Mattress Expo shares secrets of its success
David Perry, Bedding Editor -- Furniture Today, August 13, 2007
Atlanta — Mattress Expo marked its seventh year in business earlier this summer, an event that the company's owners, focused on the challenges of running a metro sleep shop chain, failed to remember until after the date had passed.
"We didn't realize it until later," admitted David Shapiro, manager of the 25-unit retailer. "We work extremely hard," he added, seeking to explain how the company could have missed one of its milestones.
The hard work is part of the company's tag line: "We work hard to get you a good night's sleep!" And that hard work has paid off for the retailer. Mattress Expo, headed by Shapiro and another bedding veteran, Errol Lebowitz, has found its home in the tough Atlanta market, where big-name bedding retailers abound on all sides.
Mattress Expo began as a multi-brand vendor, but then decided to form a strategic partnership with Simmons, which is based in Atlanta. Now Simmons is the only major "S" brand on the floor, but there is a big "T" brand, too — Tempur-Pedic. American Bedding supplies the company promotional bedding.
David Shapiro came to the retail side of the business from the wholesale side of the industry: He formerly worked at Sealy. His partner, Lebowitz, was a bedding buyer at Rich's and Macy's for many years.
Shapiro recently sat down with Furniture/Today and shared some of Mattress Expo's secrets to success:
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Sharing a love for the business. "I wake up trying to sell a bed," Shapiro said, "and I lie down thinking about trying to sell a bed. I couldn't love it more." He found the thrill of sales when he started his career at a department store: "There is an exhilaration in selling things, in finding the need of the customer and filling that need."
Shapiro's passion for selling is contagious; he spreads it throughout the company. -
Extending warranties. Mattress Expo adds seven years to the warranties on the beds it sells. "The customer really likes that," Shapiro said. The additional seven years are part of a bonus that the company promotes in newspaper ads.
Shapiro says the lengthier warranties are a necessary evil. "I would rather that the warranties be shorter," he said. "I don't want people to think the mattress will last for 17 years. But our job is to sell mattresses. We are in a competitive climate." -
Offering coupons. "Customers love coupons," Shapiro said. A recent newspaper ad in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution offered four "bonus savings" coupons, touting savings of an extra $40 off a twin set, an extra $60 off on a full set, an extra $100 off on a queen set, and an extra $200 off on any king set. Tempur-Pedic beds were excluded from the offer.
Mattress Expo also takes its love of coupons to the Web, where its Web site (www.mattress-expo.com) offers a 10%-off coupon. Customers are told to print the coupon and take it to any Mattress Expo store for extra savings. -
Great greetings. The company's salespeople are required to welcome customers to the store. "Our people look at you and smile," Shapiro said. "They provide a nice, warm greeting." That friendly beginning is critical, since many bedding shoppers are not looking forward to the experience, according to Shapiro.
"When you provide a pleasant environment where the customer feels at ease," he observed, "that helps the (customer's) defenses come down." -
Listening carefully. "My world is hearing," Shapiro said. "If we don't hear, we can't do our jobs." The company's sales associates are trained to listen carefully to what their customers say, and to make an honest attempt to satisfy their needs. "The customer has to feel the sincerity," Shapiro said. "We try to hire people who really do care about the customers." Polite, pleasant sales associates are the goal.
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Valuing the customer. "Sales associates who are only concerned about themselves won't make the sale," Shapiro said. "You must put the customers first." In the end, he said, it is all about the customers: "We aren't looking for a debate with our customers. They will win. They are the customers."
