Make your consumers 'centers of attention'
Michael Greene -- Furniture Today, October 28, 2002
Yes, siree! There it was again, another great comment about life on my favorite church bulletin board. It went something like this:
"People like to be in the front of a theater, in the back of a church and in the center of attention."
Great stuff, I thought, because "people" are the customers of our industry, the ingredient that makes our home furnishings industry tick.
They are our targets, in a positive sense. Not just in the sense of where they sit, but where they eat, where they sleep and where they relax, think and dream. Not to forget where they work, where they fly, where they see their doctors, where they study, where they drive and where they, sometimes, listen to a wise sermon.
And that's why, to think positively, the markets we go to are great catharses, in the sense that we think not only about our target but focus on what we can bring to their tables to make them happy. Happy as in the center of attention.
As the center of attention? C'mon, Michael, be reasonable, you groan. We run give-and-take businesses where we sell dreams and deliver quality goods and, sooner or later, get paid hard-earned bucks for it. We're not political organizations who peddle dreams every four years, but deliver smoke.
Our targets are reasonably happy (and proud) every day of the year. And not just the days before an election when they are inundated with TV smoke ads and promises of future grandeur. We're good. We deliver.
Now where was I? Oh! Yes, "centers of attention."
So-o-o, why don't we, as an industry, after two weeks of searching for things to sell, do things for our targets that cost them nothing. Zip. Nada.
Why don't we all create a week of "Centers of Attention" in each and every one of our stores, maybe sometime in the spring.
Yes! All the way from a Bloomingdale's to a Beverly Beaver's Corner Boutique, we could hold simple forums of home happenings, where our staff members do their thing for the educational benefit of our targets.
No charge. No terms. No credit cards. Nothing but cookies. Just attention. Plain, good-sense ideas for making our targets still happier people.
Like what ideas? Like fabric use techniques. Like sensible headboards and beds. Like children's room planning. (Yes, siree! You could use my book!) Like upholstery and what's under it. Like the basics of floor and wall decor. And, to keep it simple, no more than 20 minutes a session.
And you answer, "But Michael, we're not whoop-de-doo Bloomingdale's!"
And the Ol' Swami answers, "Ah-hah! That's just the point, my friends."
Thanks, again, for listening.
