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500 Furnitures

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Case: Is Quality Good Marketing or Is Good Marketing Quality1
Quality is important to the employees of a Fortune 500 leisure furniture manufacturer and retailer. Franchise owners are required to operate their stores with a focus on high quality, knowing that their license may be revoked if the corporation judges their quality to be inadequate. Franchise owners recognize that commitment to quality begins with management and filters down to all areas of the business. Managers believe that if they cut corners, their employees are likely to do the same. They emphasize that things should be done correctly the first time and that there is always something that can be improved. They are never totally satisfied with the present level of …show more content…

The entire showroom is dusted and cleaned at least once a day; carpets and upholstered furniture are shampooed every month. The sales counter is kept neat and uncluttered. As one franchisee stated, "Never give a customer a reason not to buy."
Training and continuing education of a high quality sales staff is a company priority.
The salesperson must believe in the store's product and service quality and attempt to instill this in customers' minds. The salesperson must attempt to understand customers' needs and to satisfy them with the company's products. All salespersons seek five key pieces of information about the customer. The first concerns the customer's tastes, involving questions such as:
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We thank our former students William Wenz and E. Allan Hilsinger for conducting the research from which this case is adapted.

1. Have you been shopping for furniture recently?
2. How long have you been shopping?
3. Where have you been shopping?
4. What piece or pieces have you seen that you like?
The second is who is the purchase-decision maker. (In many cases, this person is not present.)
The third area is timing. Does the customer need the merchandise by a certain date or for a particular reason? The fourth piece of information is how much the customer wants to invest
(not spend). Finally, the salesperson asks how the customer wishes to pay for the merchandise and offers several

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