Educational seminars set for Vegas

By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, January 15, 2006

All seminars are held in WHFA's Retailer Resource Center, on floor 2 of the World Market Center, unless otherwise noted.

Monday, Jan. 30

8:30–9:30 a.m.

Branding Trends at Retail

Martin Roberts , Grid2

This seminar will demonstrate the value of branded communication at retail. If information is power, what should stores be saying to their customers? Based on the award-winning Grid2's work with top home furnishings retailers and the manufacturers who supply them, Martin will show stores how to anticipate consumer needs, educate and influence sales on the retail floor and build loyalty to drive sales.

10–11 a.m.

Leveraging the Power of the Consumer's Buying Cycle

Ren Baker , CDS Solutions Group

Reality for retailers in the U.S. market is shifting. Tomorrow's consumer is an impatient one, focusing on speed, selection and price as their primary decision-making criteria. This session explores the details behind each of the purchasing criteria and provides hands-on guidance to help retailers increase their influence over the consumer buying cycle.

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Seven Simple Secrets for Successful E-mail Marketing

Mary Liz Curtin , Mary Liz Curtin & Co.

Learn how to set up and manage e-mail campaigns that will generate excitement about your store, your Web site and your products. This presentation will have the how-to tips beginners need, as well as creative ideas and strategies for experienced e-marketers to sell more product, build their brands and publicize events and promotions.

1–2 p.m.

Don't Envy Those Who Know about Marketing to Women — Be One

Ali Olasin-Scott , R&A Marketing

Scientific research shows that women have several natural advantages over men. The more you understand about women, the better your organization can focus on their needs, wants and thinking. Olasin-Scott's insights should convince you how you must concentrate on building your organization around women, not at women.

2:30–3:30 p.m.

Location, Location, Location

Doug Kays, Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate

Learn how to buy or lease real estate involving dispositions of non-furniture retailers; how to negotiate and evaluate the locations of non-furniture dispositions; new growth areas in the western United States; and significant population trends.

4–5 p.m.

Sketching: A Money-Making Sledgehammer

David Lively , R&A Marketing

Be convinced of how critically important sketching is for your future success. Learn the inexpensive tools you need and the five secret words that get it all started on your sales floor. Plus, you'll receive walk-away ideas on how to weave sketching into your current selling system.

Tuesday, Jan. 31

8:30–9:30 a.m.

What Your Customers REALLY Want!

Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender , Kizer & Bender Speaking!

Retail anthropologists will share their retail industry-specific, "straight-from-the-customers'-mouth" research — solid, ground-level intelligence that you can use today to better capture and serve your customers. Learn how to uncover what customers expect from your store, what they like in a shopping experience and what drives them nuts. Also learn relationship-building techniques guaranteed to keep customers close, and more.

9–10 a.m.

Trend Indicators: How Lifestyle is Impacting Consumer Preferences

Dana Poor , Cotton Inc.

Learn the issues and events that are influencing consumers' purchase decisions and shopping behaviors, and, ultimately, changing the retail landscape. What motivates home furnishings shoppers to buy what they do and purchase where they shop? Co-produced by Furniture Style magazine and World Market Center, this seminar will be held in the WMC Seminar Room on the second floor.

10–11 a.m.

The Power of Mentoring and Marketing

Margie Kyle , The Designing Doctor

Mentoring will help you grow your business and achieve your goals in half the time. Kyle will share her 33 years of marketing her business. Advertise on TV, radio and in newspapers without paying for it, hold powerful parties for your clients, and much more. Sponsored by Master Plan Magnetics.

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Furniture Industry Overview: A New Year

W.W. "Jerry" Epperson Jr. , Mann, Armistead & Epperson

What does the new year have in store for the industry?

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

Fraud Protection

Lorie Taylor , Citifinancial Retail Services

Gain knowledge and heighten awareness of growing fraud trends. Your employees are your first line of defense; empower them with tools to help them identify fraudulent activity by recognizing behaviors and warning signs associated with fraudulent transactions. Taylor will discuss statistical fraud analysis relative to the furniture industry and high-risk practices to avoid. Fighting fraud is a collaborative effort and it begins with awareness at all levels of a prospective sale. With proper guidelines in place, you can successfully combat fraud!

1–2 p.m.

What Store Owners Must Do to Increase Their Sales Close Ratio

Jay and Iris Byers , Byers Guide

Learn the most common reasons why customers leave your store without buying and what you can train your sales staff to do about it. Get to know the new consumer; how to attract them to your store and keep them from purchasing elsewhere. Find out what the owner's role is in establishing a culture of client relationships, not just customers, and how to measure the impact on your bottom line.

2:30–3:30 p.m.

Developing a High-Performance Sales Force

Joe Milevsky , JRM Sales & Management

Learn to develop a high-performance sales team: Find, interview and hire top salespeople; properly set sales goals; use appropriate measurements to coach improved salesperson performance; develop the customer experience that best fits your company's culture; hold salespeople accountable for performance; create a positive and fun selling environment; develop and keep top performers; and dramatically improve your company's sales performance.

Wednesday, Feb. 1

9–10 a.m.

Trendwatch Live!

Michelle Lamb , home trend analyst

Lamb takes her popular Trendwatch column in Accessory Merchandising magazine from the page to the stage. Find out what incoming colors, motifs and moods will impact tomorrow's decorating styles based on the latest looks from a global perspective. This session will be held in the South Pacific Ballroom at Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

10–11 a.m.

Power Up Your Presentations

Phyllis Macay , PPM Designs

Learn the process of final presentations that close larger sales. Create the excitement, answer their dreams, show them how they can own it and collect the check.

10–11 a.m.

What's to be Seen on the Retail Scene for 2006

Warren Shoulberg , home furnishings journalist

This session takes a look at the most innovative ideas, freshest store formats and breakthrough concepts on the home furnishings retail front this year ... and what they mean for traditional furniture and home retailers. Shoulberg has edited such publications as HFN, InFurniture, Kids Today and Home Textiles Today. A two-time Neal Award Editorial Achievement winner, he also has been honored as editor of the year by the International Home Furnishings Assn. and the Fashion Institute of Technology. He is currently a consultant to home furnishings companies and is a contributing writer to several publications in the field. This session takes place in the WMC Seminar Room.

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

The 16 Principles of Sales Management

Brad Huisken , IAS Training

Learn what you should and shouldn't do as a sales manager. Learn strategies and techniques designed to get the most productivity out of your salespeople through effective communication, accountability, coaching, incentives and hands-on training. The predominant mistake of an ineffective manager is managing based on opinions rather than facts. Huisken will detail what facts you need to know to effectively manage your sales staff.

1–2 p.m.

The New Supply Chain Revolution

Ron Sellers , FurnishNet

Retailers and manufacturers are aggressively working together to dramatically reduce product lead times, improve order quality and automate and simplify the way trading partners interact to drive significant new efficiencies in the home furnishings supply chain. With an emphasis on industry trends and part order management, vendor managed inventory, electronic product catalogs and Internet-based electronic transaction exchange, this lively discussion will highlight important cost savings opportunities and revolutionary breakthroughs in supply chain management for retailers of all sizes.

2:30–3:30 p.m.

Out of Commission: Sales Compensation for the 21st Century

Samantha Kurtz , Kurtz & Associates

If people are going to sell big-ticket items, they have to be on commission. Really? Many other industries have found a different formula, one that seriously challenges the way we typically think about sales compensation. Those approaches will be reviewed and methods covered that can be immediately employed to move you from the pay plans you're currently utilizing.

Thursday, Feb. 2

8:30–9:30 a.m.

Three Levels of Sales Service You Must Provide, and Why

Joe Capillo , ProfitSystems

Have you ever thought about why closing ratios are in the 20% range, or why as many as 40% of all furniture shoppers don't purchase — sometimes for years? The answers lie in the fact that furniture shoppers are looking for something you probably don't provide, and it's got nothing to do with the products you sell. If you could get one more out of every 10 shoppers to buy, your business would improve 50%! This session will show you how.

10–11 a.m.

How to Develop a House Call Program and Why You Must Do It

Toni Lester , ProfitSystems

Effective house calls are the key to client development and financial success for many home furnishings retailers, yet many retail house call programs never seem to "get off the ground." Learn the key elements of developing a house call selling strategy and then learn how to sell the strategy to your sales team and jump start house calls with sustained momentum and results.

11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.

The Seven Dynamics of Change

Gloria Walsh , Storis Management Systems

Learn to assess how adaptive your organization is to change and apply specific techniques to manage change effectively and get buy-in from your employees.

1–2 p.m.

Selling to Your Grandmother

Chris Coltran , Allman Consulting and Training

Customer intimacy is the key to selling and it all starts with trust, so treat every customer like you would treat your own grandmother. When it comes to your grandmother, she trusts you and you trust her. You wouldn't cheat her, mislead her, take advantage of her, or do anything else that might hurt your relationship with her. Come see how a simple concept and new philosophy will forever change the way you approach your customers.

2:30–3:30 p.m.

The Name of the Game in Sales is GOLF, or How to Stop Handicapping Your Sales Force

Samantha Kurtz , Kurtz & Associates

Not all salespeople respond to a singular "reward" system, any more than all people love chocolate cake. This session will outline an easy, yet highly personalized approach to goal setting, which can immediately and permanently improve productivity and positively affect your bottom line and your salespeople.

4–5 p.m.

The Negotiating Coach

Michael Sloopka , Selling Solutions

This session provides attendees with a great opportunity for live coaching and consulting. Sloopka will provide a forum that will allow you to ask questions and receive direct troubleshooting feedback, coaching and consulting relative to the negotiations you face with discount-seeking customers, clients, profit-hungry suppliers, and even employees.

Friday, Feb. 3

8:30–9:30 a.m.

Web-to-Store: Getting Shoppers Off the Internet and Into Your Showroom

Stephanie Droman , City Outlets

Consumers use the Internet daily to shop for furniture in their own towns. Google and paid search advertising are creating streams of customers and revenue for local small- and medium-size businesses. Find out what is involved in creating winning promotional campaigns using local Internet campaigns, pay-per-click advertising, dedicated landing solutions and more.

10–11 a.m.

The Sacred Cow: Getting the Budget Established

Phyllis Macay , PPM Designs

This forum will help you understand how and when to approach the subject of budget. Without a budget, you cannot meet your client's needs. You will spend more time, run into more resistance and close on less merchandise.

11:30–12:30 p.m.

Superior Customer Service: A Major Role in Business Development

Ron Wolinski , Profitability Consulting Group

Superior customer service plays a major role in the accomplishment of a marketing business plan. Wolinski will review the 15 customer service competencies and the four fundamentals of superior service that distinguish top service providers, and illustrate the major role that skills, knowledge and attitudes play in business growth, resulting in "exceeding the expectations" of your customers.

1–2 p.m.

Five Inventory Management Keys to Greater Profitibility

Terry Nelson , ProfitSystems

As retailers, your inventory is the biggest asset you have that needs constant management to maximize profitability. This session will help you master the factors that affect inventory.

2:30–3:30 p.m.

12 Ways to Improve Your Financial Matrix

John Egger , Profitability Consulting Group

Are you losing money every day in your store? Egger is an expert on improving profits in the furniture industry. He will give you at least a dozen ideas you can implement immediately on your return to your store that will improve your profit matrix.