleep. They
help people understand sleep cycles and how substances like caffeine and
lifestyles affect sleep quality. Mattress Firm does more than sell them
mattresses. We help people ‘Unjunk Their Sleep.’
“We also push that message through www.sleep.com which is a go-to resource
for sleep and wellness tips, the latest in sleep technology and even bedroom
design.
“It’s a helpful tool for both our associates and our customers. It’s so much
more interesting and satisfying to be in the life improvement business
rather than just selling mattresses. It changes the conversation and sets us
up to add more value to our customer’s lives.”