High Point Market HFA Seminars Announced
Furniture World News Desk on
9/22/2016
The Home Furnishings Association recently announced the High Point Market's Seminars schedule. They are as follows:
Saturday, October 22, 2016
- 8:15am – 8:45am
POWER BOOST- Pull the Trigger to more Traffic and Greater Sales!
Doug Knorr
Don’t let the buying process end with the first sale! Learn how to keep customers coming back for 2nd and 3rd purchases. Plus, reach new movers before your competitors do and take advantage of this perfect buying time!
- 9:00am – 10:00am
Recruiting Sales Leaders!
Jody Seivert, One by One
Are you struggling to find good salespeople? Do you wish you had a great sales manager on board to direct your team to success? Come and learn how to articulate both roles: sales and sales management, and how and where to begin to search for them, to interview effectively, and to have them hit the ground running. (Sales Management)
- 10:30am – 11:30am
Marketing Solutions in Store and Online
Erika Sparrow, Imagine Retailer
Join Imagine Retailer as it shares real-world, real-client case studies of proven web, in-store sales and e-commerce marketing solutions that have engaged consumers before, during and after the sale. Learn how others have found success and how you can too.(Advertising / Marketing)
- 1:00pm – 2:00pm
How to Give Your Customer Experience a Big Boost
Scott McLaren, Fortegra
A Google search. A service call. A plan adjustment. Every touchpoint is important, when a customer’s experience is comprised of a series of smaller interactions like research or even a simple inquiry. So, how does your company address the little things needed for healthy and positive customer relationships?
By adopting four basic concepts, will gain key insight on how to make customers the priority, including real-time examples on call center service and efficiency, in a way that enhances and simplifies their business. (Sales / Customer Service)
- 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Using Advanced Local PPC Strategies to Convert Digital Impressions into In-Store Visits
CPC Strategy Rick Backus, CEO & Co-Founder
With 12 brick-and-mortar locations, Jerome’s is constantly looking for new ways to bridge consumer behavior on mobile devices to actual trips to its stores. Through a combination of advanced AdWords shopper targeting strategies and sophisticated attribution modeling within Google Analytics, Jerome’s has started to maximize their mobile ad investments by understanding exactly how it impacts online and offline conversions. Jerome’s VP of Digital, Scott Perry, and CPC Strategy CEO, Rick Backus, will walk through exactly which ad programs Jerome’s has been able to implement to successfully tie online and offline performance.
(Advertising / Marketing)
- 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Making your Store Relevant Through Rebranding and Remerchandising
Many furniture stores are now entering their third generation of ownerships. These new owners are looking for new ways to invent their brand and make it relevant to younger customers. Martin Roberts will use real examples, from the last two years, helping retailers to rebrand, redesign, and remerchandise to be relevant to the next generation of customers. Using detail and samples from past projects, you should leave this seminar with ideas you will be able to implement immediately.(Store Design / Merchandising)
Sunday, October 23, 2016
- 8:15am – 8:45am
POWER BOOST- Proven Low Cost Advertising that Increases Traffic and Sales
Doug Knorr
Increase Sales with digital and social media. If you haven’t seen results in the past, learn new proven strategies that will increase traffic and sales.
- 9:00 am – 10:00am
The Outlook for Home Furnishings
Jerry Epperson, Mann, Armistead & Epperson, LTD
Now after a recovery of seven years, what is the current outlook for home furnishings? We believe there remain opportunities in this economic scenario, and a long term growth pattern that makes home furnishings very attractive. Come hear Jerry give his “State of the Industry” address. (State of the Industry)
- 10:30am – 11:30am
Is Ecommerce right for my business?
Jesse Akre, Amber Engine
In this session Jesse will explore and help you in making the right online decision and how to avoid common misconceptions, mistakes and stumbling blocks. Get all your questions answered in this new frontier for you. (Technology / Ecommerce)
- 1:00pm – 2:00pm
The Keys to Developing Strong Management
John Egger
All areas of your store need to be managed to develop your people to their potential. In this session you will discover the best management system and processes that have been developed and perfected over the last 5 decades. This will be your most valuable hour at market. (Operations / Management)
- 2:30pm – 3:30pm
10 Steps to Improve Advertising Results
Philip M. Gutsell, GutSELL & Associates
Phil will divulge ten strategic ways to improve your overall retail business through your advertising and marketing. Learn how to identify your critical weaknesses and mistakes that are wasting valuable advertising dollars. Then learn what to do about them. Each step will be analyzed and examined so you can develop a clear plan to increase your traffic, sales and ultimately your bottom line. (Advertising / Marketing)
- 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Transforming a stagnant family business into a money-making machine
Kimmberly Capone, Treasures & Ross Barlett,ViewIT Technologies
Join retailer Kimmberly Capone as she guides you through her dramatic personal journey of transforming a stagnant 40 year old family business into a money-making machine. Faced with a failing family furniture business, and suddenly finding herself at the helm, Kimmberly Capone was absolutely certain of one thing: the business would not fail under her watch. Attendees will get to share in Kimmberly's experiences, challenges, decisions, what technology she uses, and how it all works together to create a personalized shopping experience that 'rocks'. (Sales / Technology)
Monday, October 24, 2016
- 8:15am – 8:45am
POWER BOOST- 3 Critical Components to Effective Targeted Direct Mail
Doug Knorr
Better target your customers and stop wasting money. Learn the keys (message, merchandise, and the mail routes) to reduce cost and increase the response of your direct mail.
- 9:00am – 10:00am
Can I help you?” And Other Retail Tragedies
Wendi Swanson, The Friedman Group
Engaging customers is, without a doubt, the most critical step in all of selling and one that salespeople struggle with the most. Learn:
- Why opening the sale effectively is so essential
- Why customer resistance exists and how to get past it
- How to create a welcome environment
- How engaging customers is as much about your physical approach as what you say
- What to do when all else fails
(Sales Training / Sales Management)
- 10:30am – 11:30am
Reality Retail: What's New in Store Design and Visual Merchandising
Connie Post
Love to shop? Grab a seat at the table of 2016 WithIt Legacy Award winner Connie Post. The retail design strategist, author, trend translator and developer of both products and brands has built her career on understanding where consumers are, what they want now and where they are headed next. In this provocative session, you'll view our favorite pastime through an entirely new lens via a whirlwind tour of store design and visual merchandising both inside and outside the home furnishings industry. You’ll leave with ideas and insight into a creative process that has resulted in more than 20 million square feet of retail and wholesale space around the globe, along with the newest tricks of the trade to apply to your business whether you’re an interior designer, retailer, marketer or member of the media. (Store Design / Merchandising)
- 1:00pm – 2:00pm
STAYING ON TOP of Your Competition
Running a powerful promotion can help you stay on top while improving the look and operations of your store. Discover strategies to double or even triple your sales volume, increase your profit margin, strengthen your sales staff, and add maximum effect to your advertising for continued growth and success.
(Marketing / Store Events)
- 2:30pm – 3:30pm
Give your website a much-needed checkup!
Ron Gordon, MicroD Inc.
Bring life back into your online presence, treat symptoms of an out-dated website, and take action to ensure its ongoing health. The doctor is in! Internet Technology expert Ron Gordon, Ph.D, will help you evaluate the health of your website and teach you strategies to get it performing at its peak. With the majority of consumers starting the shopping process online, building online tools that attract and engage are vital. Come prepared to critically evaluate your current website and to make proactive changes.
(Technology / Website)
- 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Clienteling: How Systems Support a Culture of Customer Experience Excellence
Janice Johnson
As competition becomes increasingly fierce and the cost of acquiring new customers goes up, home furnishings retailers must rely on their long-time promise to provide excellent customer experiences. One sure-fire way to accomplish this? Clienteling. A technique used by retail associates to create or enhance relationships with key customers by using data about their preferences, behaviors and purchases. In this seminar, industry expert, Janice Johnson, will discuss the shift in the customer buying experience between generations, and how having historical customer information at your fingertips during their store visit can be a game changer. The retail marketplace is continuing to evolve, and your ability to evolve with it and provide a more personalized shopping experience is crucial to high customer satisfaction levels. Attend this seminar to learn how access to CRM tools and data can put you ahead of your competition.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
- 9:00am – 10:00am
Retail Moneyball: Strategies for Maximizing Revenue
Kevin Cundiff
The Retail Moneyball seminar is about finding a balance between your existing sales opportunities and those opportunities that could be measured by metrics. And because numbers tell a story, it’s about taking a realistic look at analytics, so your decisions are based on data and not just your gut feeling or conventional wisdom. Yes, there are situations when your greatest opportunities will line up with your lowest performers. But, more often, those larger opportunities exist at the top of middle of the organization where often resources are not allotted. Once you’ve come to terms with the fact that your best changes are with your top performers, you are ready to win big. (Management/Operations)
- 10:30am – 11:30am
Developing a High Performance Sales Team
Joe Milevsky, JRM Sales Management
During this seminar you will discover how to dramatically improve your company’s sales performance by capitalizing on your company’s current assets, without wasting more money on additional advertising. (Sales Management)
- 1:00pm – 2:00pm
How Digital Advertising and Social Media Campaigns perfectly complement Print Advertising
Rose Oldenkamp
In today’s distracted media environment, it is more important than ever to be able to reach consumers through a combination of advertising. Through the use of highly targeted campaigns across multiple touchpoints, you can engage your audience longer, more often and create more sales opportunities. In this session, you will learn how digital, social and print can create a complimented campaign for your business. (Advertising / Marketing)
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More about the HFA: The Home Furnishings Association (HFA), with roots dating back to 1920, is North America’s largest organization devoted specifically to the needs and interests of home furnishings retailers, with more than 1,800 members representing more than 7,000 storefronts across all 50 states and several countries. Association offices in the East, West, and Central United States provide members with programs, resources, services, and a unified voice in government relations by partnering with home furnishings industry suppliers, vendors, affiliates, and other organizations. For more information, visit
www.myhfa.org.