Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, was cut from his high school basketball team. Author Stephen King’s first book, Carrie, was rejected by publishers 30 times. Van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime—to a friend for a mere pittance.
The point? Even the most accomplished people in the world failed at some point in their lives, and yet somehow it did not stop them from achieving greatness.
Flooring dealers know a thing or two about redemption—making mistakes early in their careers, correcting them and turning them into competitive advantages. It’s not easy, but it pays dividends in the end.
Taylor Dore – ICC Floors, Indianapolis
- Mistake: Unclear expectations
- Response: “There’s a saying that really resonated with me years ago,” said Dore, retail sales manager. “‘To be unclear is to be unkind.’ A lot of mistakes or issues we run into in this business is due to being unclear on expectations with customers and employees. “We made a conscious decision to be clear. This includes taking accountability first and foremost. As a leader, ultimately the buck stops with you. It’s the leader’s job to set expectations for employees that are clear and easy to understand. When the leaders set the pace in this way, it translates to the employees setting up the proper expectations with our customers, which leads to higher customer satisfaction and repeat business.”
Don Lovato – CarpetSource USA, Albuquerque, N.M.
- Mistake: Lowering prices
- Response: Be willing to raise prices, no matter how soft the economy is. “One of the biggest mistakes is when the economy contracted we lowered prices out of desperation—just thinking that I needed the order,” Lovato said. “That was the wrong thinking. I learned I needed to raise prices.” The next time the economy contracted or showed signs of weakening, Lovato made sure to raise prices. “We made out OK. I made some money instead of losing money.”
Typhannie Harker – Carpeting by Mike, Somerset, Wis.
- Mistake: Failure to communicate on installation dates
- Response: Harker implemented a texting reminder for her customers and builders a week before—and then the day before—installation. “That cut down dramatically on miscommunications or the project not being ready,” she said. “Consistent communication with the customer before, during and after is key. We came up with this idea and it has cut down on the phone calls of customers asking when we are showing up, what time, verifying the date, etc. They gain confidence in my store that we are going to be there when we say we are due to the communication.”
Roy Tokuham – Abbey Carpet & Floor of Hawaii, Honolulu
- Mistake: Saying “yes” to everything
- Response: It’s OK to say no. As Tokuhama explained, “When you first start building your business, you need to say ‘yes’ to everything. However, when your business becomes established, opportunities come pouring in and you need to say ‘no’ 80% of the time. You can only do this by finding out a) what the purpose of your business is, and b) what the target market of your business is. Your decisions become clear and easier once you have answered these two questions.”
Doug Peeples – Myers Carpet Company, Nashville
- Mistake: Being offended by customer complaints
- Response: Learning not to take it so personally. When he started out in the flooring business in Dalton as a 21-year-old, Peeples said he was often too sensitive to criticism from customers. “They’d say things like, ‘I never ordered that’ or ‘I don’t like the way that looks’ or ‘You didn’t help me move the furniture.’ These things were hurtful to me. As I matured, I was far better at handling those complaints and putting things in the proper perspective.” Peeples has learned that customer pushback, even if unwarranted, comes with the territory.
Rebecca Tonowski – BFC Flooring & Design Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Mistake: Sticking with the status quo
- Response: Embracing change. “Coming from a third-generation flooring business, it’s inevitable that you get stuck in your ways and how business was done for years, decades even,” Tonowski said. “Change is scary. But change is also important and vital to your business’s growth.” Tonowski, who handles many functions at BFC, came in with a new perspective on how they should conduct business differently to attract today’s consumer. “It has changed our company for the better. Everything from implementing new policies, expanded our offerings to our clients, adding new types of clientele to our portfolio and utilizing technology has changed the game for us.”
Jason O’Krent – O’Krent Floors, San Antonio
- Mistake: Using too much technical jargon
- Response: Focus on features and benefits for the customer. Early in his career O’Krent thought the way to show his value was “spitting out all the technical jargon I had recently learned and inundate the client with acronyms and terms.” As he gained more experience, O’Krent saw the conversation turned one-sided. “I was losing, even confusing, the client. Now I train our staff to ensure they understand the technical knowledge if/when it’s asked for; until then, focus on relating to the client and ‘translating’ why the features and benefits of the product are important to them.”
Paul Deschenes – Schneider’s Flooring America, Vernon, Conn.
- Mistake: Allowing a customer to do the measuring
- Response: Never letting it happen again. As Deschenes explained, “When I first got into flooring, I had a customer who was an engineer. He measured his kitchen for sheet vinyl and, for whatever reason, did not want us to go out to his home and measure it ourselves. He had an incredibly detailed drawing and assured me that he measured every inch of the floor. Being new to the industry—and knowing he was an engineer—I ordered the material based on his measurements. Needless to say, he was 6 inches short on his measurement and there was no way to complete the job with the material we had. I have never used a customer’s measurements again.”
