Are You Receiving the Furniture You Desire?-A Tip from Savoy Contract Furniture

The lesson stems from your days in the classroom and almost certainly rears its head when making an important business decision-write it like you mean it.  Our friends at Savoy Contract Furniture shared this bit of advice related to ordering that important piece of furniture for a customer or your respective business.

"Have you ever anticipated the arrival of your new furniture, only to be a bit surprised by what you receive? When maintenance issues start escalating and complaints become more urgent, it may be time to do some pre-planning for the next go-round. The nice thing is, you don't have to become a mechanical engineer to figure it all out; nor do you have to copy and paste from an existing spec to try and get what you want - you can work with one of our consultants to develop yours.

Writing the kind of detailed specification it takes to build a solid, stylish, and lasting piece of furniture is not easy. Ask any engineer and they will tell you. The details of your construction are the exact factors that will ensure you get exactly what you expect.

9 Ply Birch-Drawers

1.  A drawer box, for example, should read: 12mm, 9 layer veneer core plywood for top performance.

2.  Now add English Dovetail, 5-sided, wet construction, and you are well on your way to a strong drawer.

3.  The final touch to your spec should include 5 sides to your drawer box. This allows for a detachable, easily reparable drawer front.

Write your spec like you mean it. The fact is, it matters. Contract furniture manufacturers are specialized for this very reason."

For more on how the HUBZone Certified GET, LLC, through our friends at Savoy Contract Furniture and teaming partner American Hotel Register, can assist you with your furniture needs-including writing your spec today-give us a call at 671-797-0789 or check out our website for details at www.get-guam.com. Have we said that Savoy has been engineering and manufacturing durable, stylish institutional furniture for over 6 decades? They are a great team.

Keeping Those Private Dreams Alive-A MANA/Saleswise Tip

Sales Coach for the Manufacturers Association Manufactures Agents National Association (MANA) Nicki Weiss has been giving great advice as of late.  GET, LLC and other members of MANA are happy to have her and her powerful insight into sales.  This week she sent this to manufacturers' representatives like us at GET, LLC related to staying focused on our goals and dreams:

"When my children were little and I had a hectic work life, I secretly fantasized that I would get into the car and just drive away. Of course, I never did. But I found it comforting to retreat every now and again into this harm less daydream in which I drove to a quiet, beautiful place where everything was slow and peaceful and I could just be alone.

Many people harbor a little private dream of what they would do if they just couldn’t take it anymore and dropped out. Maybe their Plan B is spending six months working and six months bumming around the world, or it could be moving to the country and opening a bed and breakfast.

Here’s an unwelcome dash of cold water on those blissful images of escape. We seem to be retreating to them less often in this stressful, always-too-much-to-do business environment. The hectic pace of our daily work is creating a fallout you probably have not noticed.

A psychologist friend recently told me that she is seeing a significant jump in anxiety and feelings of overwhelm among her patients. She attributes this increase to a sense of mourning for the death of their Plan B. Without these dreams of escape, we feel we have no options or control. And a sense of at least some degree of control over our lives is essential to our well-being.

The demise of Plan B comes courtesy of reduced circumstances. A September 2013 Reuters poll found that, four years after the most recent recession officially ended, many North American adults are still struggling to recover financially. A Pew Research Center poll, conducted about the same time, indicates 54 percent of North Americans feel their household in comes have “hardly recovered at all” from the downturn. So instead of daydreaming about one day saying, “Take this job and shove it,” many of us have no choice but to put up and shut up.

This new reality is making itself felt in every age group, even among those not yet launched in the work force. We’re all concentrating on landing, or holding on to, a secure position that pays cold cash. No room for fantasies.

In these trying times, is it possible to bring back some feelings of optimism and possibilities? Yes, but you need to apply some discipline to the process. Here’s how:

Make a conscious effort to put aside your “to-do” list for at least five minutes a day and take that time to nurture your Plan B dreams. You might even come up with a way to make them come true. Where and when can you daydream? Try Albert Einstein’s method. He said that his best ideas came to him in the shower.

To keep your creative juices flowing and manage your stress level, go play once a week for an hour or two. Pick something you find relaxing and fun, but do it alone.

In our work lives, we often can’t find the solitude necessary for the free-flow of ideas. Our creativity is blocked by ringing phones, emails and meetings. By giving yourself some relaxation time, you let your ideas percolate in the back of your mind, away from conscious concentration. Kierkegaard swore by a long walk; Steven Spielberg claims that his ideas flow while he’s driving; and a friend extols the benefits of an hour puttering in the garden.

So begin your solo activity, whatever it is, and stick to it. Just because the economy is still suffering a bit, you don’t have to be. A new year is here."

Nicki says perhaps finding your alone time can be first on your resolution list.  Thanks Nicki.

For more about the goods and services that GET, LLC can bring to your organization, please give us a call at 671-483-0789 or check out our website at www.get-guam.com.

New Orders on the Rise in U.S. Furniture Factories

The High Point, North Carolina-based Smith Leonard reported that American furniture factory orders in October were 6% higher than in October 2012 as the industry continued to show gradual improvement. The manufacturing and distribution consultants reported in their monthly industry survey of the furniture industry that October shipments at U.S. residential furniture factories were 9% higher than in the same month a year earlier, while order backlogs were up 11%.

Smith Leonard Managing Partner Ken Smith wrote in his Furniture Insights newsletter that most of the economic news in the industry continues to be positive. 

"If we can keep this momentum going," said Smith.  "Then whenever consumer confidence shakes loose, we should see even more positive results."

For the first 10 months of 2013, Smith Leonard reports that new orders were 6% ahead of the same period in 2012, while 10-month shipment figures were 5% ahead.

They added that October increases in new orders and shipments marked the seventh consecutive month that those figures were higher than the comparable month in 2012.

Smith says that the largest single monthly increase was in July, when orders were up 13% from a year earlier adding that existing home sales slowed a bit in November, but the revised GDP showed a 4.1% increase in the third quarter.

For more on how GET,LLC through our friends at Savoy Contract Furniture and teaming partner American Hotel Register can assist you with your specific furniture needs- please check out our website at www.get-guam.com or give us a call at 671-483-0789 to discuss the best solution for your facility.  All the solutions are Made in America!