David Perry — Furniture Today,
Sharing insights from leading retail bedding sales associates
Each month we will be sharing insights we have gleaned from leading retail bedding sales associates. (see our first article) We will cover plenty of ground in this feature, tackling everything from the importance of warranties to the prospect of selling Chinese-made beds, to the value of bedding brands.

We admit that there are a variety of opinions on how to handle these issues on the sales floor. There are many different paths to success in the mattress industry. The opinions we will be sharing with you come from sales associates who have found success on the retail floor. They represent their best thoughts on critical issues confronting bedding retailers today.

We hope the opinions you read here will spark dialogue on your retail floors, and will lead to fruitful discussions between producers, suppliers and retailers. Everyone wins when all key parties discuss these issues honestly.

Here’s what Mattress Retailing 101 will do: Each month we will look at an issue or practice of widespread interest in the bedding industry. We will present a brief overview of the issue, summarize some key points made by our sample of sales associates, and then let the sales associates tell you their thoughts in their own words.

This new feature will be presented first in our print edition, and then will be added to the Mattress Retailing 101 section of our BeddingToday.com Web site.

It is our hope that sales associates around the country will visit this site regularly. New sales associates will find this a great place to get an overview of key issues and to see how seasoned sales associates approach those issues. We invite retail trainers to make this section part of their introductory programs. There is plenty of work to be done, given the relatively high rate of turnover on retail sales floors. We want to be part of the solution to that problem.

We also invite veteran sales associates to become regular readers of this feature. They can see how their selling strategies and tactics are confirmed or challenged by the insights we present.

Finally, we invite everyone on the retail sales floor to share their views with us. We look forward to continuing to stimulate thinking, encourage the sharing of best practices, and doing our small part to raise the level of professionalism in the bedding industry.

Together, we can improve selling opportunities for everyone, sell more mattresses, and help more Americans get a great night’s sleep. Those are noble goals. Thanks for joining our crusade.