(Editor’s note: Following is the second installment of a 10-part series featuring retailers who signed on to become Mohawk Edge Store Members. This segment focuses on the educational benefits that Edge membership provides.)
Despite three decades in the flooring industry, Lorenzo Ledesma, manager of America’s Finest Carpet Company in San Marcos, Calif., would be the first to tell you he doesn’t have all the answers when it comes to the retail segment.
“You can never know too much, even after 30 years, Ledesma told FCNews. “That’s why every few years it’s important to go back for a refresher course.”
That “refresher” course was his participation in the Edge Experience Academy, an extensive, six-week virtual workshop program Mohawk developed with a vendor partner that specializes in helping customer-facing businesses build bridges between marketing and sales through data-driven insights. The primary objective of the specialized sales training is to help flooring retailers better equip their RSAs to meet the expectations of today’s consumers.
Joined by sales colleagues Thomas Reiner and Mark Hancock in the program’s first cohort, Ledesma said he gained valuable insights that he can apply to his everyday business. “The Edge Experience Academy gives real-life business examples that you can use,” he said.
Ledesma, an Edge Premier dealer (before that he was a Floorscapes retailer for about a dozen years) said the Edge Experience Academy filled a void that is often lacking in the flooring industry. “We don’t have a whole lot of sales training in flooring,” he lamented. “It’s pretty informal. There’s no ‘sales college,’ no degree you can obtain. So, for that reason, the Edge Experience Academy provided excellent structure; it was pretty uniform in its approach but allows you to tailor it to fit the needs of your flooring company.”
For example, Ledesma said the training facilitators broke down how the customer experience starts long before the customer decides to purchase flooring. He cited critical questions such as: “What are the customers doing before they enter your store? What are they searching for? This is not something we had thought of in the past. Now, when customers come in with all their studying and research done, we know the journey started well before this. By knowing this, we are better prepared for when they come in.”
Some of the takeaways were more nuanced, yet just as valuable. Ledesma said participants learned how greeting a customer walking into a showroom can make a difference in the end. As he explained, “In my home state of California, customers tend to respond better to a more casual and upbeat tone, while customers in, say, Kansas might prefer something a bit more traditional and polite, with an emphasis on sincerity. In any flooring store that first impression really matters, whether it’s someone walking in or calling on the phone. A warm greeting and a few open-ended questions like, ‘What brings you in today?’ or ‘Tell me a little about your project’ can go a long way in making customers feel comfortable and building rapport. Attending the Edge Experience Academy only made us stronger.”
The Edge Experience Academy is built on four key pillars:
- Cohort-style classes: RSAs from across the country grouped into teams for weekly sessions.
- Curriculum delivery: Six, 60-minute virtual workshops wherein participants are provided with a learning guide for use throughout the course.
- Post-program community: Enrollment and completion provides attendees with 12 months of access to Edge Experience Academy platform offering discussion forums and webinars on best practices.
- Leadership involvement: Owners and managers are offered regular leadership workshops for reinforcing RSA learnings and sharing best practices.
According to Laura Bartley, Mohawk’s vice president of marketing, communications and events, the framework of the Edge Experience Academy is built around community and peer-to-peer conversations.
“Everything about the program is designed and structured to help the RSA deliver on a specialty retail customer experience,” she said. “Seeing this program come together has been exciting as we are witnessing the collaboration and the sharing of experiences that comes from having 25-year sales veterans in a session with relative newcomers. Sometimes it’s the veteran who can learn something from someone new coming in who might mirror the current flooring consumer.”
Another valuable aspect of the Edge Experience Academy, according to Bartley, is it’s not a “one-and-done” situation. The format of the cohort-style classes—which typically entail anywhere between 12-15 RSAs from around the country—is conducive to ongoing learning and long-term relationships. “It’s about building communities among the different cohorts, which, in turn, provides a roadmap for them to stay in contact and involved with each other,” she explained. “It’s set up so retail sales associates who have gone through the program will continue to be supported through discussion boards and ongoing enrichment content that’s tied to the evolution of the customer experience.”
Ultimately, the Edge Experience Academy helps foster better relationships between the RSAs and consumers. All the more reason, she said, to train, fortify and empower your salespeople.
Gain access to Edge Experience Academy through Edge Stores. If you are interested in joning the next cohort, contact your manager and grace_nation@mohawkind.com.
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