The Wholesale Furniture Rep

I’m going to start running editorials on Sundays. Not every Sunday, only when something worth your time crosses my mind or desk. These will be separate from the news issues you already get.

This one comes from a furniture professional with more than 30 years in our business who asked to remain anonymous. Read it and you’ll understand why.

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After more than 30 years in furniture retail, I’ve developed a mountain of relationships with wholesale furniture representatives. Some of those relationships have taught me more about this business than any book, seminar or conference ever could.

Historically, a good rep was an invaluable resource. They helped us make better product decisions. Their marketing suggestions were often extremely helpful. Their knowledge of other retailers and markets provided insight we simply couldn’t get on our own. They knew what was working, what wasn’t, what was coming and, just as importantly, what we should probably stay away from. Some became trusted friends. I can’t imagine growing up in this business without those relationships.

So what happened? What changed? And why has my opinion of so many of these relationships changed so dramatically?

Because what was once one of the most valuable resources available to a furniture retailer has, in far too many cases, become a strained relationship where I’m left wondering exactly what value the rep is bringing to the table.

I Think COVID Changed Everything

There was one event that seemed to accelerate this transformation almost overnight: COVID.

Retailers were forced to close their doors temporarily in many parts of the country. Even when stores reopened, many reps weren’t allowed into the building. Travel stopped. Road visits stopped. Training sessions disappeared. Market schedules were disrupted. Supply chains went completely sideways. Everyone was operating in survival mode.

And many of the old-school reps simply left the business.

But something else happened to the reps who stayed. They discovered a terrible secret: the paycheck kept showing up.

And it should have. Nobody is suggesting that a commission salesperson should suddenly stop getting paid because a pandemic disrupted their ability to travel. Their existing business was still producing revenue, and they deserved to be compensated for it.

But some reps learned something else during that period. They learned that they could work a lot less and still collect the same check. And unfortunately, for some, that lesson stuck.

As retailers, we paid a price. We lost communication. We lost product training. We lost another set of eyes on our business. We lost someone who could walk through our showroom and say, “Why the hell are you still carrying that?” We lost someone who could tell us, “This isn’t working. You need to move it.” We lost someone who could sit down with our salespeople and explain why a product was worth selling. And we lost someone who was supposed to be our connection to the supplier.

Meanwhile, the suppliers themselves adapted. Management stepped in. Sales managers, regional managers and VPs of Sales began making deals, handling key accounts, solving problems and becoming the face of the company.

And they were good at it.

The problem was that, over time, many suppliers didn’t completely hand those responsibilities back. The result? The rep became less important.

So What Exactly Does the Rep Do Now?

This is where I struggle.

I call my rep with a problem and I’m told, “You’ll need to talk to my Sales Manager. Here’s his email address.”

Wait. What?

You’re my rep.

Billing issue? “You’ll need to contact our billing department.”

ETA question? “You’ll need to talk to our container manager.”

Product problem? “Let me get our customer service department involved.”

Deal? “I’ll have to check with my VP of Sales.”

At some point you have to ask: What exactly am I paying the rep for?

I’m not suggesting that a rep should personally solve every billing dispute or know the exact location of every container on the water. But the rep should be the person who owns the relationship. I shouldn’t have to figure out which department inside your company handles my problem. That’s your job. You’re supposed to be my advocate inside your organization.

Selling Is Supposed to Involve Selling

Another thing I’ve noticed is that many reps have simply stopped asking for the business.

They show me grainy factory photographs. They flip through giant binders. They tell me how great a group is. They tell me that Nebraska Furniture Mart’s No. 1 seller is... or Bob’s No. 1 seller is... or Raymour & Flanigan’s No. 1 seller is...

Apparently every rep I meet has the No. 1 selling group at every major furniture retailer in America. That’s impressive. It also raises another question: Why are you telling me what my competitor’s No. 1 seller is?

I probably compete with them.

But my favorite conversation at Market goes something like this:

“This is our No. 1 selling group. We’re selling mountains of this thing. It’s on fire!”

Great. Now you’ve got my attention.

“How much is it?”

And suddenly the confidence disappears. The rep starts fumbling through a giant binder looking for a price on the single item they’re supposedly selling by the truckload.

If you’re selling mountains of something, shouldn’t you know what it costs? And if you don’t know, could you at least have prepared for my visit? It’s not like this question was going to come out of left field.

And Please Stop Calling Everything No. 1

This one drives me crazy.

“This is our best-selling bedroom.”

Five minutes later: “This is another one of our best-selling bedrooms.”

Then: “This one is also one of our best sellers.”

Eventually, I’m looking at 15 “No. 1” sellers.

Last time I checked, rankings were supposed to work differently. NASCAR doesn’t award first place to the first 15 cars across the finish line.

If everything is No. 1, nothing is No. 1.

Just tell me the truth. Tell me what is actually selling. Tell me where it is selling. Tell me what isn’t selling. Tell me why.

That’s information I can use.

I Don’t Need Another Catalog

What brings value to a retailer is honest sales influence.

I want someone who will walk into my store and tell me the truth. I want someone who understands our customer. I want someone who understands our salespeople. I want someone who can teach our sales staff how to portray the value of a product to the customer.

And I don’t want to buy one floor sample. I want to fill trucks. Over and over again.

That’s the difference.

If you convince me to buy a group because it’s supposedly your hottest product and it doesn’t work for us, that’s disappointing. But if I later discover that it doesn’t work for anybody else either—and that you knew it wasn’t working—I’ve got a much bigger problem.

I’ve lost trust.

And once I stop trusting what you tell me, you’ve lost one of the most valuable assets a rep can have: your credibility.

The Reps I Still Depend On

Now, before anyone gets angry, let me make something very clear: this does not describe all wholesale furniture representatives.

I still have three reps I rely on heavily. Two are single-line reps. One is a good old-school multi-line “bagger.”

And every one of them has something in common: they don’t need to ask permission to do their job.

They can make decisions. They know their products. They know my business. They know their customers. And, most importantly, they’re willing to tell me when I’m wrong.

They’ll say, “Don’t buy that. It’s a dog.” Or, “I wouldn’t put that on your floor. Buy this instead.” And more often than not, they’re right.

That’s a real rep.

But there’s another thing these three do that I particularly respect. When they convince me to add a new group, they help me figure out what needs to come off the floor to make room for it.

Think about that.

They’re not just trying to get another piece of furniture into my showroom. They’re thinking about productivity per slot.

They understand that showroom space is finite. They understand that getting more space is a harder battle. And they understand that the best way to earn more space is to make sure the products they already have on my floor perform at the highest possible level.

That’s partnership.

They also stop and talk to the RSAs. They understand the battle happening on the sales floor. They work with the CSR team. They help resolve problems before those problems ever reach my office as a purchase-order issue.

And when they’ve done their job and I’ve decided I want the product, they do something that has become strangely refreshing: they ask me for the purchase order.

They actually ask for the business.

What a concept.

I Don’t Buy From Friends

Some of these people are people I would consider friends. But they understand something important:

I don’t buy from friends. I buy from professionals who help me grow my business.

Friendship is a bonus. Competence is the requirement.

The best reps I’ve ever worked with understand that distinction. They don’t expect me to buy something because I like them. They make me want to buy something because they have convinced me that it will make my business better.

That’s what selling is.

Suppliers Need to Look in the Mirror

If you’re a supplier reading this, the message is pretty simple: empower your reps—and hold them accountable for using that power.

If your VP of Sales is closing every deal, if your CEO is making every major sales decision, if your regional sales manager is answering every question, if management has to get involved every time a retailer wants to negotiate, if the rep can’t make a decision without calling someone, then maybe the problem isn’t your rep.

Maybe the problem is your organization.

You’ve hired someone to represent your company and then you’ve taken away their ability to actually represent it.

You can’t simultaneously say, “Our reps are important” while requiring them to ask permission for everything.

Give them the authority to sell. Give them the information they need. Give them responsibility. And then hold them accountable for results.

If they can’t do the job, find someone who can.

And Then There Is the “Market-Only” Rep

Finally, there is one group that has become particularly frustrating.

The rep I haven’t seen for six months. No phone call. No showroom visit. No sales training. No product review. No conversation about what’s working. Nothing.

Then, seven days before Market, suddenly I get a visit.

Why?

Because they want to make sure I don’t say, in front of their boss: “How are you doing? It’s been a long time. What, since last Market?”

That’s not a relationship.

That’s damage control.

And if your only reason for showing up is to make sure your boss doesn’t discover that you haven’t been doing your job, then I have some bad news for you.

I’m not doing business with you anymore.

I’m doing business with your company. And I’m actively trying to find a way to do that without you.

The Rep’s Demise Isn’t Inevitable

I don’t believe the wholesale furniture rep is dead. But I do believe the traditional rep model is in serious trouble.

And the irony is that retailers still desperately need what great reps provide.

We need people who know the product. We need people who know the market. We need people who can look at our floor and see opportunities we’re missing. We need people who can train our salespeople. We need people who can tell us what to buy—and what not to buy. We need people who will fight for us inside their own company. We need people who will pick up the phone when something goes wrong. We need people who will tell us the truth, even when the truth isn’t what we want to hear.

And, yes, we need someone who will occasionally look us in the eye and say, “You need to buy this.”

Then hand us the order pad.

That’s selling.

The furniture industry doesn’t need fewer reps. It needs better reps.

And suppliers need to decide whether they want their salespeople to be true representatives of their company—or simply people who collect a commission on business that was going to happen anyway.

Because the retailers are changing. The suppliers are changing. The technology is changing.

And if the wholesale rep doesn’t redefine the value they bring to the relationship, eventually someone else will.

And when that happens, it won’t be because retailers didn’t need them.

It will be because they stopped giving us a reason to.

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I’ve turned on comments for this post. I don’t do that on the news issues, but editorials are different. Manufacturers, retailers, reps, anyone in the business: agree, disagree, or tell the other side of it.

An editorial here a couple of weeks ago drew more responses than anything else I’ve published. That response is why this feature exists, and this is a first step toward sharing more voices from across our industry.

If you have something that belongs in a future editorial, send it to me. A topic, an observation, an argument you’re tired of not seeing in print, or a piece you’ve written yourself. Anonymity available on request. My email is: info@furnitureindustrynews.com.

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