We are at war. I’m not referring to Iraq. The war we are all waging is for sales. The battle is almost like hand-to-hand combat because it will be won by selling one customer at a time. To survive in these turbulent economic times, you must win the war for customers; you must be more effective at closing the fewer customers who come to you looking for flooring. The game has changed, but the Rules of Engagement have not.

In turbulent times, we do well to re-assess the basics:  Namely where are we and where do we want to go, how do we plan to get there. This re-assessment may uncover nothing … or it may yield the silver-linings on the edges of dark clouds.  What we uncover depends largely on attitude.  I have often heard that attitude determines as much as 88% of success.  A positive attitude is critical for leaders, salespeople … everyone who wants to keep learning and earning! 

You have probably seen it countless times: The deer-in-the-headlights look customers get as they enter your showroom. They seem astonished by the seemingly endless displays of flooring samples. We sometimes forget that customers find the process of choosing a floor to be complex, confusing and even overwhelming. Confused customers suffer Cognitive Dissonance Disorder (CDD) and cannot buy.

The above headline could just as easily have been Constantly Communicate and Clarify Your Company Values or Are You Giving Your Employees Criteria for Making Decisions  or Are You Sure Your Employees Know What You Would Do? or….you get the idea. It came to me because I was flabbergasted when one of my salespeople-and his wife-confronted me. He ranted, “Why didn’t you support me in that argument with the customer?” She chimed in, “Why didn’t you cover his back?  Don’t good employers support their people?”

As many of you may know, I was schooled in microbiology and biochemistry. I wanted to become a college professor and teach. Accordingly, after acquiring my master’s degree, I began work on a Ph.D. To fund my schooling (and support a family of five), I sold and laid carpet most nights and weekends. One night, working in the laboratory injecting hundreds of baby mice, and cleaning Petri dishes and test tubes, I realized that what I really loved was being with people, whether teaching them or helping them make their homes beautiful. I knew that to have the privilege of teaching students, I’d have to do research and publish. These were lonely pursuits. That’s when I decided to quit school and open up my own carpet store.

“Where are my customers?”…“Why isn’t my usual advertising working?”… “What can I do to turn this around?” These are among the questions being asked as many floor covering retailers face a falloff in the number of customers visiting their showroom.  It is no secret that many retailers are struggling these days. There may be reasons related to the economy, but I am convinced it’s also because many retailers are looking for customers in the wrong places.

“Times are tough. I’ve had fewer customers and I’m losing money. What should I do?” I often hear this question as I travel the country, teaching seminars and coaching our clients. The fact is, when you need to raise profits, you have only three choices: increase sales, raise margins, or cut expenses. You can do one, two, or all three.

We thought times were harsh a few years ago.  In this tight housing market, customers are even tougher. With less discretionary money, they’re more anxious about making a bad selection,   buying from a dodgy company, or over paying. They are more apt to raise stubborn objections. And don’t forget your competitors have also become tougher. They are aggressively pursuing your customers even if it means distorting the truth and undercutting your prices. It also doesn’t help to hear your salespeople complain about the scarcity of shoppers. Your old sales and marketing strategies aren’t cutting it. 

Much is being said about Surfaces 2008. There is no question these are tough times in the flooring business, and elsewhere.  So, one would have expected the mood on the show floor to be down and dreary.  But it was not. The mood was surprisingly upbeat. Attendance was down, but the attendees’ spirits were definitely high. This reminded me once again that many people in the flooring industry are as resilient as the flooring products they market, sell or install.

The poet William Wordsworth may have said it best: “Not choice, but habit rules the unreflecting herd.” And bad habits are the worst of masters. So I ask you: When did you last reflect on your habits? Can you identify the habits that are helping you as well as habits that hinder your growth? I challenge you write a list today on everything you do by force of habit. (Habits never rise to consciousness unless we call them up.) Then, examine the result of each one. This examination matters, because as Confucius concluded, “The nature of man is always the same; it is their habits that separate them.”