"What Consumers Really Think"

Meet Sonna and Lis Calandrino from Fabulous Floors Magazine,the first consumer magazine devoted solely to flooring styles as a key element in home décor. Sonna is the Publisher of Fabulous Floors and Lis, the Director of Consumer Research. Both are extremely well tuned into listening to consumers, particularly flooring consumers.

I strongly encourage you to hear them in a 4 part series on FloorRadio aired 6/25/06 titled "What Consumers Really Think". Sonna and Lis discuss the findings from a recent Fabulous Floors/Floor Radio joint venture consumer focus group. It is fascinating and right on the mark!

Part 1 - the importance of listening to your consumers and using tools like focus groups for a complete pulse check; how floor covering consumers prepare themselves to shop for floor coverings; how they view the shopping experience; how they assess the comfort level of a retail store; how they feel about a salesperson who tries to change their minds.

• Consumers do a lot of research ahead of time.
• Consumers want salespeople to be respectful, to listen, to not rush them, to collaborate

Part 2 - the strong feelings consumers have for their homes; how these feelings are reflected in their approach to shopping, their stance on working with designers, the kind of help they want and expect from a retail salesperson.

• Too much focus on price
• Too many products to choose from --> help me make sense of the choices
• Salesperson doesn't spend enough time listening and 'interviewing' consumers
• "My house is a work in progress" --> strong emotions! "My home has got to be me, so don't try to change my mind. I know what I want."
• [Consider reading Trading Up by Micheal Silverstein; the home is at the top of the trading up list. "Americans distort their discretionary spending toward the home more than any other category.”]

Part 3 - the attitude women consumers have toward price and their knowledge level with regard to available credit promotions; environmentally friendly product and what they want and expect from samples, vignettes and layout in a retail floor covering store.

• Salesperson is a reflection of the store
• Make consumer feel welcome
• Growing interest in environmental options
• Consumers are more experimental than retailers; they are curious about how different products might look. Vignettes are invaluable!

Part 4 - consumers show a strong commitment toward finding the perfect flooring product; likes and dislikes about salespeople and the prime points retailers might want to consider to ensure more of their customers have a positive shopping experience in their store.

• NOTE: Marti Barletta's book Marketing to Women: How to Understand, Reach and Increase Your Share of the Largest Market Segment describes how important it is for women to find the perfect answer when shopping; they approach the shopping process in a less linear [i.e., the spiral path] manner than do men. So be aware of this, understand that women will take more time; listen to her, develop a relationship with her. The benefits are enormous [word of mouth referrals, shorter repeat purchase cycle].
• Look at what other stores and businesses are doing [kids' area, better parking lot, other ways to visualize product] for inspiration.

Tags: marketing to women, consumer experience, flooring