'Stress less, sell more' is goal of Ekornes program
By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, January 1, 2006
Somerset, N.J. — Working the retail sales floor can be stressful, even when business is booming, but Janet Odum is convinced she has found the best form of stress relief.
Odum, a sales trainer for high-end recliner producer Ekornes, says the relief is centered on the company's signature product, the Stressless reclining chair. Not only is the chair extremely comfortable, but she says it also provides numerous high-ticket opportunities that allow sales associates to meet monthly goals without becoming panic-stricken near the end of every month.
"I always tell my students they can stress less and sell more," said Odum, who joined Norway-based Ekornes four years ago.
Odum, one of two full-time Ekornes trainers, conducts about 50 one-day "schools" annually for retail salespeople whose stores carry the company's product. The sessions cover everything from the company's history to the construction of the Stressless chair to tips for convincing consumers they should ante up the $1,000 to $1,500 needed for a typical model.
And for those whose school meets at Ekornes' North American headquarters in Somerset, the program includes a tour of the warehouse and a demonstration on attaching the seat and back of a Stressless recliner to its base as it comes out of the shipping carton from Norway.
The goal of all this training, said Peter Bjerregaard, president of the company's North American unit, is to create a legion of "Stressless maniacs" on retail sales floors.
"It's one of the backbones of our success," he said of the training program. "We have more than 1,500 sales associates complete the program each year."
The training effort, Bjerregaard said, has helped Ekornes record significant increases in U.S. and Canadian sales at a time when many other furniture companies are struggling to stay even with last year's numbers.
North American sales totaled $68.9 million last year, a 23% increase from 2003, and he said this year's sales will be nearly $80 million, about a 13% jump from 2004.
The training program is also one of the reasons Ekornes products — it also makes reclining and stationary sofas for the North American market — easily can generate sales of $600 per square foot or more on a typical retail floor, said Bjerregaard.
The company, in fact, is so pleased with the effort that it is developing an advanced training program for salespeople who have completed the existing school and have been selling the line for at least a couple of years.
The driving force behind the advanced training is none other than sales associates who have completed the current program.
"When the sales associates are telling me they want more training ... that really says how important it is," Bjerregaard said.
During a recent school in Somerset, Odum spent about half the time describing construction features of the Stressless recliner, paying special attention to the unique patented items that she says make it easier for the consumer to understand why the Stressless line costs more.
"Product knowledge gives you power and credibility with the consumer," she told her students.
"A lot of consumers already know a lot about our products before they go into the store."
She even encouraged them to buy a Stressless chair for their own home, which would enable them to offer personal testimony about its comfort.
"When you have confidence in the product, it reassures the consumer," Odum told the group. "Mrs. Smith needs to know why she should pay $1,500 for a Stressless instead of $499 or $599 for some other chair."
According to Odum, those reasons include the patented Plus system, which adjusts the lower back support and the headrest simultaneously, and the ultra-sturdy base.
The base, she said, doesn't employ a center pole. Instead, the chair is supported by two side rails, which significantly extends the life of the product because the weight of the chair (and its occupant) doesn't rest on a single pole.
She also showed how to adjust the headrest for the chair's "nap mode," and discussed the four grades of leather that Ekornes offers in the North American market.
In addition, she urged the group to emphasize the style and comfort of the recliner and de-emphasize the fashion aspect.
Some consumers, she acknowledged, are turned off by the contemporary European styling of Ekornes products, but she believes most of those objections can be overcome once they experience its comfort.
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