Rick Olson :: Blog :: Still Doing It Right

March 7, 2008

Let me tell you a little bit about Grand Home Furnishings.  They are located in Roanoke VA and have 16 stores in 3 east coast states.  Last Friday, I spoke at their sales award program.  The top seventy-seven sales people were honored.  And my – how they were honored.  Beautiful gifts were given and a big ‘to do’ was made about each of them.  The seventy-seven were thrilled, and I know they were motivated to be sure that they are back next year for the same event.  (In Feb., I was vacationing in Hawaii and met Payton Manning.  He told me his wife tells him every year – “get voted into the Pro Bowl, because I want to go back to Hawaii.”  You see, even the Mannings respond to praise and recognition.)

Here is how I feel about incentives and recognition.  The people who grow an organization should be rewarded for their efforts!

Now, back to Grand Home Furnishings.  Here are a few keys I picked up on that really got my attention. 

The chairman of the board gave a somber report about what is happening in the furniture business.  Several companies went bankrupt last year.  Well known companies that you have heard about for decades had losing years.  When people don’t build or buy houses, the ripple effect is staggering.  You see it reflected in your mortgage department.  And people who don’t buy houses, don’t buy furniture.  But listen to the powerful statement the chairman made to his people.  “There may be a recession coming, but we choose not to participate.”  And Grand Home Furnishings had another strong growth year.

Every person who enters a Grand Home Furnishings store is handed a bottle of Coca-Cola.  They have done that for the last 50 years.  Last year, they gave out 1.4 million Cokes.  You may say, “How can they afford to?”   I have seen the results and would say “How can they afford not to?”

I met Nellie, Trish, and Meagan in their call center.  These ladies, as well as Marty and Kala, make sure that every customer is called on the evening of the day when their furniture was delivered to make sure everything went well and that they are pleased with their new furniture.  A lot of people are good before the sale, but not everyone is as good after the sale.

Every sales star in the company has been through extensive training.  They take it very seriously.  As I often say, training is expensive, but not training is really expensive.  Is your training room well used?

It is sometimes tempting to think that there are very few companies that still do it first class.  Smile – you just heard about another one who is doing it right.