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Alan J. Fletcher- My Company Story
It makes me feel good to help others, which is one reason I have created this
website. Even though I don’t sell carpet, my goal is to help people select the
right carpet and pad that will meet their needs and lifestyle, to have it
installed properly all for a fair and square price. I’m just an average guy
who doesn’t like to see people get ripped –off.
Growing up I often had the chance to make some extra money helping out at my
dad’s carpet showroom. He was a Carpet Mill Rep. I didn’t know it back then, but my future
going to be in
carpet. In 1977 I took a job as carpet installer trainee at age 18. I went
through an apprentice program with some friends of my father who ran a flooring
business. The Company was owned by two brothers, they were twins. They were both
very kind and respectable gentlemen and they treated me very well. A few years
later they both retired and I was out on my own installing carpet, vinyl and
hardwood floors for a number of smaller retail carpet shops. It didn’t take me
long to find out that I didn’t appreciate the way that most retail flooring
shops treated their carpet installers. Rarely did they show any respect or
gratitude for a job well done.
After a few more years of honing my installation skills and learning more
about the flooring business I started working for Mike’s Carpet store. It was
then that I came to realize that many retail carpet storeowners treated their
customers just as poorly as they treated their installers. Mike would often buy
carpet rems from the mills. These were carpet leftovers, roll ends, closeouts,
discontinues, off-colors, seconds, defectives, and so forth. Many of these
carpets were pure junk. By that I mean it was carpet that was made so poorly
that was not fit for residential homes. Mike would sell these carpets to his
customers. It was obvious that he didn’t care about his customers, he only
cared about the money.
Mike would send me out to install carpet and once I arrived I knew right away
what Mike had sold them, but I could not say a word. Customers would often ask
me what I thought of the carpet but I knew I couldn’t tell them the truth or I
would be out of a job.
When I was finished I was to collect the final amount due. Since I had the
original bill of sale I knew how much they had been charged for the materials
and labor. Had they bought from a reputable dealer and done their homework they
could have selected a carpet that would have been a good choice for about the
same amount of money.
This really bothered me. This family had finally saved up enough money to buy
new carpet that they hope will last 10 to 12 years and now a ruthless carpet
retailer has taken all their money and sold them a carpet that wouldn’t last
more than three years. It didn’t take long before I decided to look for
another job and I soon found work at a small carpet retailer about 20 miles
away.
After a month or so I started seeing a familiar pattern. Many of the flooring
materials sold didn’t quite meet the needs or lifestyle of the customers. It’s
not difficult to figure out that a low-grade carpet won’t tolerate a busy
household with four young boys running around.
Here I was again in the same predicament that I was in when I worked for Mike’s.
Customers were not buying the right carpet and I couldn’t tell them the truth
or I would not have a job. After spending some time in the showroom I found out
why this was happening.
The salespeople were not asking their customers about their needs and
lifestyle in order to help them find a suitable carpet. They were only asking
customers how much money they had to spend and then would lead the customer to a
carpet that fit into their price range, whether it was a suitable product or
not.
It was obvious to me that the salespeople had a fear of losing the sale if
they tried to convince the customer to buy a suitable but more expensive carpet
than they could afford. Instead of educating their customers about the benefits
of a better quality, more durable carpet that could last years longer, they
would just show customers lower grades of carpet and say they were more durable
than they actually were. The customer would buy carpet within their budget but
the carpet selected was not suitable for their application.
In the first 15 years of my carpet career I worked for more than a dozen
carpet retailers. It became obvious to me that the majority of retail carpet
salespeople were only concerned about making the sale and not concerned about
the needs and goals of the customer. It was during this time in my life that I
realized that I wanted to become more involved as a consumer advocate. I believe
that the customer deserves to know the truth, even if they don’t like what
they hear. So I made the decision to start my own company.
- In 1998 I wrote my first consumer guide "Carpet Buying Secrets
Revealed" and my desire to be an active consumer advocate became a
reality. Response was good to the release of my book.
- In 2000 I started my first website Abccarpets.com. I wrote "The Quick
and Easy Guide to Carpet Shopping" and released both books to
Amazon.com for distribution.
- In 2002 I wrote a book for landlords called "Landlord Floors-Carpet
and Vinyl management for rentals." and launched my second website
Landlordfloors.com. I began development of The CFM Solution, a strategic way
for landlords to reduce their flooring replacement costs. The Landlord
Flooring Management Guide was compiled and offered as a resource for rental
property owners and property managers.
- In 2003 I launched Howtobuycarpet.com and I began offering a free service
called "Ask the Carpet Expert" where people could e-mail me their
questions about buying carpet. Since then, hundreds of carpets buying
questions & answers have been posted on my web sites for my readers to
access.
- In 2005 I retired from the flooring business to work full time as a
consumer carpet-buying advocate. I wrote The Complete carpet Buying Guide
and offer it as an instant download from my websites.
- I continue to update my Carpet books, web sites and answer carpet
questions from my website visitors.
The moral of this story:
I am just a normal guy that doesn't want to see anyone get ripped-off.
I have read all the other "Carpet" info
websites on the web, they all have a a spin on what they are telling you. They
all have an agenda. I don't have any agenda other than telling you the truth
about buying carpet, how to save money, how to avoid scams and get the job done
right the first time. The revenue from selling my eBook helps me pay for my
websites which costs quite a bit to operate. This is a full time job for me, not
to mention answering the questions that readers send me.
Contact Alan Alan@landlordfloors.com
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10th Edition