Talking Carpet During BuildingsXchange

Summers at CRI are a little slower-paced than our normal work weeks mainly due to a summer break in the trade show season. But now that summer is grinding to an end, the typical trade shows and events that the Carpet and Rug Institute participates in on the horizon are getting closer and closer with each passing sunset. September through November will be an absolute whirlwind, and today, as I started to make travel arrangements for various venues, I came across one of the truly unique events that CRI participates in called BuildingsXchange.

Basically, BuildingsXchange is the trade show’s version of speed-dating between buyers, senior executives who own and manage the nation’s top commercial and institutional buildings, and leading suppliers of energy related and engineered systems/products. The show takes place in Park City, Utah, September 21-23 and CRI’s President Werner Braun will be on hand to meet with executives from some of the nation’s top retailers and institutes.

As one of about 20 vendors at the event, CRI will conduct meetings in a suite in which the senior executives read our profile and decide if they want meet with us. Last year, we had 23 one-hour meetings over the three days and proved to be, by far, the most “popular” girl on the block.

And that makes sense since CRI is not out there selling a brand, but rather helping these executives with their stores and franchises by answering questions about carpet and pointing them towards ways they will ultimately increase their satisfaction with their carpet purchases.

I recently ran into the gentleman who puts the event together and he told me something that really made me proud. Apparently, after each of these executives from places such as David’s Bridal, Wal-Mart, Barton Malow, HOK, Ross Stores met with the event organizers afterwards, CRI had the highest rating in the post-event survey.

Of the 23 meetings we had with executives, 7% said we met their expectations, 47% said we exceeded their expectations and a whopping 47% said we were their most exceptional meeting. Nobody else at the event got better than a 7% saying they were the most exceptional meeting.

Of course, I would like to say that it was all because of the great job our marketing department does and all those folders of information we put together for them, but the truth of the matter is that Werner Braun is an exceptional person face-to-face and has a great rapport when it comes to talking business with executives. And secondly, CRI is a great fit for those who want to learn how to save money on their carpet purchases by making sure they are specifying them correctly and cleaning/maintaining them afterwards.

We even came away with several great stories from last year’s meeting. The guy who runs the medical center at the University of Rochester Medical Center told us about replacing the carpet to the entrance of the main building because with the amount of snow they get in New York, it was impossible to keep it clean. He went on to say that after one year’s time without the carpet, the university had settled on a total of 15 slip/fall claims with the average claim being in excess of $30,000 each.

Sometimes we just get so caught up in working on all the perceived issues about carpet we sometimes forget that carpet stands on its own merits and benefits and slip/fall prevention is absolutely one of the top ones we need to be talking about. Since replacing the carpet at the university, they have yet to have another claim, so the director tells us that even if they have to replace the dirty carpet annually, it is still cheaper than paying out slip/fall claims.

Of course, he had to be one of the ones who rated us really high in his exit survey when we told him that we could show him ways to both have that slip/fall insurance and keep it clean and maintained in such a way that it would last its design life.

Ah, yes, summer is all but gone, but with exciting events such as this right around the corner, there’s a lot to be excited about.

~ James


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