Comments on: IHFRA survey reveals product information key to retailer-rep relationship https://homenewsnow.com/blog/2023/07/13/ihfra-survey-reveals-product-information-key-to-retailer-rep-relationship/ Your Source for Home Furnishings Retail News Mon, 17 Jul 2023 21:18:11 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 By: Thomas Leflein https://homenewsnow.com/blog/2023/07/13/ihfra-survey-reveals-product-information-key-to-retailer-rep-relationship/#comment-4035 Mon, 17 Jul 2023 21:18:11 +0000 https://homenewsnow.com/?p=29845#comment-4035 In reply to dan hart.

Great report.

]]> By: dan hart https://homenewsnow.com/blog/2023/07/13/ihfra-survey-reveals-product-information-key-to-retailer-rep-relationship/#comment-4028 Fri, 14 Jul 2023 16:36:11 +0000 https://homenewsnow.com/?p=29845#comment-4028 Ray,
I’ve known who are since your time at Furniture Today. We’ve spoken a couple times at events over the years. The most recent was several years ago during one of your performances with the band at McPherson’s in Jamestown. Fun times.
This is a solid article, straight down the asphalt (that’s rep lingo), good reminders with today’s update as it relates to digital technology. I’ll talk about this with some of my brothers and sisters in our part of the industry.
Something I’ve noticed as I read your HNN articles – you are brief and to the point, like never before. We have recently tested our account list focusing on what we see as the weak link in routine communications. Accepting the fact that showing up in person “as needed” for each account can never be replaced, we still must dispatch a tremendous amount of information as it becomes available. Price lists, updated production times, freight information, discontinued product are just a few examples. My partners and I were discussing the disproportionate number of requests we were getting for this info after we had blanketed our territory with it. We decided to run a test to see how many of our customers actually read our email blasts. We created a brief, easy to read, production update – important stuff – with a final two-sentence paragraph, admonishing our partners to simply respond “I read it!” and we would enter their names in a drawing for some company swag. Here’s the numbers, Ray. Out of 152 emails dispatched, we received that message back from nine dealers. Nine. We think this points to a lot of issues at the retail level, virtually all of them understandable. Now we work to find ways to address this dilemma.

]]> By: Thomas Leflein https://homenewsnow.com/blog/2023/07/13/ihfra-survey-reveals-product-information-key-to-retailer-rep-relationship/#comment-4025 Fri, 14 Jul 2023 12:44:19 +0000 https://homenewsnow.com/?p=29845#comment-4025 Another great IHFRA post by Ray

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