RSA in Search of Education Resources

[Sutro]

Folks,

I've been a RSA at a larger furniture retailer for about a year. This has been my first introduction to furniture, and one thing I've noticed is the difficulty of finding education resources on materials and construction beyond very surface definition - never anything such as teardowns, intimate examinations of material qualities or real construction stories beyond "Hey lookie here, a corner block!" To be frank, it's obvious to me that the attitude of both manufacturers and retail executives is that, in the hands of the average RSA, knowledge deeper than buzzwords is more dangerous than helpful in the sales process.

And, speaking as a former retail manager... for mass-market sales, they're right. Unfortunately, I'm too curious a cat to accept this, and so I want to be educated. I've even searched for distance-learning collegiate programs which I am willing to pay for out-of-pocket, but I can't find anything at all! Any thoughts, Duane or others?

[drcollie]

Yes. The way you get educated in furniture, both case (wood) and upholstery, is to go and visit the workshops and factories, and spend some time in them. 90 % of everything I know comes from doing that. People love to talk about their jobs, especially if you show interest in what they are doing I have found. Ask a Sales Rep from a factory representative and he's going to tell you how to sell the product, or what colors it comes in. But go in the factory and ask the spring-up guy why his 8-way hand-tied is different than than factory down the street and in 15 to 20 minutes you will know all about 8-way suspension grids and why you have four rows instead of three, and how to properly attach to the webbing, etc.

For much of my time in this business, I drove the trucks we have to go get furniture. I get I've been in wood-working shops or upholstery plants over five hundred times. I am always curious and ask a lot of questions, and found out early on the workers love the attention when you do, and will tell you everything they know about their craft, the good and the bad. When you compile all that you get a pretty large knowledge bank to tap into. That's how I can answer so many questions that I do. You will never learn it reading the literature and catalogs of the manufacturer. You have to go out and get into the middle of it all, in person and up close.

[Sutro]

Duane, thanks so much for the fast response. I'll see what I can do in that regard, although the two times that I've requested tours from reps the response was lukewarm at best. I'll try some other places and try to squeeze in a trip on a day off.