Question for Floor Covering Dealers and Manufacturers
If you are a manufacturer, distributor, dealer, designer or contractor selling carpet, laminate, hardwood, vinyl, ceramic tile, stone, linoleum, cork or any other flooring or floor-covering product you need to ask yourself: “Do the products I recommend or sell bite me?” How important is it to you to know that you have recommended, specified or sold a product to the client that you would install in your own home, office or showroom under similar circumstances?
Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each year by contractors, retailers and manufacturers to replace carpet. A countless number of these replacements are being made not because the flooring is covered by a warranty but because the consumer is screaming loudly. With many of these replacements the floor covering is performing, as it should for its use, construction and care.
As an example a lot of base grade carpet, laminate, resilient and hardwood is being produced. Retailers are gobbling it up with many representing it as a great bargain. Some of these flooring products look great the wear layer on the laminate, resilient or hardwood is paper-thin and the carpet has puffed-up yarn. The inexperienced consumer and “professional” may find it difficult to tell the difference. Unfortunately many under trained or over anxious sales people also appear blind to the obvious. They are selling cheap flooring products that looks good on the sample, in the roll or stacked on the sales or warehouse floor.
Unfortunately many of these “bargain” products have a good chance at winding up as a future problem. You probably wonder why they make flooring that will not perform. The answer is simple, as long as you have a market for something it will be made.
Replacements are expensive for both the manufacturer and the retailer, many of whom could stand to have new floor in their own home but are always broke because they are getting bit by to many claims. The manufacturer is out the flooring and usually the dealer is out the labor and it’s a toss up as to who will be out the freight. Even if the manufacturer was to pay for everything the dealer still looses due to all the extra time spent handling the claim and loss in consumer confidence. That time could have been spent selling a better floor covering product to begin with.
As a child my dad who was in the floor covering business would remind me that saving one dollar was like making two. He also liked to say, “Price is soon forgotten but quality still remains”. Unfortunately I did not listen as well as I should and learned my lesson the hard way by making many, many mistakes. Yes, from time to time I was guilty of selling junk that would later come back and bite me. I also sold many fine products that I experienced few problems with. Over the past forty years, many things have changed, and today saving one dollar is more like making five. So remember that when you over sell that base grade product for an area where it is not going to perform (which is just about everywhere), you are probably biting yourself instead of making money.
