New Web Site Designed To Educate Sales And Retail Staff - Nature's Rest Site Provides Information on Latex Mattresses & Adjustable Beds

Furniture World Magazine

Nature's Rest Marketing Corporation (NRM), makers of a line of luxury latex mattresses and adjustable beds, is unveiling an innovative new training program - an interactive training web site - to help educate its customers, sales representatives and retailers about the benefits of latex mattresses and provide sales techniques. NRM is the first company in the mattress industry to harness the power of the web for sales training. Scheduled to launch in mid-August, the new interactive web site training also will provide NRM and its customers with a valuable, tangible measurement of effectiveness and a blueprint for improvement. A beta version of the training program was demonstrated during the San Francisco Furniture Market July 23 and 24. "We are proud to lead the industry into the realm of interactive online training which we believe will significantly enhance our comprehensive, multi-faceted sales training program," said Rick Robinson, President and Chief Operating Officer, NRM. "Our new training method provides one-on-one interaction with sales staff who can access the site from the convenience of their home office or desktop computer. In addition, it offers a tangible measurement of its effectiveness and a map for improvement." An extension to the company's existing consumer web site, the program provides information about the benefits of latex mattresses, product features, adjustable beds, sales techniques and specific selling points. To start the training program, trainees log on to www.naturesrest.com, click on the Nature's Rest "Gold Tree" logo and enter a user name and password assigned to their store. The program is expected to have 30 pages of information. After completing the 30-minute program, participants who complete a skills test quiz will win a substantial prize such as a pair of 100 percent latex pillows valued at $90.00. The site has been designed so that it can be customized for individual retailers and different tests can be offered as part of the ongoing training process. The program will also be available in a CD-Rom format for retailers who do not have Internet access. The concept for the training program was developed by NRM's Rick Robinson, one of only a handful of mattress industry executives to have served as national sales trainer for a major manufacturer. Working with Craig Misewicz, Vice President of Nature's Rest Southwest, also a former national sales trainer, the pair enlisted an outside interactive media company to design and maintain the site. "Based on extensive research and our experience in national sales training, we believe that one-on-one training much more effective than large classroom groups. Thanks to today's technology, it is cost effective to offer that type of personal training to everyone via the Internet," said Robinson. "Our new program takes the sales person away from the distractions of the selling floor and group sessions to an intimate environment, and time, which is convenient for them and allows them to focus. We are confident that our considerable investment in the training web site will pay off for us and our customers. Retailers will certainly benefit from knowing what areas their sales staff comprehend and where they need help." The Nature's Rest luxury mattress collection features the exclusive Posture™ latex with 25 percent more latex in the center core than other mattresses on the market. With a suggested retail price range from $999 to $3,000, the line includes six mattress styles and two adjustable bed models. Nature's Rest Marketing Corporation is headquartered in Tampa, FL, with 14 manufacturing plants throughout the United States. Earlier this year, NRM was acquired by LIS Corporation, an investment company with holdings in the bedding, marketing/communications and hotel industries. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.naturesrest.com or call 1-877-528-8996.