Stagner to industry: 'Why aren't we better?'
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, June 1, 2009
BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. — Mattress Firm President Steve Stagner challenged the mattress industry to improve its performance by shaking off complacence and bringing more passion to its work.
Stagner delivered the keynote address at Furniture/Today's fourth-annual Bedding Conference here, combining the savvy of a professional speaker with the high-level insights of a top bedding retailer. Attendees hailed his speech as one of the best and most inspirational ever delivered at a Furniture/Today Bedding Conference.
He provided an overview of “the perfect storm” of challenges facing the mattress industry, presenting two scenarios. The “glass is half-full” scenario sees the last three years of bedding unit declines as preparing the industry for a wave of pent-up demand as the industry reaps the harvest of years of delayed purchases. But the “glass is half-empty” scenario sees a pronounced downturn coming, one sparked by an aging population of key home furnishings consumers, housing bubble and banking crisis.
Whatever happens, Stagner said, the industry can use what he called “the best question ever” to bring clarity to its decisions. He revealed that question only after repeatedly referring to the power it wields for all businesses. The question: “If we're so good, why aren't we better?”
That question provides a check and a balance on bedding egos, has the potential to “fool-proof” businesses and can expose key weaknesses, Stagner said. “Your competition is asking that question every day,” he commented. “You need to answer it.”
Mattress Firm has answered that question, according to Stagner, by implementing a “culture of continuous improvement,” one in which Mattress Firm CEO Gary Fazio and Stagner harness “a positive sense of discontent” to improve the company.
The Houston-based retailer, one of the nation's largest bedding specialty retailers and among the most-respected by bedding observers, uses “a laser focus” to link strategic and tactical plans. It uses a lean organization to develop best practices, and it “hires for tomorrow, not for today,” Stagner said. “We are hiring people for a career.”
In addition, he said, Mattress Firm devotes hundreds of hours to training, going well beyond just teaching sales associates more about mattresses. And it seeks to nurture passion in its employees, a quality that represents “the difference between commitment and compliance.”
The definition of a sale, Stagner said, is a transfer of enthusiasm from the sales associate to the consumer. “You can have great processes and products,” he noted, “but you must transfer enthusiasm” to consumers.
Stagner challenged the industry to boost its enthusiasm for its products. He said that sleeping pill sales have risen dramatically in recent years, but noted that the mattress industry has the products that deliver a good night's sleep. It is amazing, Stagner said, that consumers don't put more thought into purchasing a new bed. “Why aren't we taking mattress buying as seriously as we should?” he asked. “We are good at what we do, but we can be better.”
Mattress Firm aims to “improve lives one night at a time,” a mission that gives its employees a strong sense of purpose, Stagner said.
He also presented several examples of companies that have thrived with innovative business models. He noted how Apple repeatedly changed the rules of the game with the Macintosh, the iPod and the iPhone, and said Facebook has tapped into the power of consumers with its vast network of social connections. In Texas, Buc-ee's, a convenience store chain, has won fans with “restrooms so clean we leave mints in the urinals” and gourmet food offerings.
In contrast, he said, Circuit City failed because it suffered from bad management that didn't seek to improve the company. Circuit City picked bad store sites, had poor inventory management and provided poor customer service. Companies fail, Stagner said, because of arrogance and ignorance.
But asking that “best question ever” can help companies avoid failure, he said.
-
L&P's top ‘Sleep Geek': Idaho retailer Collin Cook
Nov 18, 2011 -
Bedding leaders see challenges for 2012
Dec 22, 2011 -
Fendrich leads Simmons to new era
May 10, 2010
Featured Company
-
Wright Labels
Bill and Tom Wright founded Wright of Thomasville in 1961 on the idea that printing was a creative medium and the belief that "a promise made is a promise kept." The Wright brothers focused their attention on providing exceptional printing for the... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
