December 23/30, 2019: Volume 35, Issue 13
The 2020 Flooring Markets are quickly approaching, along with the release of the Flooring Dealers Playbook, sponsored by Floor Covering News. The Playbook, an online resource containing videos, content and digital marketing materials among other tools, is designed to help dealers sell more flooring in 2020 and beyond.
“While the Flooring Dealers Playbook will give you the marketing and business insights you need to succeed, each Flooring Market will also hold educational events that provide even more marketing knowledge for your continued success,” said Lori Kisner, managing partner of Market Maker Events, which organizes the regional shows. “We recommend flooring dealers bring their marketing and sales teams along to market so they can dedicate time to attending each of the playbook sessions offered.”
The first day of the Southeast and Gulf Coast Flooring Market events (SEFM and GCFM, respectively) will consist of two shows, one at 11 a.m. and another at 1 p.m. The 11 a.m. session is presented by John Weller, chief innovation officer at FloorForce, and will cover different ways flooring dealers can increase their margins in a time when the Internet is commoditizing everything. The 1 p.m. session is presented by Katie Tateishi, vice president of enterprise at FloorForce, and gives flooring dealers valuable tips as to how they can differentiate themselves from their competition and turn their business into a household name.
The second day of GCFM and SEFM also consists of two events, each offering more personal insight into the marketing landscape. The 11 a.m. session is presented by Nichole Beyers, owner of Quality Carpet Outlet and former NFL cheerleader. Beyers plans to talk about some of the challenges she faced when transitioning from the NFL to becoming the owner of her own flooring retail store. The 1 p.m. session, hosted by former Google employee and current CEO of AdHawk, Todd Saunders, will cover some of the things he learned during his time at Google and how they can be applied to the floor covering industry.
Southwest Flooring Markets (SWFM) is a bit different from GCFM and SEFM, and will feature an introductory session with John Weller each morning. Instead of holding afternoon sessions at SWFM, FloorForce will be onsite at booth 415 to discuss the Playbook program and answer any questions dealers may have.
“The Flooring Dealers Playbook sessions at each Flooring Market will give attendees a better understanding as to how they can enhance their marketing strategies,” Kisner said. “But these sessions contain just a fraction of what’s available in the online Flooring Dealer Playbook after the show. Packed full of videos and written content, the playbook will be a key marketing tool for flooring dealers moving forward.”
Between the different sessions and all of the exhibitors, attendees will be hard pressed to see everything at market. Dealers are encouraged to bring their sales and marketing teams along to be sure they’re taking full advantage of everything Flooring Markets and FloorForce have to offer.
To receive a copy of the Flooring Dealers Playbook, all you need to do is attend a Flooring Markets event in 2020.