Successfully overcoming the economic crisis is at the forefront of most retailers’ minds these days, and Furniture First announced that it is offering its members a service to help them do just that. The organization recently partnered with The Furniture Training Company to provide members with excellent Internet-based sales training to make their salespeople the best in the business.
Bill Hartman, president of Furniture First, says that having a well-trained sales staff is crucial for maintaining profitability.
“On a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being the most important), an on-going training program rates at about an 11,” Hartman says. “Retailers that have a training program in place perform so much better during tough economic times than those dealers who have no training program in place.”
Hartman says the program utilizes more than one teaching method to train employees.
“Furniture retailers need a variety of training mechanisms for their staff. Some people are auditory learners while other are visual. The Furniture Training Company offers a little bit of both mechanisms in its training programs,” he adds.
Mark Lacy, president of Furniture Training Company, says that Furniture First members can benefit from three primary training courses:
- “Fundamentals of Furniture Product Knowledge” — gives sales staff the background in product knowledge to become furniture experts in the showroom
- “SalesForce: Selling with Service” — provides a systematic and consistent way to interact with every customer
- “RoomDesign for Sales Associates” — teaches design skills (including styles, color, layout design and room arrangement) to sales staff to increase effectiveness with customers
Hartman adds that the training costs are inexpensive, but the true value comes in measuring the success that the training brings to the employee and the store.
“The courses are designed to help retailers achieve greater return on the traffic they already have at their stores and begin building a better reputation of friendly, knowledgeable service,” Lacy explains. While the exact costs of the training packages depend on the size of the group, Lacy says all of the training is available via an Internet subscription for only $10-$20 per person, per month.
For more information on the training opportunities that Furniture Training Company provides, call Mark Lacy at (866) 755-5996.
The Furniture Training Company designs and delivers award winning online furniture training courses exclusively for home furnishings retailers. The National Home Furnishings Association and many other industry groups sponsor their Internet training. Home furnishing retailers from top 25 companies to small independent retailers all find The Furniture Training Company's web-based training programs highly affordable, effective, and easy to implement.
Furniture First is a 15-year-old member owned purchasing cooperative, with 172 stock holders, representing over 365 retail locations in 45 states, doing $1.3 billion at retail. Furniture First specializes in members who sell medium-low to medium-high end home furnishings, full line furniture stores, doing over $2 million in volume with an acceptable credit rating and a good reputation.