Memo to furniture store owners: Get back into the game.

Earlier today, I had a long talk with a veteran rep. To his credit, despite the spongy business climate, he is still spending a good chunk of his commission dollars to make himself very visible to his retail customers.

As a result of spending an above-average number of hours in the stores each week, my buddy, Neil, is way above average in terms of being plugged in to what’s going on in his territories.

He said something today that resonated with me.  “I do lots of in-store training,” he said, adding, “But I can hardly remember the last time I saw an owner or a member of the executive team on the sales floor.”

He was mystified as to why more owners and senior management are not spending more time on the the selling floor to see what’s going on.

I don’t know if you saw a recent interview that The New York Times conducted with Terry Lundgren, chief executive of Macy’s.

Seems like Mr. Lundgren spends two or three days each week paying unannounced  visits to his stores.

I loved this quote from Lundgren referring to the reaction of the store managers when he calls from the store saying he would like to see them. “And they a little small heart attack at first and I pick ‘em up off the floor.”

In this retail climate, you better spit and polish your spit and polish. It’s that simple. Average anything at retail is a death sentence.