Furniture Retail Tip #30 From Grandpa Mike-e-e! at 90 - About High Point & The Political Fruit Salad

Michael Greene (Grandpa Mike-e-e at 90)

Just look at  what's happening in the l'il ol' State of South Carolina these days with national political figures. The things I see on TV, in the newspaper and online make this geezer, a devoted “Northern Tar Heel,” remember what I wrote about the High Point Market in the grand o’l State of North Carolina in 2002, exactly 10 years ago.

There was a lot of grumbling about the High Point market back then. Many reps and retailers at the time were complaining about how High Point wasn’t listening to it's guests. There wasn’t good transportation. Hotel and car rental costs were out of control and people seemed to just not be as nice as in the old days. The problems appeared to be structural. The powers in High Point surely heard the complaints, but lots of folks thought that they weren’t listening.
If you stop and think about it, that's just what is happening in South Carolina. No matter what your views are about the the guys who are running around in South Carolina right now,  you must agree that they are hardworking politicians. A-n-d they are skilled at delivering their talking points.  But the sad truth is... that the good people of the USA are listening while the candidates are mostly talking.

A-n-d people really want to have it the other way around. They want the politicians to be doing more listening. Yet, day after day, they come to see the people who run things as “apples” and they come to see themselves as “oranges”-- and, it seems, oranges don't always trust apples.

So back to the furniture industry of yesteryear.... when buyers with aching feet growled about the lack of accommodations, the scarcity of parking spaces and zero handy buses.  This bothered me no end because I knew the fine people on both sides of the fence.

What happened? Well a great furniture politician Brian Casey emerged who went on a listening tour to every furniture association and, every retailer, manufacturer and interested bystander he could find.  He listened, he acknowledged the Market’s shortcomings and promised to do better. Then, he went home and delivered. And that turned the High Point experience around. If only more of our politicians were as good as Brian Casey!

So why am I going on and on about this?

Well, because you may have the same situation in your own retail life.  If you are sticking to your talking points and not really listening to your customers, then you are missing the boat. A-n-d if  your customers believe that you are an “apple”, and they are an “orange”; that you don’t care or don’t understand their real needs,  then it’s even worse! That’s because they won’t trust you and won’t vote for your store with their feet and their open wallets.

So what does  Grandpa Mike-e-e’s think you furniture retailers can learn from the politicians?

1. Don’t feed your customers the same old talking points. Instead, let them know how you can help to make their lives easier, save money and get the rooms of their dreams.
     
2. Don’t be a flip-flopper. If you have closely held beliefs about how you do business, then stick to your guns and tell your value story, over and over.
     
3. Don’t attack your competitors, but DO point out the reasons why you do what you do. They will connect the dots.
     
4. Just like the HPMA’s Brian Casey, you should tell everyone you meet about what you do and why you do it. A-n-d that includes every customer and everyone who might know a customer or someday know a customer.
     
5. And when you listen, REALLY listen. Make thoughtful changes based on what you hear -- and then tell them that you’ve made these changes and why. Then deliver on those promises.

Keep in mind that we Americans are lovable folks -- though we do have our own talking points. But if we remember to listen, we will discover what the observing French philosopher De Toqueville learned a long, long time ago, that America is not a melting pot but a delicious fruit salad, wherein all the ingredients keep their flavor, their identities and their dreams to create the greatest nation on earth.

You and your customers are not apples and oranges. Just like the rest of America, you are a delicious fruit salad. The apples compliment the oranges and the grapes and the kiwis. There’s a feeling of trust in a good fruit salad.

Thanks, again, for listening.

Grandpa Mike-e-e! at 90

P.S. Tomorrow smile and say "Hello!" Show the world "the" fruit salad.

Got a question? Got a comment? Great!! E-mail: grandpamike-e-e!@furninfo.com

PS. See the new YouTube music video staring me, Grandpa Mike-e-e! with my granddaughter Becca in a supporting role at http://bitly.com/qALkrX

At 90 plus... is a musical playwright, composer and lyricist with original music and thinking for very young and very old America.