What furniture reps can learn from the real estate shakeout | Mike Root

I recently read a Wall Street Journal article about real estate agents leaving the business.

At first glance, it doesn’t seem like something furniture sales professionals should pay much attention to. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized the challenges facing real estate agents today aren’t all that different from what many furniture reps are experiencing.

For years, a rising housing market created opportunity for almost everyone. Homes sold quickly. Consumers moved frequently. Transactions happened naturally. As long as you were reasonably competent, there was enough business to go around.

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Then the market changed. Home sales slowed. Inventory tightened. Consumers became more cautious. Suddenly there were fewer opportunities and more competition for every sale.

The Wall Street Journal noted that many agents are leaving the profession altogether. Not necessarily because they are bad people or even bad salespeople. There are simply fewer transactions available, and when that happens, weaknesses that were hidden during good times become impossible to ignore. Sound familiar?

For much of the furniture industry, the pandemic years created a similar environment. Demand was plentiful. Retailers were scrambling for inventory. Product sold before it hit the warehouse. Many manufacturers were writing orders faster than they could produce them. It was difficult to determine who was truly adding value because everyone was successful.

Today is a different story. Traffic is softer. Retailers are more selective. New product introductions face greater scrutiny. Buyers are being asked to justify every square foot of floor space. The easy wins have become much harder to find.

As a result, we’re beginning to see the same thing happening in furniture that is happening in real estate. The strongest professionals are adapting, the weakest are disappearing, and the middle is getting squeezed.

The reps who continue to thrive today aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest territories or the longest tenure. They are the ones creating value beyond simply taking orders:

• They bring market intelligence.
• They identify assortment gaps.
• They help retailers understand changing consumer trends.
• They connect manufacturers with opportunities they may not see on their own.
• Most importantly, they help retailers solve problems.

The old model of showing up twice a year with a catalog and waiting for orders is becoming less effective every day. Retailers need more. Manufacturers need more. The marketplace demands more.

I’ve noticed another interesting trend. During difficult markets, many salespeople instinctively spend more time chasing business that isn’t there. They make more calls, schedule more appointments and drive more miles hoping activity alone will solve the problem.

The best sales professionals do something different. They become more selective, focus their efforts on retailers that are growing and represent products that address emerging consumer needs. They look for categories where differentiation still exists, and they become consultants instead of order takers.

In many ways, difficult markets reveal who we really are as sales professionals. When business is easy, almost everyone looks successful. When business becomes challenging, preparation, relationships, product knowledge, persistence, and creativity begin to matter again.

That’s not necessarily bad news. In fact, it may be the healthiest thing that can happen to an industry. The real estate industry is learning that lesson right now. The furniture industry is learning it too.

The question every rep should ask isn’t whether the market will improve. Eventually it will. The better question is this: When it does, will you emerge as one of the professionals who adapted and grew stronger, or one of the ones who spent the downturn waiting for conditions to change?

Markets don’t build great salespeople. They reveal them.