News and Awards
ShawMark® names J.E. Dupuy Flooring
The winner of the 1993 Studio of the Year is located, according to one of its owners, right in the middle of mainstream America. "It doesn't get any more mainstream than this," Stanley Dupuy says with a laugh. In this very fact lies one of the keys to success for J.E. Dupuy's Floors of Monroe, Louisiana. Their corporate philosophy, established years ago by Stanley's grandfather, is still what hardworking, everyday folks want their carpet supplier to do: "sell a quality product at a fair price and give excellent service."
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J.E. "Butch" Dupuy (c) receives ShawMark Studio of the Year award from Adleta's Carpet Sales Manager Charlie Cobb (l) and Sales Representative Bill Starrett. |
Monroe is surrounded by miles of farmland, and its population--around 100,000--tends to be stable. With that relatively modest number, however, it is still the largest city in northeast Louisiana. "It's probably classified as a poor economic section," Stanley says, "compared to others in the country." Not only that, but he estimates that the city of Monroe has around 25 other carpet dealers.
Rural customer base, poor economy, fierce competition--Dupuy's has met and overcome these challenges, not just satisfactorily, but to the point of meeting all the criteria for being Studio of the Year: customer satisfaction, sales achievement, promotional creativity, and professionalism. They've done it by building a superior reputation with the public, by paying close attention to and filling their customers' needs, and by selling the highest quality carpet available--Anything Goes!®
Dupuy's was begun by Stanley's grandfather, J.E. Dupuy, three generations ago. The company's community reputation is both long-standing and solid. Stanley and co-owners "Uncle Tom and J.E. Dupuy, Jr., make maintaining that reputation a top priority. "Salt-of-the-earth people live here," Stanley says. "If you sell them something like Anything Goes!, they remember you sold them quality. When someone they know gets ready to make a purchase, they practically sell the job for us"
Stanley estimates that 80% of his customers are word-of-mouth or repeat business. "Happy customers are the best advertising there is," he says.
One thing the "Dupuy team" does to create happy customers is to find out their needs and problems, including family size, home traffic patterns, etc. Then they show samples, usually including Anything Goes! "we want to sell the very best carpet we can and meet their needs, "says Stanley. "Most people think they can't afford $25-a-yard installed carpet, but when you sit down and discuss what they're really getting, they realize it's an extremely good value."
Bill Starrett, Sales Representative for Adleta, Dupuy's wholesale distributor in Carrollton, Texas, says of the award-winning sales force, "They are excellent Anything Goes! sales people. When they see quality, they sell it...and sell it! This company is dedicated to quality."
Left to Right: Tom Dupuy, Stanley Dupuy, Charlie Cobb, J.E. "Butch" Dupuy, Bill Starrett |
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Charlie Cobb, Adleta's Carpet Sales Manager, adds, "I wish we had twenty more accounts just like Dupuy's. They're a dandy! They attempt to show Anything Goes! to every customer--because it's high performance carpet--and that makes Dupuy's different."
In fact, customers can hardly avoid being shown Anything Goes! It's been on Dupuy's showroom floor since 1980, and Stanley says it's an outstanding selling tool: :I ask customers, "How long do you think this carpet's been down?' They say, 'Two or three years,' I tell them, "No--fourteen." Then I pick their jaws up off the floor, and usually they're sold!"
"Marketing has less to do with price and more to do with simple common sense. By finding out what customers' needs are, and selling them a quality product like Anything Goes!, fifteen years from now when they need new carpet they'll come back."
Extracted from "STUDIO NEWS" ShawMark® Carpet Studio™ newsletter, Summer 1994
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