In the 1980’s the American Floor Covering Association (AFA), one of the components of today’s World Floor Covering Association (WFCA), offered a five-day traveling university that featured Walter Guinan, Frank Mayfield and Herb Wolk as the instructors. All three were fantastic talents, as is exhibited by their all being in our industry’s Hall of Fame, who volunteered their time with the express purpose of passing along their considerable knowledge to those who were seeking to increase their sales abilities. I was one of those fortunate enough to attend and still use techniques that I was exposed to then more than a quarter century later.
Unfortunately, this effort was short lived as most dealers were either “too busy” or “didn’t want to spend the money”. By believing this to be so, they passed not only the chance for their staff members to learn, but also denied all concerned the opportunity to earn more each and every day that they remained in the flooring business. Imagine the benefits that a relatively few dollars, and a few hours of time, would have manifested with the passing of time. Talk about being shortsighted!
Sadly, our industry appears to be much the same today as training still remains a tough sell. I guess that just as before, most dealers’ perception is that their installers are performing at near perfect levels, their sales associates are closing the majority of their opportunities at desirable margins and that management is always prepared to make the correct decisions – resulting in embarrassingly large profits. Yeah…right!
Don’t make the same mistakes made by those who went before us. Remember that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. This isn’t the 1980’s anymore! Ask any of us who were involved in flooring retailing then and we are likely to tell you that a business, and level of competition, that we felt was difficult then has become exponentially more difficult with each passing year. Many independent retailers love to complain about the national chains being difficult to compete with. My observation is that in too many cases, these national merchants aren’t taking market share as much as we are simply handing it to them by stubbornly clinging to the notion that “we can teach them all that they need to know right here!” Please don’t allow your business to be paralyzed by such a notion.
Great opportunities such as the new WFCA Online University, traveling sales and management camps, and CFI installer training exist for your benefit. Use them! In many cases, WFCA Trade Scholarship funds are available to offset the tuition costs. Establish a mantra in your business that training is not expensive… ignorance is expensive! As Benjamin Franklin said over 300 years ago, “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest”.
Tom Jennings
