Futon Furniture Sales Training
Get the keys that open the doors and close more sales

What vision appears in your mind’s eye when I say the word “sales associate”? Take a look in the mirror and imagine yourself in that role, and remember, what you think about yourself makes a huge difference in how your customer perceives you. I have spent the last few weeks ( and years for that matter) carefully looking at sales training both as a principle and as a process. On the principle side there is an almost unanimous consensus that sales training is a 10 on the importance scale when it relates to product sell through. The reason that is true though, for the individual respondents, can be as different as night and day. On the process side several key elements rise to the top as vitally important, while others are simply good ideas that can to be used or not depending our your retail culture.

The following questions form the basis of my interviews:

1. On a scale of one (1) to ten (10) (ten being a very high level of importance) how important is sales training of the retail sales force in relation to success rates of retail sell through? and why?

2. What would you say are the keys to sales training from your point of view or experience?

3. How do you or have you implemented Sales Training for or at your retail outlet?

4. Do you have a printed or other Sales Training manual or presentation materials?

I received responses from about thirty executives who span the futon manufacturing, rep, and supplier perspectives. Here is what they said.

“10,” said Debbie Burwell of Elite Products. “As a consumer myself, with a hectic schedule, well informed (not pushy) salespeople are much more apt to make the sale.” Product knowledge was high on everyone’s list of sales training “keys.”

“It’s a ten plus, plus, plus,” said Bob Naboicheck of Gold Bond Futon in Hartford. Naboicheck does 30 or more personal sales training trips per year focusing on his top 50 customers. “Everyone wants a Mercedes or BMW, and a few people even want the Rolls Royce. With the futon mattress (our focus) the difference in price between the mid and highest price point is only about $100. When you show people that they can get the very best, and still spend hundreds less that a comparable traditional sofa bed any price resistance is easy to overcome.”

Gary Cohen, national sales manager for Wolf Corporation agrees. “Training rates a 10 and always has in our futon industry… if you want to maximize the potential of the category. In order to properly present the product and the appropriate features and benefits, training is absolutely necessary.”

The rest agree, sales training is a must, especially when you attempt to communicate the complexities of our component based product.

“Compared to the rest of the futon furniture industry,” said Marcus Grimm of United Sleep Products, the Simmons Futon Licensee, “futon sales training needs to be a “10” to futon retailers and manufacturers. It’s one of the most complicated pieces of furniture to sell, and it’s a product that most consumers have never bought before.” John Christiansen of SIS Futon Covers in Minneapolis added, “It is every salesperson’s responsibility to know the details about the products they’re selling. A futon sofa-bed is a pretty big purchase, so customers generally want to have their questions about everything from quality to operation to style answered by their sales professional.”

Again, product knowledge, both the details attendant to the design and the relation of those details to customer benefits must be made by the sales associate. You simply have to know what you are talking about.

Mitch Wapen of Lofa Sales in Montreal sounded off with another “10.” “The number one rule of sales is, ‘know your product.’ Advertising, location, and attractive displays can bring the customer to your door, but after that it’s the retail salesperson who’s going to determine whether or not a sale is made. In general, the customer is looking for guidance in a furniture environment. A friendly and knowledgeable associate can make all the difference. Although an associate who knows a lot, but is indifferent or uninvolved with the client, will get nowhere fast.” Attitude was another recurrent “key.”

Wapen also added “qualifying the customer” as another “key” to sell through success. “A good associate will ask enough questions to learn either what the customer’s looking for or, even better, what they really need but may not actually be looking for. Then the associate can tailor the presentation to only those products that fit that need. Selection options of way too many products are suddenly boiled down to only one, two, or three,” he said.

Steve Ray, a futon retailer with The Futon Shop in San Francisco agreed. “Our product is so diverse and offers so many options that if a futon salesperson is not trained to “qualify” the customer’s needs, many opportunities will just slip away.” Closing the sale is everything, and correctly or creatively qualifying the customer is a sure track to closing more often.

Karen Day from Otis Bed added, “The more informed the salesperson is, the more trusted he or she will become, and the higher his or her success rate will be. One important factor here is that the salesperson has to understand and believe in what he is selling. Once this happens, the associate tends to not be intimidated when selling higher quality goods. The average ticket tends to rise after training.”

JC Gholston of Lifestyle Solutions by Elite commented, “It’s a 10. We know that providing clear product information that each sales person can translate and use in his own words is key. Making sure each sales person demonstrates (convertibility) and has clear responses to possible objections customers may bring up should also be stressed.”

Another theme, which may end up at the top of our list of keys, is sales associate competence translating into consumer confidence as they mull over your well articulated value propositions. This concept is a bit complex but mastering it may make the difference between closing a sale or not closing one.

“If the salesperson is very knowledgeable of the product,” says Bob Sanfillipo of Big Tree, “he or she will exude a competence, which will inspire confidence in the customer. Consumers need to feel they are making an intelligent decision when making a purchase.”

“Sales training is one of the most important variables a futon manufacturer or retailer can control,” said Shawn Whatley, new National Sales Manager at August Lotz. “A sales staff that is not properly trained will make and lose sales by accident. It’s a big responsibility when you think about it,” he said.

“The well informed salesperson must be confident and enthusiastic,” said Bob Naboicheck, “and this is the key. These sales people are selling to a consumer who needs to feel comfortable, confident and enthusiastic about their purchase. They want to leave feeling like they made a smart choice for their home. This confidence and enthusiasm must transfer from the salesperson to the consumer during the sales process. If the salesperson believes they are selling the best product in the futon industry then so will the consumer.”

Other executives sounded off, adding their common sense themes to the mix. “I don’t believe that you can give enough training and knowledge to futon retailers about your products, and their features, benefits, and style,” said Matt Jung of Comfort Research in Grand Rapids. “The key is repetition, repetition, repetition. You can’t just tell sales people the features and benefits of your product once. You need to constantly re-inform as people cycle in and out of an organization.”

Steve Byer of King Koil Northeast got down to basics. “It’s becoming very competitive,” he said, “to sell upper end price points. Understanding and communicating the features and benefits of the product category is critical.”