The keys to success for a contemporary furniture factory

No, fortunately furniture is not what it used to be.
A factory that produces contemporary furniture is not the same as a contemporary factory that produces furniture. But in the 21st century the two are ever more intertwined.

Our idea of furniture has changed; our idea of what is modern has changed and the traditional concept of the traditional furniture factory has been replaced by the contemporary way of seeing a furniture factory. Furniture is not what it used to be because society is not what it used to be, technology is not what it used to be and manufacturers and businesses have abandoned traditional ways to take full advantage of today’s new opportunities, materials, designs and trends.

Today a furniture manufacturer has to be able to do three things: to observe, listen and reflect; to work continuously to incorporate what you have seen, heard and reflected on in your own way under your brand. The third thing, which is an overarching issue, is to adopt and handle the technology that sets the rhythm of life today so as to manage ideas, materials and customers. And as you probably realise, that is something no one can do alone: you need a team.

The team is absolutely key to the success of today’s furniture shop, perhaps THE key asset of any business if it wants to reach and retain as many customers as possible.

That is no easy task because if there is anything that thinks of itself as modern, it’s the general public.

Yes the general public.

It’s easy to talk about the general public at the highest level of abstraction, but it incorporates many different groups. Today a fashion can be all the rage one day and the very next day, another fashion can spring up anywhere in the world and take its place.

That’s what the consumer of today is like.

It is not easy to satisfy such diverse consumers and even harder to turn them into loyal customers. That is why we have no choice but to have modern furniture factories and produce modern furniture.

To be one of the select few able to meet the demands of more customers with contemporary pieces and ensure customer satisfaction, there are five keys to success:

1. A good team is an invaluable asset. A good team is a team with expertise and technical skills across the business and who are open-minded and capable of taking on board the changes that have been seen over the last twenty years and that continue as you read this post and will no doubt continue at the same frenetic pace in the coming years.
2. Know what makes a piece of furniture contemporary. A contemporary piece of furniture can be very different from a piece of furniture fresh from the factory. A traditional chest of drawers for example can, with the right accessories, be utterly contemporary, while a newly manufactured child’s bed that is made as it would have been made twenty years ago is virtually a museum piece.
3. Be aware of both your existing customers and their schemes, and of market trends. Cultivate long-standing customers and engage with potential customers, offering suggestions and designs for new products that have made a piece of furniture into a decorative element far beyond its usefulness.
   And, of course, the sales team must treat both them and the furniture they are looking for a unique, exclusive and one-off, to the point that they can’t find a factory that better matches what they want to provide to their customers.

4. The image of your brand, the unsullied image of your brand that must be safe from any real-world or online risk.
   Today, a brand’s image is inevitably tied to sustainability.
   Yes, sustainability is probably the only fashion that is happily here to stay and grow.
   And the more externally accredited profile you can give sustainability in your brand’s image, the better, because it’s contagious. The more a customer feels that they are contributing to protecting the planet, the more connection they will feel with the brand and the more they will want to work with it. It all adds up.

5. An online presence is absolutely essential, you’ve heard it everywhere, you’ve heard it in many languages and you have taken it on board and have built an exemplary online offering. One further step: just being there is not enough.

Do you remember what they used to say in the twentieth century that some people still occasionally say? It was something like: being there is not enough, you have to know how to be. Don’t forget it, because it’s a motto that you can rely on throughout your life.

What does it mean to know how to be online? It means mastering the tools that the virtual world offers your furniture business; it means navigating the online world flexibly and safely; it means providing personalised service to customers in a totally secure way; and it means constantly offering new products, offers and promotions: keeping the flame alive and keeping moving.

Five, we have given you five keys to the success of your furniture factory of today and as someone of today you will not doubt use them all. The future lies ahead and you will find the path that leads to it.