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Thread: Hancock and Moore / Jessica Charles Selling Prices effective 08-15-17

  1. #1
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    Default Hancock and Moore / Jessica Charles Selling Prices effective 08-15-17

    Hancock and Moore's (and Jessica Charles's) internet sales policy is that no dealer may sell outside their marketing territory for less than 35% off MSRP.


    When calling for pricing, PLEASE have the model number of the frame (not just the name) and either the leather/fabric grade or the name of the cover. That helps considerably in quickly getting you pricing information. There is a a maximum of six quotes per call for brevity (yes, there are people who call and want fifty or more price quotes over the phone - that's not possible). Please have paper and pen ready so you can write the numbers down the first time you are given them. The majority of customers who call for pricing do not have anything to write down their pricing information and that leads to several repeats, all of which much be calculated. BE READY!

    The Keeping Room has a staff of one person - its just me. In order to handle all the phone calls that come in daily and get to everyone that does call, I must keep telephone calls brief and efficient. Thank you for your cooperation.
    Last edited by drcollie; 07-26-2018 at 11:35 AM.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
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    Default Re: Hancock and Moore / Jessica Charles Selling Prices effective 08-15-17

    Are you allowed to offer other incentives for purchasing from your store? For example, although it may be difficult logistically I think delivery (shipping) charges would be one avenue to maintain a competitive pricing advantage to compliment the obvious product knowledge benefit of purchasing from The Keeping Room.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Hancock and Moore / Jessica Charles Selling Prices effective 08-15-17

    I have updated this thread a few minutes ago.

    I have great respect for the CEO of Hancock and Moore, Jack Glasheen. He's perhaps the most honorable and good man I have ever known in the furniture business and I consider him a friend and business partner. I would do nothing to jeopardize my store's standing as an authorized Hancock and Moore dealer because I value that dealership and the product itself. They really do build the best in class in my opinion. They have an out-of-area internet sales policy to protect their dealers and I have no issue with that and understand why they do it. Most dealers have far more overhead costs than I do, and require more profit margin to be sustainable. When someone shopping Hancock and Moore takes a price quote from my store and asks their local dealer to match or beat it, it angers that dealer and they file an internet sales violation complaint with H&M. Then I get a phone call on it and a notification of violation.

    Now, that person who walked in that email or forum quote and got their best price from their local dealer may have thought they were being very clever by doing so, but they just ruined it for the next thousand people behind them, too. For that reason, there will be no more written / typed / emailed quotes on these brands from today forward. Yes, that's a major inconvenience for all of us (I have done many quotes via email late at night), but that has now come to an end and will not be re-instated unless the internet policy changes at some date in the future, which is doubtful.

    I am not looking to circumvent the policy in any way, shape or form and when Hancock and Moore asks me to come into compliance, I shall.
    Last edited by drcollie; 09-01-2017 at 08:42 AM.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Hancock and Moore / Jessica Charles Selling Prices effective 08-15-17

    Wow big change, but understandable. Will lead to more phone calls though!

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Hancock and Moore / Jessica Charles Selling Prices effective 08-15-17

    I fully understand why they did this-- and I wonder if they will lose many sales. I guess that will depend on how many of H&M dealers actually honor the new policy. I imagine that was a difficult decision to make. The internet is here to stay and people like shopping online-- I know I do. They may ease up on it if they start to lose too much money. How would this policy work for someone who physically comes to your store in Alexandria and wants their furniture shipped to them in another state? I would hope that would not violate this new policy. For the savings it would probably be worth the trip especially combined with a vacation to Washington DC area.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Hancock and Moore / Jessica Charles Selling Prices effective 08-15-17

    Correct. H&M does NOT want to be an internet line, they feel the customer will get the best experience and most information from a brick and mortar store experience. In the past, they have been burned by internet dealers who sell cheaply, then don't service the customer in the event of an issue. Those dealers that did that, are no longer dealers. They place great emphasis on the dealer-consumer experience and do not want that compromised for the sake of volume purchases. They are Legacy-Building the brand, not going for all-out max sales. I respect that 100% and agree with it. I never chose to be an internet dealer myself, I merely began this forum as an informational source to educate, and the sales followed. This forum was not created to become a marketing tool - so I am a bit of a one-off in that respect. There are very few posts here on the forum that say "Buy from the Keeping Room for the Lowest Price!" That's stealing customers - I try to earn them myself, not take them from other dealers.

    The fact of the matter is I have a one-man operation, and do not have a fancy storefront in the high end part of town. That means VERY low overhead and allows me to reduce pricing under the average high-end furniture store. It's called NBFO (Nice Business For the Owner). It was never an attempt to grab sales from another dealer, I just price as fairly as I can and don't like to overcharge. Well, one man's fair price *is* another's gouge, and I tend to have a disproportionate client base out of both Texas and California, so I can only assume those dealers in those states have high margins. Many have expensive retail locations with lots of staff, I'm sure.
    Last edited by drcollie; 09-01-2017 at 08:43 AM.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Hancock and Moore / Jessica Charles Selling Prices effective 08-15-17

    Duane, In my humble opinion H&M should encourage their remaining dealers to copy the operation of the Keeping Room. Your operation is a shining example of how a furniture dealer can thrive and sell lots of H&M product in todays market. You sharing your expertise on this forum makes all the difference. I have shopped two H&M dealers in my state and quickly found that I had much more information about the product than did the salespeople employed at these stores. In one case the salespeople didn't know or care to know any information about the different product lines. These people dont know about JIT or even T&C programs. Every purchase starts with a google search, whenever I search H&M, I find lots of questions and answers on the KR forum, and little else from any other source.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Hancock and Moore / Jessica Charles Selling Prices effective 08-15-17

    Thank you! I appreciate that. I think it comes from my appreciation of craftsmanship, of the human endeavor to make things as good as they can be. That defines an enthusiast I guess, and I am constantly peppering everyone at H&M with questions that get really hard for them to answer at this stage, because I've accumulated a lot of knowledge of their operation (complete with three factory tours). They often say I should come work for them, but I say "you can't afford me"...lol.

    I love how they say "We will take care of that" when there is an issue, rather than making me fight for my customers for hours on the phone over something that clearly was not done correctly or a mistake made (other suppliers). I like that I can pick up the phone and talk to the CEO of H&M with no filters, something that I can never do at a company like Bradington-Young for example.

    Other stores have sales-persons. They are there ONLY to sell you something - anything they think you will buy. They have no interest in the craft, or the why's and wherefore's, they are there primarily for a commission check and would rather check their Facebook feed than learn how the Capri leather series in Germany is produced (every hide has a story). I don't adhere to closing-the-sale tactics, in fact I abhor them. I never do sales call-backs and see if someone is ready to buy, or flood someone with marketing because I have their email addy. Rather I prefer to share my knowledge and let folks make their own decision once they have the facts and figures. It's a different way - probably cost me some sales - but that's OK, too.

    The furniture industry is old-school. As a whole, they truly believe every internet sale is a sale that is stolen from a legitimate dealer and the ONLY reason the internet sale goes through is because of price. I know, and you know, that's not always the case. I have several customers in states where there is not a Hancock and Moore dealer for 250 miles in any direction, and yet they buy based on the information posted here. That's not stealing customers, that's creating them, especially when they can't see or touch the product prior to purchase. I also have plenty of customers that work too hard during the day at their business, and start shopping at 10 pm. at night when the house calms down and they can get to their computer. I've done many an email at midnight, Eastern Time (its now 10:23 pm as I type this).

    I can solve this pricing issue easily by simply not providing a paper trail for a price quote. Without that paper trail, quotes are just hearsay. So that's how it will operate from this point forward when these situations come up with this brand or any other. Make a phone call - get a price.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Hancock and Moore / Jessica Charles Selling Prices effective 08-15-17

    Thank you for all of your time on this forum. We would have never known about or considered a Hancock and Moore sofa had this forum not exited. And when we did go look at them at our nearest location they gave us a price over msrp, which we would not and could not pay. Because of you we are now awaiting our new sofa!

  10. #10
    patrol Guest

    Default Re: Hancock and Moore / Jessica Charles Selling Prices effective 08-15-17

    Great way to handle this ever evolving world of retail in the age of internet. I think people are definitely becoming more willing to buy large purchases online - I think a forum / store like what you have here is a great niche.

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