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The Beautifully Responsible™ Momentum of Resilient Flooring
from Flooring Retailers Guide to Greater Success - Increase Margins with Fashionable Designer Products
SHOWIN’ OUR STUFF
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It’s the winning combination of research, message, media and support to help flooring retailers sell more
If 2020 was the year of the sudden pandemic, 2021 is the year of the slow and steady recovery. The home improvement fervor that began during lock-down continues even now, fueling replacement flooring sales–especially for resilient. Resilient flooring has a number of advantages that consumers have become aware of, thanks in part to the Beautifully Responsible™ campaign launched by the Resilient Floor Covering Institute.
“Beautifully Responsible is both the name of our new consumer digital campaign and a very apt description of resilient flooring in general,” observed Dean Thompson, president and CEO of RFCI. “Our organization, representing 22 resilient flooring manufacturers in North America, believed the time was right to spread the word.”
What does resilient flooring encompass?
A Beautifully Responsible floor made by any of the RFCI member manufacturers (including flexible luxury vinyl tile and planks (LVT/LVP), rigid core luxury vinyl, linoleum, heterogeneous and homogeneous sheet vinyl, rubber, cork, and vinyl composition tile (VCT), must meet very stringent standards for qualification to assure a responsibly made and performing product.
“42 percent of Americans want to be seen as someone who buys eco-friendly products, but they don’t want to have to make trade-offs. Beautifully Responsible™ meets the need perfectly,” said Suzanne Shelton, CEO of Shelton Group, the leading marketing communications agency focused on sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Shelton Group, along with the top marketing professionals from the RFCI member companies, developed the campaign based on three communication ‘pillars’: Mindful Manufacturing™, Living Well™, and Made for Life™. Research indicated that all three mattered to floor covering consumers and were easily satisfied by resilient flooring. “Flooring is a considered and heavily researched decision, so our job is to point the consumer to resilient flooring as the easiest and best answer as a starting place for a new floor,” said Thompson.
Reaching consumers with our message
To reach floor-buying consumers with the Beautifully Responsible message, RFCI is employing popular social media and sharing platforms such as Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube to display inspiring room scene photography from resilient manufacturers and informative video content. Everything is linked to the BeautifullyResponsible.com website with even more information and links to manufacturers websites to dig deeper… to ‘learn what matters to you.’ Google display ads have also been deployed to broaden the reach even further. “As the campaign develops, we are not only adjusting and improving from the data we collect, but we are also sharing those analytics with our members,” commented Thompson.
Our own design idea book
In addition to the social media campaign, RFCI will be introducing a design print and digital magazine in late fall called Beautifully Responsible Luxury Flooring. This glossy idea book format will showcase new products and design trends, sustainability advancements, and all the benefits of Beautifully Responsible resilient flooring. Over 10,000 copies will be on newsstands and sold in 1500+ bookstores including Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million and Hastings, where well-educated, affluent customers shop for home décor books and magazines. In addition, Beautifully Responsible Luxury Flooring will be available to 20,000 op designers, architects and specifiers. Online, it will be linked to RFCI.com, FabulousFloorsMagazine.com, and BeautifullyResponsible.com and be readable and interactive on Magzter.com, joomag.com and issuu.com.
How Does the Beautifully Responsible Campaign Add Value to Your Sale and the Consumer?
1. Commit to educating your customers on resilient products and how the campaign has impacted the industry. Customers don’t know what questions to ask, so YOU will have to take the lead.
2. Commit to educating yourself on what the campaign means and the changes that are taking place in our industry. Let consumers know that resilient flooring is an environmental leader in our industry.
3. People buy from people who they like, who are trustworthy, and who have expertise. This is your opportunity to grow your industry knowledge and become an expert.
4. The only way we will be able to move the recycling issue forward is to educate ourselves and the consumer. Salespeople need to help their consumers change their behavior. Remove the barriers between “I want to, and yet I don’t.”
5. Realtors are becoming certified through the National Association of Green Realtors®; green products have value. This would be an excellent group to invite in and introduce the Beautifully Responsible Campaign or offer to be a speaker at one of their meetings.
6. Look for opportunities to share your knowledge and grow your business with architects, interior designers, and builders who are unfamiliar with industry changes.
If the consumer buys a resilient floor, we must educate them on the Beautifully Responsible Program and thank them for their commitment to the environment and our world. If it were my customer, I would make sure they received a certificate thanking them for buying responsible. ■
Sales training help
RFCI has also tapped the flooring and retail expertise of industry icon Lis Calandrino to produce a video tutorial for retailers and sales associates on understanding and communicating the Beautifully Responsible campaign messages with their floor covering customers. “Today’s flooring consumer is becoming just as cognizant of sustainable manufacturing practices, recycling and healthy and safe environments as architects and designers for commercial projects,” observed Dean Thompson. “That’s why it is so important for the sales associate to relate to those concerns when getting to know the customer and close the sale.
Lis can help them do that.” The video is free to download and use in your sales training.
The Beautifully Responsible campaign is a researched, factbased, comprehensive consumer and trade campaign that truly resonates with the needs of everyone when it comes to shopping for, selecting, buying or even selling a new floor. “Resilient flooring is the fastest growing floor category there is. This campaign is designed to ensure that momentum continues.” For more information on RFCI and all of its programs, visit RFCI. com or RFCI on LinkedIn. To experience the campaign for yourself, visit BeautifullyResponsible.com ■
