fundamentals

Product Knowledge

Furniture Product Knowledge is the foundation for a successful career in furniture sales. These 36 lessons cover 24 topics that teach everything from sofa and chair styles to fabrics and finishes. Become certified in furniture product knowledge and stop losing sales because you don't know furniture like your customers expect.

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How can the Fundamentals of Product Knowledge course be improved?

  • " it was excellent.in "
  • " to get into the site easier "
  • " would like more in detail specially bedroom, dinnete, etc. "
  • " Pictures may need to be updated. Maybe even real pictures vs. drawings. "
  • " this is a good traing module and i would not change anything. "
  • " Add Mattresses and Large Appliances "
  • " The download time for the tutorials and tests are too lengthy. It would also be helpful to have a low bandwidth version for those using dial-up internet service. "
  • " I think the fundamentals course was great and I have no suggestions for improvement. This course covered all of the basics. "
  • " everything is great. "
  • " I thought that the rug area was very confussing. "
  • " none the course was great. "
  • " no suggestions for improvement. "
  • " No suggestions - I felt it was an excellent course. "
  • " None you guys did a good job on the program. "
  • " none - best training of products in the business I have ever seen. "
  • " I have no suggestions. "
  • " Loading is extremely slow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 "
  • " Very slow to start next lesson. "
  • " it takes to long betweem modules "
  • " Only negatitive was that the uploading each module was terribly SLOW. "
  • " sharing with others that deals with furniture "
  • " no suggestions. "
  • " everything is wonderful "
  • " The fundamentals course is good.I will suggest that each question be given a time to answer it. "
  • " You might want to make it a little shorter. "
  • " In the lessons where there is information about types of woods or fibres, its tough to remember all of those. It could be easier if all of them were together on one page so we could see the differences. "
  • " The length of the course, because its hard to complete at work. Only use thing that go with the things we sale. "
  • " No Suggestions "
  • " I really don't have any suggestions/recommendations. Course was very well put together. "
  • " No suggestions "
  • " Be able to print the lessons, in that way we can read the material with out seatting inthe computer for a long period of time. "
  • " It would take less time if all "certificates" could be printed at the end instead of after each segment. "
  • " If really to suggest you guys, here is my opinion: Instead of pictures if you had animations how they made or create thoes things we learned, would have made more effects and built a strong intrest on it. thank you. "
  • " Require the manager on duty to go around the floor with the new associates. "
  • " It is an excellent learning tool. I would not improve this course. "
  • " Make illustrations printable, and have on certificate to be printed upon final completion. "
  • " N/A I thought the course was great! "
  • " I found the leather process explaination to be informative, but the way the test questions were asked seemed abit difficult as a first timer introduced to the leathering process. "
  • " I THINK THE PROGRAM DID A VERY FINE JOB WITH THE WHOLE TESTING PROCESS MAYBE IN THE FUTURE THE MAY CONSIDER A SMALL REFERANCE BOOKLET FOR THE SALESPERSON TO KEEP AS A QUICK CHECK FROM TIME TO TIME "
  • " None at all. The program was very satisfactory! "
  • " No improvements "
  • " none at thhis time "
  • " it is good as it is. "
  • " Informatiom on how to set up my home computer so I could do the course at home. "
  • " Cannot think of anything now but I find the course very informative and easy to understand. "
  • " I think it is just about perfect the way it is. Coming into this location, I had no knowlegde of furniture and after taking the course, I feel more confidant that I can really sell this! "
  • " shorten the training "
  • " allow more time to do 28 lessons while I am still trying to sell "
  • " A print out of the information would be helpful for future reference. "
  • " BASED ON MY BACKGROUND IN INTERIOR DESIGN, SOME OF THE INFORMATION WAS MISLEADING. "
  • " None at this time "
  • " The photos are not super clear. "
  • " Only issue I experienced was some trouble getting to the "test out" screen. I had to exit the module and re-open. "
  • " Make the practice quiz questions different than the actual tests. ...They were the exact same questions. "
  • " I thought some of the Showroom Practices were not very beneficial and they were somewhat redundant. "
  • " I DONT SEE ANYTHING THAT NEEDS CHANGED. "
  • " Less noise and interuptions in the beginning. "
  • " SEND A COPY OF EVERYTHING YOU DESCRIBE ON THIS COURSE JUST TO HELP THE SALES PERSON TO REFRESH THERE NOWLEDGE EVERY TIME THEY NEED IT. "
  • " No suggestions at this time. "
  • " HAVE NO SIGGESTION "
  • " There should be manual study guides to refer back to. "
  • " The course was fine. "
  • " Don't change a thing "
  • " use a real picture whenever you can. "
  • " There are a few typos in the text. May want to recheck and correct them. Otherwise, the course was excellent! "
  • " I can't think of any improvements to the course, it is very thorough. "
  • " It's good the way it is. "
  • " I think that the tape should be on a CD. "
  • " Make the tests harder. "
  • " STUDY THE PRODUCT MORE "
  • " I would suggest to change the voice, it is very mundane. It made me tired throughout. "
  • " it covered everything "
  • " Would like to see some improvement with the pictures and different levels of activities to offer more of a challenge. "
  • " none- it was fantastic "
  • " no improvements needed. "
  • " I thought it was fine. "
  • " KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK . "
  • " MORE DEPTH, E.G., DEFINING "RESIN" AS "A SUBSTANCE" IS USELESS "
  • " Better visual examples in some of your areas. "
  • " Some of the things in the training lessons, for example, the synthetic fibers were really hard to learn. Most of the descriptions for these things were the same. I feel that if there were more unique quality descriptions it would be much easier to remember. "
  • " THIS COURSE OR AT LEATS THE ONES WE SCORED BELOW 90% SHOULD BE TAKEN AGAIN IN 4 TO 6 MONTHS. THIS WAY THIS CAN BECOME COMMON KNOWLEDGE. "
  • " Better photos and more depictive pictures and descriptions of smaller components. "
  • " good info for sales reps new to furniture better pics not drawings wood grains were hard to see "
  • " I thought that overall everything was good. "
  • " None at this time "
  • " No current suggestions. "
  • " Have last that uses questions from all the sections "
  • " I thought it was great as an introductory tool. No suggestions. "
  • " I think it was a fine course. "
  • " NOTHING SO FAR "
  • " the only thing that i can think of is to maybe not have the male and female voice doing the same parts but to alternate the voices on the presentation so that it is more varied. "
  • " Cant think of any thing that needs changing. "
  • " Too many certificates. "
  • " NARARRATED MORE WOULD HELP "
  • " a couple of them were hard to understand such as leather finishes, a lot of the infomation was simular and confusing. "
  • " Make the testing more difficult or in-depth, it is too easy to go through the training without retaining or even seeing some of the key information. "
  • " get rid of the narrration "
  • " IT IS DONE WITH EXTREME ACCURACY AND HELPFULNESS, PERHAPS CLOSING THE SALE MIGHT BE EXPOUNDED UPON MORE "
  • " no suggestions "
  • " more coures like this one "
  • " I think it was very helpful as is, but a follow-up/refresher course may be helpful after I have been in furniture sales for awhile. "
  • " BETTER PICTURES OF THE FURNITURE "
  • " I feel that the lessons should incorporate furniture knowledge that is needed in the actual showroom to help with sales. "
  • " nothing in particular "
  • " AN OPTION TO TAKE OUT THE NARRATION -- I NEVER USED IT BC I MOVED MORE QUICKLY WITHOUT IT "
  • " Have longer than 15 minutes of inactive use before being diconnected. "
  • " None it is fine as ia. "
  • " No improvements-- this was quite helpful. "
  • " make it shorter "
  • " make this easier for spanish speaking people. this was very difficult for me to complete. "
  • " I really think the course it's good the way it is needs no changes. "
  • " NONE.IT WAS VERY SIMPLE TO UNDERSTAND. "
  • " IS COMPLETE DOESN' NEED TO BE IMPROVED "
  • " Some picture isn't clear, so little confuse. "
  • " more pictures on the lesson that don't have them. "
  • " Course should be molded to fit our specific products. "
  • " I HAVE NO SUGGESTION "
  • " NO COMMENTS "
  • " No suggestions or concerns with the course. It wasn't very long like some training i have taken in the past. Overall a good course. "
  • " i have no suggestions i thought that it was really easy to use , helpful, and not gruingly long. i liked it. "
  • " I suggest that with all pictures in the activities should be descriptions of everything so that we can thoroughly learn what everything is or does. Also please do not have an animated voice for EVERY single answer to every question! "
  • " Plenty of illustations are always great. "
  • " NONE AT ALL. "
  • " printable sheets to study "
  • " Some of the tests are based on color drawings. Some tests were difficult because drawings resembled other drawings too closely. "
  • " It needs easier navigation. "
  • " Showroom practice questions are okay but felt like I was in training to work a new floor.. "
  • " Course shoud be broken down into two parts. To complete this part took a lot of time even working on it for the past three days. It became boring. "
  • " OFFER AN APPLIANCE COURSE "
  • " would not take my log in, had to redue several times "
  • " IT IS REALLY ANNOYING WHEN YOU TAKE THE TEST AND THEN IT DOESN'T REGISTER IT. SO YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT AGAIN. WHAT A WASTE OF TIME WHEN IT DOES THAT. "
  • " THE COMPLETED TESTS DO NOT ALWAYS REGISTER AND SEVERAL HAD TO BE RETAKEN. "
  • " show mock sales -videos "
  • " more traning about the the product and what kind of it "
  • " pay us to take it! "
  • " SUGGEST THAT WE SHOULD THIS TRAINING OFTEN TO IMPROVE THE COMPANY BUSINESS "
  • " no suggestions it is an excellent intricate of learning style "
  • " None,you are doing just fine. "
  • " IN THE CHAPTER PERTAINING TO COMMON WOODS; THE ILLUSTRATIONS FOR EACH TYPE OF WOOD IS CONFUSING. IN GENERAL THE PROCESSES USED FOR EACH SUBJECT MATTER ARE SIMULTANEOUS AND EDUCATIONAL. "
  • " MORE KNOWLEDGE IS MORE SALES . "
  • " make it more interactive and fun "
  • " More animation "
  • " This far it is a great tool. "
  • " It was good, the only real problem was the work activity putting the steps of tanning leather into order, I couldnt figure out how to make that module work. "
  • " It seemed when I was working from home, somehow the system did not recognized that I had taken the test for that module and show the process as "started" I don't know hopw to fix that issue. "
  • " just to stay updated "
  • " The wood staining was a bit of guess work because the pictures were extremely similar. Maybe there could be better differntiation there? "
  • " its all good "
  • " I THINK THIS COURSE WILL BE VERY HELPFUL IN SELLING FURNITURE "
  • " I really don't have any! It was fun and informative. Thanks "
  • " I think you should test out first to see what you do know. Then you can study and pass the test. "
  • " There should be a module on selling fabric and wood and leather treatment. "
  • " MORE TRANING ON PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE "
  • " The course is time consuming. I hope it could be shortened from average of 15 test questions on each topic to 8 "
  • " I found the information presented to be a little outdated. Many of the terms used are not seen in most furniture these days, except the very high and the very low-end. Also, the tests and activites were a little on the easy side. For example, one question was to choose the picture of the dresser. The choices were a dresser, a bench or a cheval mirror. Many of the lessons seemed like they were designed for somebody in elementary school at times. "
  • " exelent training "
  • " have some videos on the production of fabric and leather sections it would help with a better picture of the process "
  • " Keep the sections smaller. "
  • " Some questions in the synthetic fabrics sections seemed a little ambigous and also ran into a simular problem in regard to some of the bed types. "
  • " i found it to boring to repeat on paper what i had already done on my laptop over and over "
  • " Less written work. "
  • " None it was excellent! "
  • " This course would of a litte better if there where real pictures of the furniture. "
  • " To go in more depth about the subjects. "
  • " IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IF MORE THAN ONE TYPE OF BED WAS COVERED. "
  • " Home cousrses...Good interactions. "
  • " I would not change anything the course was very interesting. "
  • " create a test that the trainer or manager can use to have the salesperson demostrate his/her skills in a sales demo. "
  • " The course very informative, and easy to follow. I would not change anything. "
  • " Showroom exercises are often too repetitive and some are difficult to determine accurately -- it's more of educated guesses, ie. joinery techniques. "
  • " None that come to mind. "
  • " to work more with the mattress. "
  • " It would be good to have a warning or notice of when the log-in has timed out. This would prevent a student from completing a lesson and then realizing that they were no longer logged in. "
  • " NONE, IS WAS GREAT. "
  • " It doesn't seem to need any improvement "
  • " i think its ok just the way it is "
  • " Continuous updates ... Or modest changes - Keep this ongoing "
  • " none its helpful "
  • " mattress info needs to be updated "
  • " I LIKE IT JUST THE WAY IT IS. "
  • " I think it was very helpful "
  • " the wood course was a little difficult to understand, the pictures were too similar. "
  • " NOTHING. EXCELLENT TRAINING. "
  • " I dont think I have any . "
  • " FINE LIKE IT IS "
  • " OVERALL GOOD COURSE NO REAL SUGESTIONS "
  • " The Fundamental course is extremely good, it helped me in everything that I needed to know. It extended my knowledge on sales. "
  • " In the finishing section, the samples used to describe the world need a little bit more variation in the displays. Even with the provided info it was still a little hard to discern between some of the woods. "
  • " Several times I was logged out after the 15 minutes of non-activity. It might have been more convenient to have extended this period to 30 minutes. I would however rate this a minor issue. "
  • " It might be valuable for a person like me who likes to refer back on notes to have copies of the drawings provided in the styles section and also fabrics and trims. "
  • " use more that one sample of material pattern for comparison "
  • " What would be fun would be to have more group participation on the store level with the showroom practices/worksheets. "
  • " better more accurate pictures with more refined detail not cartoonish. "
  • " Improve the wood colors as they do not look like what they actually are in this program. "
  • " A LITTLE BIT MORE TRANING. "
  • " Everythihg is fine for me. "
  • " clearer discussion of veneers, mdf, print furniture, and solid wood, as used in import case goods more information abouts polyfoam and fibers used in upholstery and mattresses-density, ILD, filaments, etc. "
  • " NONE-VERY HELPFUL COURSE "
  • " Update - some of the information is outdated for todays furniture sales "
  • " I believe it would be beneficial to have a paper copy of all the information in this course so that I could review this training whenever I felt the need. It is very hard to retain all of this information. "
  • " it would be helpful to be able to print the information that I learned in each lesson to keep for my records. It would be helpful to go back to this information at a latter date. "
  • " None at this time "
  • " Showroom activities time-consuming, not always easy to determine cleaning codes etc.. "
  • " I ENJOYED THE COURSE,SO I REALLY WOULDN'T CHANGE ANYTHING.EVERYTHING WAS VERY EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND THE DEMONSTRATIONS WERE VERY HELPFUL. "
  • " With the popularity of green materials, some things should be covered in woods and materials. Some of the woods are also harder to come by because of deforestation and should be explained to customers in a way that makes the product harder to come by and more unique. Some new woods like parawood are out also to replace other woods. Also, it should be mentioned that some furniture may have a cherry stain on it, but is really beech or something. The salesperson should look at the graining on the wood prior to confirm it's species. "
  • " Pictures during test out allow for easy answers and are helpful, but do not allow for memorization of information. "
  • " more videos "
  • " Mattress test section was visually ambiguous. This made clear identification of each element very difficult. "
  • " i thing all is great the way it is...i learn a lot from this course my first and very helpful furniture product knolage "
  • " Spanish training please "
  • " I really believe there is nothing to inprove only to keep people interested in being the best they can be thank you "
  • " Seems thorough and helpful. "
  • " Make the pictures easier to define the areas the test is asking about. "
  • " I would add more information on machine rugs and their different types of piles. "
  • " Rug and Mattress "
  • " I don't feel any improvement would be necessary. "
  • " Mattress understandings; The graphics regarding the build-up of a typical mattress need to be improved. Personally, I have been involved in the product development of sleep systems; your graphics are hard to read and not completely real. An important aspect of a products performance incorporates "hog ringing", the use of specialty foams (latex / visco-lux ) and how the mattress is actually assembled. "
  • " None....you guys did great! "
  • " The section on types of woods was quite long, maybe narrowing the field of wood use might help in remeber the types of wood. "
  • " Break up some of the larger question quizzes. "
  • " Ready to assemble furniture pros/cons information would be great! "
  • " I think that shortening up the history for rugs would be more beneficial.. I didn't seem to understand or do to well on that topic. "
  • " I feel as if the test if thourough. "
  • " make the naratives not so long some of us got bored "
  • " The sections that just have written questions could better be supported by pictures like some of the other sections. "
  • " pictures need better detail when askedx to click on certain parts "
  • " explain about the product a lil more. "
  • " I think if we can print an overview after we have completed the class. It would be nice for future references. "
  • " keep it simple and fun to use. "
  • " I see these course very easy and fun "
  • " nothing it is a good course "
  • " None, great website and easy to learn from! "
  • " longer time frame "
  • " Vast amount of information, if you have a slow computer, then it can take a while to upload. "
  • " When you finish TEST IT DOESN'T take you back where you were. It takes you to the log in page. Unnecessary "
  • " None so far. "
  • " The wood grain section was needlessly difficult. Without 2 pictures to compare, it is next to impossible to identify a piece of wood. "
  • " Update it a little to include more practical applications. "
  • " Include modules in infant furniture. "
  • " There is nothing that can improve the course, it is up to the department to let me have the associate all day to work with them to complete the training. "
  • " Just need quiet time with no distactions to take this type of training. Hard when you are on the floor with customers and sales people all around. "
  • " IT WAS GREAT....REALLY LEARNED ALOT. THANK YOU "
  • " LESS MODUALS.....TOO MUCH TO DO AND SALE. TAKES CONCENTRATION AND VERY HARD TO DO WHEN OTHERS ARE AROUND AND YOU NEED TO BE DOING SALES TOO. "
  • " IT WAS ALL GOOD "
  • " Well i believe this type of training is great. It all depends on the person. "
  • " Update to todays standard, such as fabric protection "
  • " None, very helpful. "
  • " I felt that all but one module was effective. The only module that I would relook at is the section on the construction of the mattress and box spring. This module's test is the actual part that needs work on... It is difficult to link the picture to the respective correct answer in the test. The information was great... it is the testing of the information that is awkward (sp?). "
  • " Make it less lenghty. "
  • " I thought it was very good, because I have had differant types, IT really got right to the point. It really made me go back and review my style. "
  • " find a solution to customers walking in with cell phones and waving you away b-4 you can say a word! my suggestion-making zappers lega in buisnesses. seriously i just act like i don't even notice they are on the phone/ your input would be appreciated. "
  • " The fabric training is a little harder the pictures could use some more detail. "
  • " None at this time. "
  • " Excellent program. All bases were covered. "
  • " I found that the voice of the one woman was too quiet. "
  • " constuction info was lacking in some area and too tecvhnical in other areas "
  • " The audio on a slide in 'rugs' was not available and the directions for those tests where you need to 'put them in descending order' could be made clearer... adding a comment like 'click, drag and drop' would be helpful. "
  • " not sure, it seems highly detailed and would be hard to remember everything. "
  • " To good to change. "
  • " NOTHING TO IMPROVE ON FROM MY STANDPOINT,AS IT IS VERY INFORMATIVE AND WELL WORTH THE TIME INVESTED. "
  • " I think this site was very imformative and I can't suggest what the course needs improvement on. "
  • " I feel the fundamentals course was fine and no need for improvments is needed "
  • " I think it's great, just keep adding more "
  • " THE SCRIPT IS TOO SMALL AND THE WORDS AND TEXT ARE TOO HARD TO READ. WHOLE FORMAT SHOULD BE MADE LARGER "
  • " As many Furniture companies sell other products besides furniture. I wouls like to see Appliances, and electronics pk as well. "
  • " no suggestions. the course covers all areas that are important to know as a sales person "
  • " make this more company specific, some of the areas are not part of our product lineup "
  • " none, it is great "
  • " Some of the material is very basic "
  • " none just right! "
  • " HAD TROUBLE MOVING FROM ONE COURSE TO ANOTHER. "
  • " nothing really i found it all very interesting "
  • " Make it usable ona mobile device, ie Droid. "
  • " To improve the Fundamentals course you could make it more challenging by asking elaborate questions in a sentence based forum. "
  • " You should be able to go from one module to another after passing with just one click. The course should be updated every two years with a messsage being sent out that is updated and that you should get recertified. "
  • " When there are new info on this course we should just be given the updated info and test from there not having to take the entire test again just for 5 or 6 new pieces of info. "
  • " make it shorter "
  • " more detail of products "
  • " I think it is just fine "
  • " IT'S A GREAT TOOL. KEEP IT GOING LIKE YOU HAVE IT SET UP. "
  • " I would not have any suggestions for improving the Fundamentals course because the course is complete and you explains everything very well. "
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Reviews

				" We have been very pleased with the Fundamentals - Furniture Product Knowledge on-line training program. It provides us with a professional, well structured program to ensure that our design consultants have a solid base of understanding of the products they are selling. This program supplements our extensive training program extremely well, and is the reason why so many of our stores have renewed their subscription and our new stores have signed on.  "
Frank Goldoni, Vice President of Franchising
Designs of the Interior 
				" All our stores are using the Fundamentals - Furniture Product Knowledge. We've experienced no resistance from our sales people. It's helping them to understand the basics of construction. We're seeing good results.  "
Jeff Wolff, Merchandise Manager
K's Merchandise 
				" You can take a real neophyte, train them with the Fundamentals - Furniture Product Knowledge course, get them out on the floor and they'll be able to sell.  "
Bruce Dunning , Head Buyer
AMI/Furniture Leaders Buying Group 
				" The Furniture Product Knowledge online sales training program is doing everything we had hoped it would do for training our sales associates. Our older associates, once they overcome their initial fear of being on the computer, actually find the program very easy to use. Our new hires right after going through the training can go out and help customers on the sales floor without having to go look up information every time a customer asks them a question about a product. Now they know the answers. All our employees love the training. "
Jennifer Eickhoff , Training Manager
Hatch Furniture and Flooring 
				" This was one of the most advanced courses that has ever been offered on furniture and I am surprised of the amount of information I received. "
Sales Person, Sales Person
Retail Sales

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