Volume 26/Number 21; March 4/11, 2013
Georgia retailer wins Gold Standard award
Anaheim, Calif.—Dalton Carpet One Floor & Home has been named the World Floor Covering Association’s (WFCA) Gold Standard Award winner for excellence in retailing. Dalton Carpet One, an independently owned shop in Athens, Ga., took home a $5,000 check, press recognition, a trophy, acknowledgement on the WFCA website and a customized WFCA seal for its store entrance.
“To say that Dalton Carpet One Floor & Home goes the extra mile seems a bit of an understatement after reviewing its award submission and customer testimonials,” said Cammie Weitzel, WFCA’s general manager. “The business plan not only includes a clear cut mission statement, corporate vision and value code, each staff member goes through personality training programs designed to help them interact effectively with all types of customers.”
It doesn’t stop there either, she noted. “After every job, staff members follow up with the customer to ensure satisfaction and almost all of the installations are personally inspected and reviewed by the salesperson to ensure perfection.” And, just when the customer thinks they’ve seen the last of Dalton Carpet One, representatives of the store deliver thank you gifts and handwritten personalized letters.”
In response to receiving the award, Mike Blanton, president of Dalton Carpet One, said, “Customer satisfaction is our No. 1 goal at Dalton Carpet One Floor & Home. Everything we do, from the way we categorize our showroom to the weekly training courses we encourage every staff member to attend, centers around this objective. Knowing our business has reached this pinnacle and the WFCA has recognized us for exemplified business conduct is extremely gratifying for all of us.”
To receive the Gold Standard Award, companies are judged based on: knowledge: ensuring a knowledgeable management and staff that work to remain actively informed on the industry; customer service: providing courteous service and offering customers help throughout the purchase and after-purchase process; quality of store image: a clean, professional, well maintained store must be presented at all times, and code of conduct, as the facility must adhere to WFCA’s code of conduct.
In addition, each company must be a WFCA member, have been in business for at least three years and have a clean Better Business Bureau (BBB) report.
To enter, each applicant filled out a multiple page submission form and presented multimedia marketing materials and other collateral that were factored into the review process.
Those companies interested in entering or nominating an entrant for the 2013 Gold Standard Award can visit wfca-pro.org for more details.
For more about the WFCA, call 800.624.6880 or visit wfca.org