Hello Mattress Underground,
I work at a mattress retail store in San Diego, CA. Just wanted to thank those responsible for creating and maintaining this site. I’ve never worked in sales or the mattress industry before a year ago so discovering this site has helped me immensely in educating customers and consequently becoming a better employee. We don’t work on commission, nor do we place pressure on our customers, we just want to educate our customers and lead them to the right mattress for them and at a price they feel comfortable with. Our store is known locally for exceptional customer service. In the hope of my store further benefiting from this site I was hoping there was a way I could get information about retail membership for the store I work at. I told the owner of the store about the benefits of potentially becoming a member and he was immediately interested. So much so that he reached out to you via the email contact provided on your site (about a week ago). I was wondering if there is a different avenue for applying for retail membership that maybe I missed.
Thanks for your time and the service you provide!
Hi Ilovesleep,
I did receive an email from the owner (I’m assuming that your store is www.RealDealMattress.com) but it often takes a few weeks for me to have the time to initiate a conversation with the retailers or manufacturers that email me about membership because of the very long hours I keep … but I always do call and talk with them as soon as I have the time available.
You can read a little more about the qualifications for membership here and here but I don’t generally “seek out” members and membership is more of an organic process that happens over time as I get to know some manufacturers or retailers better (and of course they get to know me as well). With newer manufacturers or retailers that are less than 5 years old it’s less likely that they would be invited to become members quickly until they have a little longer track record and I come to know them a little better (and I know this wouldn’t be an issue in your case because you have been in business for longer than that) but in the end an invitation for a retailer or manufacturer to become a member really comes down’ to a “best judgement” choice based on what I learn about them over time (including from our conversations) and based on sharing the values, ideals, and goals of the site.
Over the course of the next week or so I hope to be able to talk with JD about your store and the mattresses you sell.
Phoenix
Awesome! Thanks for the info and your quick response to my post!