July 8/15, 2019: Volume 35, Issue 2
By Jim Augustus Armstrong
Earl Nightingale, the late author, speaker and radio host, wrote: “Watch what everyone else does. Then do the opposite. The majority is always wrong.”
Most of the sales, marketing and differentiation strategies I teach flooring dealers break convention. I do this because unconventional strategies offer the biggest return on investment for dealers who have the courage to implement them. Some of these benefits include: creating differentiation from competitors; commanding high margins; long-term customer loyalty; increased referrals and market share; and a business that stands the test of time.
The only way to achieve extraordinary results is to do the extraordinary. After all, how are you going to create differentiation, command higher margins than your competitors and create long-term customer loyalty if you follow industry norms or simply copy what’s going on around you?
Almost everyone says they want to be different. But when presented with strategies that are truly different than anything inside our industry, some flooring dealers recoil out of fear or discomfort. Case in point: I recently spoke at an industry event on three proven, but unconventional, strategies flooring dealers I work with have used to create differentiation, attract customers and sell at high margins.
To demonstrate the power of embracing these strategies, I presented case studies, including:
•A dealer from Florida who increased his revenue by 50% multiple years in a row.
•Two different dealers from Illinois who brought their businesses back from the brink of bankruptcy and are now thriving.
•A dealer from Texas who stays booked out for six to 12 weeks, with customers happy to wait one or two months because they only want to work with him.
Most of the attendees seemed open-minded and excited about the impact these unconventional approaches could have on their businesses. But there were a couple of store owners who weren’t convinced. During the Q&A one asked, “How does the dealer from Texas get customers to wait that long for their flooring? I don’t see customers waiting for weeks to have flooring installed.”
This attendee had just sat through a 90-minute session where I outlined exactly how the dealer created differentiation from competitors by using unconventional sales and marketing techniques. I reminded him that the Texas dealer cultivated differentiation in his business, and as a result his clients were willing to wait because they saw him as being totally different.
Two of my coaching clients also happened to be in the audience. They told the audience, because of these unconventional strategies, their customers were also willing to wait six weeks.
The same dealer shook his head, stating: “Customers just aren’t going to wait that long.” Even with all this evidence, he refused to believe it was possible. After all, conventional thinking says you have to install the customer’s floors right now or she’ll run off to Home Depot.
Some dealers left the event determined to implement the unconventional strategies they had learned. The first dealer left firmly ensconced in his conventional thinking. Who do you think is more likely to make real improvements in their business over the next 12 months?
Jim Armstrong specializes in providing turnkey marketing strategies for flooring retailers. For a free copy of his latest book, “How Floor Dealers Can Beat the Boxes Online,” visit BeatTheBoxesOnline.com.
