Conflicted manufacturers are rarely good for retail relationships.

During this week’s Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition in Boston, Ed Stevens, the CEO of Shoptron, talked about the “biggest roadblock for manufactures selling online is channel conflict.” This is a fancy description of the challenge vendors face when trying to figure out how to sell directly to the customer via the net. Stevens went on to say suppliers are concerned about retail partners’ retaliation.

Mark my words, this situation is changing quickly. As all furniture manufactures struggle to sell enough product to remain viable, they WILL NOT continue to let the estimated 60% of customers looking for branded product who begin their search at the vendor website simply leave without offering to sell them something. This change is coming regardless of retailer feelings!

Listen to what three industry executives have said already:

• “One cannot afford to not be in e-commerce,” Ethan Allen Chairman and Chief Executive Farooq Kathwari.
• “We knew that the longer we waited on the Web, the more risk that someone else would be capturing that demand,” Jason Camp, senior vice president of retail at Bassett Furniture Industries.
• “We estimate between 60% and 70% of people spend some time on the Web before or during the purchase process,” said La-Z-Boy Chief Marketing Officer Doug Collier. With “more than a few million” visitors to its site each year, Collier said, “La-Z-Boy wants to convert as many of those to sales as possible.”

These gentlemen are not talking about being your partner. They are devising a company strategy to be your competitor.

Finally, I want you know understand where I come from. I believe these vendors are 100% right in their belief that they must sell online or go broke. However, I equally believe the furniture retail community had better do the same! Did any of you ever believe 2,000 auto retailers would be closed down because their suppliers changed the rules of the game? I didn’t! The 100,000 American families who worked for these retailers didn’t either.

Draw a line in the sand. Decide your future. Don’t let the vendor dictate what happens to your family business. They are busy worrying about their own skin.

Smell the suntan lotion… taste the piña colada… run your fingers through the warm sand… listen to the seagulls… gaze into the clear blue water…

Where is your perfect picture of tranquility? Maybe it’s not a beach. Maybe it’s a ski slope or a deer blind. We all have one place we would go if time, money and duty were magically suspended. But time, money and duty rarely let us off the hook. We’d better find that elusive tranquility somewhere a little more handy, or we’ll all end up with a heart attack.

Can you find tranquility in your living room? That’s where Ms. Jones finds it every day. Like you, she can’t always hop on a plane and take off to the Caribbean when life gets stressful. When she comes to your furniture store, she’s not just buying something soft to sit on. She’s looking for the props that create that carefree place of rest and relaxation in her own home.

Does your entire store ooze tranquility, from your lighting to your muzak to your salesperson’s approach to your delivery? Do your policies about price and repairs and returns give Ms. Jones a sense of safety?

Ms. Jones is shopping for tranquility. Do you have it in stock?

I might be the only furniture guy with a brain on the bookcase next to my desk. Brain science has changed our understanding of free will, consciousness, memory, motivations and indeed, connections between the mind and the brain.

There is branch of marketing called neuromarketing. Science is attempting to explain why we buy. Books like Buy-ology, Iconoclast, and The Power of Less all take a stab at explaining this emerging field of study.

If you’re interested in how the 3-pounds of soft tissue in your head works, you might want to begin with The Owner’s Manual For The Brain, a fascinating 1007-page technical explanation of why we do the things we do. Or check out this podcast series on the brain which explains how business will be structured, organized and run in the not too distant future.

In a Los Angeles Times article, “Searching for the Why of Buy,” Robert Lee Hotz talks about insights into the human brain made possible by revolutionary new scanning technology. He wrote, “Much of what was traditionally considered the product of logic and deliberation is actually driven by primitive brain systems responsible for emotional responses.” So, what does this mean to you? It means that your customer buys because of emotion, not logic and deliberation.

Consumer behavior studies will never be the same. If you ignore brain research about human behavior, you are risking your future. Your competitors are studying this issue and putting their new knowledge to work daily.

The story of green gets more interesting. The big mattress companies say there is no reason for concern. Do you believe them? Consider for yourselves. This is an opportunity to further develop your marketing message. Pick a side and tell the story until the sheep come home.

Roy Williams says authenticity is essential. “When selling, remember: if you don’t admit the downside, they won’t believe the upside.”

The Lively Merchant website is in the top 17.77 % of all websites. That’s right - there are only 4,974,636 websites that rank higher than www.thelivelymerchant.com! Visit www.websitegrader.com to rank your own site.

We learned this nifty tidbit at WordCamp Columbus, just another way we spend our weekends learning how to help make life better for retailers.

Why do customers unsubscribe from your email marketing?

Just because you think you’re hot stuff doesn’t mean everyone else does. People don’t break up when things are going well.

She says: “It’s like you scream at me every day; you don’t like me anymore.”
She means: You e-mail me too often. Your product or service doesn’t require daily e-mails, so less frequent e-mails may produce better results without annoying me. About every other week is best for retail stores.

She says: “You are double timing me.”
She means: Instead of using the same old web site’s content, give me a reason to receive your e-mails. Include content in your e-mails that I won’t find anywhere else — articles, special savings, promotions, downloadable offers, etc. This increases the value of your e-mail.

She says: “You already have me, but your email always feels like a pick up line.”
She means: I’m
not getting what I expected. What exactly did I sign up for? Was it information on new products, or tips and user information? Don’t abuse my permission by sending sales-oriented e-mails when I only opted in to receive decorating ideas.

While most breakups hurt at first, you will be more attractive in the long run by making sure you keep your word to each of your customers. Bait and switch list building or eblasting to opt-in users will have all of the beautiful people running for the hills with their pocketbooks in tow.

Oh, and if you aren’t using email marketing already you are missing a huge opportunity.

When are we going to stop debating and begin fixing the problem? Whatever “the problem” may be, knowing when to stop talking and start walking are a key indicators of success. If we don’t ask enough questions, we’re likely to go off half-cocked and make half-baked decisions. On the other hand, debate, discussion and refinement can be a never ending pit. We can work ourselves so deeply into a problem or situation that we forget the desired outcome of the distant solution.

I often ask customers, friends and family the same question: “How does it end?” The question isn’t original, and people often look at me like I’m nuts, but I intend to keep on asking. Frankly, my mom’s description remains the best; she always said, “You can’t be a fart in a skillet.” I used to think she didn’t understand how things worked. Today I think she’s a very smart woman. I’ve always heard children eventually realize how smart their parents are.

Use the tools you were given to co-labor toward the outcome you desire. Whether it’s fixing things, challenging the status quo, networking behind the scenes, organizing the facts, standing up for the weak, or pursuing the brightest light of center stage, the finish line you’re seeking comes from using the skills you were given directed at the end of the line.

So, I’ll ask you again, “How does it end?”

After watching the NBA playoffs and attending a performance group meeting at Wilson Carpet and Furniture in Coshocton, Ohio, I awoke this morning thinking about the story of David and Goliath.

A group of furniture store owners came together for the last two days and talked about ways to improve their businesses. These owners are talking about sales increases now – not just hanging around until the economy gets better later – and they created a list of ideas to make this happen. They agreed to hold one another accountable to implementation. They agreed to put their money where their mouth is. When we meet again in September we will review each store’s performance in a winner-takes-all sales contest.

Here’s a sneak peak at 5 ideas that came from the peer group meeting. To get the other 25, you’ll have to talk to the store owners who created the list.     

1. Host in-store events.
2. Join two new civic clubs and get involved in their mission.
3. Work with the local school system to host fund raisers in the school gym. Sell merchandise and share part of the revenue with the school.
4. Aggressively ask customers and prospects for their email address. Use opt-in (only) email marketing to provide special offers to this select group.
5. Develop a strategy to work with healthcare professionals to sell products that are in demand for their patients.

Malcolm Gladwell summarizes the David and Goliath story his current book, Outliers: “It is easier to retreat and compose yourself after every score than swarm about, arms flailing [in a full-court press]. We tell ourselves that skill is the precious resource and effort is the commodity. It’s the other way around. Effort can trump ability… because relentless effort is, in fact, something rarer than the ability to engage in some finely tuned act of motor coordination.”

At The Lively Merchant, we cheer hard for those companies who play full court press every day. These businesses and the families behind them are changing lives and will change our country because they know David really can beat Goliath. They would love for you to join them on their march to the World Championship.

You know the nagging feeling that you should have done something?

Deep down inside a small voice calls out, nudges, pulls, and prods us to step out in faith. Crazy things, like creating a new way of doing business, or starting a new one all together. Or maybe it’s a simple thing like writing a thank you letter, or making a call to a long lost friend. The nagging feeling might make you nervous. Scared. Not certain where to begin.

I know the exact feeling. Last April 29^th we wrote the first post on The Lively Merchant website. Scary stuff, because we weren’t sure what we wanted to be when we grew up.

Around 3,000 years ago a man named Gideon was asked directly by God to lead Israel against the Midianites, who were destroying their lives, homes, and farms.

Let me set the stage. Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine press. This wasn’t because he was overly smart. It was primarily (I believe) because he was chicken of being caught by the Midianites who were kicking everyone’s butt and taking their wheat. So he was hiding and trying to protect what he thought was valuable. He was scared. He asked God, “Who me? I’m the weakest man from the weakest tribe.”

Gideon then decided to double check the nagging voice. Today, it might look like asking a magic 8-ball, not once but twice for the answer. Lack of faith. Fortunately God came through. He answered each of Gideon’s challenges. Isn’t interesting how we challenge everything, even when the nagging voice is loud and clear? I hope I won’t always need a “pillar of fire and light” to keep moving forward. You know?

From time-to-time we are all looking for a sign from heaven.

I know I have related with Gideon many times in my business life. Just give me a sign. Point me in the right direction. Don’t let this go badly, and you can count on me the next time around. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m sure glad God hangs in there with my craziness. Hopefully you will too.

Maybe the next 12 months will be as spectacular as the last. Maybe our nutty furniture business will get back to normal.

That will be a hoot!

TS Eliot said, “Business today consists in persuading crowds.”

Do you believe your marketing and training message is persuasive?

Does your organization show understanding, trust, threat, tension, surprise, substitution, specificity, social proof, similarity, repetition, push, pull, perception, passion, obligation, objectivity, logic, involvement, investment, interest, hurt and rescue, harmony, framing, fragmentation, experience, exchange, evidence, distraction, dependence, deception, daring, contrast, consistency, confusion, confidence, closure, bonding, authority, attention, assumption, association, arousal, appeal, amplification, or alignment?

Each are positions in persuasion that, used correctly and with timeliness, will raise the impact of your story.

How it works

When a person receives a communication from you, they decide if they can trust you and your message. Mixed messages result when beliefs, values, attitudes and prior words and actions do not tell the same story.

You know, like when will claim to have the biggest or best of something, only to eat humble pie when someone proves your claim aren’t true. Saying one thing and doing another causes a loss of trust, and a falling of confidence, and makes you appear shallow.

Remember the prayer? Your will, NOT mine… Alignment.