Customer Service is as Important as the Quality of our Flooring

The first thing we do when we go into a customer’s home, we interview customer and listen very closely to what they’re looking for. Once we know their needs, their environment and their budget, we try to educate our customer, teach them about the different types of flooring, including hardwood flooring, Travertine, marble, porcelain or ceramic tile and even carpeting.

What we don’t want them to do is to throw good money at a bad problem.

There’s a lot of misinformation out there, and we try to help people understand the real issues.We usually spend a good deal of time with people until they feel comfortable with the purchase—we’re not looking for the quick “turn and burn” sale. That’s not the LBJ way at all.

For instance, many people who call us about wood have had others trying to sell them on laminate, saying that hardwood is high maintenance and not a good idea. We find that some people get talked out of something that they want by a persuasive salesperson, but we try to pass along the facts to our customers instead so that they can make an informed decision on what’s best for them.

Sometimes we have to help the client put together a complete job. There have been times where clients have chosen a mixture of flooring types for their home that really isn’t going to work in their environment. We try to keep the continuity of the floor—for design, comfort and aesthetic reasons, it’s not always good to go from tile to laminate to hardwood to carpet. When there does need to be a transition point between two types of flooring, we are happy to advise the client and design a layout solution for them. In fact, many people are not sure where to start or end one flooring and move to the next, and we’re happy to help.

And we don’t help just with layout: We help with color, texture and styles of tile and flooring, and how it all works together. Some people just don’t have a knack for any kind of interior decorating, and we have the experience, especially with flooring, kitchen design and bathroom design, to help our customers come up with attractive choices that fit their budget and needs.

Some of our clients hand us examples of their ideal flooring, kitchen or bathroom that they’ve taken from an interior design magazine, and it’s not a problem. We are experts in determining what it is that the customer truly likes from the example and applying it to the real-life situation.

One of our biggest challenges is explaining the difference between engineered hardwood flooring and solid hardwood flooring—what some people consider “true” hardwood flooring. When we’re working with a concrete slab floor, we need to glue the flooring down; we can’t use nails. If we use glue instead of nails, we can’t use solid hardwood because it won’t adhere properly and eventually will buckle and warp.

But people assume that it needs to be a thick chunk of wood to be “real” hardwood flooring. Although some customers do confuse engineered flooring with laminate flooring, many are just concerned that the wear layer of engineered flooring will not thick enough to last through the years and be eligible for resanding. In truth, it can last longer than solid hardwood, as the layers of engineered flooring create a more durable floorboard.

It’s a fact that 90 percent of hardwood flooring is engineered flooring, and there’s a good reason for that—it’s part of an evolution of hardwood flooring that works best for modern homes, commercial properties and sporting arenas.

We also make sure to offer our customers a maintenance program that suits their floor, especially those with oiled floors. Oiled floors have not been coated with polyurethane and need special care and upkeep every six months to a year to remain beautiful.

For stained floors, we recommend a “screen and recoat”, a clear topcoat finish that allows us to go back and buff out surface scratches every five years—it’s like a facelift for the floor!

Tile floors may need the grout steamed, and natural stone floors often need a sealant applied periodically to keep them looking their best, and we offer maintenance programs to keep every floor in tip-top shape.

Proper daily maintenance is important for every type of floor from tile to hardwood, and we make sure that our customers are trained on how to clean and care for their new floor. As we like to say: “It may be your house, but it’s our floor”, and that means we want it to always look spectacular!

If you are tired of pushy salesmen and looking through hundreds of samples that you don’t know are right for your home, call LBJ Flooring. We will give you real information, not a sales pitch, and walk you through the right options for your needs and your budget. Our flooring is superb, but our customer service sets us apart from the rest. Call us on (866) 317-2779 today.