August 5/12, 2019: Volume 35, Issue 4
By Lindsay Baillie
(Editor’s note: This is the first installment in a series detailing how flooring dealers are enhancing their digital presence by partnering with FloorForce.)
Prior to partnering with FloorForce six months ago, Jerry Levinson, owner of Carpets of Arizona in Chandler, had worked with four different companies to manage his store’s website. Why did he ultimately make the switch? “I just wasn’t satisfied with the results,” Levinson told FCNews. “It was too complicated with the other companies.”
Levinson first met the FloorForce team during a Mohawk conference, and from there the rest was history. “FloorForce is not only an expert with websites, it’s an expert within the flooring industry. One thing that is hard about hiring your own website company is you have to give them all the content, which takes a lot of work. However, FloorForce has all the content. With FloorForce it was really easy to get things up and running.”
In addition to having flooring-specific content on deck, FloorForce has also cultivated relationships with flooring suppliers. This often makes it easier for flooring dealers to create bigger digital campaigns, according to Levinson.
“It’s absolutely the best return on investment,” he added. “They work really hard at creating a good experience, walking it through and making a simple customer experience. And for what I pay—and how much attention I get—it is outstanding. They’re very responsive, so I’m able to make changes and improvements quickly. For example, I wanted to add a Spanish-language section to my site, and we did that within a couple of days.”
FloorForce’s content and customer service is only enhanced by its ability to drive measurable results. According to Levinson, engagement is much better at his store now. “More people are filling out forms, requesting appointments and coming into the store.”
FloorForce seeks to drive engagement by placing a strong emphasis on Levinson’s store reviews. “They make the reviews front and center,” he explained. “It’s on the homepage of my website, and it makes it really easy for people to see how many five-star reviews I have at a glance. This creates instant credibility. The customer can also click and go to all of the reviews I’ve received, which FloorForce pulls from Yelp, Google, Facebook and Home Advisor—all the different platforms.”
FloorForce’s reach doesn’t just stop at a dealer’s website. The company has also helped Levinson grow his flooring dealer Facebook group. “John [Weller, chief innovation officer at FloorForce,] suggested we throw an ad in to flooring dealers. I went from 400 members in December 2018 to around 3,500 members. They placed one ad and membership exploded. They have proven to me that it really works.”