Spring Air claims victory in "mattress challenge"
By Larry Thomas, Bedding editor -- Furniture Today, October 7, 2001
Spring Air President Jim Nation has never been one to shy away from tweaking the noses of his larger competitors, but his company's latest tweak more closely resembles a hard squeeze. The No. 4 producer recently declared itself the winner of the "mattress challenge," a series of blind tests similar to the Pepsi Challenge that bedeviled the soft drink industry a few years back.
Spring Air's competitors are sure to cry "foul," just as Pepsi's rivals did, but Nation insists the results are credible. Naturally, he's elated that Spring Air came out on top.
To develop the test, Spring Air hired Bruskin Research, an independent research firm that conducted the consumer tests this summer in shopping malls across the United States. Participants were asked to lie on two unidentified sleep sets and tell researchers which one was the most comfortable. One of the sleep sets was a Spring Air, and the other belonged to Sealy, Simmons or Serta.
Nation assured us that consumers weren't forced to choose between a luxurious, high-end Spring Air model and an entry-level competitor's model. Instead, all test mattresses were from the $999 (queen) retail price point.
"I think consumers have started to realize Spring Air brings more to the table than just brand-name value," Nation said, unable to resist another tweak at the other "S" brands, all of which have much higher brand recognition than Spring Air.
Spring Air is planning to trumpet the results through a series of point-of-purchase pieces that feature a blue ribbon identifying the company as the winner of the mattress challenge. In addition, the company has developed advertising slicks and radio commercials that dealers can use in local markets.
Gerry Borreggine, president of the 40 Winks sleep shop chain in the Philadelphia area, can add "author" to his title, now that he has published a book about sales techniques.
The book, "Successful Persuasion: I Saw It On The Radio," isn't specifically about selling mattresses, but Borreggine said the idea was hatched while he was writing a sales training manual for his company. It's a quick read (only 96 pages) and is divided into 25 "lessons" on topics ranging from being a good listener to knowing when to smile.
Although Borreggine doesn't advocate an adversarial approach to customers, he makes no secret the salesperson is in the game only to "win" every negotiation.
He concludes the book by describing the scene when someone approached him about buying his company. He described how he insisted the meeting take place at his office, and he quickly developed a strong rapport by answering the man's questions in the same manner in which they were asked, down to using similar gestures and facial expressions.
When he told the visitor he wasn't interested in selling, the potential suitor didn't put up a fight and left quietly. "He was a very intelligent guy, but he didn't stand a chance," Borreggine writes. "He didn't have a clue as to what I was doing to him."
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