Don't Get Mad Get Customers

There have been some recent statistics claiming that 27% of the population can not afford big ticket purchases at this time. So therefore 73% can afford to buy – if they want it bad enough. The harsh reality is that many of those 7 out of every 10 consumers would rather hand over their hard earned cash (because I suspect that most of those on benefits are among the 27%) for something more desirable than a new carpet.

Unfortunately, the typical carpet advert makes the double glazing and estate agency business look like consummate professionals by comparison. FREE fitting, FREE underlay FREE grippers, FREE doorbars, FREE measuring then massive discounts upon further massive discounts are slashed, carved, hacked, gashed, chopped, ripped and otherwise lacerated from what’s left, to give “Mad” and “Crazy” prices.  I can’t help feeling that the prospect of even considering buying such obviously worthless rubbish from a self-proclaimed lunatic is beyond the pale for many respectable people.

Unless of course they absolutely need one. So that’s what we are left with, those people who can not put off any longer their need to cover up the noisy draughty bare boards, or replace the ugly carpet that the incontinent dog has destroyed. With great dismay they are forced to contemplate the prospect of visiting a cold, poorly lit, crammed warehouse or backstreet shop to look at products, which main selling point seems to be that it’s “cheap”. 

It doesn’t have to be that way.  The best definition of selling is “Creating a desire to own something”. How many carpet adverts, flyers or shop fronts do you see that create a desire?  The only desire many create is the desire to be elsewhere – like lying on a beach playing with their new iPad, or sitting in front of their new 99” plasma tv with a few cans of grog.

Rapidly rising wool prices have not made it any easier. However, there is an argument that wool is a premium product and should be reassuringly expensive. Smartstrand has shown that premium fibres can successfully command higher selling prices – and let’s not forget that higher prices create more turnover and profit. We can be more ambitious than to chase prices tied at the same levels as 20 – 30 years ago.

Theodore Levitt, an economist and lecturer at Harvard Business School once said  – “People don’t buy quarter-inch drills, they buy quarter-inch holes”. Rather than selling carpets perhaps we should think about selling beautiful homes.

Depressing Taxi Driver

Here’s a story which really made me think. I was in a taxi taking me from the station to a meeting when the cabbie asked “What line of business are you in then?”. When I told him the carpet business he said “Oh dear - I bet that’s really tough isn’t it?”. I asked him why he thought the carpet business might be especially tough and he said “because people don’t buy carpets anymore - I’ve got no carpets at home. Oh... except on the stairs”. I immediately had visions of his 2.50 x 4m S+L that takes an estimator 2 hours in travelling and planning, and a fitter half a day to cut up and fit. He went on... “I have wood in the hall and lounge, laminate in the bedrooms, and ceramics in the kitchen and bathrooms”. I hadn’t previously considered how typical this guy might be.

Rather surprisingly, on asking a group of carpet retailers how many ONLY sold carpets, the answer was more than half, which could explain why business is so tough. I reckon that the average consumer carpets only 60% of their home compared to 15 years ago when kitchens and bathrooms were routinely carpeted. Look around the homes of your friends and family members if you need convincing. So any houseful means that they will need other flooring styles - if you make them go elsewhere for anything other then carpets, then you could be pushing your customers into the arms of your competitors who may well sell carpets too...

In the US most carpets are sold by FLOORING retailers - if it goes on the floor they sell it. Carpets usually account for around 40% of sales, among a product mix of rugs, real wood, laminates and ceramics.

We all know the impact made by wood floors and laminates, and whilst there are claims that their growth has been arrested, they remain at a high level. It is rare to find a house with wood or laminate these days especially among young to middle aged consumers.

Ceramics frighten many retailers because they don’t have any installation expertise. The fact is that most ceramic retailers simply hand out 3 cards of recommended fitters and don’t get involved in fitting themselves. How easy is that? Many retailers don’t want to sell wood for the same reasons, but logic dictates that if it was easy then everyone would be doing it (like carpets). The more technically difficult the task, the fewer competitors you’ll have and the greater the margins available.

The conclusion is that if carpet sales are struggling, then do you need to offer more products that consumers want to buy? Can you afford to ignore huge swathes of the flooring business? Supermarkets spend much time and thought planning where to site packets of sweets and chewing gum, because they know how important it is to squeeze every last penny out of their customers, whilst offering great products and services that consumers want or need. Here’s an example – your customers want to buy flooring maintenance products - stain remover, spot cleaner, vinyl, wood and laminate cleaners. There is good profit to be made it selling these to them. If you offer them, customers will come into your store to buy them thus providing extra profits, and may be inspired to redecorate with one of your ranges, or buy other things while they are there on impulse, like rugs.

Now – where’s that taxi driver?

Window To The Soul

If you are regularly involved in selling to people (rather than business), it is helpful to occasionally take a step back and reverse the roles. I am currently looking at having some windows replaced and have had a few quotes. Even if I had a friend in that business, I would feel more comfortable having at least one other quote, just so I could feel re-assured that he wasn't going to be basking in the Caribbean for two weeks at my expense. We all share a fear of being 'tucked-up' by some unscrupulous supplier who selfishly puts their own wellbeing in front of your own....
To be fair, the quotes are fairly similar - within 10% - so what, for me, is going to be the deciding factor? Price is always important, but provided the difference is within reasonable bounds, it probably won't be prime. That may vary with the kind product you are buying, so that if you were buying 100% product, like a DVD or a book, you may go for absolutely the lowest price, but the greater the labour or service element, the greater the possibility you might choose to pay more than the lowest price. Double glazing is not that different to carpets - most manufacturers use the same frames and components, but the quality of installation could make a significant difference to the finished job. So they need to be competitive within a range, but not necessarily the cheapest. In fact I might be somewhat suspicious that the cheapest would be cutting corners somewhere. Assuming that they all have similar costs, and buying around the same price, I might worry that their installers are being paid commensurate with their ability i.e. rubbish. In fact if one quote was much lower (or higher) they would be almost certainly summarily be dismissed.
If you assume an acceptable range of say 10%, that means that on a £5000 order, someone could be making £500 more profit than their competitors, with a happy customer. So what will swing the deal? Recommendations are a great substitute for knowing an expert personally. If they can show me testimonials, or give me details of previous installations (especially anything prestigious like Buckingham Palace) that shows me that they are proud of their work. I also find myself leaning towards the pitch that focuses on the little things they do better ("We don't do anything 100% better than our competitors - we do 100 things 1% better") - attention to details "we use the best hinges and locks". A guarantee and being part of a recognised trade association is reassuring - in fact the more they talk about quality and service the more I am put off those who only gave a price and a specification.
If anyone talked ONLY about price, then I'm afraid they wouldn't be doing business with me, because it would be a fair assumption that they only want to talk about their strong points - not their weaknesses. Most of us have the same thought processes when buying something as any other consumers, so try putting yourself in the consumer's shoes when looking at your business.

You Gotta Give A Little

Maybe it’s because of the recession, or maybe because they are better informed, but it is clear that many more consumers are unafraid to ask for a discount. In more buoyant times you could afford to stand your ground, and demand the full price, but nowadays you have to be prepared to cut a deal even on smaller jobs.

Many consumer TV programs now implore viewers to haggle and the internet has made it easy for them to shop around. For some, discount hunting has taken on the status of a consumer sport with the thrill of negotiating a reduction becoming the ultimate prize rather than the product itself.

You may be envious of online sellers or the huge multiples who do not negotiate (try making Asda or Amazon an offer at the checkout), but actually you can turn this negative into an advantage if you have the right strategy.

There is a big difference between a price that has been reduced to everyone, and negotiating a discount. It’s not about the price, it’s about winning. You personally winning a reduction, not being offered to everyone makes it special. It matters not if you negotiated down to a price that was still higher than Amazon’s – in most cases the price becomes secondary to the negotiated discount.

I’m willing to bet that there would be a much higher level of satisfaction among consumers who had negotiated the price from £700 down to £500, compared to those who had simply bought it at the regular price of £450


One of the hurdles the retailer has to overcome is to avoid being offended by a demand for discount. For many retailers setting your price is the psychological equivalent of setting the value of YOU. Your life, your work the thing you have poured your energy and soul into. It would be easy to be deeply wounded by a casual “You’re too expensive – I can get it cheaper”.

You must to resist the temptation to get annoyed with customers who ask for a lower price – in most cases they are simply playing a game. If you take umbrage and become defensive they will most likely feel they have lost this game that you’re not playing properly and just walk away.


Playing the game means it can not be all one sided, you have to make them feel as though you have looked after them as if they were part of your family. Concessions show how much you value their business, how important they are to you. They feel appreciated and happy to have won something. Even a small gesture means they can hold their head up.

Naturally you also have to know when to say no. You should be aware of how far you can go – you are not a charity. But a “no” with a smile and the wish that you only could, is completely different to humiliating them by frog marching them to the door in a full nelson.

Another prerequisite is that you do not set your prices at a level at which discounting will find you becoming a regular patron of the Salvation Army’s soup kitchen. Now I’m certainly not suggesting that you inflate your prices to the ridiculous levels of Carpetright, but if your costs are under control you should be able to be competitive yet retain some flexibility.

This flexibility gives you something the multiples find hard to compete with. Price flexibility is difficult for them to accommodate, furthering the perception of them as uncaring, arrogant, inflexible.

You have to play to your strengths.

What price a good display?

As my wife dragged me around the shops on Saturday, something struck me about the way you can generally tell how expensive something is by the way it is displayed. Cheap stuff is generally piled high - good stuff is given more space with fewer displays. This perception has nothing at all to do with the actual quality of the goods - it just LOOKS like better quality gear. You could probably take some clothes from Matalan and display them beautifully in Harvey Nichols at 10 times the price and get away with it. This means that when you show your customer a really good quality carpet on a packed tombola or scruffy crowded display, she probably won’t perceive it as such. She may assume by the way it is shown that it is overpriced and not good value. So logically you can improve the value consumers believe you offer, just by displaying it better, and without changing your prices. I don’t believe that consumers really want to see samples of EVERY carpet made.
Take the challenge here http://www.metromembers.net/cheapdisplays.php