When the customer thinks they know best: Winning over the educated flooring shopper

Kelly Oechslin

Gone are the days when a flooring customer walked in and relied solely on your advice. Today’s buyer often arrives armed with research, reviews, Pinterest boards—and opinions.

That was a key takeaway from the Cyncly Connect Flooring customer panel last month, where several flooring veterans shared their insights in a wide-ranging conversation.

These retailers are meeting customers who have watched the tutorials. Compared prices. Maybe even read the installation guide. And while that kind of preparation can make for a great conversation, it can also lead to some tricky moments: pricing skepticism, misplaced confidence, or an unwillingness to trust your guidance.

But here was the good news: these educated shoppers are engaged. They’re motivated. They want to make the right decision. And with the right approach, you can turn their confidence into conversion—and earn long-term loyalty in the process.

The rise of the self-taught shopper

Online research is empowering today’s flooring customers. But that empowerment often comes with confusion. Customers may misunderstand specs, underestimate installation complexity, or overestimate their DIY skills. They might also believe they’ve found the same product for lower cost, without understanding what’s missing.

These situations can challenge even your most seasoned sales reps. It’s not just about knowing your products anymore—you also have to know how to guide a conversation that’s respectful, insightful, and ultimately helpful.

Challenge: Educated, not always informed

John DeWees, the panelist from Denver Carpet and Flooring, put it well: “Competing with the expectations of an educated customer can be challenging. As retailers, we have to have a great sales process in place, trust the process, and make sure everyone follows the process. An engaging discovery process at the beginning is critical and allows us to explore the customer’s needs but also gives space to potentially uncover a customer's newfound knowledge that could be driving their decision making.”

These educated shoppers don’t want to be corrected, they want to feel understood. So when their “research” leads them astray, it’s your job to course-correct—without creating friction.

Here’s how forward-thinking retailers are doing it:

• Acknowledge their research: “It sounds like you’ve already put a lot of thought into this—great starting point.”
• Offer added perspective: “That product’s popular online, but here’s something you won’t see in the reviews…”
• Ask good questions: “What’s most important to you—look, durability, or maintenance?” This helps steer them away from a decision based on price alone. 

John agrees, sharing that in his experience, “a great way to build trust with your customer is to acknowledge the information, and then expand upon it, and if necessary, bring the customer back on course if they are dealing with some misinformation.”

Show, don’t just tell

Sometimes, the best way to win the conversation is to show the difference. Visualization tools, sample ordering, and side-by-side comparisons allow your customer to see what you mean—whether it’s how a pattern looks in their space or why one product wears better than another.

These tools not only build confidence—they shift the conversation from price to value. 

In addition, it’s helpful to expand the scope of the conversation. Educated shoppers often fixate on square-foot pricing. But you’re not just selling product—you’re selling the entire experience: measurement, prep, installation, cleanup, and service. That’s where your real value lives. 

As Dana Park from Great Western Flooring said, “We are all in the solution business—not just the flooring business. Every customer who comes in needs to solve a flooring problem, and we are responsible for triaging that and curating the most appropriate fit.” 

Clearly bundle services. Explain what’s included—and more importantly, what’s protected. Make it easy for the customer to see how your offering compares to the faceless online deal they’re considering.

Operate fast, but play the long game

Speed is critical to engaging consumers who are used to getting answers at the push of a button. Dana shared that “being able to operate at the pace that a consumer expects these solutions is more important now than ever before. Consumers are beginning their process in our stores better armed with information—albeit not always the most accurate version—and a general sense of what an AI prompt has told them they can expect. The retailer needs to have the tools at their disposal to produce results at that same cadence.”

Sometimes, the sale won’t happen right away. That’s okay. What matters is that you leave the customer feeling respected, supported, and smarter than when they came in.

Follow up. Check in. Offer a small sample or trial install area to build confidence. These thoughtful touches not only create trust—they open the door for future business, referrals, and repeat customers.

From skeptical to loyal

One dealer told us about a customer who came in certain they’d found the perfect deal online. After one conversation—paired with a visualizer, a comparison sheet, and a few side-by-side product demos—they admitted they hadn’t considered the whole picture.

“They walked out with a better product, booked an install date, and have since sent three friends our way,” the dealer said. 

That’s the power of selling smarter, not harder.

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