Browse Forums Flooring & Floor Covering Re: Smartstrand iq150 - Amazing Carpet 10May 16, 2010 7:29 pm I am not at all saying go in blind Ash....but a customer with some info and not all the info can, in my experience, find it harder to be educated, as often the info (or their interpretation of that info) is just plain wrong. For example, technical people, such as engineers and school teachers etc often come to me with a little info and think they are armed for a day out shopping for carpet, but all that happens is I have to spend an hour re-educating them. A classic example is ounces of carpet. Now I have 32 oz carpets that are far superior to some of my 48 oz gear. This is from an appearance retention point of view due to pile height and guage. I think you find someone who you can communicate with, who is a professional, and discuss it all. I will spend hours and hours with just 1 customer if they are genuine and educate them - but in stages. It's like building a house (learning). You need someone to teach you the basics and build slowly the info. Plus I can put a technical term into English for a customer (ie which is better to understand, a laminate that has taber test of 13,000 revolutions or a laminate that is 8 times harder than your kitchen benchtop ?) what means something....see what I mean. A customer who reads this forum will ask for prime and a power stretch, but do they know what prime ? Do they know the difference between a kicker and a power stretcher ? There is no substitute for an industry professional 1 on 1 going through options, fibres, join location, pile direction, window locations etc. Re: Smartstrand iq150 - Amazing Carpet 11May 16, 2010 11:27 pm Hmmm some valid points there Anthony. But I still think you need to give customers the credit for having the capacity to learn enough to make THEIR decision based on some basic info that isn't difficult to grasp. As I've often pointed out, the 'bum-steer' is the usual way most carpet sales staff offer guidance! IF they were more informed and knew their stuff better like yourself, there would be much better outcomes. Example... its commonplace for lower spec underlays to be sold to customers as being "the best". They don't even mention the better underlays for fear of losing the sale based on price. Those who you say come in with some understanding (I would have thought) would be quite amenable to being shown why and how they could make better choices. The fact they bothered to get info in the first place shows they are discerning and want to make a sound decision. Of course, being in retail sales has its own set of skills to help a customer make their decision, and sometimes that can mean overcoming their preconceptions. Whether they come in with no knowledge or a good deal, your task remains the same. I get cold calls sometimes from new customers saying they don't want steam cleaning, or they want me to do things a certain way. I'm not gonna jump down their throat, but will find out why they have their preconceptions, before explaining how they can get the job done with the best outcome WITHOUT the problems they think are associated. I find it a pleasure to deal with those who are engaging with the issues. But those who just don't give a s#!t and just want to know "how much to clean me carpets"?.... they are the ones who I'm wary of. Chances are, if anything doesn't look perfect, they'll be the ones pointing a finger of blame at me, rather than bothering to take responsibility for why things don't meet their expectations. Anyway, we are here offering advice for whoever wants it, to do what they will with. There will always be different kinds of customers. Personally, I prefer to target customers who are more discerning, and use me because that is a carefully considered choice. The others, (such as tenants moving out of rentals referred to me) I try to impress enough to convert them into discerning customers. But there are still those you pay me and grunt as they leave me to it, never to think twice about this or their next commercial decision. Ash. 1 11011 1 15759 they can, it's a fairly standard solution when the slab isn't recessed. the falls need to be in the main floor, if it hasn't been done then you need to ask them to redo… 4 6595 |