Protectant suppliers enhance lines
By Marc Barnes -- Furniture Today, March 16, 2008
High Point — New environmentally friendly products — and a bigger emphasis on customer service to help ensure repeat business — are the most recent developments within the furniture protectant segment, industry leaders say.
On the green front, Doug Vunder, vice president of sales and marketing for Multimaster North America, said his company plans to introduce a new line of environmentally friendly cleaning and protection products this year for leather, fabric and wood.
Vunder said that the new line doesn't yet have a name, but that a number of retailers have indicated they will carry the product.
"One of the things we find as a strong and dominant presence in the furniture industry is women, who are much more likely to buy an environmentally friendly product," said Vunder. "With an ongoing effort on the part of a lot of different sources, there is a very significant heightened sense of what comes into the house and what is safe for the family."
Vunder said that Multimaster's new line fits in well with consumers' growing interest in green products.
"Our goal within the next 24 months is to be 100% environmentally friendly in all of our products," said Vunder. "We want to be the industry leaders in this."
In addition to changing the products themselves, Multimaster is developing packaging that promotes its new line as being good for the environment and safe for the home.
New point-of-sale support and additional training for salespeople will round out the introduction.
At Ultra Guard, President Dick Fleming said that a new product, Stain Free, waterproofs and protects all fabrics and leather goods — even outdoor furniture.
"We have put this (Stain Free) in an aerosol can so that some of the retailers and upholsterers can sell it to their clientele at the point of sale," said Fleming.
In addition, "we have developed a new concierge service that deals with the high-end furniture industry," said Fleming. "We provide a membership, compliments of the furniture showroom, which allows the client to get their furniture treated by us and then they have a year's free membership — an unlimited free service warranty — for one year."
Fleming said that during the first year, Ultra Guard will remove spots that customers can't remove for free. At the end of that year, customers can renew the service for $75 a year.
"This is something the retailer can use to boost sales — they can make money on selling the aerosol cans themselves and they can make more money if they are selling the service," said Fleming.
At Guardsman, Greg Perkins, national sales manager, said that Guardsman has updated both its training manuals and its packaging for wood, leather and fabric protectants to make it easier for retailers to sell extended service contracts for its products.
In addition, Guardsman has introduced two new plans covering rugs and outdoor furniture. And it recently began a partnership with Protect-A-Bed to market and sell mattress protectors, said Perkins.
"Guardsman helps the furniture retailer by being more than just a call center," said Perkins. "Customer service is about the delivery of repair services to the customer. We have an extensive network of independent technicians, and this network continues to grow."
At Guardian, Tim Vaughan, vice president of sales, said that his company is increasing its emphasis on demonstrating the value of its products — and what they can mean to retailers' bottom lines.
He said that his company likes to remind retailers that profit margins from furniture protection, outside of movie theater popcorn, are likely the highest profits to be had in American business.
"Everybody is singing the blues," said Vaughan. "You can advertise and you can spend all the money you want to, but you may be throwing a lot of money away. The question is: How do you make more money on the front end?"
Vaughan said the best way to generate those profits is to know more about what you are selling. He said that his company has put more emphasis recently on its Web-based training, which is regularly updated and improved.
Guardian's Web site provides retailers with up-to-the-minute information — and ensures that in-store training actually takes place.
Alan Salmon, president of Montage Furniture Services, said that the key to success within the furniture protection business is customer service, which effectively helps retailers get return business.
"It's not easy to grow in this market but we grew 22% last year," said Salmon. "The market continues to embrace what we do. I think they have figured it out finally and what really matters is how well customers are taken care of."
The best way to reach that goal is to give customers more than they are entitled to, he said, rather than establishing requirements that enable claims to be easily denied. Many policies require customers to file a claim within five days after the furniture is actually damaged, while Montage extends that period to 14 days.
"We have the highest service rate and the lowest denial rate in the business," said Salmon.
In addition to a willingness to carry out service calls, Montage sets a goal that 80% of customers who call in will talk to a human operator within 30 seconds, rather than having to negotiate a complicated phone tree for a minute or more.
Salmon said that level of service bodes well for a repeat visit from that customer to the same store.
"If they have a good service experience, it reflects positively on the dealer; if it is horrible, they also assign that to the dealer," said Salmon.
Lonnie McDonald, president and CEO of the Textile Care Group, said that his company's newest product is a kit out of the Leather Pro division that includes a water-based cleaner, moisturizer and rejuvenator.
McDonald also wrote the book on leather care, the "Leather Care Technician Manual," which is still available online and in national bookstore chains.
McDonald said that Leather Pro is working on penetrating the retail market, both by expanding its distribution capabilities and by working with designers and retailers to demonstrate how leather should be cleaned and maintained.
McDonald said part of the challenge is to sell leather and leather care not out of a position of fear that it has to be maintained differently, but rather that it will last longer if it is. That means vacuuming weekly, wiping the furniture down with distilled water monthly, and having it professionally cleaned once or twice a year.
Leather can be ruined with maintenance that's done wrong or not done at all, he added.
"We have to try to educate our customers so that they know what proper care is," said McDonald. "Leather is a lot like a Mercedes. You have to maintain it. If you take care of stuff, it will last."
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Protectant suppliers enhance lines
Mar 16, 2008
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