Partnering For Survival

yourfurniturelink.com is the brilliant idea of Mig and Tig and Mortise and Tenon-two retailers in different parts of the country partnering to help furniture manufacturers whether the economic tsunami currently facing our country.

Before you go further, please read that first sentence again. What DIDN’T I write? This: two retailers partnering to help each other. What DID i write? Two retailers partnering to help MANUFACTURERS survive!

Why are they doing this? Because Vicki Semke, owner of Mig and Tig in Chicago and Jerod Lazan, owner of Mortise and Tenon in LA came to this realization: If the hip, independent manufacturers they rely on to supply them go out of business, then THEY, too, will be out of business as this is the type of merchandise their local clientele has come to expect from them. They realized they needed to act.

A bit of backstory now and disclosure. First, both Vicki and Jerod have individually invested for their own stores in excellent websites filled with product information. Neither of them currently sells over the web. Vicki’s site is : www.migandtig.com and jerod’s site is www.mortisetenon.com.

As for disclosure: Vicki and Jerod hired me to run a social media conversational marketing campaign for them. We are actively using twitter and other social sites to promote yourfurniturelink.com. They did NOT pay me to write this post, but I will link to it from the places we are running our campaign.

This story and what Jerod and Vicki are doing is, I believe, critical to our industry because if we, working together, will act, then perhaps we can save several manufacturers and retailers(and maybe more than several) from going out of business. So, please, read on carefully.

Here is what prompted them to partner and start yourfurniturelink.com

Because of the strong product pictures on their own store’s sites, they were getting calls from potential customers from all over the country to BUY what they were showcasing. However, neither one of them wanted to be in the business of shipping merchandise cross country so many of the customer’s they COULD have sold went walking. Neither of them sell directly from their websites.

They realized then that the manufacturer’s of the products they showcased were ALSO losing these sales as many independent manufacturers had not or have not yet invested in strong, search engine optimized websites. If Vicki and Jerod or a member of their sales team told the customer calling or emailing them that they couldn’t ship the product, that customer was then gone..poof!

It was then that the idea for yourfurniturelink.com came into being. USING THEIR OWN MONEY, Vicki and Jerod decided to do this:

1. Start a website whose main focus was driving the consumer to the MANUFACTURERS they carried, believed in and wanted to support.
2. Instead of posting every picture from a manufacturer’s catalog, they “curate” the photos they post, based on their knowlege gleaned from a combined 40 yrs. in retailing furniture, which items customers might click through on and be most interested in purchasing.

AND THEN ~~~~THIS:

When a customer clicks on the item pictured, they get a FULL range of information about the manufacturer of that item including: name of mfg., website address, physical address, phone number, contact person and direct email(where available) of that contact person!

The entire purpose of this site is to help manufacturers stay in business by driving consumer traffic to the manufacturer in order to support the consumer’s attempt to find the item she/he wants in their LOCAL markets!

It is a brilliant concept as it supports the consumer’s desire to find the item they want to buy and see it, touch it, etc. in their local markets at the same time as it helps the manufacturer make sure the request is directed properly and followed up on properly and SOLD at the local dealer level!

I know, you’re asking by now..what’s the catch? Seems too nice, too generous, right? Wrong. Vicki and Jerod DO NOT get a kickback of any sort from the mfgs. whose products are sold via yourfurniturelink.com. Hard to believe, I know,but that’s the truth.

Here is how they are monetizing their site, though- or trying to: they are asking manufacturer’s to sponsor an ad on the site for 50.00/mth. Yes, that’s all-you read that right-50.00 a month for manufacturers to reach consumers clicking on a picture of THEIR product! And, guess what?

Due to the lack of understanding, STILL, of what the web and search engine optimization of a business to consumer site like yourfurniturelink.com can mean for their sales:manufacturers are not getting it-even though many of them KNOW Vicki and Jerod personally and sell their product in their stores!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They simply cannot believe that Vicki and Jerod are willing to invest their own money and time to help them stay in business. They don’t get that Vicki and Jerod understand that if they (the manufacturers) don’t stay in business, then Mig and Tig and Mortise and Tenon won’t stay in business, either, because the products their customers like to buy from them won’t be available!

It’s a full circle. Vicki and Jerod understand: their consumers desire for transparency and information, their manufacturers need to drive new consumers to the local dealers that inventory their merchandise and support their line, the local dealers(outside of Chicago and LA) need to find and sell to new customers and, finally, the circle closes at Vicki and Jerod’s need to make sure the product they want in their stores is always available for their customers to buy!

To me, Vicki and Jerod have demonstrated leadership of the highest caliber in risking their own capital to launch yourfurniturelink.com.

I am doing my part by asking each of you to PLEASE forward this email to all of your vendors and colleagues-ESPECIALLY if you carry any of the lines that these two retailers carry-all featured on yourfurniturelink.com. (There are also some lines featured now that they DON’T carry!)

Ask your vendors to get behind this site and support it financially. Vicki and Jerod have already taken the first step with their own capital. If you will take that ONE ACTION, then, perhaps, working together, we can help this site thrive and drive tons of traffic to these manufactures and then back out to the local retailers who can make those sales and offer ongoing services like design help that drive loyalty and larger tickets.

This a real win-win-win opportunity for every single retailer and manufacturer in our industry. And, don’t forget, both Vicki and Jerod are still running retail stores everyday. Imagine the effort and energy it has taken and still takes every day on their parts to update the site, respond, seek support, etc. Even though, yes, they are my social media client, I honor their determination to do something really worthwhile for our industry that could help save hundreds, maybe thousands, of jobs. I hope you will honor them, too, by helping them help yourfurniturelink.com grow and thrive.