1-800-Mattress practices win praise
David Perry -- Furniture Today, September 22, 2003
Long Island City, N.Y. — 1-800-Mattress wrote the book on retail excellence in marketing. Or at least one chapter of it.
The pioneer of telephone sales of mattresses is one of 46 retailers profiled in "A Key to Best Practices in the U.S. Retail Industry," a project funded by the National Retail Federation Foundation in partnership with American Express.
The study, part of the American Retail Excellence project, was conducted by the Center for Retailing Education and Research of the Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida. Its results are published in book form.
The project identifies and reports on the best practices and winning strategies of U.S. retailers.
1-800-Mattress is one of 46 retailers profiled, joining an august list that includes Sears, JCPenney and Home Depot. Aside from 1-800-Mattress, Robb & Stucky is the only other retailer specializing in home furnishings that is featured.
1-800-Mattress is listed in four different categories: Building customer traffic, customer service, marketing, and use of the Internet.
The company's profile covers two-and-a-half pages. It begins with this summary: "Dial-A-Mattress, now 1-800-Mattress, combines advanced, around-the-clock customer ordering and delivery systems and market research, with an emphasis on customer service and satisfaction. It offers busy customers the convenient option of purchasing mattresses on the telephone or over the Internet. Prior to the introduction of Dial-A-Mattress, customers traditionally had to visit a retail store in order to purchase a mattress. Dial-A-Mattress changed the convenience equation by offering bedding via tele-retailing, with a toll-free number and 24-hour, seven-day-per-week service."
The profile quotes Luis Barragan, president and chief operating officer and son of founder Napoleon Barragan. "Pay attention to your customers because they are the ones with the answers," Luis says under the Insights section of the profile. "Consistent market research and surveys of customers' perceptions and satisfaction is a must."
Other keys to the company's success are identified as:
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Customer service training and product training.
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A constant evaluation of every aspect of its service, from telephone orders to delivery to follow-up contacts.
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It often shops the competition to get first-hand knowledge of how other companies take orders and deliver their products.
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It seeks daily to improve on its 95% average of as-promised delivery.
