Hi, I'm Joe Capillo. I have now logged 35 years in the retail home furnishings industry as salesperson, store manager, business operator, trainer, author, and consultant. I've been a contributing editor for Furniture World magazine for over a decade, and many of you know me from those articles and speaking engagements.

I've spoken to numerous industry groups at markets through the NHFA, at special industry events, and have lectured for IHFRA in their representative certification program. I've lectured at the NHFA's Management Development Institute on the discipline of retail sales management.

Throughout my career, beginning with Ethan Allen, through the La-Z-Boy retail store experience, many years as a consultant for the Shepherd organization and for PROFITconsulting, and director of sales for a 10-store chain, I've concentrated on one aspect of our business - sales.

Some of the programs I developed, or contributed to, have been among the most widely used selling systems in the industry.

Over the decades I've developed a very personal and realistic view of what really goes on out there on the floor, and I've sought out relevant research and developed selling strategies and systems to help front-line sales managers, salespeople, and business owners take more control of the point of contact with consumers. Not control over what the customer thinks, feels, or does, but what we think, feel, and do.

This is critical if you want to ensure optimum close rates and the highest possible average sale, the two factors that are firmly in the control of salespeople in all stores where one-to-one selling is the driving force of the business.

My retail sales and management experience is current, as I've worked between the two areas of retail management and consulting as opportunities allowed. The point is, I've walked in your shoes.

When you engage with my company, you get me as your strategic advisor, trainer for all matters relating to sales, and I intend to keep it that way so that my business relationships with every client remain personal, and I remain accountable to my clients for results.