Issue 2 - March 2007

Greetings from the Furniture Training Company. Training is an integral part of knowledgeable and capable sales associates. This newsletter offers valuable information that will help you and your employees create successful experiences with your customers.

In order to help you implement Fundamentals among your employees, we are hosting a drawing for a free iPod Nano and two iPod Shuffles for all those who are Fundamentals Certified. We hope you will encourage all your employees to become certified so they can be entered into the drawing too.

- Mark Lacy, President

In This Issue...

• Win a Free iPod!
• In the News: Online Training Updated and Improved
• Article: Furniture Expertise - Your Competitive Advantage
• Tips and Techniques: Training Not Just for Employees
• Feature Story: Sales Training for All Levels
• Did You Know...

Win a Free iPod!

The Furniture Training Company is giving away free iPods to sales associates who are Fundamentals Certified.

All who have been or become Fundamentals Certified by April 16, 2007 will be added into the drawing for free iPods. Then on April 16th at 10:00 am (Mountain Time), we will draw the names of the winners.

You have 3 chances to win! There will be one first prize and two second prizes given away. The prizes include:

First prize: 2G iPod Nano
Second prizes: 2 iPod Shuffles

Get certified today and get your name entered to win your own iPod!

If you haven't signed up for the Fundamentals program yet, get started now!

Online Training for Furniture Retailers Updated and Improved

Logan - February 15, 2007. The Furniture Training Company, the only independent online training provider for furniture retailers, announces the release of version 4.0 of its award winning Fundamentals of Furniture Product Knowledge sales training program. Updated product information, revised text descriptions with selling advantage statements, and complete text and audio narration make version 4.0 the most advanced product knowledge training program available online for the furniture industry...

Read the full press release...

Furniture Expertise - Your Competitive Advantage

Competition from mass merchants is leaving traditional retail furniture store owners asking themselves how they can compete. The good news is that you can compete successfully if you focus on the right things. First you have to understand what advantages you have over the competition and those they have over you.

The mass merchant's primary advantage lies in its buying power. It buys in larger quantities and can get better deals, even exclusive deals with manufacturers. As you well know, you will lose if you try to compete with the mass merchants on price.

So how can you compete? What is your advantage? Fortunately, there are several advantages you have over the big box stores...

Read the full article...

Tips and Techniques: Training Not Just for Employees

Training programs are meant to help your employees gain product knowledge and improve their sales skills. However, training programs aren't just for employees. There are many benefits to using these programs among managers also. When you use training programs such as Fundamentals yourself, you are showing your belief in and support for the training. This belief then translates to your employees. To help implement training programs among your employees follow these tips on how you, the manager, can benefit from the training:

• Talk about the training with your employees. Highlight specific sections of the training that are most useful to various individuals.

• Let employees know that you are using the training yourself. This will encourage your employees to also use the training.

• Show personal concern for your employees by helping them implement the training into their own work. This concern creates loyalty in the employee for both you and your company.

Feature Story: Sales Training for All Levels

Jennifer Eickhoff at Hatch's furniture in South Dakota recently began using Fundamentals as part of her regular sales staff meetings. When asked how it was working, she reported that everyone was so surprised at how much even seasoned veterans in the furniture industry could learn about furniture. "The new hires as well as those who have been in the industry for 25 or more years are absolutely benefiting from the training." Employees of all experience levels at Hatch's are gaining new sales skills from Fundamentals of Furniture Product Knowledge.

Did You Know...

Thomas Chippendale is one of the most influential designers in the history of furniture. Working in mid-eighteenth century London, he designed gracefully carved chairs, often with cabriole legs and pierced splat backs. Chippendale's work set the standard for traditional furniture and still influences customers' tastes today.

Chippendale's influence is due in part to the fact that he arranged for his designs to be published in a book known as The Director. This book allowed other furniture makers to imitate his designs and spread his style to generations of furniture makers across the world.