WHFA, NHFA Set Las Vegas Seminar Lineup

January 19, 2009

multipage

* "Fired Up & Ready! Focusing on Your Store, Your Staff and Your Customers"; Mon., Feb. 9, 10–11:30 a.m. Scott Toland of The Marketing Academy will discuss how to lead your team with new ideas to make things happen; capitalize on untapped internal marketing opportunities; take advantage of attractive advertising opportunities; and motivate customers looking for unique buying opportunities.

* "From Surviving to Thriving"; Mon., Feb. 9, 12:30–1:30 p.m. Philip Gutsell, GutSELL & Associates, will offer 10 strategic ways to improve your advertising campaigns from mere surviving to thriving so they reach their full potential; and show how to identify and fix your advertising weaknesses. Each step will be analyzed and examined to enable development of a clear plan to recharge your ads.

* "Advertising Strategies To Turn Around a Slowdown"; Mon., Feb. 9, 2:30–3:30 p.m. Horich Parks Lebow Advertising will show creative ways to drive product category growth with particular emphasis on selling more mattresses; and offer specific ideas to help retailers generate more traffic and sales in 2009.

* "Fast Forward: Six Things—No, Seven Things Your Family Business Can Do In A Recession"; Mon., Feb. 9, 4–5, p.m. David Lively, The Lively Merchant, will show innovative ways to take advantage of economic downtime while increasing revenue, occupying salespeople, growing your company and protecting your investment.

* "Email Marketing Done Right—Tips & Tricks"; Tues., Feb. 10, 10–10:30 a.m., Ken Mahar, Email Broadcast, will show how companies like Mor Furniture are striking gold using e-mail marketing. Learn the do's and don'ts of successful e-mail marketing. Bring a business card for a door prize give-a-way.

* "Inside the Mind of Furniture Consumers"; Tues., Feb. 10, 12:30–1 p.m. Craig McAndrews of The Retail Institute presents findings from one of the most extensive research studies of the mind of today's furniture consumer. Learn the four distinct types of buyers and more importantly, how to better connect with each of them.

* "The Science of Shopping: Staging Your Showroom to Sell!"; Tues., Feb. 10, 2:30–3:30 p.m. Kizer & Bender Speaking gives clear insight into how to set your sales floor to capture your customers' attention and gain more sales. Learn the latest in store layout and tricks of the trade to embrace your space and stage your showroom to sell.

* "If 'I'm Just Looking' is the Answer—Change the Question!"; Tues., Feb. 10, 4–5 p.m. Brad Huisken, IAS Training, will outline the common habits that salespeople develop and how to overcome them. Saying "Can I help you?", for example, will get an "I’m just looking" every time. Huisken will detail his Seven Essential Questions that salespeople should ask in 99.99 percent of all sales presentations.

* "A Panel Discussion: Cost-Effective Solutions for Today's Furniture Logistics"; Wed., Feb. 11, 8:30–9:30 a.m. Global Link Logistics leads a panel discussion with experts from the trucking, logistics and ocean transportation industries. This interactive discussion will highlight the furniture transportation outlook for 2009 and provide strategies and insights from all angles of the furniture logistics supply chain. The discussion encourages participation from attendees, with a goal of offering the best advice possible to help furniture businesses combat rising fuel/shipping costs and a declining economy.

* "How to Conduct a Consumer Seminar for Great Community Relations"; Wed., Feb. 11, 10–11:30 a.m. Sally Morse of HunterDouglas leads an in-depth session to explain the many benefits of holding a consumer seminar in your store or speaking at outside events. Learn how to become a fashion leader in your community and see the results in your store traffic.

* "How to Get Sell and Keep Customers in a Tough Economy"; Wed., Feb. 11, 12:30–1:30 p.m. John Egger, Profitability Consulting Group, provides ideas from more than 600 of Egger's clients on the best ways to get customers in the door, make the sale and turn them into a customer for life.

* "Retailers Guide to California's New Composite Wood Products Regulation"; Wed., Feb. 11, 2:30–3:30 p.m. Angela Csondes from the California Air Resources Board outlines the composite wood products ATCM, a new California regulation that will reduce public exposure to formaldehyde by establishing strict emission performance standards on particleboard, medium density fiberboard and hardwood plywood (collectively known as composite wood products). In addition, the new regulation requires all finished goods for California to be fabricated using complying composite wood products. This seminar will help home furnishings retailers understand the basic requirements of this regulation and will provide an update on the status of the regulation implementation; and provide the necessary tools and knowledge regarding compliance, sell-through provisions and enforcement of the regulated community.

* "How to Survive Tough Times"; Wed., Feb. 11, 4–5 p.m. Joe Milevsky, JRM Sales & Management Inc., provides a clearer understanding of the things retailers cannot control and how to minimize their focus on those things. Learn how to strategically approach the things you can control and keep your company safe. The various challenges may include: dealing with fluctuations in traffic from a sales and marketing perspective; maximizing merchandising efforts with less available inventory dollars; utilizing financial tools to ensure that your company stay safe and productive.

* "Turning Shoppers Into Buyers"; Thurs., Feb. 12, 8:30–9:30 a.m. Denise Mae Scattergood, Sale-in-a-Box, discusses how a simple change of atmosphere delivers the dual benefit of having a positive effect on your customer's decision to buy today and motivating your entire staff. Retailers will discover the least expensive, most effective marketing tool available today, which can be immediately implemented at any store.

* "Getting All You Can From Internet Advertising"; Thurs., Feb. 12, 10–11:30 a.m. Scott Hood, Cosec International, discusses the challenge of your Web site being found by an Internet shopper doing research about a product or place they want to buy. Discover the possibilities the Internet offers both you and your products, and get found in the mass of the Internet.

* "Understanding the World of Furniture Transportation"; Thurs., Feb. 12, 12:30–1:30 p.m. Don Palmer and Rowland Branham of Worldwide Logistics Specialists Inc. discuss how furniture transportation works today; the tools that are available and what to expect from transportation partners.

* "Hotwire Your Business in 2009 ... Turn Your Internet into Inter-Connect!"; Thurs., Feb. 12, 2:30–3:30 p.m. Doug Knorr, Knorr Marketing, shows how to turn your Internet site into an offensive marketing tool that will increase store traffic, build bigger average tickets, get your customers to shop your store with greater frequency and increase customer loyalty and retention.

* "7 Proven Ways Bricks & Morter Furniture Retailers Can Leverage the Internet"; Thurs., Feb. 12, 4–5 p.m. Mike Bernstein, FurnitureDealer.net, presents consumer data and practical tips retailers can use to leverage the Internet to get found, avoid commoditization by differentiating their strengths and grow their store revenues.

* "Harness the Power of e-Marketing"; Fri., Feb. 13, 10–11:30 a.m. David McMahon, PROFITconsulting, PROFITsystems RRC, demonstrates how to use the modern media of e-Marketing to revitalize business and improve customer relations. The challenge is to do it right, before your competition does.

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